by M. S. Parker
He could have been force-fed a hive of bees and looked happier than he did in that moment.
Six
Roman
The drive from Lyons to the Wild Basin entrance took about an hour.
It was one of the longest damn hours of my life, and when I finally reached the station where I’d heard the SAR teams would be assembling, I was about ready to come out of my skin.
I wasn’t exactly dressed for helping with any kind of search, but I did keep a pack of essentials in my truck, a habit my father had drilled into us after he had engine trouble one night and ended up practically freezing to death in his car back in his twenties.
All the missions I’d gone on as a Ranger in the army had furthered my knowledge on what I’d need to survive in any given situation, and I never left the house without that pack in my truck.
I parked in the spot farthest from the station with the driver’s side of the truck facing away from the group. After grabbing the pack and digging out what I currently needed, I swiftly unlaced my boots, then kicked them off and shucked my jeans. I had a set of cold-weather gear that would work as a base layer under my jeans and the two shirts I already wore, a thermal with a flannel thrown over the top. The battered leather coat I’d worn out of the house was waterproofed, but it wasn’t ideal for this kind of weather. I’d survive, though. I’d been in worse with far less protection than I had available to me in the pack.
After sliding into the thin but warm pants, I pulled my jeans and boots back on and then stripped out of my coat and the shirts to don the heat-retaining shirt. I’d used this gear when I was in the army and knew just how well it insulated. Although the jeans I wore weren’t exactly ideal, they’d be good enough if the temperature didn’t drop another twenty degrees or so. I realized that was still a possibility and double-checked to make sure I had adequate clothes tucked away inside my pack. I should probably take a few minutes to change into those, but I could see through the passenger window that the rangers and various volunteers were already breaking up into groups.
After hauling my bag out and settling it into place, I started for the clusters of people gathered outside the small log building that now served as a station for the forest rangers.
There was a tall, athletic-looking guy standing on the outskirts without a pack, and I homed in on him. He wore the easily recognizable uniform of a park ranger and stood with his hands on his hips, staring at the commotion going on around him.
Since he wasn’t already wearing a pack and his coat hung open, it was likely he wasn’t joining the search. That meant he’d be one of the support personnel and should be able to point me to whoever was in charge. Maybe I’d luck out, and he’d be the one I needed to talk to – and preferably, he’d be open to what I had to say.
It didn’t matter in the long run, because I was going out to look for Cass. Nothing was changing that.
“Hey,” I said, nodding at him as I approached.
He skimmed me up and down. “If you’re here as one of the volunteers, you’re pushing it. It’s about time to head out.”
“Yeah, I’m here to help with the search,” I said, not outright denying that I was a volunteer. He’d offered the opening, so I might as well take it. “Are you in charge here?”
“No,” he replied in a short, tight voice. “Sadly, I’m not.” He studied me more closely, eyes sliding to the scar on my cheek before connecting with mine once more. “I don’t recall seeing you with any of the SAR volunteer groups before.”
“No, you haven’t,” I responded. “Who is in charge, then?”
He didn’t answer that question. Instead, he fired one of his own at me. “Are you with one of the local SAR groups?” His eyes trailed to the scar again, and he made no attempt to hide his study of it.
“No, I’m not.”
His pale blue eyes shot to mine, brows dropping low. His face folded into a tight scowl. “Are you trying to be difficult?”
“Not especially.” I wondered if he was trying to be an ass. If so, he was succeeding. I didn’t point that out to him though. Instead, I admitted, “I’m the one who chartered the plane that crashed. I’ve got somebody out there, and I’m going to help find her.”
“That’s not advised,” he said with a disdainful look. “This is dangerous work for experienced searchers only.”
I wasn’t about to tell him that he didn’t know shit about danger but figured that wouldn’t make things any easier. “Look, I’m joining the search with or without a team, so you might as well help me out.”
“Fine.” He heaved out a sigh. “It’s your funeral.”
“So…who can I talk to?”
He gave me a sour look, then skimmed the throng around us. “I don’t…there.” He pointed across the lot. “See the blonde? That’s Alex. Go talk to her. She’ll help you out. If you’re that determined to go out, maybe she can take you to the crash site.”
I turned to look for who he might be talking to. The only blonde I saw was a curvy little powerhouse in the process of pulling on a heavy coat. The coat quickly hid those curves, but I’d already taken in the long legs and how well she filled out the front of her uniform shirt. Her hair was gathered into a ponytail which she freed from the collar of the coat before pulling something from the coat’s pocket. I watched as she drew on a knit cap.
A man, clad in clothing that made it clear he wasn’t one of the park rangers, approached her and they talked for a few minutes, giving me the chance to study her.
She was beautiful. I felt a flicker of interest, which I immediately smashed down until it blinked out of existence. She was also young. I figured she was easily ten years younger than me, although she held herself with a certain confidence as she looked around the commotion taking place before looking back at her companion and giving a decisive nod.
I guess she’d have to have a fair amount of confidence to do what she did. Search-and-rescue missions weren’t for the faint-hearted.
I glanced back, looking for the guy I’d been talking to and found him already involved in another conversation. From what I could hear, he sounded like he was lecturing the woman standing in front of him, telling her she probably wasn’t prepared for the mess they had ahead of them. And he wasn’t doing it nicely, either. I didn’t much care about being nice myself, but this guy came off as a complete prick.
Seven
Lexi
Roger left me to return to his group, and I looked around, taking stock of the group I was working with.
I was damn glad that Stilwell was in the one Roger would be leading out and not mine, although it would have been nice to work with one of my former mentors.
I brushed the thought aside, reminding myself that this wasn’t a social gig, even if I was in the midst of the sort of people I felt most comfortable with.
Crouching down in front of my bag, I rifled through the outer pockets, checking a few last-minute items, then making sure all the compartments were zipped.
A pair of large booted feet appeared in my line of vision, and I looked up just as a deep voice asked, “Excuse me. Are you Alex?”
I tilted my head back and looked up, and up, and up. I found myself staring into a pair of pale green eyes, sharp as jagged ice and burning with intensity. Slowly, I rose. I was five-foot-six, not at all short, and the thick-soled hiking boots I wore gave me another inch, but even with that added height, I had to tip my head back to meet the gaze of the man standing in front of me.
“It’s not Alex,” I said levelly, although there was a strange flutter in my chest, one I didn’t recognize immediately. It was attraction, deep, immediate, intense attraction, the kind I rarely felt, and I hadn’t experienced it at all for several years. Still, I managed to quash it down and continue, “I go by Lexi. Can I help you?”
Before the man had a chance to respond, Stilwell was at my side, his smarmy smile firmly fixed in place. “Alex,” he said, gesturing to the man in front of me. “This guy says he’s the one who rented t
he plane that went down. He wants to join in with the search group. I told him you’d be the best bet to take him out to the crash site.”
My jaw fell open. I immediately snapped it closed and focused a hot glare on Stilwell. I was not the best bet to do any such thing. That stupid prick. He always had to do something to cause me trouble.
He reached out to pat my shoulder, and because there was somebody else standing there, I didn’t smack his hand away. One of these days, though, he’d put a hand on me, and I’d break it off at the wrist and maybe feed it to him for good measure.
“I better go join my crew,” Stilwell said with a cheerful smile. “You two be safe.”
He turned on his heel, leaving me behind stewing with fury. It was a little surprising smoke wasn’t coming out of my ears as I turned my attention to the newcomer.
“What’s your name, sir?” I asked, managing to keep my voice level through sheer force of will.
“It’s Roman Sayers.”
I stuck my hand out, and he immediately accepted, giving me a firm handshake. Something jolted in my belly, and I quickly tugged my hand free, resisting the urge to rub my palm with my fingers. “Mr. Sayers–”
“Roman,” he corrected.
I nodded. “Roman, then. I’m not sure what Stilwell was getting at, but there’s no way I can take you out to the crash site. We haven’t even located it. We just have a general area. We’ll be fanning out to start the search, and it’s going to be a hard, cold night.”
“I’ve been cold before,” he replied, looking unperturbed.
“It’s a lot more than just being cold,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and staring him down. “Let me be blunt, Mr…Roman,” I corrected. “This will be a hard search, and we have no idea what we’re going to find. It’s cold, and the snow isn’t going to stop any time soon. We’ve got a large area to cover, and I don’t have time for you. You’ll get in the way.” I softened my voice. “It will be best if you just let us do our jobs.”
He cocked his head as I spoke, and when I was finished, he pinned me with a hard look. “I’m a former Ranger, ma’am. This will be a walk in the park…literally.”
“You’re a ranger?” I asked, looking him up and down skeptically. “What park did you work?”
He shook his head. “You misunderstand. I’m not a park ranger. I’m a former Army Ranger – big R. As in I’ve parachuted into areas that make this place look like a vacation spot and I’ve done things a lot more intense than look for a downed plane.” He looked me up and down, then added, “If anything, I don’t have time for you, but I’m trying to be courteous here.”
“This is what you call courtesy?” I snapped without even thinking about it.
“Maybe I’m out of practice.” He shrugged, clearly unconcerned.
“Maybe.” I huffed out a breath as I studied him. “Look, this is more than just walking and hiking and knowing how to handle rough terrain. You have to know the park–”
“I’ve lived in Lyons all my life and have probably spent more time here than some of the employees. Trust me, I know the park.”
Trust him. Because I was on the job and courtesy was sort of required, I didn’t give him the sneer I wanted to. I was going to punch Stilwell for getting me into this. I struggled to come up with the right way to convince him to stay here and wait for us, but for him, I must have been too quiet for too long.
He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder in the direction I’d been told to cover and said, “I’m going out, with or without you. And I’m going now.”
“Look,” I said, floundering. “Let me run this by the IC – that’s the incident commander. She’s in charge, and if she’s cool with you going out with us, we can make this work. But I need to talk to her.”
I looked around for Hailey and saw that my team was gathering up. Swearing, I shot a glance back at Roman, then pointed at the ground. “Stay here. I need a few minutes.”
I didn’t bother waiting to see if he’d listen, just hitched my bag up onto my shoulders. I settled in place as I moved over to my team and the two I’d be scheduled to work with. “I’ll catch up. I have to handle something first.”
That got me a skeptical look from the older of the two men. One was an experienced SAR volunteer, and the other was a park ranger who’d been on the job for almost as long as I’d been alive. Rafe Menendez was a tough piece of work, and I knew I wouldn’t make him happy to not move out with them. “We need to get a move on, Lexi,” he said, shaking his head.
“I know. Like I said, head on out and I’ll catch up. This won’t take long.” I hope. I kept that last bit behind my teeth and plastered a confident smile on my face.
Without giving him a chance to ask me what was going on, I turned away and headed in the direction I’d last seen Hailey.
I found her and brought her up to speed, but when I went to point Roman out, I saw that he wasn’t there. In an effort to see better, I squinted my eyes and peered through the fat, fluffy snowflakes. I thought I caught a glimpse of him near a big truck at the far end of the parking lot, but I couldn’t be sure. It was completely dark now, and the area wasn’t exactly well-lit.
“Looks like he changed his mind,” Hailey said in a dry voice. She gave me a no-nonsense look then brushed past me.
“I’ll look around the area for him, Lexi, but you need to join your crew.”
I huffed out a breath and skimmed the area, catching sight of the two men I was supposed to hook up with as they pulled out of the parking lot. Logic told me to just flag them down and join them. If that jerk had gone out solo, it wouldn’t be because I hadn’t warned him.
A flicker of red caught my attention, and I looked over to see the big truck from the edge of the parking lot reversing.
For reasons unknown to me, I found myself striding across the pavement and placing my body exactly where he’d be driving if he was really dead-set on joining the search. I’d ride along with him to our area and convince him that we needed to hook up with the others.
At least that was the plan.
“I told you to wait,” I said sourly as I swung into the truck next to him.
He cocked a brow. “I wasn’t aware I was taking orders from you, princess.”
The princess comment stunned me into silence for maybe ten seconds. “The name is Lexi, not princess,” I snapped, dropping my headlamp on the seat next to me. “You’re lucky none of the law enforcement guys have gotten here yet. I might just have you arrested.”
“On what charge?” He sounded only vaguely interested.
Since I really didn’t know what charge, I just responded with another glare.
“Are you just going to give me mean looks or can we get a move on?” he asked, still in that tone that spoke of little to no concern about whatever answer I might offer.
I was going to regret this.
I knew it.
But I also knew that he intended to continue his search whether I was with him or not. At least if I was with him, I could use the drive time to convince him we should hook up with the others.
I wasn’t about to let a civilian wander around my park at night alone. Settling back in the plush, padded leather seat, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Let’s go.”
He threw the truck back into drive as he drawled, “Sure thing, princess.”
I didn’t let myself respond, although I really, really wanted to.
I spent the next twenty minutes explaining why we were better off hooking up with my team.
Several of the other groups had already peeled off the convoy of vehicles, parking at various trailheads along the way. My team was to be one of the ones closest to the mountain, and I kept an eye on the truck that held Rafe and the SAR volunteer. When they pulled off the road at an area just wide enough for the vehicle, I pointed them out. “You can just park behind them.”
But he kept on driving. “We’re not stopping,” he said when I swung my head around to look at him.
“I thought I�
�d explained this,” I said, my voice tight.
“Oh, you explained plenty, princess, and everything you said made perfect sense. But it seems to me that if we want to cover more ground, we should spread out more.”
“Don’t call me princess,” I growled at him.
I thought I caught sight of his lips twitching in amusement, and I told myself to stop reacting to his needling. It so wasn’t worth it, especially since it looked like I amused him.
I eyed the road in front of us and asked, “How much farther do you plan on going? We don’t want to spread ourselves too thin. Kind of ruins the point of fanning out.”
“I’m stopping here,” he said, guiding the truck over to the oversized shoulder and parking.
There were only so many places where one could put a vehicle if a trailhead wasn’t in the area.
I made a guess at how far he’d driven and decided we were probably in a good position. As he turned off the engine, I pulled out my radio and put in a call to Rafe. His voice crackled over the line. “We’re getting ready to head out, Lex. Where are you?”
“I’m not going to be joining up with you after all,” I said, hoping Hailey wasn’t listening.
“Is everything okay?” Rafe asked, sounding concerned.
“Good enough,” I lied. “You got this, right?”
“Oh, yeah. We’ll be good. Be safe.”
I hadn’t even had the chance to stow my radio before Roman had opened the door and hopped out, going to the small rear door on his side of the truck.
He had his pack in place before I even managed to wrest mine out.
He gave me an impatient look as I slung my pack into place. I stared him down, refusing to let him rush me as I shifted and tugged until I had my pack settled.
“Can we go now, princess?”
Eight
