by Charli Webb
“She can’t go with us on a call.” Anna wrinkles her nose, as if the idea itself smells bad.
“Knock it off, Anna.”
“She’s not a member of the team.”
“She’s a trainee.”
“I am?” Skylar arches her eyebrows.
I grin at her and grab my keys. “You are tonight.”
Anna’s face darkens. “Has she filled out the paperwork? Passed her physical?”
I’m usually extremely patient with Anna, more so than anyone else, but she’s seriously starting to piss me off. “She’s only observing tonight.”
“Doesn’t matter. No one is allowed to go on missions until they’re authorized.”
“I’m not going without her.”
“But…” Anna’s mouth falls open. “You have to.”
“No. I don’t.” I slide my arm around Skylar’s back, cupping the dip of her waist. Her body is rigid. Every muscle tense. I pull her against me and smile when she relaxes.
Anna presses her lips into a thin, hard line. She huffs and rolls her eyes. “Fine. I guess she can come.”
I kiss Skylar’s neck, just below her ear and whisper, “Over and over again.”
She grins and blushes.
There’s no way Anna heard me, but she glares at me as if she did.
Chapter Nineteen
Skylar
I dig my phone out before getting into Old Blue. The protective silicone case makes it stick to everything. Pulling it out and putting it back in is a real chore. I have to cock my hip and straighten my leg to pry it loose. Something I can’t do sitting down. I wait for Anna to get in and shut the door, then call Boone. He answers on the first ring.
“Hey, Skylar. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to let you know I’m spending the night with Rowdy so don’t wait up for me.”
He sighs into the phone. “Seems like things are moving sort of fast. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“We have a lot of history together so, no, we aren’t moving too fast. And yes, I’m definitely ready for this.”
“Why are you repeating everything I say? Is Anna there?”
“Anna, Rowdy and I are on our way to Eldo to pick off a stranded climber. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Be careful about antagonizing Anna. She fights dirty.”
“Sounds like you have experience with that. Care to fill me in?”
“Just be careful, okay?”
“Me? Careful? You know I’m an adrenaline junkie.”
Anna doesn’t even wait for me to end the call before she leans across me and starts yelling at Rowdy. “Did you hear her? She’s got no business going with us. She’s a hazard to herself and everyone else.”
Rowdy slams on the brakes then pulls off the road. “Goddammit, Anna, Skylar isn’t going to hurt me again. She left because her mom’s boyfriend went into witness protection. She didn’t have a choice. We’re together again and nothing’s going to change that so you better get used to it.”
If I weren’t so thrilled about Rowdy’s declaration, I’d be pissed off at him for telling Anna about WITSEC. But nothing can dim the joy I feel from hearing him say we’re together and we’re going to stay that way.
“But…” Anna’s face goes from crimson to chalky white. Her chin trembles. She sounds like a little girl. “I don’t like her.”
“You don’t have to like her, but if you want to stay friends with me, you have to be nice. I won’t tolerate anyone abusing my girl.”
Anna turns her face to the window. She swipes at her cheeks every few seconds. I actually feel sorry for her. Maybe once she gets used to the idea that Rowdy and I are a package deal, we can be friends. I glance at her reflection in the glass. She glares at me with pure hatred.
Rowdy starts humming some tune I don’t recognize.
“Is that a song you wrote?”
“Yeah.” He slides his hand a little higher up my leg. Nothing indecent, but it’s enough to elicit a snort of disgust from Anna.
I want to ask Rowdy if the song is one he wrote for me, but I don’t want to rub salt in Anna’s wounds. I feel bad for calling Boone instead of texting him, now. I’d like to believe my only motivation was to get Anna to accept the fact that Rowdy and I are together. But I’d be lying. I wanted to hurt her. I don’t like what that says about me. We’ll never be friends, but I don’t have to be a vindictive bitch.
~***~
We’re among the first to arrive at the parking lot where everyone is meeting. Rowdy introduces me to an older guy, Mike Haskell, and tells him I’m thinking about joining BMR.
Mike frowns as he shakes my hand. “You can’t participate in the rescue, understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And stay out of the way.”
Anna smirks at me. I refuse to let her bait me. Her grin fades when Mike assigns her to group four and puts Wade in charge.
She pushes her lower lip out in a pout. “I want to be in group one.”
No surprise there. Rowdy’s in charge of that one.
The wrinkles around Mike’s eyes deepen. “Maybe you should sit this one out.”
Anna’s lips part into an ‘O’ but she recovers quickly. “Fine. I’ll go with Wade.”
I hang out near the BMR van so I can eavesdrop on the radio chatter. Everyone expects this rescue to be quick and easy. Someone mentions heading to The Dark Horse afterwards. I recognize Rowdy’s voice through the static.
“Base, this is Rowdy. We’re unable to acquire a visual of the victim.”
Mike scowls. “What’s your location?”
“Kloof Alcove. No one is on Half and Half.”
“Check nearby routes.”
“We did. We also interviewed several climbers. No one is aware of anyone requiring assistance.”
Mike sighs. “Check out West Redgarden Wall.”
The excited chatter dies out. Mike recalls everyone to base. Wade’s group is one of the first to return.
Mike rubs the back of his neck as he talks to Wade. “I’m ninety-nine percent certain this is a prank call.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Several things. The woman that called in the report hung up immediately after relaying the information. Emergency services location technology put her in the town of Eldorado Springs, not inside the park when she made the call. She didn’t answer when dispatch called back. There’s no voice mail and no name or address associated with the number.”
Wade says, “Sounds like she used a burner phone.”
Anna continues to glare at me as she leans against the van, arms crossed over her chest. But at least she’s quiet.
“I hate wasting resources on a false alarm, but we need to keep searching until we’re sure.” Mike shifts his gaze from Wade to me. “Do you want to help with the ground search?”
“She’s not a member!” Anna’s outburst draws everyone’s attention.
You don’t have to be a member to participate in a ground search and she knows it. “I’d love to help.”
“She’s a liability.” Anna continues to talk about me as if I’m not standing right in front of her. “She had to be rescued off The Bastille last month.”
“I’m well aware of Skylar’s mountaineering abilities as well as her tendency to push the envelope.”
My cheeks heat up as I realize Rowdy must have been talking about me to Mike.
“She has asthma.”
I take a slow, deep breath to calm my temper as well as demonstrate my breathing ability. “It’s under control and I have an inhaler. And I promise I’ll follow Wade’s instructions to the letter.”
“See that you do.”
Anna mutters to herself as we follow Wade up the West Ridge Trail. I’m starting to feel less pity for her.
We search for hours, talking to everyone we meet. No one’s seen or heard about a stranded climber. It’s getting dark.
Anna jogs up to Wade then taps his shoulder. “Hey, I need to make
a pit stop.”
Wade nods. “Take Skylar.”
I have to pee so bad my kidneys hurt but I didn’t say anything because Anna and I are the only women in the group and BMR is a stickler for rules. The ‘no one goes alone’ rule means there’s no getting out of it. I wait for the main group to disappear around a corner then step off the trail.
Anna grabs my arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To find a bush?”
“The ranger’s station is less than half a mile from here.”
“That’s a huge waste of time.”
“I need to do more than just pee so I’m going to the ranger station where there’s toilet paper.”
“TMI.”
She rolls her eyes. “I suppose you never shit.”
My bathroom habits are none of her business. I grit my teeth. “Fine, we can go to the ranger’s station.”
The tension builds as we hike. After about five minutes, Anna breaks the angry silence. “We need to talk.”
“About what?”
“About how you’re ruining Rowdy’s life.”
Aw crap, here we go again. “I’m not ruining his life. He’s happy.”
“His drinking’s out of control, he’s neglecting his duties and all he wants to do is spend time with you. You’re an addiction.”
“He doesn’t drink any more than the rest of the guys. He’s not neglecting his duties and I’m just as addicted to him as he is to me. It’s not a problem.”
“If you care about him at all, you’ll leave him alone.”
A couple of hikers pause on the trail.
“Can we talk about this later?”
Anna ignores me and talks louder. “You didn’t see him after you left. He was devastated. If I hadn’t been there to pick up the pieces, he would have killed himself.”
The hikers don’t even try to hide the fact that they’re listening.
“He’d never do that.”
Anna’s shouting now. “You took his virginity the night his mother died then disappeared without a trace.”
Oh my god. Really? I can’t believe Rowdy told her about our first time. I glare at the hikers, two women. “Do you mind? This is a private conversation.”
They turn their backs and continue down the trail. One of them looks over her shoulder. “I’m pretty sure the entire canyon can hear your private conversation.”
I rub my temples, but it doesn’t alleviate the building pressure.
Anna’s chest heaves with every breath. Her eyes are wild and wide. “I’ve invested too much into my relationship with Rowdy to just let you steal him away from me.”
“Anna, listen to me. Rowdy cares about you. He might even love you, but as a sister, not romantically.”
She moves closer, invading my personal space. “If you hadn’t come back, we’d be together by now.”
I take a step back, putting me closer to the edge of the narrow trail.
“He’s mine!” Anna shoves me. Hard.
I windmill my arms, trying to regain my balance. It doesn’t work. Pain explodes across my ribs as I bounce off a boulder. I try to relax as I tumble down the talus field like a rag doll. It’s supposed to hurt less if you don’t tense up. I don’t think it’s working. At least I’m wearing a helmet. I grab at anything I can as I roll down the rocky slope, tearing my nails, shredding my palms, but nothing I do slows my deadly descent.
I finally stop when I slam against a tree but the world continues to spin. A red tail hawk circles above me. I try to inventory my injuries without actually looking at them but everything hurts.
Loose rocks, some of them as big as my fist, continue to rain down on me. It should have stopped by now.
The scrape of boots on gravel fills me with relief. Someone’s coming. But they should know better than to descend right on top of me. Are they trying to trigger a landslide? Whoever it is nudges my helmet with their foot. What the hell? “Don’t.”
“So, you’re alive. Too bad.”
Anna.
“Barely, no thanks to you.”
She kicks me again. Every last shred of sympathy I had for her disappears.
She squats down beside me and cocks her head to the side. “Hmm…what to do, what to do?”
“Call for help, you crazy bitch. I can’t walk out of here on my own.”
“I don’t think so.” She unclips her multitool knife.
Fear replaces anger. “What are you doing?”
She flicks the blade open then waves it back and forth in front of my face. “I told you to leave Rowdy alone, but you wouldn’t listen.”
I don’t swear very often but this is definitely an ‘oh fuck’ situation. “Rowdy will hate you if you kill me.”
“Perhaps.”
I try to claw my way into a sitting position, but I’m too weak. My vision turns grey around the edges. I try to remain conscious. And fail.
When the fog clears, the rough bark of the lodgepole pine is pressing against my back. I’m sitting up. Someone’s holding my hand. I open my eyes. It’s Anna. Thank god she came to her senses.
She squeezes my hand tighter. She’s helping me hold something. I look down. My fingers are wrapped around her knife. Is she trying to stage a suicide? “No one will believe I killed myself.”
“Maybe not. But they will believe you tried to kill me.” She slowly draws the serrated blade across her forehead then lets go of my hand.
I drop the knife. “Oh my god! You really are crazy.”
She leans over me and lets her blood pour onto the front of my shirt. “When Rowdy sees what you’ve done to me, he’ll comfort me. Just like I comforted him. It’ll be just like it was before you came back.” Spit flies out of her mouth as she yells at me. “You ruined everything!”
I hope someone hears her ranting before she changes her mind and decides to just kill me. “You’re right. Go find Rowdy and tell him what happened.”
“You don’t think he’ll believe me.” Anna narrows her eyes then jumps to her feet. She points at me. “You brainwashed him.”
She paces back and forth, rubbing her hands as if she’s washing them. “I need more time. I have to get him out from under your spell. Once I do, he’ll see what a monster you are. He’ll be glad I saved him.”
“That’s right.” My vision is swimming again. “Go find Rowdy. Save him from me.”
Anna pokes a stick through the carabiner attached to her knife and drops it into her pack without touching it. She removes my helmet. A breeze ruffles my hair. It feels good.
“Thanks.” I must be going into shock. Why else would I thank her for anything?
Anna grins as she picks a rock up off the ground and holds it over my head. “Any time.”
Chapter Twenty
Rowdy
The easy pickoff turns into an all out search.
We scour all the trails and interview climbers at the base of every cliff in the park, but no one knows anything about a stranded climber. Eldo is a popular place and any sort of rescue drama always draws a crowd. The fact that not a single person knows anything is highly suspicious.
Mike calls off the search when the last trail is crossed off the map. It’s too dangerous to search off-trail in the dark when we don’t even know if there’s anyone out there. Everyone knows the park closes at dusk. Usually, if a climber is more than a few hours late and can’t be reached, someone calls it in. But not every dickwad with a rope is smart enough to tell someone they’re going climbing or when to expect them back.
It only takes half an hour for most of the volunteers to meet up in the parking lot. Skylar isn’t one of them. I grab Wade. “Skylar was assigned to your group. Where is she?”
“She isn’t here?”
“If she was, would I be asking?”
“She and Anna fell back to take a bathroom break.”
My stomach drops. “When was that?”
“About two and a half hours ago.”
“Shit.” Sweat beads on my forehea
d. I feel a little guilty for not noticing that Anna’s not back either. “And you weren’t worried when they didn’t show up?”
“Of course I was. I called Anna. She told me they decided to go to the ranger’s station so they could use the facilities there. By then, we’d reached the fork where Eldo branches off from West Ridge. It was getting dark so I told her to just go back to base.”
I pull my cell out and call Skylar. It goes straight to voice mail. The same thing happens when I call Anna. I run over to Mike. “Did Skylar or Anna check in yet.”
“No.”
“Did Anna call after splitting off from Wade’s group?” My voice cracks.
Mike presses his lips together and shakes his head. “Wade. Get over here.”
Wade explains the situation to the few members of the group still on site while I pace.
Mike authorizes us to search the trail between base and the girls’ last known position. “Follow protocol. Stay on the trail. If you find something, mark it and call it in.”
I don’t care if it breaks the rules. I don’t even care whether or not it’s safe. I’m not leaving without Skylar and Anna.
Wade, Derek and I gear up again and head back into the canyon. The girls have to be somewhere between here and the fork in the trail. It’s only about a quarter mile, but it’s still a lot of ground to cover, especially in the dark. Even more so if they left the trail. My anxiety rises with every step I take. If we don’t find them before we reach the fork…
I can’t afford to think about that. We call their names every few seconds. But no one answers.
Chapter Twenty-One
Skylar
I wake up with the worst headache I’ve ever had. It’s getting worse by the second. The acrid stench of vomit burns my nose. I gag. Pain explodes across my left side. I clutch it instinctively. Shit. That hurts. Everything hurts. My crotch and thighs are cold and damp. Did I piss myself? I try to open my eyes but it feels as if they’re glued shut. I rub them with the base of my thumbs. The left half of my face is caked with dried mud. What happened? I’m on my side, wrapped around something hard and rough. It’s a tree. God, my head hurts. I pry my eyelids apart, but I can barely see. It’s dark. Where am I? The last thing I remember was lying in Rowdy’s bed. We were about to make love when we were interrupted by a phone call. I try to sit up, but change my mind when a wave of nausea crashes over me. Bits and pieces of the past few hours float through my mind. Anna pounding on Rowdy’s door… Sitting in Rowdy’s truck… The ranger at the entrance gate of Eldorado State Park waving us through. That’s it. I’m in Eldo Canyon. But it’s dark. The park closes at sunset. I’m alone. And hurt. Where’s Rowdy? I lick my parched lips and call his name. It’s barely a whisper.
