She didn’t know if she was irked or not that his words weren’t addressed to her, but then, this was a military operation and he was a SEAL and not exactly in command of the op.

Sure enough, his gaze wasn’t on her or even George. He addressed Lieutenant Flyte, his former teammate and close friend. “I’m useless here with my shoulder, but my legs work, and I can protect Audrey and make the call to NSWC. They’ll listen to me.”

All at once, she remembered that there was a chance NSWC might try to disregard a call from her. They’d listen, surely, but it would take more convincing than if it was one of their own.

Finally, Xavier faced her. “I hate the idea of you leaving the safety of this lodge.” His gaze flicked to her belly, and she knew he wanted to mention Fig, but he wouldn’t do that now, not in front of his team. “But you’re right about being the best choice for this, and I know you’ve got the grit and stamina for it. I will have your back every step of the way.”

She nodded. “We should go now, then, while it’s still dark. We could probably be halfway there before dawn.”

“No way. As you said, you need to eat and sleep first. You’re running on fumes. We’ll head out an hour before dawn and get well away from the lodge complex before daylight.”

She nodded. It was a reasonable plan.

She resumed her seat on the stone hearth next to George and listened as the men made a plan for searching for the missing SEALs and protecting the lodge while she and Xavier hiked up Mount Olympus.

Given the conditions, she figured the five- or six-mile hike would take at least six hours. Possibly longer as they would have to avoid areas that were too steep to traverse without ropes. This wasn’t a good time to attempt rock climbing an unexplored cliff face. Audrey was already mentally preparing her route when George nodded toward one of the large topo maps hanging on the far wall. “You’ll want to take a Thunderbird trail.”

“Thunderbird?” Cohen said. “There aren’t any trails by that name around here.”

“They’re traditional trails,” Audrey said. “Used by tribes since the beginning of time. Hidden routes through the Olympics that connected the coastal groups with the Puget Sound tribes.”

“My people would meet in the mountains to conduct trade,” George said. “The mountains were neutral ground, allowing for commerce. Bypassing the range and crossing the lowlands to the sound could be considered an act of aggression and war.”

“There’s a Thunderbird trail near here?”