by Debbie Pack
Jim could tell from his voice, the memory was unpleasant for his friend. "But it didn't last forever, did it?"
Blair's eyes closed as he shuddered. His voice was shaky and distant as he continued, "No. It didn't last forever, but the next morning we found out a tornado had struck just down the road from where we were camped," he raised mournful eyes to Jim, "Three people were killed...an old woman and her two grandkids."
Jim didn't know what to say. Blair always seemed to take things too much to heart. He felt other people's pain deeply. Jim worried that he felt the pain sometimes too deeply.
After a few moments of silence between them, Blair shook himself out of the memory. "What is this place?," he asked.
Jim shook his head, also looking around.
"I'm not certain but it looks like an abandoned saw mill."
"Really?"
"Yeah. During one of the lightening flashes, I caught a glimpse of one of those incinerators they use to burn scrap wood."
"So what do we do now?"
Jim cocked his head to listen as the wind increased again, rattling the door as if trying to gain entrance. "We'd better see about getting comfortable for the night. I don't have any idea how long this is going to keep up."
"What about Whittaker?"
Jim looked thoughtful for a moment then grinned. "This storm will slow them down too and with any luck, they won't have found anyplace to cozy up in..." His voice trailed off as his eyes began searching what was left of the ceiling above them.
The wind had ceased abruptly as if it were taking a deep breath and gathering strength for another onslaught, but in the overwhelming silence, Jim was able to hear the creaks and groans issuing from the rafters above them. He listened a moment longer, stretching his sentinel ability just the slightest, fearful an unexpected clap of thunder would deafen him if he were caught unprepared.
The second he took was enough. He could definitely hear the boards that made up the roof as they strained under years of neglect.
The wind picked up with renewed force and Jim's face paled as he heard the first of the timbers give way. The ancient instinct of a sentinel to protect his partner kicked in and before he was aware he was actually on his feet, Jim had launched himself at Blair, knocking the smaller man to the ground and trying in vane to cover him from the falling boards.
He felt the first of the heavy timbers shake the floor as they hit and felt Blair jerk out of his grasp. Before he could react, an incredible pain flared up his left leg, shooting spikes of agony throughout his entire body. He heard Blair cry out and tried to turn to search for him as the roof collapsed in on them.
The fiery pain of his leg continued to build as the last of the timbers settled. Dust and mold, dislodged from the decaying wood floated down and mixed with the small amount of rain that was coming through the gaping hole left in the roof. Jim fought down the hurt and turned a wary eye toward the roof, curious whether or not anything was left to fall. A black fog floated into his sight from the edges of his vision. Holding his breath against the pain in his leg he saw a good portion of the roof remained and tried to gauge its stability. The rest looked fairly sturdy but he knew they couldn't take the chance more of the structure would not fall.
He spotted Blair's still form nearby and pulled himself forward. The younger man had not moved since he had cried out. Jim reached for the first of the timbers that lay across him.
"San...Sandburg," he called, surprised at his own weak voice. "Sandburg!...*cough...cough*... Blair!"
Jim fought against his fading vision, desperate to reach his partner. "Come on, buddy. I need you to help me...out...here. Chief?...."
The dark fog that had been hovering on the edges of his vision closed in. Jim felt himself collapse to the floor, unable to move. From a great distance he heard the storm continue in its fury but he no longer cared. He had lost all interest in it.
* * * *
Simon watched through the mini-blind as lightening flash off in the distance. The storm front the weather service had been predicting for the past few days had arrived in full force..
"Come on, Simon. Staring out that window isn't going to help your friends. There's nothing we can do until this thing dies down."
He released the blind but didn't move from the window. Thunder continued to rumble and slowly roll away in the distance. The storm was centered in the mountains. Simon shook his head regretfully. With Ellison and Sandburg's luck, it was probably right over the top of the two.
"I know. But it doesn't make me any less anxious about them. I wish we'd made better time today. We might have found them by now," he said regretfully.
Agent John Thompson lowered his head slightly, feeling a large amount of guilt for their wasted time. "I understand and I'm sorry but it couldn't be helped."
Simon heard the note of regret in the federal agent's voice. "I know you did your best, John. I'm not blaming you for that. It's just that....." He shook his head and sat on the edge of one of the two double beds in the room.
"What?"
"It's just.....that if something can go wrong with a situation and either Ellison or Sandburg are within five miles, it will go wrong."
Thompson smiled slightly, "Attract trouble do they?"
Simon grinned in return, "You might say that. I used to think it was all Sandburg's fault. I swear that kid is the biggest 'trouble magnet' I have ever met in my life, but Jim seems to keep getting into just as much trouble lately. I think the kid is rubbing off on him."
Thompson grinned as Simon looked up at him. "From what you've told me about them, they are quite a pair."
"They are for a fact." Simon turned for one more glance out the window before releasing the blind for the final time.
That morning they had been ready to begin their search for Ellison and Sandburg. The plan had been to utilize the helicopter and fly a grid search pattern along the area they knew Jim and Blair were taking. They had not seen or heard another helicopter in the area but had already found tracks indicating Whittaker and his people were on foot.
After a quick call to Spokane by Thompson to alert their personnel at the airport to be on the lookout for Whittaker's chopper, one of the agents had confirmed it had arrived at the airfield late the previous afternoon for refueling and was being detained until further notice by the Cascade agent. Simon had breathed a sigh of relief. Something had finally started going right for them.
He shook his head with regret. He should have know better.
While they had been breaking down the overnight camp, the pilot had been going over his pre-flight maintenance check and had discovered an oil leak in the helicopter. They had called for a backup chopper and been informed that the closest one was over two hours away.
The delay was unavoidable and inconvenient for them, but it could be deadly for Jim and Blair. With the delay, Simon knew the chance of them catching up with the two men before their pursuers was slim. Ten million dollars worth of diamonds would be enough of an incentive to keep Whittaker from giving up the search with or without his helicopter and by now the man had to know the FBI was on to his plans. His only choice now would be to give up or continue his quest for the missing diamonds and eliminate any witnesses before making himself scare.
Simon shuddered at that thought. He knew three people had been killed during the robbery and he didn't think Whittaker would worry about two more lives being added to that count.
While they had chafed under the forced wait, Thompson had pulled out the map of the area and began studying it once again. After a few moments he had stared intently then called Simon over and pointed out an old logging road he had discovered on the map that originated from a small community at the base of mountains. They had traced its path and the path Jim and Blair were apparently on and concluded the two would head for the road.
With no guarantee that the FBI could catch up with Ellison and Sandburg before Whittaker, the decision was made to fly on to the small town, named Silverton, as soon as
the backup chopper arrived. They would then take the logging road up into the mountains and try to intercept the two, lending support if they needed it. It was a longshot but it gave Jim and Blair better odds than the federal agents trailing along behind Whittaker or taking the chance of missing them from the air.
Unfortunately, there had been several delays during the day and they had not arrived in Silverton until just before dark. The storm front had moved in, dropping temperatures and firing off thunderstorms with brilliant lightening displays.
Now Simon was straining at his inability to help his friends, but he was glad Chief Thompson was with him. He didn't know what it was about the FBI agent but the man was incredibly easy to talk to. He had proven to be a good listener and Simon found himself telling Thompson about the unlikely pair and their exploits, always careful to leave out Sandburg's real reason for becoming an observer with the police department. He also found himself confiding his fears about his friends to the federal agent.
Simon heard the map being spread out and once again thanked whatever fates had sent John Thompson to head up the investigation that now concerned his friends.
Unlike the majority of federal agents Simon had dealt with in the past, Thompson had gone out of his way to include the Cascade Police Department. He had treated Simon as an equal, not an underling and had also taken into account his personal involvement in the situation.
When they had arrived in the tiny resort town, most of the rooms had already been booked by travelers waiting out the impending storm. The FBI had secured the last of the rooms in one of the nicer motels and set up a headquarters. Simon had been pleasantly shocked when Thompson **had offered the second double bed in his room to him so they could finalize their plans, instead of one of his fellow agents. Simon had eagerly accepted.
"So. What do you think?" he asked, nodding his head to indicate the map.
"I think...if your people are as intelligent and self-sufficient as you've told me they are, they'll have found someplace to wait out this storm and with any luck they'll have reached that abandoned sawmill."
"Can we rely on that information you got?"
Thompson nodded. "I think so. Sam Tucker's lived up here most of his life. He knows the area pretty well. We've used him for information before and it's always been reliable in the past."
"Did he give any indication as to what was still standing up there?"
"No. Unfortunately, no one's been up there in years. Sam said the operations shut down almost fifty years ago and the place had just been left to sit. The last time he was there was maybe fifteen....twenty years ago. There's no telling. But, whatever is left has got to beat being in the open."
Simon stared at the area on the map surrounding the sawmill. "I hope so. I'd hate to be the ones stuck out in the open in that storm."
Thompson began folding the map. "You're a good friend, Simon. I hope Ellison and Sandburg appreciate you."
Simon snorted but grinned, "The only thing Sandburg appreciates is when I'm not chewing his ass out," his voice soften slightly. He couldn't shake the foreboding feeling that kept eating at him. "I hope they're alright."
Thompson walked by and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm sure they are. Come on. Let's get a little sleep. We should be able to move out in a couple of hours."
* * * *
A groan escaped his lips for the second time in forty-eight hours as Jim Ellison awoke to pain. This time, however, it wasn't the dull aching he had experienced after regaining consciousness following the plane crash. This time the pain was sharp and defined, originating in his left leg. He clinched his teeth as another wave of agony rolled over him.
*God, it hurt. What had hit him?*
The last thing he remembered was thunder pounding in his head just before everything faded away into darkness.
He forced his eyes open in an attempt to look around. It was still dark, but at least the lightening from the storm was not as bad now and as he listened he could tell it had moved on to the distance. However, the light rain that was falling now carried a chill.
Jim shivered and wondered what had happened to Blair. His partner would be colder now also. Blair hated the cold.
Jim listened for the younger man's heart beat. His own heart rate increased when his search proved futile. In a burst of panic he pushed himself upright, shoving away the stray pieces of lumber that lay across his body. Pain flared from his leg again but he relegated it to the back of his mind. He had to find Sandburg.
He remembered hearing him cry out as the roof was falling in. He'd been hit by one of beams from the ceiling. Jim cursed under his breath as he realized that his own injury was interfering with his concentration. He shivered and forced himself to calm down. He had to find his partner.
*Concentrate, Jim. You can do this, man.*
Ellison jumped, startled, and looked around in the near total darkness for the source of the voice he had heard. It had been Blair's voice. He listened again. This time he was able to focus and realized the voice had been in his head.
He listened a moment more, then his breath quickened as he found the soft rhythm of another heart.
Sandburg.
Even though Jim couldn't see Blair, he could tell his partner was unconscious from the slowed rate. He stared into the darkness, opening his eyesight to its fullest potential to search.
The shelter they had sought during the height of the storm was now nearly nonexistent. The floor of the building where he lay was littered with fallen timbers scattered about in haphazard formation. His hearing led him to a pile nearest him. He focused his eyesight on the mound of debris and finally spotted Blair's jacket.
Jim pulled himself to the limp body, heedless of the pain in his leg that continued to slow him down.
Blair had fallen just out of arms reach, but now the distance seemed much greater. Gasping for breath, Jim removed several timbers that lay across his friend's body then paused long enough to visualize the imaginary dials Blair had taught him to use in controlling the agonizing pain. He turned them to their lowest setting, then began carefully removing the final lengths of wood from atop the unresponsive man.
A sense of deja vu hit Jim as he realized this was also the second time in two days he had removed debris from Blair's body. Jim tossed the last of the pieces of the rafters aside, then ran sensitive fingers across his partner's form. More bruising, some of it severe, but still nothing was broken. He breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe they'd still be able to get out of this.
"Sandburg," he coaxed.
Jim waited a moment then gently shook the younger man again, "Sandburg. Wake up." He waited as he felt Blair's body tense with returning consciousness. "Come on, buddy. Wake up."
* * * *
From what seemed like a million miles away, Blair heard his name being called. He wanted desperately to remain in the soothing darkness he'd found himself in. A part of him remember that what waited him beyond the quiet was a body pushed to exhaustion and the ache of constant cold. It was much nicer here, wherever it was he happened to be at the moment. He smiled to himself, enjoying the warmth and comfort he felt.
He fought the reawakening but couldn't stop it. Something in the voice that kept calling him demanded he obey its instructions. Instructions? Not really. More of a plea. The voice was becoming more familiar now. Jim? Yes. That was Jim's voice. Jim was calling him, telling him to wake up. He couldn't ignore that. When he was with Jim he was supposed to obey him. Simon had said so. That was one of the conditions he'd had to agree to before they let him become an observer. If Jim said jump, he asked how high. Jim said to wake up. He had to, there was no choice now.
* * * *
Jim watched as his partner pulled himself toward consciousness. "That's it, Chief. Come on. Wake up." He lifted Blair's head toward him and ran gentle fingers across his forehead and through the tangled mass of wet curls. He felt warm stickiness and pulled his hand back to reveal fresh blood. Quickly, he checked his young partner's head and foun
d a large swelling along the left side. Apparently one of the pieces of rafter had hit pretty solidly along the same side of Blair's head that had been struck during the airplane crash.
Blair's body jerked as he dragged himself through the last of the fog clouding his mind.
"Easy, Chief," Jim soothed, holding down the pain in his leg and placing a hand on Blair's chest to keep him from rising. He didn't want any rash movements until he was more sure of the anthropologist's condition.
Blair moaned and raised a hand to his head. "Jim?" His voice was weak.
"I'm here, buddy. Just take it easy."
"Oww...what happened?" he asked, trying again to rise.
"Lie still, Sandburg," the cop said firmly.
"What.....?"
"I said lie still."
Jim moved himself carefully until he could look into the younger man's eyes and tried desperately not to aggravate the pain emanating from his leg. "Have you still got your lighter?" he asked, patting down the pocket of Blair's jacket and grunting in satisfaction when he found it.
"Jim...you're scaring...me here. Wha....what is it? What's going on?"
Ellison flicked the lighter into a flame and held it away from his partner's face. Although he didn't need the help of the lighter to see in the darkness, he did need it to gauge the reaction of Blair's pupils to light. "Look at me," he ordered. He knew his voice sounded angry but the effort of keeping the pain in his leg at bay was wearing his temper thin. He'd make time later to answer questions and apologize.
Blair winced as the lighter kicked into life. His head was pounding and the sudden light, however faint, didn't make matter any better. Nervously, his eyes jumped from the flickering light to Jim's shadowy face.
"Wh..what?" he started to ask but even in the dim light he saw a familiar look on his partner's face. Jim was not ready to be questioned. Now was the time to obey.
After a few moments of moving the light back and forth, Jim shut it off. The reaction time was a little slow but there was really nothing they could do about it now. Jim would just have to watch him closely until they could reach help.
