Who's Your Daddy?

by Lynda Sandoval

  He glanced over my shoulder toward Dylan. “If the storm hits, I want Dylan to head home right away.”

  “Okay.”

  “Before the roads get bad, Lila. I mean it. Unless he’s comfortable getting snowed in at our house.”

  GLURK! My face flamed like I’d stuck it over a Bunsen burner and held it there. “Uh, yeah. That’s not going to happen, Dad.”

  “Good.” Dad glanced at his watch. “I’ll check in as soon as I can. Be good.”

  “’Kay. You, too.”

  Dad chucked my chin, then headed off in his company 4x4.

  I jogged back over to Dylan, who looked totally curious.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “I guess there’s a hiker lost near Elk Bugle trail.”

  I could almost see Dylan’s ears perk. “Really? We may get called out to help with the search.”

  My heart actually jumped with excitement. Search and rescue sounded like a much cooler detail than tearing tickets. “I didn’t know we did stuff like that.”

  Dylan rolled his eyes. “That’s because you see exactly what you want to see when it comes to the Explorers, Lila, and most of it’s bad.”

  “Whatever.”

  We didn’t even have a chance to get back to the meat of our previous conversation before Dylan’s cell phone rang a few minutes later. He pulled it off his belt clip and checked the caller ID. “The PD,” he told me in a worried voice, before flipping the face open and answering. “This is Dylan.” A pause. I stared at his profile, trying to get a feel for the conversation. “Hi, Chief.”

  My dad?

  “Uh-huh. Uh-huh.” All of a sudden Dylan’s expression changed from psyched to scared. “Oh no.”

  Prickles of fear seeped into my mind, so I looked away and thought about song lyrics. Obviously something terrible had happened, but I’d get the 411 soon enough. Why rush it? I looked up into the graying sky just as the first, fat snowflakes began to fall, and MAN, did that feel like a foreboding sign.

  After a moment, Dylan said good-bye, snapped his phone shut, and stood. “Come on. We have to change into our uniforms and head out.”

  “Where?”

  “To the command post at the Elk Bugle trailhead. Your dad is launching a major search due to the snow. We won’t have much time if it really starts coming down.” He pointed at his car. “I have a uniform in my gear bag. Can I come in and change?”

  “Of course.” For once, I didn’t even pout about having to don the polyester nightmare. I jumped to my feet as well, snatching up the potato chip bag. As we rushed over toward Dylan’s car, I asked, “Do they know who the hiker is?”

  “I guess it’s actually a child who wandered off alone.” His gaze locked with mine, and I got a huge honkin’ case of goosebumps. Both of us knew this could be really, really bad.

  I just had no idea HOW bad. At least, not right at that moment …

  thirteen

  The command post buzzed with a sense of urgency when we got there, but an unspoken undercurrent of doom kept things subdued. The snow had begun falling sideways—a BAD sign. All of us knew that blizzard snow fell sideways. About fifty search and rescue people had already gathered, with more expected. I glanced around at my fellow nares and everyone else, and read the fear on everybody’s faces; I absorbed the feeling of tension and the itch to get moving.

  One of the cops was busy handing out bright orange vests, headlamps, flares, and other safety equipment to all of us, and a second officer was taking names and assigning numbers to each team of two. Dylan and I were assigned to work together, and I was glad. He’d done backcountry search and rescue before. Sure, he wasn’t a trained member of Alpine Search and Rescue, but I knew Dylan and felt comfortable with him. I trusted him more than I realized I ever would.

  While the equipment distribution was underway, my dad stood up front with a megaphone and laid out the search plan for all of us. The white glare of the ambulance lights, which had parked behind the mobile command post vehicle, illuminated him. It seemed like a scene out of a suspense flick.

  In a calm and reassuring voice, my dad gave out pertinent information and went over the rules for the safe search. I have to admit, apprehension and adrenaline kept me from hearing much of what he said. But, as I watched my dad take control of this very scary situation, I couldn’t help but admire his confident and cool collectedness. I mean, all of us were feeling uncertain and terrified of what we might find—I could feel it in the air like an electrical crackle just before a lightning strike. But Dad made us all feel like we were charged with the most important job ever, and he had faith we would carry it out capably. Simply through the words he chose and the way he spoke, he imbued the entire crowd with confidence to match his own.

  I glanced around and saw that every volunteer out there, as well as all the cops, firefighters, and other rescue personnel, was gaining courage from my dad’s laidback but in-control leadership. It struck me, at that split second, why my dad was so admired and respected in White Peaks. Freaky. I saw him, maybe for the very first time, as the large-and-in-charge professional that made my brothers, and so many other guys, want to be just like him. At that moment, I even wanted to be like him.

  The shocking revelation made me tune Dad out completely. I just had to wallow in my unexpected wave of respect for him. It was a full-on feelin’-the-Moreno-family-love moment, and it totally floored me.

  “Oh, crap.”

  Dylan’s exclamation startled me, and I blinked my way back into the present moment. “What’s wrong?” I whispered. His face had gone sort of white and pinched.

  He pointed toward my dad. “Didn’t you hear what he just—”

  “Lila!”

  I spun away from Dylan at the sound of Meryl’s urgent voice. My confusion grew. What was she doing here? Wasn’t she supposed to be at work? Had the news of the missing child traveled through White Peaks so quickly that the town closed down business for the day? I mean, Meryl wouldn’t have heard about it on television.

  As she jogged toward me and Dylan, her red hair flew out behind her. Ismet and Shefka jogged only a few steps behind Meryl, which surprised me anew, and all three of them looked panicked. I started to freak, so I ran over to meet them.

  When Meryl got close enough, I saw that her face was streaked with tears. I grabbed her upper arms to brace her. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Jenita.”

  “What?”

  “The lost child. It’s Jenita Hadziahmetovic,” she said, with a catch in her voice.

  “Holy—” My stomach plunged. “What happened?”

  “She and my parents were up here before the snow, and she wandered off,” added Shefka, who had just caught up and was out of breath and wild-eyed. “She is always in her own world. I cannot imagine what made her …” Shefka burst into tears, stifling her sobs with a fist against her mouth. Ismet maintained his composure, but he put his arm around Shefka and pulled her close.

  “We have to find her”—Ismet said what we were all thinking but afraid to say—“before the snow gets worse.” He tipped his head back and stared at the sky, blinking as the flakes landed on his eyelashes.

  We all followed his gaze, and none of us were happy with what we saw. The snow was coming faster and harder. We had a small window of time in which to turn this situation from a tragedy to a miracle.

  “We want to join the search,” Meryl said, in a determined tone. “Who do we talk to?”

  “I-I don’t know, Mer.” I whipped a glance toward my dad. He was busy, so I beckoned Dylan over. When he reached us, I simply said, “It’s Jenita.”

  “I know. That’s what your dad told the group.”

  And what I hadn’t heard. I wondered what else I might have missed while I’d been lost in my own thoughts.

  Dylan addressed Ismet and Shefka. “Don’t worry, you guys. We will find her.”

  “In time,” I added firmly, before turning to Dylan. “Meryl, Ismet, and Shefka are going to join o
ur team.” I didn’t ask, because there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d tell them they couldn’t assist in the search, even if he balked. Sure, none of them had training, but let’s face it, neither did I. Not for this. Besides, if I had a little sister who’d gotten lost in the mountains during a snowstorm, nothing would stop me from doing all I could to find her, including lack of training.

  Luckily, Dylan didn’t argue at all. He pressed his lips together and nodded once, looking grim. “Let’s get them vests and lights then. We need to get going.”

  Search and rescue, I quickly learned, was a painstaking process of moving slowly in a pattern through the search area, all while calling out for the lost person and making sure every square inch of ground was checked in case she was hurt or unconscious and unable to reply.

  Horrific thought.

  Initially, the five of us stuck together, but pretty soon we decided we’d cover more ground quicker if we spread out.

  Meryl, Shefka, and Ismet split off, and Dylan and I stayed together. We were careful to remain within yelling distance of each other, though, and we checked in every minute or so.

  The snow came steadily harder, and each time I looked at the sky, panic welled up in my throat. I managed to hold it back and continue the search, but when I pictured Mr. and Mrs. Hadziahmetovic back at the command post fearing the worst, another wave would hit. I did my best to push away the terror and forge ahead, because I knew the only way out of this nightmare was to find Jenita safe and sound. But I’d never been so scared in my life. The upside was, I had never felt so focused before, either. We absolutely would find Jenita, because the alternative was too awful to contemplate.

  For the first time ever, I felt grateful and sort of empowered to be a part of the Police Explorers, even to be wearing the uniform. I drew comfort from the ugly thing. Wearing it meant I didn’t have to stand by helplessly. I could actually do something constructive. I felt proud that I could make a difference, no matter how small, with something this important. In contrast to the ticket ripping and other stupid tasks, I wanted to give my all to this process, and then some.

  It wasn’t about the uniform.

  It wasn’t about my punishment.

  For the first time in a long time, it wasn’t about ME.

  I wanted to use every skill I’d learned, and most shocking of all, I wanted people to look at me when this was all over and think, Hey, that Lila sure is her father’s daughter. This moment was real life, and I was a Police Explorer with an important life-or-death role. I didn’t feel like a fraud. Instead, I felt like a lifeline to little Jenita.

  Premature darkness had fallen, and about five inches of snow had accumulated by the time we found her.

  It happened like this:

  Dylan and I had been calling out for her, checking every bush and gully and ravine with no luck. Two hours or so into the search, we came upon a big pile of boulders. Dylan scrambled to the top. “Jenita!” he called out, just like he’d done a hundred times before. But this time …

  “I am here,” I heard, coming from somewhere to my left.

  My heart crashed against my ribs and my skin began to tingle. My entire body trembled. “Dylan! I heard her.”

  He spun back to face me. “Where?”

  The sheer urgency made me shake my hands as if I’d burned them and bounce up and down. “I don’t know. Call her again!”

  He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Jenita!”

  “Here,” came her weak reply.

  Dylan and I both moved toward the general direction of her voice, then we froze and listened. “Jenita, keep talking to me.”

  “Help me.”

  We ran closer. Dylan made his way down the boulders and grabbed my hand. Both of us were shaking. We held on tight and listened with every bit of our attention.

  “Are you okay, Jenita?” Dylan called out.

  “No.”

  We exchanged a frightened glance.

  “Stay where you are and keep talking,” Dylan instructed. Despite the physical evidence of his fear, his voice remained soothing and strong. “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you okay?”

  “My ankle is hurt,” she said, her tiny voice going a bit wobbly. “I fell.”

  “Oh no,” I whispered to Dylan.

  He put his arm around me and pulled me against him briefly. “It’s okay. We found her and it’s just her ankle. She’ll be fine.”

  I choked back the urge to cry and nodded.

  “Jenita!”

  “I am here,” she called back, and it sounded like we were right on top of her.

  Both of us whipped frantic glances all around us.

  “By the tree.”

  Of course, there were trees everywhere, but it helped that she was speaking to us. We needed to follow our ears and hold back our panic, and this nightmare could end.

  “Tell me if we sound closer, Jenita!” Dylan hollered, moving toward his left.

  “Here!” Her voice sounded more excited. “Over here!”

  Dylan and I both scanned the area, and my eyes settled on something pink. A pair of pants. “Look!” I pointed.

  There was little Jenita, down at the bottom of a ravine, sitting against some exposed tree roots. She was protected, somewhat, from the weather, but woefully underdressed for the storm. Her teeth chattered, and snow had begun to pile up on her outstretched legs. Just seeing her like that made my world swirl down to a wavery black pinpoint of nausea. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply until the urge to faint passed.

  Still, we’d found her. The knowledge of how much worse this could’ve been kicked me in the gut. If we had not walked in this direction and happened upon her, she never would’ve been able to survive the cold weather. And she couldn’t walk out, because she’d hurt her ankle.

  GOD, the worst-case-scenario images sickened me.

  We slipped and scrambled our way down to her, and only when we were at the base ot the small ravine with her did I catch sight of her ankle, twisted unnaturally to the side. My stomach rolled, and I bent forward to put my head between my knees. Deep breaths. Don’t puke. I took a moment to mentally cross ER doc off my list of possible career choices. Ditto paramedic and nurse, or ANYTHING medical at all.

  Dylan, thankfully, wasn’t similarly woozed out. “Hey, Jenita,” he said, in this comforting voice that completely contrasted with the fear sluicing through my veins. “Don’t you worry, we’re going to take you back and get you some help, okay? How’s that ankle?”

  Jenita had been holding it together, but at the sound of Dylan’s voice, she started to cry. “It hurts.”

  Dylan squatted down and ruffled her hair ever so gently. “I know it does, kiddo. But we’re here now, okay? You did a great job helping us find you.”

  “I want my mom,” she wailed.

  Dylan turned to me, and I knew what he was thinking without either of us saying a word. We couldn’t give Jenita her mother, but her brother and sister would be a good alternative until we got her down the hill to safety.

  “Call for the others,” he said in a low voice.

  I nodded, then scrambled my way out of the ravine. I cupped my tingling hands around my mouth. “Meryl! Ismet!”

  “Over here!” came Ismet’s reply.

  “We found her!”

  “Where are you?”

  It was so stormy dark, and I didn’t know how to best describe my whereabouts. After a moment, I pulled the mini Maglite off my equipment belt and flashed a strobe of light onto the top of the boulder Dylan had climbed when we first heard Jenita. “Do you see my light?”

  “Yes!”

  “Walk toward that boulder and turn right. You’ll see me.”

  After more back-and-forth talking and continuous strobing with my beam, all three of them came crashing through the woods in my direction. I waved my hands wildly.

  “Is she okay?” Ismet called.

  “She broke her ankle, but otherwise she’s fine, I think.”

  “Thank goodness,�
� Shefka said, breaking down into tears again. “Thank goodness for that.”

  When we were all together, I led them swiftly back to Dylan, who was completely focused on the little girl as we approached. His calm command of the situation amazed and impressed me. In the short time I’d been away, Dylan had somehow managed to get Jenita smiling. He had removed his coat and wrapped her in it, and his ski cap was on her little head. He must have been freezing, but if so, he didn’t show it. A gush of affection filled my heart as I watched his sweet, gentle manner with her. Meryl must’ve felt it, too, because she reached over and squeezed my hand.

  Ismet and Shefka rushed to their little sister’s side and started speaking to her in soothing tones. I didn’t know what they were saying, because they were both speaking Bosnian, which seemed to calm her. Jenita cried when she first saw her siblings, but they appeared to be tears of relief rather than fear.

  Dylan stood, lobbing me his radio. “Call down to the command post and let them know we found her, okay?”

  GLURK! “Okay. W-what should I tell them?”

  He gave me an encouraging smile. “That she’s cold and has a fractured ankle, but other than that it’s all good news.”

  I nodded, but I felt out of my element. I took a moment to plan out a very professional radio transmission. I decided it would go something like, “Team 33 to the command post, we’ve located the party. She has a fractured ankle and cold exposure, but she’s fine otherwise. We’re en route to your location.”

  My heart was nearly thrumming out of my chest at the prospect of what I had to do. I know it seems stupid, but I’d never talked on the radio before and the whole freakin’ department, not to mention all the volunteers, would be listening. I whispered a quick prayer, keyed the mike, then said, “Team 33 to the command post.” I unkeyed and waited for acknowledgment.

  “Team 33, go.”

  It was my dad.

  Unexpected tears clogged in my throat. Relief and fear and a whole tangle of emotions overwhelmed me, and my little copspeak speech went straight out the window. With sobs in my throat, all I could manage was, “Daddy, it’s Lila. We found her.”