by K. L. Ramsey
“Tag, man, I’ve lost one of the kids. He wandered off to take a piss.” The frustration and worry were evident in Torren’s voice.
“What are your coordinates?” Tag knew that worry and panic weren’t going to find the missing kid. It took Torren two more tries to get his location to Tag. They had a shitty connection.
“You know what to do, Tor. Stay with the rest of the kids and I will send up Search and Rescue.”
Torren’s radio sent back static. Tag hoped that his brother had heard him, but he gave up trying to get through after a few minutes. He needed to put a call into SAR and then call Aaron. Being in the fire department, his friend had connections with local agencies and Tag needed to get a team together fast; every minute counted in this type of weather.
Aaron answered on the fourth ring, sleep still heavy in his voice. “Lo.”
“Hey, Aaron, sorry to wake you but Torren’s group is in a fix.” Tag regretted having to wake up his friend in the middle of the night.
“I’m up.”
Tag laughed at his friend’s lie.
“Give me the details.”
He could hear Aaron rustling around his bedroom and he imagined him trying to find his pants in the piles of clothes that probably covered his floor. His friend was a slob when it came to picking up after himself.
Tag filled Aaron in on the limited details, giving him the coordinates that Torren had given him. “Can you help?” Tag knew that he sounded desperate. Hell, he felt desperate.
“Yeah, I’m on it. I just need to find my keys and I’ll head into the station. Want to meet me there?”
“I’ll leave here soon. I just have a few more calls to make.” And a woman to explain to, but Aaron didn’t need to know that. “I’ll meet you there. And, Aaron—check the fridge. You always leave your keys in there.” He could hear his friend pull the refrigerator door open.
“Fuck, found them.”
Tag couldn’t help but laugh at Aaron’s charming, colorful ways. He was certainly his most entertaining friend.
“See you in a few.”
Aaron grunted his reply and ended the call. Tag turned to find Piper stretching in his t-shirt, watching him from the kitchen doorway. He knew that she was going to have issues with what he was about to tell her but leaving his brother and the rest of their group stranded on the side of a mountain wasn’t an option.
“So, where are you off to in the middle of the night?”
Piper was going for nonchalant, but Tag knew her well enough to see the concern in her eyes. He crossed the kitchen to where she stood and pulled her into his arms. She went willingly but remained rigid, not cuddling in as she usually did. He could tell that she was waiting him out, wanting an answer. He softly kissed her warm lips and pulled back to look her in the eyes. He wanted to show her that he wasn’t trying to hide anything from her, though he would downplay the danger of the situation. She was the only person that could control her fear levels; his only choice was to lay it all out there and let the chips fall where they may.
“Torren is in trouble.” He didn’t like her sharp gasp. She covered her mouth with a trembling hand and he knew this next part was going to set her off. “I’m going up the mountain to find him and his group.” She pulled away from him and he reluctantly let her go.
“Piper,” he groaned. “You need to trust me. This is what I do for a living, honey.” She started pacing his kitchen, worry etched in her beautiful features. “Torren took up a group of college kids and one of them is missing. He wandered off in the snow to take a piss and he didn’t make it back.”
Piper continued to pace in front of him. He wanted to stop her, but knew it was better to let her work everything out for herself.
“Say something, honey.”
She made a sound that sounded like a combination of a grunt and a laugh and turned to face Tag.
“You want me to tell you that I’m okay with you going out to get yourself killed. Is that what you want to hear?” She started pacing again, not waiting for his answer.
“Pipe, you know that I’m not going out to get myself killed. What I’m going to do is dangerous, but I’ve done it a million times before. Freak snowstorms hit this mountain all the time, you know that. I’ve dealt with stupid, lost kids before and I’ve certainly dealt with this type of weather. It’s not my first rodeo, honey. There is nothing to worry about.”
Piper shot Tag an incredulous look, telling him that she wasn’t buying it. “I know you think I’m being hypersensitive, Tag. I don’t know, maybe I am. But I also know that you are putting yourself in danger, no matter the circumstances, and it scares me to death. I don’t know if I can do this.” Piper stopped in the middle of his kitchen to look at him. He almost preferred her pacing.
“That look on your face is worrying me. Careful, honey. Don’t say anything either of us will regret later.” Tag held out his hand as almost a silent plea for her to consider her next words.
“Tag, you made me a promise that you weren’t going anywhere, yet here you are, leaving me.”
Tag pulled Piper into his arms. He wanted to give her comfort, tell her that he wouldn’t leave, but Torren and his group were depending on him. He had to go.
“I’m going to find my brother and those kids and then I’ll be right back here. It won’t take any time at all. I’ve already called SAR and they’re heading out to the coordinates that Tor sent me. Aaron is going to get the local agencies ready and I’m going to head out with him. I’ll be as safe as I can be, but I can’t sit back here and let others risk their lives to save my brother. He’s my responsibility.”
Piper remained in his arms this time, silently nodding her understanding. “I get it, Tag. You go and do what you have to do.”
Tag kissed the top of her head, inhaling her sweet scent. “Tell me you’ll be here when I get back. I don’t want you trying to make it down the mountain into town. It’s not supposed to let up until lunchtime and we already have about eight inches.”
Piper nodded her head again, almost as if she couldn’t find the words.
“I’ll call Lorna and Sunny to let them know that I won’t be opening the shop. I guess it’s best; no one is going to want ice cream today.”
Tag laughed. “Honey, people in this town seem to want ice cream any day, no matter how cold it gets. I think most of them are almost as crazy as you are about the stuff.”
Piper wrapped her arms tighter around Tag’s waist. “I can’t blame them; ice cream is pretty awesome.”
Tag laughed and kissed her on his way to get dressed. He looked back to see Piper trying to hold back her tears and that just about gutted him.
***
Piper called Lorna to let her know that she wasn’t going to be in town for the next day or two. Lorna agreed that if the weather cleared she would open the shop for a few hours but not many people were out and about. Most would wait out the storm and then venture out for the day.
She called Sunny next and was surprised that her friend wasn’t in her bakery, so she called Sunny’s cell. She answered, somewhat out of breath, on the third ring.
“Yeah,” Sunny barked. Piper could hear a very male laugh in the background.
“Sunny? Where are you? And, before you tell me that you are at the bakery, I just tried that number.” Piper could hear Sunny shushing someone, her hand probably over the phone to muffle the sound. She smiled to herself at the thought of her best friend being caught with her pants down. Sunny wasn’t a nun, but Piper was pretty sure she also was not currently seeing anyone.
“Wait, is this a one-night stand kind of thing and I’m messing up your mojo?” Piper laughed at her own joke.
“I do not have mojo, and you couldn’t mess it up even if you tried, Piper Flynn.”
Sunny sounded far away again as she whispered for whomever she was with to find her bra and then the call ended. Piper found herself smiling again. Messing with Sunny was going to be a fun distraction and, right now, that was exactly w
hat she needed.
Chapter Fifteen
Tag met Aaron at his store to gear up for the trek up the mountain. When they got to the fire station, about twenty-five Search and Rescue team members were there and ready to go. They ran their trucks up as far as the mountain allowed. Tag worried about the weather with every passing minute. They were experiencing near whiteout conditions and there wouldn’t be any relief until at least midday. They had about two miles to cover by foot to reach the group but the snow made it feel more like ten miles. They slowly made their way to the last coordinates that Torren had radioed in.
Aaron was the first to radio Tag that he’d found the group of college students huddled in their tents, but no Torren.
“Fuck, where did he go?” Tag knew that he was talking to himself, but he didn’t care. He’d told Torren to stay with the other kids. It was protocol to stick together, otherwise they would be looking for multiple people. Torren knew the drill, so why had he ignored it?
Tag caught up with Aaron and the group of college kids, wanting to question them about where his brother had headed off to. Unfortunately, none of the kids knew what direction Torren had gone in. Tag ran his hands through his hair and replaced his ski cap and hood. He needed to get out there to find his brother; every second that passed increased the chance that things would not end well. Torren must have felt the same way about just leaving the lost kid out there. Having to take responsibility for a bunch of nineteen-year-old college students was more than they’d bargained for. He’d worried about sending Torren and their new summer hire out together with such a young group. Tag regretted not leading them himself, but then he would have had to leave Piper for the night, and that wasn’t something he was ready to do. He wanted time with her, to prove that he could live up to the promises that he made her.
Aaron agreed to stay with the group and assist SAR in getting them down the mountain. Against his better judgment, Tag let most of the team go. He knew that the more help they had, the better the odds for getting the college kids home safely. Tag kept three men with him, splitting up into two groups of two. They were able to get a GPS location on Torren since he’d turned on his cell phone. Tag was thankful that his brother had left him a breadcrumb to follow.
Tag led the way, hoping that the blinding snow wouldn’t stop them from finding Torren. He could barely see two feet in front of himself. There was no path to follow; his only guide was his GPS. He stopped to let his partner know that they were only about five hundred feet from where the signal was transmitting, when he realized that no one was behind him.
“Shit!” He retrieved his radio from his pack and tried to reach Aaron, but he had no signal. Tag searched for anything that would give him a clue to his bearings—a trail sign or even a rock formation. He stumbled through the knee-deep snow to find a small overhang and ducked inside to get out of the driving snow. His only hope now was to wait out the storm, or at least wait until it slowed down some.
He recognized the small cave as one he and Torren had played in as kids. Dane had jokingly called it the “Harrison hang out”. He felt a little more relaxed—at least he knew where he was—but he wasn’t out of the woods yet. He still needed to find Torren and the lost college student, and now his lost Search and Rescue partner. All he could do was sit and wait for the storm to let up.
He dropped his pack and settled in against the back wall of the overhang. He’d barely slept the night before thanks to Piper’s sexy little body lying next to him in bed. He couldn’t get enough of her. The last thing he needed now was to think about her sitting in his cabin, a few miles from where he sat, worrying about him. He didn’t want to think about how upset she would be knowing that he was stranded on the side of the mountain, waiting out the storm. He wished he could get her a message that he was safe, but he still had no signal. The storm raged on and all he could do was sit and watch it, thankful that he had some shelter from the elements. He knew it wasn’t the smartest decision but he felt himself drifting off, too exhausted to stay awake. He just needed a little shut-eye before the storm ended and he could set off to find his brother. He hoped that Torren had found someplace safe to weather the storm too.
***
Tag was startled awake by a rustling noise just outside the small cave. He knew that bears were awake, since it was technically spring, and the realization had him jumping to life and grabbing his pack to make a quick getaway. Instead of a bear, Tag was nearly plowed down by Torren. He was covered in snow and helping who Tag supposed was the lost college student. The poor kid had on a light jacket, a ski cap and some gloves. He at least had on hiking boots from their earlier trek, but Tag was afraid that if they didn’t get him medical help quickly, he’d be in trouble.
“Fuck, Tag, where have you been?” Torren helped the kid to sit against the back wall and covered him with a thermal blanket that he retrieved from his pack. He pulled Torren in for a quick hug, happy to see that his brother was in one piece.
“Well, let’s see, Tor. Oh, yeah. I was here, waiting out the storm so that I could rescue your ass when it all blew over.” Tag didn’t miss the scowl on his brother’s face. Torren was never one to ask for help. He would never admit to ever needing it from anyone, especially not Tag. As much as Tag wanted to take care of Torren, he knew that his brother could take care of himself. He always could—even after losing Dane, Torren had never seemed to need Tag. It was more like the other way around; Tag needed Torren. He couldn’t imagine his life without his twin. He would have never gotten over his mother’s death or his father abandoning them. Torren even helped him through losing Dane, which Tag had taken much harder than his brother.
“As you can see, big brother, I’m just fine. No need to rescue me or our wandering college student over there.” Torren nodded to where the kid was shivering under the blanket.
“Where did you find him?” Tag pulled his thermal blanket from his pack and piled it on top of the kid.
“About a mile up the mountain. He was huddled under a tree, turning blue.”
Tag didn’t miss the worry on Torren’s face. His brother knew that time was a major concern.
“We just need to wait out the tail end of the storm, then we can get everyone back down the mountain, safely.”
Torren nodded his agreement.
“Tell me that you didn’t come all the way up here by yourself, man.” Torren looked around as if Tag was hiding a rescue team behind his back.
“No, I know better than to head out alone in this weather, unlike some people.” Tag was trying for mad, but he was so relieved that his brother was safe he really couldn’t muster much anger. “Really, Torren, you should have stayed with the group. You know the drill.”
“Yeah, I know the drill, and I also know that if I waited too much longer our friend here would be dead by now.”
They both knew that it was the truth, still Tag didn’t like that his brother had taken the risk. If he was being honest, he would have done the same thing.
“I get it, man. I’m just glad you found him.”
Torren looked over to where the college student was watching them. “Me too, man. Did the rest of the group make it out safely?”
Tag nodded. “Yeah. After you called me, I called Aaron and he rounded up SAR. He took the group back down the mountain with most of the team. I kept three guys and we broke up into two groups.” Tag ran his hand over his face, feeling more fatigued then earlier. “I lost the guy that was with me. He was behind me one minute and gone the next. I can’t believe I just left him, but it was damn near impossible to see in that shit. What if he’s out there? What if he’s—”
Tag couldn’t finish his sentence; he didn’t want to think about the worst-case scenario.
Torren rested his hand on Tag’s shoulder. “Dude, don’t do that to yourself. I’m sure he found a safe place to wait out the storm, just like you did. Those SAR guys go through months of training before they ever get an assignment. I’m sure he knew what to do when you two wer
e separated. We’ll find him, don’t worry Tag.”
Tag knew that everything his brother said was true; he just had a gnawing feeling in his gut that told him that something was wrong.
“Well, we might as well get comfortable. From the looks of it, we are going to be here for a while.”
They both watched the snow for a moment until setting to work trying to build a small fire. They needed to stay warm while they waited. Tag pulled out the dry firewood that they both kept in their packs, along with matches. He built the fire while Torren got some water and granola out for everyone. They would be good for at least a day, maybe two, but Tag hoped like hell it wouldn’t come to that. He’d promised Piper a quick trip up the mountain and then back home. He wasn’t about to break his first promise to her. The sooner the storm stopped, the sooner they could find the three SAR guys and he could get back home to Piper.
***
The storm continued to rage on around the cabin and Piper added another log to the fire. She stood by the front window, looking out at the snow, wishing Tag would appear in the doorway. The sun had gone down hours ago and there was no word from him or the three SAR guys that had stayed behind with him.
Aaron had called her four hours prior to fill her in on everything. All the college kids had made it back down the mountain, with most of the SAR team and Aaron. Unfortunately, Tag had stayed behind with three others to find Torren and the lost college student. The thought of Tag being trapped out in the storm made her feel sick. She knew that she was probably overreacting, but all she could think about was Tag laying frozen to death in the snow. She choked back a sob, trying to calm herself. She felt near hysterical. She’d all but begged Aaron to go back up on the mountain to find Tag and bring him home to her. He’d replied that all teams had been told to stand down and wait out the storm; the conditions were just too dangerous for anyone to go back out in. The practical side of her understood, but the fearful little girl inside of her was screaming for help.
She fixed some dinner, hoping that Tag would show up hungry, but he never did. She couldn’t eat or sleep. She knew that at any minute she could get a phone call from someone on the SAR team, telling her that Tag was hurt, or worse. She wouldn’t be able to bear that; losing Tag would kill her. He had become her entire world in such a short amount of time. He’d become someone that she couldn’t live without. She never wanted to be dependent on anyone else for her own happiness. When she lost her parents, she’d shut that part of herself off from the world. Then Tag happened, and now she couldn’t imagine being without him.