Page 52 of One Last Shot

“Oaken—”

The sliding door behind them opened. Oaken’s gaze broke away even as Moose’s voice shattered the moment. “Hey, guys—we need to go. We have a callout. Hiker, fell over a cliff.”

Boo got up, Oaken right behind her.

She looked at him. “What are you doing?”

“Going with you?”

She drew in a breath, looked at Moose, who stood at the door.

“Fine. Yes. But no cameras. You do this right and maybe we film a real rescue.”

He smiled, and it did a crazy thing to her insides.

Oh boy. See, this was why she should never put on pants.

Watching the Air One team deploy, gear up, rig the anchoring systems, then descend down to the twenty-some-year-old woman who lay some thirty feet down in the darkness, Oaken almost regretted not calling Huxley.

Then again, Boo had relegated him to holding lights and relaying information to Shep, working the Maestro semi-static downward rescue system.

Boo had explained it to him on the way over—two anchor points, with semi-static ropes that held two climbers—in this case London and Axel. They’d descend, a litter strapped between them, then load it up, and using pulleys, the team would pull them back up top.

“According to the dispatch from the state troopers on the scene, she’s fallen on the Thunderbird Falls trail, below the falls. It’s too dense to get a chopper in there. There’s a canyon trail that runs along the river, on top, and then an overlook over the falls.” Boo had pulled out her tablet and zoomed in. “She’s not far from the falls. It’s about a mile in, and usually there are no vehicles allowed, but we’ll go in on our ATVs so we can transfer her out quickly.”

Boo had changed into her red rescuejumpsuit at HQ and checked the medical kit, while Moose and Shep hooked up the ATVs on trailers and London packed the climbing gear. He’d helped Boo check her medical supplies, then loaded them into the rescue vehicle.

Shep drove the rescue vehicle with London in the passenger seat, Boo and Oaken strapped into the side seats, and space in the back for a litter. Moose and Axel towed the ATVs.

When they arrived at the trail head, Shep and London piled onto the ATV while the rest climbed into the four-passenger Polaris, and they took off down the trail, headlights cutting through the forest.

State troopers had set up a perimeter of lights, and it wasn’t hard to spot the panicked boyfriend, who met them with explanations and details.

Oaken got then why Boo wasn’t keen on Huxley and Beto filming. Too much actual horror. And in the darkness, someone could easily get hurt.

“I need two long-tail interlocking bowlines,” London said, handing him two ropes. “We’ll hook them onto the bridle on the litter.”

He looked at her. “Me?”

“I’ll check your work, but yes, you. I need to set up the anchors. Make sure you leave a long tail on both, as they’ll be our secondary safety lines.”

He nodded and knelt, picking up the lines.

In the distance, the falls shushed the air, and conversation from the team belied swift work. Shep and Moose tied the anchors onto nearby trees, affixing the pulleys and adding the ropes.

Meanwhile, London and Axel stepped into their harnesses and Boo checked them. She, too, wore a harness, probably in case she needed to go down. London checked the work of Shep and Moose while they geared up and then connected to a top safety line.

She checked Oaken’s bowline knots, smiledat him, and then walked over to the litter, now open and rigged with webbing attached together in an X with a carabiner. She connected the bowlines to the central carabiner, then added a short pulley rig with yet another line.

“That’s an AZTEK rig,” Boo said, startling him. “It keeps the litter at the right distance, allows Axel to move it around. I’ll be there in case she needs any immediate care.”

He stilled. “I thought London was going.”

“After talking to the boyfriend and checking over the edge, we think she’s nonverbal, which doesn’t bode well. I’m going to go down to assess.”

An unexpected fist formed in his chest. He shook it away—she knew what she was doing.

“Put on a harness so you can rope in and watch.” She handed him a harness, and he just stared at her.

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