Page 18 of Twin Jeopardy

Meanwhile, up on the trail, Vince worked with Eldon, Tony and Sheri to rig a rope-and-pulley system for getting their patient back onto the trail. Once they had lifted him safely out of the canyon, another group of volunteers took over to transport him to the waiting ambulance. The family—his mom, dad, uncle and sister—followed the litter team down.

As the remaining volunteers disassembled the rigging and packed up to return to headquarters, Vince paused to look over at the sign that cautioned people against climbing on the rocks. “I feel like someone should write in ‘We really mean it’ underneath there,” he said.

“It wouldn’t work,” Eldon said. He stuffed a brake bar into a carrying bag. “Kids that age think they’re invincible. I did.”

Unlike many of his peers, Vince had never known that feeling of invulnerability. What happened to Valerie had made him too aware of all the ways things could go wrong.

The group returned to SAR headquarters and were unloading gear when a second call came in. “Hikers with a medical emergency,” Danny relayed after speaking with the emergency dispatcher. “Mount Wilson trail. A man with chest pains and a woman who’s collapsed.”

The words were like a shot of adrenaline through the group. They hurried to reload the search and rescue Jeep, as well as several personal vehicles, with equipment and personnel for an urgent ride to the Mount Wilson trailhead. “They’re within a mile of the top,” Danny directed as they unloaded the vehicles and distributed gear for the trek up the slope. “A thirty-eight-year-old woman and a forty-six-year-old man. No history of heart trouble, but he’s reporting chest pain and dizziness and disorientation.”

“What about the woman?” Hannah asked.

“The report on her is that she’s unable to continue hiking.”

“I don’t like the sound of either of those,” Hannah said.

A solemn team started up the mountain. Tony and Sheri elected to jog ahead with an AED and first aid supplies. Caleb Garrison was next with a canister of oxygen, while the others followed as quickly as they could, spread out along the steep trail to one of the most popular peaks in the region. Other hikers on their way down squeezed over to the side to let them pass when they recognized the blue windbreakers withSearch and Rescueemblazoned on the front and back. “Good luck!” some called after them.

It took two hours of hard hiking to reach the couple, who were stretched out to one side of the trail, a few concerned onlookers gathered around. Sheri, Tony, Caleb and Hannah were arranged around them, the man receiving oxygen while Sheri spoke with the woman. Vince slipped off his pack, which contained another canister of oxygen and various first aid supplies, and fished out his water bottle.

“What’s the story?” he asked Harper, who had arrived ahead of him.

“Hannah doesn’t think he’s having a heart attack, but he’ll need to be checked out at the hospital to be sure,” Harper said. “Mostly I think they weren’t well prepared for a hike like this and they overdid it. They don’t have hats or sunscreen or enough water. They’re sunburned and dehydrated and dealing with the altitude and exhaustion.”

The couple did look miserable. They were sipping water and listening as Sheri and Danny addressed them each in turn. They were probably hearing about how most of their problems could have been prevented with simple precautions like sunscreen, water and an easier pace. But that didn’t help them now. For that, they would get a free ride down the mountain in litters carried by Vince and his fellow volunteers, and a checkup at the hospital to ensure they truly were all right.

The trip down the trail was equally as solemn as the hike up, but without the urgency. Even a small adult was a heavy, awkward burden to carry. After consultation, Danny declared that the woman would walk down—with Bethany and Harper on either side to steady her, if need be—and her husband would be transported on the litter. His chest pains had subsided, but no one wanted to chance their return. The litter was fitted with a large wheel to support part of the weight and help it roll along the ground, but it still required a volunteer at each corner to help steady and balance it. The position was awkward and uncomfortable, and volunteers switched off every half mile.

Meanwhile, the woman moaned and complained the whole way down. Vince decided that as much as maneuvering the litter made his back and knees ache, he preferred that duty.

The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time they made it to the trailhead. The couple headed off in an ambulance, and the volunteers reloaded their gear. Some of the group announced they were going out for beer and pizza. “Are you going out?” Bethany asked as Vince was shouldering his pack to head to his car.

“Not tonight,” he said. All he wanted was a hot shower and to stretch out on the sofa, where he would likely fall asleep. “But you should go, if you want. It’ll be a great way to get to know people.”

She looked over toward the group—Ryan and Eldon, Caleb, and a few others. “I don’t know.”

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged on the pack and headed out. He drove to his condo, parked, and collected his mail before he walked to his door and unlocked it. Inside, he shed his shoes, pack and SAR windbreaker, then stood sorting through the mail. Mostly junk, but a colorful postcard caught his eye. A larger-than-life cartoon Viking stood beside an impossibly buxom and equally cartoonish female Viking.Welcome to Williams’s Valhalla-Land!proclaimed large green letters above them.

Vince stared, heart pounding. He and Valerie and their parents had stopped at this roadside attraction, somewhere in Minnesota or Michigan, on a road trip to visit his dad’s brother and his family on the Upper Peninsula the summer before Valerie disappeared. Somewhere, pasted into an album tucked into his parents’ bookshelf, was a photograph his mother had snapped of him and Valerie, posing with these same cartoon Vikings.

He flipped the card over and read the message, in loopy cursive handwriting:Hello, Vince the Viking. I bet you’re surprised to hear from me. V.

Chapter Seven

“Slow down, Mitch. I can hardly understand you, you’re talking so fast.” Tammy juggled her phone and the salad she had been carrying to her kitchen table when her brother called Saturday evening.

“I met this great girl—woman.Her name is Elisabeth. She came into my office looking for a rental, and we hit it off. We had drinks afterwards, and we’re going to have dinner tomorrow night.”

Tammy sat at the table. Her brother wasn’t normally this effusive. In fact, he rarely talked about the women he dated. “Wow, she must be special,” she said.

“I think so.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I hope you’ll meet her soon.”

“You said she was looking for a rental. Is she new in town?”

“She’s here for several months, but I’m hoping to talk her into staying longer.”

“Where is she from?”

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