* *
Breathing hard, David bent over his thighs before gasping out, “I heard the dog, wanted to see if there was a problem.” David wiped the sweat from his eyes, sucked in a few breaths to slow his breathing after he’d sprinted up the trail then cut through the woods.
Phone to her ear, Tracy stared at him with those big silvery-blue eyes of hers, the terror slowly fading away to shock and concern. What was going on?
Scrunching her freckled nose, she glared at her phone. “Lost the signal. Oh, I don’t have time for this.”
“What’s wrong?”
A deep frown crossed her features as she shoved the thick red hair from her face. “I’m so glad you’re here. A runner fell. He’s down there.” Urgency in her voice, Tracy paced as she pointed to the steep, rocky drop. “He needs our help.”
David peered over the edge and spotted Solomon—how had the dog made it down there?—and just beyond he saw the hiker. The man was still alive? Apprehension lodged in David’s gut. How long had he been there?
Pulling his own phone out, he looked for the bars. “Got ’em. Use my phone to call for help. I’ll climb down to him.” David was assistant chief of the Mountain Cove Fire Department and a paramedic. He spent most of his time as a firefighter answering EMS calls rather than fires, and he had too many SAR certifications to count. He was well qualified—he just wished he was better inventoried. Out on his morning run, he had no medical equipment or emergency supplies. All he could do was assess the man’s injuries and reassure him while they waited for help to arrive.
Reaching over, Tracy pressed her hand against his arm, uncertainty in her eyes. “Be careful. You don’t even have your climbing gear.”
He’d gone on enough free-soloing climbs—free climbing with no ropes—to know this ridge wouldn’t be a problem for him. “Don’t worry. When you reach someone, tell them we’ll need a helicopter to hoist this man out. That fall had to have severely banged him up.” If he wasn’t mortally wounded.
David suspected the latter but wouldn’t voice his concerns because Tracy was already on edge. She’d seemed unusually distressed. In their previous interactions, the experienced search-and-rescue volunteer was always in control of her emotions. Was there more to this than she’d admitted?
Before he climbed down to the injured jogger, he needed to know. “Did you see what happened?”
She shook her head. “Like you, I followed Solomon’s bark. He took off ahead of me.”
David eyed the dangerous ledge, deciding on the safest and quickest path to the man. He started down, with one last glance up to Tracy, and noticed her looking behind her as though she expected someone to jump out of the woods.
Gripping the rocks, he paused and called up. “Tracy.”
His short, snappy tone got her attention.
She peered down at him. “What?”
“Did you reach anyone?”
“I’m on hold.”
“Figures. Are you going to be okay?” He should be more concerned about the fallen runner, but he couldn’t shake the sense that something had scared Tracy. Or was he just being an idiot?
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
He shrugged and continued down.
Tracy had caught his attention the first time he’d met her a couple of years ago. She’d just moved to Mountain Cove, she’d explained after he’d run into her coming out of his brother Adam’s bicycle shop. Collided, more like, and he’d had to assist her off the ground—her and the new bike she’d purchased. He should have offered to buy her coffee or something. Any normal red-blooded male would have. With her thick, red mane and deep, striking eyes, he hadn’t stopped thinking about her for weeks after running into her.
Maybe he was just lonely. Starved for female companionship. But he didn’t think that was it. There was just something about Tracy. But getting involved wasn’t for him anymore. Yeah, he saw how happy two of his siblings—Heidi and Cade—were now that they had each finally gotten married. Cade and his wife, Leah, had had their first child two months ago, naming him after their late father, Scott Daniel Warren. And Heidi had married Isaiah, a family friend, SAR volunteer and a coworker at the avalanche center that their father had founded. David’s siblings had done well for themselves.
He’d known that kind of happiness once. But he’d lost it; let it slip through his fingers. He didn’t deserve it again. His wife had died in a fire when he, a decorated firefighting hero, had failed to save her. How could he have let that happen?
He didn’t deserve happiness. Not after that. And after Tracy had snagged his thoughts with one run-in, he knew to keep his distance from her on their search-and-rescue missions and training events. And even when he saw her in town.
He reached Solomon and petted the dog, giving him plenty of reassuring verbal rewards.
“I’m on my way down,” he called to the injured man. “Hold on.”
The trim man looked to be about average height, healthy except for the way he lay twisted at an angle a few feet below the narrow ledge where David and Solomon now stood. He likely had a few if not many broken bones and possibly had internal injuries, as well. David was astounded he had survived, and if the rescue helicopter didn’t arrive soon, he might not make it.
Carefully gripping the rocks, David inched his way down.
Finally he reached the narrow terrace and looked down into dark gray eyes filled with pain and fear. “My name’s David. I’m a firefighter and paramedic. Lie perfectly still. Help is on the way.”
Kneeling beside him, David assessed the fallen man’s wounds the best he could, but with a possible spinal injury, David avoided moving any part of his body. Blood oozed from a gash in the man’s head, coagulating in his light brown hair. David removed his own jacket and then his T-shirt, using it to apply pressure to stanch the flow. He could do at least that much. He cringed to think of what was going on inside the injured man’s body.
“It’s pretty bad, isn’t it?”
“You’re going to make it.”
God, let my words be true. Save this man, help him.
The man closed his eyes.
“What’s your name?” David had to keep him awake, keep him talking, if he could.
“Jay Woodall.”
Maybe David couldn’t offer much physical assistance, but emotional and mental encouragement was just as important.
Clouds brewed in the distance, forecasted to bring a torrent, and David could already smell the rain. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled, warning of the storm’s imminent approach and leaving David unsettled. They didn’t usually get thunderstorms. He sure hoped that helicopter got here soon. He didn’t want to see Jay suffer any more by getting soaked and chilled on top of his injuries.
“Why?” Jay’s croak resounded with the shock of his trauma.
