FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
Dear Reader
“Off rappel!”
Heidi adjusted her night vision goggles at her brother Cade’s call up the rocky cliff face from below. The snow-covered, mountainous landscape looked green and black, but at least she could see instead of stumbling around in the dark and falling to her death. Even though the moon was out in full force, this side of the mountain remained in the shadows.
The helicopter had dropped them off as close as possible to the summit, but they’d still had to hike another two hours to get to the place where they would rappel down to the trapped climbers, at least one of them injured, or so the three rescuers—Heidi and Cade Warren and Isaiah Callahan—had been informed.
As a member of North Face Mountain Search and Rescue—like the other Warren siblings—this was only the second time Heidi had climbed at night, and she shoved aside the unpleasant memory of the first. There was enough tension between her and her brother Cade, and unfortunately their friend and coworker Isaiah—who usually flew the helicopter—that she didn’t need to tack on anything more to an already heavy load. And it wasn’t just the emotional and mental burden. The pack on her back weighed her down, too.
Drawing in a cold breath, she hoisted the hefty pack—loaded down with climbing, medical and camping gear for spending the night—and rappelled the cliff. Cade, ever the protective brother, had insisted on going first, though Heidi was the trained technical climber of the three.
She’d made it halfway to the next rap station and paused for a rest, when gunfire ricocheted off the mountain. Heidi jerked and lost her balance. Her overfilled pack pulled her over, flip-flopping her. Now hanging upside down, her heart pounded.
She was the technical climber here.
She was the expert they counted on to assist in getting these people out.
She hadn’t wanted to come. Not after what had happened last summer. But there’d been no choice. Two other daunting rescue operations were ongoing and they needed the manpower. If only she weren’t out of practice.
All her fault. This was on her, and she knew it.
Heidi was a wreck, but she couldn’t afford to give in to her emotions right now. Those climbers stranded in the saddle between the summits couldn’t afford her messing up.
No way would she call for help, though. The last thing Cade and Isaiah needed was a rescuer who required rescuing. Besides, she’d assured Cade she could do this, but even if she hadn’t, he’d pretty much insisted that she try. Isaiah had been the one to protest. He hadn’t wanted her here. Whether because he personally didn’t want to work with her after distancing himself for some unknown reason or because he didn’t trust her abilities, she wasn’t sure. Either way, his attitude stabbed her like an ice ax.
“What’s going on up there, Heidi?” Cade asked over the radio.
“Nothing.”
“You need help?” Now Isaiah. Great.
And the incident command center would hear their conversation, too. Over the years, they’d developed their own radio-speak, and didn’t use the more technical terms. Cade always wanted them to talk plainly. Worked for her.
“Heidi, I asked if you’re good?” Isaiah again.
At the very least, she would prove to Isaiah she was back. She could do this. “I’m rapping down. You’re distracting me.”
With all the strength she could muster, she grabbed the rope and inched her way up, righting herself. Then she breathed a sigh of relief.
But what about the gunfire she’d heard? Heidi used her night vision goggles to scan the mountain and the saddle below, but saw nothing of concern. Was it someone chasing off a bear somewhere? Cade and Isaiah hadn’t mentioned it. Had she imagined it? Or was it simply echoing from miles away? She wouldn’t bring it up. All she needed was for them to think she was hearing things. As always, Isaiah and Cade were packing weapons in case they came across a bear, so she wouldn’t worry.
Following Cade down, she rappelled, careful that the unusually heavy pack wouldn’t throw her off balance again. She met him at the second rappel. A glance down revealed a beaming flashlight and a small fire burning nearly four hundred feet below.
Voices resounded from the camp. The climbers must have spotted their rescuers. Cade rappelled again. Heidi watched and waited before she followed. She glanced up but couldn’t see Isaiah from here. He was likely growing impatient to hear her call.
Heidi looked down at Cade and saw him swinging over, creating a new path.
“Be careful. There’s a vertical ice wall and a sheer drop,” Cade told them over the radio.
Negotiating the terrain would be difficult enough under the circumstances, but with the expected inclement weather, even in April, things could only get worse.
“Off rappel,” Cade called.
Heidi clipped in and called up, repeating the words to Isaiah, and they were back in rhythm, rappelling and descending a snow-covered slope in the middle of a cold, wintry night.
Reaching the vertical ice wall Cade had warned about, she secured her harness and traversed the cliff face, following Cade’s lead. She found the third rappel station and called up to Isaiah before descending the rest of the way.
The saddle where the two summits met formed a wind tunnel. Maybe that’s why Cade hadn’t mentioned the gunfire. He hadn’t even heard it. The high-pitched wail of the wind harmonized with deeper tones making Heidi think of a lost lover singing a seriously morbid screamo song. Thank goodness she’d grown out of that phase a decade ago.
Dropping a few feet to the ground, the pack pulled Heidi back and she fell on her rear.
Thankfully, in this spot, the curve in the rock formations above and around them protected them from the harsh blasts of arctic gusts. She hoped that would remain the case.
“You okay?” Cade offered his hand.
She didn’t take it, but instead slipped from the pack. “That thing is too heavy.”
“I hear you,” he said.
Isaiah
