Page 71 of High Frequency

Even from here, I can see the man’s jaw muscle clench. I’m sure as a former federal agent, it’s counter-intuitive for him to let a potential shooter go, but Sloane’s rescue has my priority. To his credit, he turns his back on his horse and joins me at the ledge.

“Sloane? I’m coming down. Don’t move, please.” I hand the harness to Wolff. “Hang on to that for a sec.”

When I lower myself, the only tricky part is the slight overhang, but once I get one foot braced against the wall below, I set the other down on the rock next to Sloane.

“Toss it to me?”

Once I have the harness in hand, I bend down and slip it over her boots. Then I turn my head to look at her.

“What hurts?”

“Right ankle,” she admits.

I move to her right side and hook her under her armpit so she can keep the weight off.

“Whenever you’re ready.”

When she’s on her feet, I quickly strap her into the harness and loop the rope through the guide I clipped onto it. Then I toss the remainder of the rope back up at Wolff.

“Turn to face the rock,” I tell Sloane. “I’m going to lift you, while Wolff pulls you up, okay? All you have to do is use your hands so you don’t get hung up on that overhang.”

Not long after that, Wolff pulls her up on the ledge and unclips her rope, tossing it back down to me. Ten seconds later I have her wrapped in my arms and kiss her hard. Wolff wanders off to take care of the rope, giving us a minute.

“Someone was shooting at me,” she says, when I have her safely in Will’s saddle in front of me.

“I know. We found the shells when we came looking for you.”

She twists in the saddle and tilts her head back to look at me.

“Tell me you got them?”

I point at Wolff who is on Judge in front of us. “Three of them. In a tissue in his pocket.”

She pulls her walkie-talkie from her pocket and hands it to me.

“Good. The asshole almost got me. Busted the radio instead.”

She points out the missing dial and the dent in the metal casing. Then she shows me a hole in her pocket.

I have to swallow down bile as I realize that may well have caused that high frequency squeal over the radio that spooked the horses. I band an arm around her and pull her tighter to me.

“I’m not letting you out of my fucking sight.”

She leans into me.

“That may be a problem. I still have a job to do.”

Twenty-One

Sloane

Dan is not happy with me.

He wanted to sweep me off to the hospital to get my ankle checked out, but I flat-out refused. I insisted we return to where Bo and Jillian were waiting for my backup.

As it turns out, Sheriff Ewing and two deputies arrive right behind us on two more ATVs. Unfortunately, one of them is Frank Schmidt.Ugh.

“What is wrong with you?” Junior asks when Dan helps me dismount.

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