by C. M. Lally
“Jade? The same Jade you brought to the restaurant a few weeks back? The birthday girl?” Shawn grills me in front of Tommy and the Rangers, but I ignore him. He’s clearly confused at the situation.
“She’s my training partner. She came today with three friends. I checked them in.”
“Sir, are they equipped to handle an overnight stay in the forest?”
“No. These are primping women— hair done and nails painted with designer hiking gear. Granted one of them is a novice MMA fighter, but I don’t think they’d stand a chance against coyotes or anything like that.” I give him a perfect description of Jade and what I can remember of her friends. The ranger writes down what I’m saying and walks to his vehicle to phone it in.
Shawn and Tommy both go over to the table of volunteers and help with sorting out the checkpoints to pinpoint their last location. I stand back and look at all the manpower that has pulled together to search for three women, and I’m frustrated.
She half-ass listened to my instructions, I know it.
She’s done this on purpose to get back at me for being hard on her Friday. Even Lou told me twice to be less demanding. I ignored him both times.
For all I know, she’s back home on her couch chilling with some popcorn and a movie or two. Right now, I don’t think I could pull an eighth of an ounce of compassion out of me for her and this situation. She never listens.
“Come on, Shawn. I can’t stand around and do nothing. Let’s drive up the road to get a better signal and try to call these ladies. Hopefully one of them has a good signal and enough battery to pick up my call.”
We drive around for an hour, trying different side roads winding through the forest. I’ve called their numbers so many times I have them all memorized by now. Nothing. Not even a hint of a connection. They’ve been in the forest for over thirteen hours at this point. It’s twilight, and the long shadows are starting to creep.
Of all the ways I thought my day would end, this was not on my radar.
“Damn it. Why is she so fucking stubborn?” I slam my fist into the dash.
“Whoa. Why are you so pissed at her? You should be worried, not mad.”
“Fuck you. This is me worried...and mad.”
He pulls back into the open lot that we were designated for the event today, and see a tent set up with the tables moved inside. There are laptops and walkie-talkies with headsets charging all from a loud generator somewhere in the distance. A few more park rangers have joined our little party. Shawn sees us and comes over to keep us in the loop.
“We found where the last one checked in, Leanne Springer. They’re setting up a perimeter, but they don’t think they’re going to get very far. There’s a tropical storm coming ashore in Bull’s Bay shortly.”
“Fuck. I just remembered the rain the news was talking about last night, but I don’t recall it being a tropical storm. What’s next, hail and lightning?”
“Kol, shut up. Don’t put that out there in the universe. Negativity will not help find her. We all need to eat and calm down. Maybe that will restore the spirit around here.”
Shawn pulls his phone from his pocket and orders some pizza for everyone from a local place to be delivered. I know he’s right, but damn it I’m useless. I want to find her and take her home.
As we finish eating and clear away the trash, the rain comes. Hard Rain. I’m so fucking tired I can’t see straight, but instead, I pair up with a ranger. I grab a poncho and flashlight, and head out on the trail.
Chapter Eight - Jade
“WHY ARE YOU STEALING my heat? I need it, you know.”
“You have more muscles than me. I’m cold in this cave,” Candy whines. “You know I don’t do cold of any kind. I race to put shit away in the freezer, so I don’t have to spend too much time in there.” She shivers to prove her point.
“We all have the same amount of muscles, mine are more developed. You really should go to the gym more often.” She rolls her eyes at me.
“Damn it, I have to pee again,” Angie curses in frustration.
“What’s up with you and the peeing all the time? Are you sick? Do you have diabetes? Or worse? Tell me,” I beg her. I grab her hands and help her stand, making sure to coddle her leg, as she hops on one foot to the corner for privacy. “Leanne and Candy, check your bags for any crumb of food left. Angie may need it.”
I help her sit on the rock ledge she’s been using as a toilet, and give her some privacy for a moment. She hisses at the pain as she attempts to undo her clothing. Peeing in a cave is not easy when you’ve torn your meniscus. At least that’s what I think is wrong with her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m going to be fine. I’m sure it’s just a sprain or something. Nothing major, I hope at least.”
“I mean with your bladder issues. You don’t have cancer or anything? You’d tell me if you did, right?”
“No, I don’t have cancer. I’m pregnant, but don’t tell the others yet,” she whispers.
“Oh my God, we’ve got to get you out of here. You need to eat.” I panic at the thought of her baby starving.
“Jade, this baby is currently the size of my fingernail. I don’t think it needs a four-course meal at this stage. I’ll be fine.”
“How long have you known? And who’s the father, because I’m confused on that topic too?”
“Since last night, and he’s one of my employees so don’t say a word.” She motions to me to zip my lips like I’m twelve with a big secret. We hobble back out to our designated sitting area, and I get her settled again.
I look at Leanne and Candy, They’re playing Hangman in the dirt with a stick. I swear, I always attract chaos and hot messes, but getting stuck in the forest with a pregnant and broken lady seems to top off my adventures.
This was not what I imagined when I saw the flyer hanging at Dontonio’s a few weeks back. This was supposed to be a beautiful, relaxing, girls’ day hiking together for a great cause.
If only we hadn’t gone to the waterfalls. We wanted some pictures of us together by the waterfalls, and in making our way there, we picked up some followers. A group of teens who thought it was funny to play practical jokes started to target us. They were hoodlums. Annoying hoodlums who laughed like Bevis and Butthead the whole time they were pulling their stupid pranks on us. Immature boys who will grow up to be immature men someday. God help us.
The whole time they followed us, Angie kept saying her bladder was going to explode if we didn’t find a bathroom quick. We happened upon a cave at the top of a cliff, and she went inside to check it out as a bathroom. While she was taking care of business, she said her phone light went out, and when she stepped forward to grab it, she tripped in a hole and felt her knee “pop.” The loud scream sent us all running into the darkness, and we found her rolling on the ground in pain with her pants down.
Leanne had some pain reliever in her backpack that did the trick. It took a while to calm her down, but she still can’t put any weight on it after resting it a few hours. After some more time passed and she seemed fine, we decided to separate and send two of us out to get help. But then Angie started shaking from the cold and Candy wasn’t comfortable staying with her alone.
Then Leanne started having these ‘Friday the 13th lost-in-the-woods’ thoughts and was too scared to separate the group. So, here we all sit. We’re stuck like Chuck in a cave with no food or drink in the damp darkness, unless you count Angie’s urine, and none of us are Bear Grylls.
Every now and again I walk to the cave entrance and listen for people searching for us. My last attempts at phone service only yielded me a dead battery. Does anyone even know we’re still here on the hike? No one will miss me until tomorrow morning when I don’t make it to training.
Kol won’t care. He’ll train without me, like he always has.
This sucks, but I’m a big girl and can take care of myself. I’ll survive this. We all will, and one day we’ll laugh about it.
“I’m going out again
. Be right back.”
I get to the cave entrance, and it’s raining. I heard it before I got there but thought it was the quiet of the night letting me hear the falls. Nope. It’s a torrential downpour, and the humidity has picked up. Now, this really sucks. I hope it doesn’t last long or I’ll be trekking down the hill in the rain when daylight breaks in a few hours. I make my way back. Time to get some rest.
“It’s pouring the rain outside. It feels like a tropical storm with the heat and humidity that’s built up. We’d better get some rest because no one is going anywhere tonight.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s safe to assume no one is looking for us. Let’s rest, and tomorrow we’ll hobble down this mountain, even if I have to put Angie on my back, piggy style,” Candy teases, winking at Angie.
“Umm, no! That won’t be happening. If I have to ride out of here, it’s going to be on Jade’s back. I know she can carry the load.”
“Hey, guys. My back is not for rent,” I laugh, and push a few rocks against the cave wall to lean against.
Leanne and Candy grunt and groan to move their rocks without getting very far. I go over and help them out settling them in for the night. Angie was already comfy a few hours before in her spot I made.
As everyone settles down in the quiet of the cave, my stomach growls, and everyone starts to snicker under their breath. “Sorry,” Candy says. All I can think is ‘me too.’
I wake up feeling water dripping down my legs. I swipe at it and move my legs a bit to get them out of the water. I guess the rain has finally seeped through the ground and into the cave. Then I feel more water splash onto my clothes and arms. I open my eyes to see a thermal blanket being spread over me. The massive size of a man in a wet poncho hovers over me, but I can’t see his face. His flashlight is sitting on the ground next to us, pointing at the wall. Another man is covering my friends with blankets of their own.
“Jade, are you alright?” a voice whispers. He kneels down, and I’m face to face with Kol. His surly expression tells me he’s mad.
I wipe the sleep from my eyes as he holds out a bottle of water to me. He’s already opened it and is waiting for me to focus on it. I take it and drink half the bottle in a few seconds.
“I’m fine. Angie is hurt though. It’s her knee. I think she tore her meniscus and can’t walk.” I point to her, and the other man goes and begins assessing her leg.
“We would have found you sooner had you did what I told you to do and completed the checkpoints. Maybe next time you’ll listen to me. It was a safety issue.” He leaves me to check on my friends. He heads toward Candy, who perks up and starts smoothing down her ponytail. Asshole. Now was not the time to lecture me.
I watch Candy smile and nod and giggle around him like a lovesick teenager. He’s all she talked about for the first hour of the hike yesterday. I begged her to be quiet and not mention his name. All I wanted was one day to not think about him. It was too much to ask. And now, witnessing them together makes my chest hurt. I blink back the tears that threaten to fall.
The rain finally ends a little after 7:00 am. The ranger calls for backup to meet us all at a point on the trail that’s unknown to us. He and Kol find two thick, but light tree branches and use them to stabilize Angie’s leg, immobilizing it with one of the thermal blankets. Kol hoists her up into his arms and carries her down the mountain to our rendezvous point with the Park van. I follow everyone in front of me, who follows Kol and the only Park Ranger we have to safety. Our heroes, well at least one of them.
I cry when we come into the clearing and see the van waiting for us. Exhaustion and hunger take over. My emotions come tumbling forth out of me in the form of tears. I wipe them away before anyone sees them, especially Kol. His narrowed eyes and clenched jaw already tell me I’m in deep shit.
After a good bit of arguing about how to get Angie some much needed medical attention, Leanne finally wins. She demands that we take her to save the cost of an ambulance. I am relieved that I am finally free of Kol for the day, but he sets Angie inside the backseat of the car so she can stretch her leg out. Effectively leaving no place for me to ride.
“Jade, you can ride with us,” Shawn offers. “There’s plenty of room, and you’ll get the back seat all to yourself to sleep.” He opens the passenger car door for me, and I slide in. I have to accept, or I don’t get to go home. I’m sure as hell not walking.
“Thank you,” is all I can mutter in my tired haze. I lean back and close my eyes for the ride home.
Soon, both car doors shut, waking me. The engine starts, and I open one eye to see Kol staring at me through the passenger vanity mirror. He averts his eyes when he catches me watching him.
Shawn must notice the slight movement and checks on me in the rearview mirror. He smiles at me big enough for his eyes to crinkle. How are these two brothers? I’ve yet to see Kol smile or laugh genuinely in kindness towards me, but I’ve seen Shawn do both a handful of times and I’ve only met him twice.
We pull up in front of a strange building and stop. I don’t recognize this place. It looks like an industrial warehouse that’s been converted to businesses and apartments. We’re stopped next to a Chinese market. Kol opens his door and gets out. The trunk pops open behind me, and he walks past me to get something out of it. His bag. When he shuts it, he stands beside my passenger door and motions for me to roll down the window. I hesitate, not wanting to talk to him. I could go the rest of my life and not speak to him when he’s angry.
“Really, Jade? Roll down the damn window.”
I roll my eyes and press the down button at his command. I don’t even bother to look in his direction.
“Be at the gym at 3:00 pm. We still have some training to do. And today is photo op day in case you forgot. Be presentable for the press.”
I bite my tongue, holding back the ‘fuck you’ I want to spit at him. Instead, I nod and roll the window up, cutting off his next sentence. “Please drive away?” Surprisingly, he does what I ask without a word spoken.
Until a few blocks later. “He’s not normally like that. You seem to get him all riled up. I hope you know that?”
“No, I don’t. And I really don’t care. He’s an ass, but he’s the best fighter in this area. If I want to be the best, I have to learn from the best. He’s just a training partner to me.” I close my eyes and lean my head back again still exhausted from the night’s adventure. He’s just a training partner to me.
His face burns itself into the back of my eyelids. Goosebumps appear on my arm as I remember his touch from the cave. His voice sends shivers down my spine when he says my name. And when we grapple on the floor, and his body lies on mine, I wish we were naked every damn time so I can feel his skin against mine.
I’m feeling this way because I’m so tired. I need sleep to clear my mind.
Within a few minutes, Shawn announces, “You’re finally home, my lady.” He gets out and opens my door for me, holding his hand out for me to take it. I do and scoot to get out. “Yes, he can be an ass, but earn his trust, and he’ll be the most loyal person you’ve ever met. He’s not had an easy life. Not that it matters, and I’m sure you’ve already figured that out. He doesn’t trust easy, but to already be working with you, you must be doing something right. Give him time. He’s got a hellacious worth ethic, and if you’re matching it, you’ll earn his trust even faster.”
“Thanks for the insight, and the ride home.”
“Anytime, Jade. Just call Dontonio’s if you need me.”
I step inside my apartment and strip out of my clothes on my way to the shower. Once clean, I slide into my soft featherbed and fall asleep— no thoughts of Kol, or caves or creepy crawling things in my hair.
Instead, I dream my favorite dream. The one where I’m a world champion MMA fighter and the crowds are cheering my name in lights. My name is in the press, on the radio and on billboards all over the world. I’ve got movie deals galore on my desk and commercials scheduled. I’m a big fucking deal. Like
I always say, “If you can imagine it, you can make it happen.” I don’t need Kol to live my dreams.
Chapter Nine - Kol
THE GYM CLOSES FOR everyone at 2:00 pm today due to the media coming for the open house to showcase the new octagon fighting arena and witness a little skills exhibition for my fight this weekend. Everyone is invited to the open house. He wants the place to appear crowded and lively.
News and radio crews start arriving around 2:30 pm for set up. The gym fills up with people everywhere, but no one is allowed past the big ribbon into the fighting arena yet.
“They’re walking on the mats. Why didn’t Liam pull them up?” Lou complains and rubs his forehead as he watches a female reporter walk across one of the inner grappling mats with heels on. “Just when you think you’ve found a nice, clean gym— he goes and lets the public in to tear everything up.”
“Oh, Lou. There’s nothing you can do about it now. So don’t let it worry you. It’s Liam’s money when it gets ripped.”
“I need a distraction. What time is Jade getting here?” He turns his back away from the gym and sits down next to me on the bench near the lockers.
“I told her 3:00 pm. I hope she doesn’t oversleep.” I finish tying my shoe and hold my arm out for him to tape up.
“Are you sure she’s alright? I’m glad you stayed to help look for her, even though I know it killed you to do it.”
“She’s fine, and it didn’t kill me. What are you talking about?”
“I know she isn’t your favorite person on Earth, so I’m glad you showed some kindness in searching for her.”
“Oh, you think showing her kindness almost killed me. I’m not a bad guy. I like people.” He scrunches his face up like I lied to him. “What’s that look for?”
“Kol, you walk around most days like humans annoy you. You’re especially tough on her during training. Making her perform the drills over and over again until she’s in tears. The point of choosing a female sparring partner was to soften up those rough edges of yours. Make yourself more appealing to the general public. It doesn’t seem to be working.”