Page 68 of High Velocity

“You’re a fucking liar.”

I grin at the brotherly accusation. I guess it shows a level of acceptance when your teammate bluntly calls you out. It feels weirdly good. Like I’m part of something again. I’ve felt a bit like the team’s stepchild until now. In part because my recovery limited my abilities, but I also kept myself apart, feeling I didn’t quite measure up or belong.

That’s changing though; right now, out here under the stars, I feel equal. In more ways than one. It’s not only because I rode side by side with these men all day without needing, or being given, any special consideration. Tonight, I also feel a connection because, for the first time, I know there is someone at home waiting for me too.

It’s a fucking great feeling.

“Put your damn weight behind it!”

I brace myself on my good leg, dig my fake heel into the dirt, and lean back into the rope I have wrapped around my waist. Sweat is pouring down my face as Wolff and I haul the immobilized body of the second climber up from the canyon below.

We set out at first light this morning, and with Sully already flying the drone overhead, it took us only a little over an hour to locate the guy. No one expected to find him alive, but he was. Alive and talking. Not very coherently, mind you, but given his condition after the fall, coupled with two nights of exposure to the elements, that wasn’t a surprise. Aside from his physical injuries, I can only imagine what this experience will do to his psyche, especially once he discovers the friend who went to get help for him is dead.

Experiences like this mess with your mind.

I should know.

A hoarse cry comes from the inflatable full-body cast we wrapped the man in as we manage to haul him over the last rock lip onto level ground. Wolff is already moving to his side, while I bend forward, trying to suck air back into my lungs. A few moments later, I feel a clap on my back to find JD standing beside me. He must’ve climbed up beside the injured man to try and keep him steady as we muscled him out of the canyon.

Dan and JD have the most experience climbing and rappelling, so they went down to stabilize him the best they could for transportation. This was only the beginning though. We still have to get him down the mountain to proper medical care.

While Dan makes his way back up to us, and Wolff tends to the climber, JD and I put together the rescue litter so we can mount it behind Hannah, who already has the dead guy strapped to her back. It’ll be slow going down since we have to find a route with as few obstacles as possible so the injured guy doesn’t get banged around any more than is necessary. It already won’t be a fun ride for him, considering he’ll be staring at his dead friend’s body all the way.

“Let’s move the dead guy,” I suggest. “I’ll take him on Banner.”

My horse, Banner, is one of the steadiest horses on the ranch. A canon could go off and he wouldn’t flinch. Besides that, he’s sturdy and can handle the extra weight.

“Why? Hannah can handle both,” JD points out, looking confused.

“I know.” I turn to where Wolff is talking to the guy in a calm voice. “But he’d have to look at that body bag for God knows how long.”

Understanding washes over his face as he nods. “Gotcha.”

The sun is high in the sky, baking us as we finally lumber into base camp five and a half hours later. The fire department’s EMS team is waiting with an ambulance they managed to get up to the trailhead. We had to stop several times to check on our patient, and a communal sigh of relief goes up when we’re finally able to hand him off to the paramedics. It’s one thing to find him alive, it’s another making sure he stays that way while extracting him.

That leaves his dead friend, whose body I had strapped to the saddle in front of me the whole way down. Not an experience I care to repeat, but better me staring at his body bag than his friend, who was devastated enough as it was to find out he didn’t make it.

I’ll remember his name, like those of many who went before him.

Enzo Baffa; he died a hero.

Twenty-Two

Stephanie

“They found them.”

I look up to see Alex walking down the path toward me.

I’ve been sitting out here for a while, nursing my coffee, which is stone cold by now, and watching the sun rise to its highest point in the sky over the ranch. It’s warm, and it is a beautiful day to be out and enjoy the view, but my patience is wearing thin.

Wilcox promised me last night he would try and look into the location for Tracy’s phone if he could find a quiet moment to do it unobserved, but I haven’t heard from him yet. I’m not used to waiting.

I plaster on a smile for Jackson’s mother, even though it takes me a moment to clue in to what she’s talking about.

“The two hikers. They found them,” she clarifies.

“Of course.” I shake my head. “Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. That’s great news.”

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