“I don’t want to leave her,” Josh said.
The flight nurse was just as adamant. “Go. We’ve got this. She’ll be okay on the ride. Now get out of here.”
Josh didn’t have to be told a third time. He picked up both packs and started running toward the other chopper with Brayden trailing behind.
Thirty-One
Monday night
The moment he took his seat on the chopper Josh made the call to Travis. He didn’t even get the words out before his father-in-law seemed to already know.
“I saw the crow. She’s hurt, isn’t she? How bad? How did it happen?”
Josh went into every detail that happened with Smith and Brayden, refusing to leave out the smallest tidbit. It was almost therapeutic to let everything tumble out in one long breathless explanation.
By the time he’d finished, he expected Travis to let him have an earful. But instead of a rant or a lecture, his father-in-law surprised him.
“I’m rounding everyone up. We’re heading there now.”
“Travis, no. Please stay there with Sierra. Please. I know it’s a lot to ask but—”
“Nope. We’re all coming, including Sierra. That’s final, even if we have to rent one of those private jets to get us there, we’re not staying put while Skye’s out there in the hospital. You keep us posted every step of the way until we arrive. Got it?”
Josh didn’t have the energy to argue. “Got it.”
After ending that call, his phone began dinging with a series of text messages from Harry, several from two days back, some wanting an update about the search. Obviously, they’d been hung up in the no-service zone. He ignored those and answered the last one from Harry about how the trek was going from his end of the Absaroka.
He keyed in the latest news.
Skye took a bullet. Airlifted out. Billings Trauma Center.
Half a minute went by before he got an answer.
On my way. Hang in there.
As soon as the chopper lifted off, the kid seemed nervous on the flight, like it brought back old memories or something.
But Josh had bigger things to worry about. He looked out the window at the Montana sky. Layers of purple and pink streaked across the golden horizon. It was like the reddish colors had whipped up their best for tonight and wanted everyone to know it.
Skye would’ve loved this sunset, Josh thought as they picked up and headed north, leaving the wilderness to its own cruel devices. The brilliant colors enveloped them as the pilot flew directly toward those massive peaks.
For the briefest of moments, Josh wondered how they’d rise high enough to fly over them. And then, he felt the upward lift, the gigantic heave of the rotors, enough momentum to soar.
And soar they did.
He looked down at the rugged terrain as it got smaller. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to go camping again. He should’ve made Skye stay back in Seattle. He should’ve taken the snake dream at face value and known something bad was about to happen. He should’ve turned around sooner when he heard the gunshot.
Twenty minutes of worry and regret before the helicopter reached the landing pad at the hospital. It wasn’t on the roof but on a side strip of concrete with a huge red emblem in the middle.
Once inside the automatic doors, Josh waited, his nose pressed to the glass, for the second chopper to make an appearance. The minute he heard the double-engine chopper making its approach, he was on his feet. It touched down and he watched a team of six rush outside. Skye was whisked into the ER and into a trauma bed.
The scene around her became a frenzy as doctors and nurses cut away her clothing and began to work on the wound.
An admin approached him to begin filling out information and asked him to provide his insurance coverage. Routine stuff that gave him the necessary distraction to keep from rushing into the room. Because as far as he was concerned nothing was routine about Skye losing consciousness.
He whirled on Brayden when the kid tapped him on the shoulder. It was all he could do not to punch the kid. If not for the boy, the doctors wouldn’t be in there now prepping Skye for surgery.
Brayden held up his hands in front of his face in a self-defense gesture. “Hey, man. I’m sorry. I’m just trying to figure out what to do next.”
Josh narrowed his gaze, a headache beginning to pound behind his eyes. “The cops will be here to ask you a ton of questions about the time you spent with Smith. You’ll also have to give them a statement about shooting Skye.”
Brayden swallowed hard. “Sure. Sure. No problem.”
Harry showed up with the FBI and several Park County Sheriff’s deputies. The investigators took Brayden into a room at the end of the hallway and that was the last Josh saw of the kid.
The next thing Josh knew, the ER doctor and a team of nurses had surrounded him. He was sure this was it, Skye had died and it was all his fault.
But the medical team was there for support, not to deliver bad news.
“Mr. Ander, your wife is headed into surgery. The x-ray shows the bullet is still in there. It might not have been the smartest move using the adhesive to glue the wound shut, but at least the action prevented more blood loss.”
“Will she be okay? Our family is already headed here.”
“I believe she’ll be fine, but I’ll know in another hour or so, two at the most.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here. Waiting.”
But two hours turned into three. During that time, Travis showed up with most of the gang in tow. Josh was so grateful to see his daughter, his knees wanted to buckle. Instead of collapsing, he wept. “Thanks for bringing her. Thanks to everyone for coming. I’m so scared.”
Lena wrapped her arms around him and Sierra. She needed to get his mind on something else. “It’s amazing what you can get done by calling in favors in an emergency,” Lena whispered to Josh. “Travis called up a rancher friend of his, Webb Barstow. You remember Webb, he’s the guy who owns the ranch next door. Webb offered his jet. And that’s how we ended up here so fast.”
“I’m glad you came. I’m glad you brought Sierra.”
“Travis was gonna get here one way or the other, even if he had to drive. But he refused to wait long enough for Winston and Leo to get to the landing strip before we took off. So he left them behind,” Zoe grumbled, not happy about the decision. “You left without Winston and Leo when they were five minutes from the plane.”
A worried Travis defended his actions by bellowing out into the waiting room. “We didn’t have time to sit around for everyone to get there. You wanted to get here before she took a turn for the worse, didn’t you? We did.”
“You could’ve waited five more minutes,” Zoe shot back. “Skye would’ve wanted them here.”
Sierra began to fuss, maybe because of the arguing or maybe because of the lateness of the hour. Josh cradled her in his arms, resting his head on hers.
Harry came back into the waiting area carrying two cups of coffee and without his entourage of law enforcement. He handed off one of the vending machine cardboard cups to Josh. “Here. Drink this. You look like you could use a shot of bourbon, but this’ll have to do until we can get out of here. How’s she doing? Any word yet?”
“Not yet,” Josh said, his face looking like a wooden replica of himself. “I don’t know what to do without her. She’s…everything.”
“We should’ve taken more precautions out there when we confronted Smith.”
“You did what you had to do. You took him down. That’s the important thing.”
Josh glared at Harry. “What happened to we find him and the FBI will take him down? Where’s Emmett? I sure don’t see him here in Montana on the ground with the rest of us like he promised.”
“You’re right. Emmett’s back in Seattle. You guys followed Smith into that wilderness from the west side of the county. The sheriff’s deputies and I went around to the north. The FBI approached from the east. We were all out there searching fo
r him, coming in from different angles. We would’ve eventually cut him off. But everyone knows you two put yourselves at risk by confronting him when you did.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t the smartest move we’ve ever made.”
“No time for second guesses,” Harry said. “What’s done is done. Smith’s dead and that’s the important thing. We’ll go back out there tomorrow at first light and pick up what’s left of him.”
“Was it really worth it, Harry?” Josh wondered. He bounced Sierra on his lap. “This little girl might not have a mother.”
Harry laid a hand on his shoulder. “Skye always thought the risks were worth it. She always believed that trying to save people from monsters like that was her life’s work, important work. I don’t know about now. But you remember that whenever she gets out of surgery. She was never one to give up.”
For the rest of the wait, everyone was on edge. It was pushing ten o’clock by the time the doctor came out. “Are you guys here for Skye Cree?”
Josh tried to get to his feet and found his legs wouldn’t hold him up. “Yes.”
“She’s fine. We got the bullet. She lost a lot of blood but she’ll be just fine. She’s in recovery now. Once she gets into her own room, you guys can take turns seeing her. But only for a few minutes at a time. She needs to sleep to recover. She’s a very lucky woman to have such a big family supporting her like this.”
Josh tightened his hold on Sierra. He looked around at the people who’d made the trip. Judy’s arms went around him and Sierra, engulfing father and child into a warm embrace. It was followed by Reggie, Lena, and Zoe. Travis stood apart from the others. But Josh was having none of that.
“Group hug,” Josh said to Travis, nudging him closer. And watched as the Nez Perce warrior almost collapsed in the circle.
Yes, Josh decided they were very lucky. And he intended to make sure this kind of thing never happened again.
Epilogue
Two weeks later
Bainbridge Island
In full bloom, the wisteria draped the backside wall of the farmhouse in a purple curtain. The hydrangeas had found their blue zone, a baby-pale color that had the month of May written all over them. The bees buzzed over the flower garden and life had gone on.
Skye had been back in Seattle for a week. She was still trying to get back to her regular work routine, taking care of Foundation chores from home. That is, if people would let her.
Someone always seemed to be hovering, especially Josh or Travis. She wasn’t sure which man fussed over her longer. But it didn’t matter because both were getting on her last nerve. She couldn’t walk to the bathroom by herself without Josh wanting to tag along. If she tried to fix herself a sandwich Travis was right there to do it for her.
The only thing left to do was sit on the couch and watch Sierra play on the floor with a doll almost as big as the toddler. The doll had come from a stash of things belonging to Jodie Cree that Travis had saved. Stuff Skye hadn’t even known he’d kept. At least that had been Travis’s explanation when he’d showed up at the door with the doll two days ago. A day which happened to be the anniversary of Jodie and Daniel Cree’s deaths. It had been the only time she could remember that Travis had marked their passing with a conversation about it.
“I thought it was time to give it to Sierra,” Travis explained. “Do you remember playing with this same doll?”
“I do. I just didn’t know you were aware of it.” And then she’d seen the truth in Travis’s face. “Ah. You bought it for me, didn’t you?”
“For your third birthday.”
Skye looked over and realized Sierra was using it more like an action figure, trying to maneuver it in place in a game of tackle. “Oh, Dad. It’s amazing you remember that. As you can see though, you’re getting a firsthand look at your granddaughter’s fascination with it now.”
“Is she playing with it or tossing it to the floor like a martial arts thing?”
“A little of both I’m afraid.”
She stood up with the intent to walk to the window, but Josh was right there at her elbow before she could take three steps. “Stop fussing over me, will you? I’m fine. The doctor says exercise is what I need right now, not flat on my back 24/7 while everyone waits on me. My body needs exercise.”
“Yeah, well, just don’t go pushing it.”
When the doorbell rang Josh immediately went on alert. It broke her heart to see how dramatically he’d changed since that day at the river. He hadn’t been the same since. He seemed to have no sense of humor, which wasn’t like the Josh she knew. He seemed ready to pounce at every little noise. She knew for a fact he wasn’t sleeping.
She’d tried to get him to talk about it. But from the moment she’d woken up in the hospital, he’d managed to steer the conversation away from the subject. It was getting so she had to admit he might never go back to acting like the same old Josh.
In the entryway, Josh opened the door to see a serious-faced Brayden standing on the porch. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see how your wife was doing. You never returned any of my calls when she was in the hospital. I had to see for myself that she was okay.”
Skye came around the corner, followed by Atka. The dog seemed determined to check out who was at the door, too.
Skye had once believed the boy to be five-eight, but standing this close to him, she realized he was barely taller than her five-foot-six frame.
She stood in the hallway while Josh tried to block her from seeing who was on the porch, but she slapped his arm away. “Brayden, I’m glad you stopped by, why don’t you come in?”
Josh reluctantly jerked the door back. “What are you waiting for? You heard the lady.”
“So…how’ve you been?” Brayden began.
“The doctors had to take a bullet out of her side. How do you think she’s been?” Josh fired back.
The teen spotted the malamute and dropped down on one knee so he could scratch behind her ears. “And who’s this pretty pooch?”
“That’s Atka. Atka seems to like you,” Skye said, turning to Josh. “I bet Brayden could use something to drink.”
“We have lemonade,” Josh muttered between clenched teeth.
“Lemonade’s fine,” Brayden said, turning to Skye. “I wanted to say again how sorry I am that I pulled the trigger that day.”
She touched his arm and noticed the boy flinch at the slight weight on his arm, just enough to indicate to Skye there was a problem. “It’s okay. I tried to explain to everyone, including Josh, that I knew exactly what happened that day with the .22. The gun didn’t go off until I bumped into you. I remember that clearly. So stop blaming yourself. I know it was an accident. You didn’t mean to shoot me. Why don’t you come into the living room and sit down?”
Skye nudged the teen into the room where she introduced him to Travis.
“I don’t think Josh wants me here,” Brayden admitted.
“Josh is just being overprotective,” Travis explained. Taking Skye’s lead, he refused to dwell on the negative. “I hear you’re the one who helped carry my daughter out of the backcountry to safety. That makes you okay in my book.”
Sierra got bored with the doll and toddled over to her mother. “Mama.”
Skye sat down on the sofa so Sierra could climb onto her lap. She still wasn’t allowed to pick up anything heavy. Doctor’s orders. “Have a seat, Brayden.”
The teen became emotional when he saw Sierra. “How old is she?”
“Almost nineteen months.”
“Josh never mentioned you guys had a kid.”
Josh brought in a pitcher of lemonade on a tray and set it down on the coffee table. He poured a glass for Brayden. “I didn’t have time that day for small talk. I was pretty busy trying to keep Skye alive.”
“I don’t blame you for being mad at me,” Brayden said to Josh. “My finger was on the trigger that day and I take full responsibility for what happened. I don’t think I ever
want to touch another gun for as long as I live. Smith tried to teach me the basics, but I guess none of it took.”
The teen eyed Josh. “And I’m sure there are other people out there who will always think I helped Smith commit his last two murders in Ithaca and San Diego last year. I didn’t lift one finger to take any of their lives. I did act as a lookout because he made me. I stayed put outside because of that explosive thing around my neck. I was scared to death he’d detonate it even when I did what I was supposed to do. I told the police all about it when they were grilling me. I was so damned afraid of the guy that I couldn’t even muster up the courage to get out of there for fear he’d hunt me down and kill me on the spot.”
If Josh couldn’t show the kid empathy, Skye was determined to go the extra mile. “Believe it or not, I’ve been that scared before, too. Your legs feel too heavy to run, your feet feel like they’re in a bucket of cement.”
“There’s something else you should know.”
Skye exchanged looks with Josh. “What’s that?”
“Do you know why Smith said he saved my life that night?”
“I thought you said you had no idea,” Josh accused, running a hand down his jaw. “I’m pretty sure those were your exact words.”
“Smith said it was because I had blue eyes and blond hair just like him.”
“Was it a s-e-x-u-a-l kind of thing?” Skye asked, spelling the word out in front of Sierra. “Maybe he was attracted to you?”
Brayden shook his head. “Nope. But that’s what kept running through my head that night. All kinds of creepy thoughts were spinning around in my mind. He never tried anything like that the entire time I was locked up in his house. He did other horrible things to keep me in line though. I never even heard anyone come to the house. He cleaned it though like a fiend, kept the place immaculate. I came to realize that Smith was just weird and mean…” Brayden looked at the toddler and adjusted his language. “One mean, horrible you-know-what, barely human, who liked to hurt people and bring pain to…to a lot of people. You know, he bragged to me about being a hotshot sniper in the Army. I believed every word of it too because you should’ve seen the look in his eyes when he was telling me about all the people he killed for the government.”
Truth in the Bones Page 29