Page 12 of Manhunt in the Narrows
Another tremor shifted down her back. Could the symptoms already be settling in? Elias didn’t want to find out. “Yeah. Okay. Where are we?”
Sayles seemed to realize they’d ended up in a completely different section of the trail than when they’d been hit by that log. Craning her head back, she pointed to the crest of a red rockcliff southeast of their position. Her hand shook, and she quickly brought it back down. She checked her smartwatch. “That’s Mountain of Mystery. We passed it about thirty minutes ago. We haven’t lost much ground, but almost dying set us back. At this pace, we won’t make it to Orderville Canyon Junction before the sun sets.”
“That’s not good.” Trying to navigate these waters when he could see was challenging enough. But losing their limited light? Not to mention dredging through this river without the benefit of the sun’s warmth would kill them. At this point their mission to catch up with the Hitchhiker Killer was on hold. All they could think about was survival. Elias scanned the canyon walls on either side of them. “Is there anywhere else we can set up camp for the night?”
She nodded. Nothing more than a couple jerks of her chin. “There’s an outcropping of rocks near where we went under, but it’s not large enough for two tents, and if there’s another flash flood, we’ll be caught in the current.”
“I trust you, Ranger Green.” And for some reason, he meant it. He offered her a hand, noting the cool paleness of her fingers as he helped her to her feet. Her leg shot out to catch her balance, and Elias was right there. First chance he got, he’d take a look at those playing cards of hers and see what the deck said about hypothermia. Because right now, he was pretty sure Sayles was trying to hide the impact of drowning on her body.
“I think we’re past formalities, Agent Broyles. You know, considering you saved my life and all. You can call me Sayles.” Stepping down off the collection of rocks he’d brought her to, she locked her attention onto her hand. Onto the blood coating it.
“Does that mean you’re going to call me Elias?” Damn. He’d forgotten about his arm in the chaos of trying to make sure he didn’t have to carry her out of this canyon. Blood seeped into the crevices of his palm and between his fingers.
She didn’t answer, closing the distance between the, and grabbed for his arm. Her thumb slipped over his pulse point before she angled one arm free from her pack. Keeping her fingers wrapped around his wrist, she unpacked her first aid kit one-handed. “This is going to need stitches, but we don’t have long before we lose the small amount of light left. I’m going to wrap it for now. Once we reach the outcropping, I can put you back together.”
“Like Humpty Dumpty?” His attempt to lighten the mood was lost in the glazed film overtaking the green in her eyes.
She circled long strips of medical gauze around his forearm before repacking her kit and heading back upstream. Minutes—was it an hour?—passed in silence as before as they charged for a dry section of rock a mere few feet above the river’s surface. “This is where we’ll camp tonight.”
“Looks like you got your wish.” Elias sized up the slightly uneven elongated rectangle of rock two of them were meant to sleep on tonight. “We’re going to be sharing.”
Chapter Nine
She couldn’t stop shaking.
Sayles had changed out of her wet clothing with her back to the FBI agent invading her one-person tent, but she’d lost all sense of embarrassment as she’d forgotten how to ask him for the hand warmers she’d packed. Dry gear hadn’t made a difference. Her head felt as though it’d been split down the middle with the effort of trying to keep her teeth from chattering. She was getting worse. Her joints ached, not just stiff from the impact of the log that’d tried to kill her but from the uncontrollable shivers racking her. The pulse at the base of her neck wasn’t normal. Too elevated. Breathing too shallow.
And Elias… Concern had etched into his expression a long time ago and hadn’t slipped since. He’d taken the lead in getting the tent set up and unrolling their sleeping bags. There was barely enough space for the Mylar material let alone two bodies, but what annoyed her more was the fact that she’d missed the log’s approach at all. She’d put them in this situation, and she didn’t want his concern. She’d put their lives at risk, but she would be the only one to pay the price. She’d make sure of it.
“Are…you shivering, too?” Hell. She sounded out of it even to her own ears. She just wanted to sleep but knew how slim the chances were of waking up in the morning if she closed her eyes now. “Or dizzy?”
“No.” He’d changed into dry gear after helping her out of her wet clothes and boots. The sun had gone down over an hour ago, leaving them with nothing but a single flashlight beam. They’d save the batteries of the second by limiting their resources for now. “You gotta tell me what to do, Sayles. Please.”
“I’m…fine.” She wasn’t fine. Her desperation to take care of herself—to make her own choices and be in control of her own body—was winning out over simple survival. Stupid. She was being stupid risking her lift like this. For what? So another man didn’t have leverage to use against her? How would that happen if she was dead? Sayles’s let her eyes drift closed. She was so tired. “I’m already…warming up. I just need…to rest.”
“All right. If you’re not going to tell me how to help, I’ll figure it out myself.” He dragged her pack into his lap and started removing everything she’d meticulously organized.
She forced her eyes open. “What…are you…doing?”
“Looking for those cards. The ones with survival tips on them.” Pulling the slim yellow box free of her pack, he shuffled through the contents until he landed on the red heart cards. “Seek shelter. Done. Replace wet clothing, especially socks. Did that. Insulate from the ground. Sleeping bag takes care of that. Eat carbohydrates and drink an electrolyte solution. Great.”
He didn’t wait for her permission to dig through the rest of her gear. In seconds, he produced a peanut butter and jelly sandwich she’d made before leaving the visitors’ center and an electrolyte mix. “Eat.”
Nausea twisted in her gut. “I’m not…hungry.”
“Card says you have to eat carbs. Bread is carbs. Eat.” He wiggled the sandwich in front of her until she grabbed for it just to get it out of her face.
The first two bites sank to the pit of her stomach and remained there. The next few went down a little easier as he handed off her metal water bottle with the electrolyte mix.Within minutes, the fog in her brain started dissipating. Okay. Maybe there was something to those cards after all.
Elias went back to reading off steps to treat hypothermia. “Use chemical hot pads in armpits and sides of chest.” More of her supplies hit the bottom of her sleeping bag as he dug for the hand and foot warmers she’d stashed.
“Between…the thighs.” The cards gave good advice, but she was a ranger. In the past five months, she’d seen more people die than on the news from small mistakes rather than big ones. Not utilizing the femoral artery to reverse hypothermia was one of them. “Bigger arteries…pump faster.”
“Okay. Let’s do both.” He cracked the hand and foot warmers and shook them to ignite the heat inside. Like a glow stick. Only this was one that could save her life. “For the record, I’m only feeling you up to save your life.”
Her smile pulled at chapped lips. “I won’t file…charges.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.” Elias tugged her the sleeping bag she’d cocooned herself inside and slipped calloused hands along the front of her body.
