by Katie Ruggle
Callum handed her the victim’s harness, which looked like a skinny pool noodle. It was attached to her rope with about six feet of line. That way, the victim would be first out of the water, and she’d be behind him, in a position to help lift him onto the ice.
“When you get to the victim, carabiner should be in your right hand,” Callum instructed. “The other end goes in your left. Get control of your suit before trying to save anybody. Approach the victim from the side or back, talk to him, harness him up, signal the guys to start pulling, and lift your knee to help boost him onto the ice with your thigh. Once you get your hands on him, do not let go of your patient. Got it?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded a little uncertain, so she firmed her jaw and tried again. “Yes.”
Callum’s mouth quirked up on one side. If it had been anyone but Callum, Lou would’ve thought he was holding back a smile.
Okay. Okay, she could do this.
She approached the edge of the ice, crawling when she was ten feet out and then moving to her belly and sliding across the last yard. Swinging her legs around, she dropped feetfirst into the water, careful to keep her face above the surface this time. She looked back at where Callum stood on the ice. He bumped his closed fist on the top of his head, the signal for Are you okay? She answered in the affirmative with a matching fist-to-head bump before heading toward her “victim.”
Holding her face out of the water, she swam toward Phil, who clung to the ice on the other side of the opening with melodramatic panic. Lou had to bite back a groan when she saw how he was putting every ounce of community-theater experience into his role of drowning victim.
Coming up next to him, she tried to get her legs underneath her as she spoke. “Hang on, sir. I’m Louise Sparks with the Field County Dive Team. We’re going to get you out of here.”
Phil’s pretend struggles increased, and his thrashing hand slapped the water, splashing it into her face. Air left her lungs again at the breath-stealing cold, and her legs floated up behind her. Damn it. When she could move her body again, she drew her knees up and pushed her feet straight down, glaring at her grinning victim.
“Oops,” Phil said. “Sorry, Lou.”
“Uh-huh,” she muttered as she moved around behind him. “I’m hooking this harness around you, sir, so the team on shore can pull you out.”
She struggled to reach around Phil’s wide girth, wishing she’d gotten skinny Wilt as her victim instead. The dry-suit gloves made her fingers thick and unwieldy, and she fumbled with the carabiner. To make matters even more silent-swear-worthy, Phil had resumed his melodramatic struggling.
“Don’t make me drown you,” she snarled, jerking her head back so his flapping elbow didn’t connect with her eye.
“Where’s your compassion, Lou? I’m a panicked, hypothermic tourist here.” The bastard sounded as if he were about to laugh.
“I’ll show you compassion,” she muttered through gritted teeth. “And if you’re hypothermic, shouldn’t you be getting tired and sluggish?”
“That sounds threatening.” Phil was definitely laughing, the ass. “As soon as you save me and I get out of the hospital, I’m going to file a complaint with your superior.”
“That’s where you’re wrong—there is no one superior to me,” she said, letting out a relieved grunt when she finally succeeded in hooking the carabiner through the metal loop of the harness.
Phil laughed and then wiggled several feet sideways, pulling his slick, neoprene-covered body free of her grip.
“Never let go of your patient!” Callum yelled. “Once you put your hands on him, you do not let go until he is being lifted into the ambulance, understand?”
With a heavy sigh, Lou tried to maneuver behind Phil again, but he was surprisingly agile for such a big guy. Plus, the training had been tiring, and she still had to help hoist Phil’s bulk out of the water. Clenching her jaw, she lunged toward him, managing to latch her arms around his waist.
“Got you!” she crowed, but her satisfaction was quickly overruled by irritation as her legs floated up behind her again, curving her spine into an awkward partial backbend. With Phil’s body in the way, she couldn’t pull her knees up very easily. After several unsuccessful attempts at getting her legs underneath her, she kicked out in frustration. But instead of passing through unresisting water, her booted foot hit hard against something.
“What the hell?” she mumbled, looking over her shoulder. She couldn’t see whatever it was through the murky water. It had felt fairly firm, although it had moved with her kick. She was tempted to thump it with her boot again, but reconsidered.
“What?” Phil had finally realized she was ignoring him. He quit his fake struggling, twisting his head around to follow her gaze.
“I kicked something.” She kept staring at the water, as if she’d suddenly develop X-ray vision. Her arms were still locked around Phil’s middle. No need to get yelled at for making the same mistake twice.
“The Mission Reservoir Monster?” he asked in his best spooky voice.
“What’s taking you so long?” Callum called from the ice. “For Christ’s sake, Sparks, your victim would be dead by now. Just complete the recovery, and let’s get his body out of the water so we can notify his next of kin.”
“You gave up on me so quick, Cal,” Phil whined. “Aren’t you even going to start CPR?”
“No way,” Derek yelled back. “He knows where those lips have been.”
“What’s the problem?” Callum didn’t sound amused. He did sound annoyed.
“There’s something under the water. I kicked it.”
“Shark?” Chad suggested.
“Seriously?” Derek scoffed. “In a freshwater reservoir?”
“Maybe,” Chad muttered with a shrug.
“Well, it didn’t bite me, so hopefully that rules out both the Reservoir Monster and all woman-eating fish.”
Moving a few feet closer, Derek peered at the water. “If it’s anything valuable, I call dibs.”
“No way!” Lou protested. “I’m the one who kicked it. Finders keepers!”
Callum expelled an impatient sigh loud enough for Lou to hear, even across the twenty feet that separated them. He moved to the edge of the ice and slid gracefully into the water. As he swam toward them, Lou turned back to scan for the unidentified object.
At first she thought she was imagining it, but she could definitely see something down there, and it was getting larger and more distinct with each second. She wondered if her kick had knocked whatever it was loose, allowing it to float to the top. As she stared, holding her breath, the faint shape got closer and closer, until a large, gray mass bobbed to the surface. Lou gave a muffled shout, her arms tightening around Phil. A part of her knew what it was as soon as it surfaced, but a larger portion refused to accept it.
No. No way. No way.
“Is that a body?” Derek yelled from the ice.
“Yep, that’s a dead guy,” Phil said, his voice as casual as if it were a beer can floating next to them and not the waxy gray back of a corpse.
“Huh.” Derek didn’t sound too freaked out about it, either. “Lou, I’m good with finders keepers, then. You can have it.”
She couldn’t respond. For once, no words would leave her mouth. All she could do was cling to Phil’s middle and try to breathe. It wasn’t working.
As he pulled up next to them, Callum looked at the peacefully bobbing mass of flesh. “Fuck.”
Lou’s lungs had locked up again, and she felt as if her face had been dunked back into the frigid water. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the bloated body.
“Hey, Cal?” Phil still sounded much too calm. “Where’s the head?”
About the Author
A graduate of the police academy, Katie Ruggle is a self-proclaimed forensics nerd. A fan of anything that makes her feel lik
e a badass, she has trained in Krav Maga, boxing, and gymnastics, has lived in an off-grid, solar- and wind-powered house in the Rocky Mountains, rides horses, trains her three dogs, and travels to warm places to scuba dive. She has received multiple Amazon Best Books of the Month and an Amazon Best Book of the Year. Run to Ground, the first book in her Rocky Mountain K9 Unit series, was a 2017 RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee. Katie now lives in a 150-year-old Minnesota farmhouse near her family.
Search and Rescue
In the Rockies, lives depend on the Search & Rescue brotherhood. But this far off the map, secrets can be murder.
By Katie Ruggle
Hold Your Breath
Louise “Lou” Sparks is a hurricane—a walking disaster. And with her, ice diving captain Callum Cook has never felt more alive…even if keeping her safe may just kill him.
Fan the Flames
Firefighter and Motorcycle Club member Ian Walsh rides the line between the good guys and the bad. But if a killer has his way, Ian will take the fall for a murder he didn’t commit…and lose the woman he’s always loved.
Gone Too Deep
George Halloway is a mystery. Tall. Dark. Intense. But city girl Ellie Price will need him by her side if she wants to find her father…and live to tell the tale.
In Safe Hands
Deputy Sheriff Chris Jennings has always been a hero to agoraphobe Daisy Little, but one wrong move ended their future before it could begin. Now he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe—even if that means turning against one of his own.
For more Katie Ruggle, visit:
sourcebooks.com
Rocky Mountain K9 Unit
These K9 officers and their trusty dogs will do anything to protect the women in their lives
By Katie Ruggle
Run to Ground
K9 officer Theo Bosco lost his mentor, his K9 partner, and almost lost his will to live. But when a ruthless killer targets a woman on the run, Theo and his new K9 companion will do whatever it takes to save the woman neither can live without.
On the Chase
Injured in the line of duty, K9 officer Hugh Murdoch’s orders are simple: stay alive. But when a frightened woman bursts into his life, Hugh and his K9 companion have no choice but to risk everything to keep her safe.
Survive the Night
K9 officer Otto Gunnersen has always been a haven: for the lost, the sick, the injured. But when a hunted woman takes shelter in his arms, this gentle giant swears he’ll do more than heal her battered spirit—he’ll defend her with his life.
Through the Fire
When a killer strikes, new K9 officer Kit Jernigan knows she can’t catch the culprit on her own. She needs a partner: local fire spotter Wesley March. But the more time they spend together, the hotter the fire smolders…and the more danger they’re in.
For more Katie Ruggle, visit:
sourcebooks.com
Also by Katie Ruggle
Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue
On His Watch (free novella)
Hold Your Breath
Fan the Flames
Gone Too Deep
In Safe Hands
After the End (free novella)
Rocky Mountain K9 Unit
Run to Ground
On the Chase
Survive the Night
Through the Fire
Rocky Mountain Cowboys
Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas
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