Annie said, “I sent my larger chopper directly to the coordination base. It can expedite strategically positioning the bushwalkers. And relocating them if necessary.”
Kade put a hand on one of Annie’s shoulders. She glanced at him. He said, “You are fucking amazing. Do you know that?”
She smiled. Even though the situation was grave, partnering with Kade to save someone had been her youthful fantasy of what life would be like for them. Some men might have been threatened by a strong woman, but that had never been Kade. He’d always been genuinely impressed if she beat him in a race. He’d had no desire to get a flying license, said he was much happier climbing a mountain than soaring above it, but he’d celebrated when she’d gotten hers. He’d sat in her passenger seat countless times. Did he have any idea how much that had meant to her? “You’re not so bad yourself,” she said.
There wasn’t time to say much more. Once at the mountain, Annie was in constant contact with the local police, coordinating the ground search. Kade had his people check in and take direction from the police as well. There was no room for egos when it came to finding someone lost in the bush. The reality was that even the best team didn’t always reach people in time. Australia’s high country didn’t always give the deceased back, leaving families grieving and searching for decades.
Getting lost in the bush was easy, but survivalists agreed that what happened during the first few hours often determined the outcome. When people became disoriented, they often panicked and made risky decisions. They’d try to cross a dangerous creek, climb down a gorge they otherwise would have avoided. It was unlikely that Clay would head to the higher snow-covered ground, but he could already have been bitten by any number of the poisonous creatures that inhabited Australia’s bushland.
Once she and her fleet were flying the designated routes, Annie felt she could finally take a breath. Kade’s eyes were glued to the areas they swept over. Without looking away from his task, he said, “Annie, I’ve only said this about a hundred times this week, but thank you. I know you asked me for time—”
She had. She forced her focus to remain on the path before her as she scanned the ground on her side. She understood. “If the situation were reversed, I would have called you.”
“And I would have come. I might not have done everything right, but I hope you know how much you mean to me.”
I can’t go down that rabbit hole with him now. “I do.” She radioed the police that she had swept her section and requested permission to fly over the river. They okay’d it to so she banked in that direction.
“Wait,” Kade said. “Annie, Clay isn’t a bushwalker. He doesn’t even camp. We’re searching in the wrong areas. I doubt he studied a map. The cliffs are too steep between where Connor said they saw him last and the river. He won’t know where the emergency huts are. We need to think like an inexperienced city person. What would he believe would be the key to his survival?”
Annie could see the logic behind where Kade was going with this. “His phone?”
“Exactly. I bet he’s seeking a high point because he thinks he’ll get better reception that way.”
“He won’t, not without a satellite phone.”
“We know that, but you’ve met him, do you think he would?”
“Okay, so all we have to figure out is which high point would look most accessible to him from where he was last seen.”
“Pete’s Peak.” Kade pointed higher up the mountain. “It’s on the east side, within walking distance of where Clay was. If he’s there, it’s thickly forested almost all the way up, but you might be able to land on the clearing at the very top.”
“It’s worth a shot.” Annie radioed in a change of course. “You do know this area well. Do you like it as much as Mount Feathertop?”
“Nothing compares to home,” Kade said in a thick voice. “It just took me a long time to realize that. Hopefully not too long.”
Rather than read into his words, Annie checked in with her pilots. She also asked the base team if Pete’s Peak was known for unusual crosswinds or anything else that would make landing an issue. They gave her an all-clear.
When she landed, Annie cut the engines then retrieved a small pack for Kade. It included a whistle used for communication over distances. He took the pack and slung it over one shoulder. She caught her breath and said, “Kade, be careful.”
He gave her a funny look. “I’m not going far.”
“There’s an emergency beacon in the pack as well. In case anything happens.” Stop.
“My satellite phone works just fine.” He touched her cheek gently.
“Of course.”
He leaned closer. “I’ve taken people to this very spot countless times. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Annie couldn’t have explained her reaction to him considering she hardly understood it herself. She’d prepared herself to survive the idea of not having him in her day-to-day life, but the dire nature of their task had her imagining much worse scenarios. “Check in ever fifteen minutes or so for my sanity.”
A crooked grin stretched his lips. “You do care.” He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her flush against him.
She put her hands on his powerful chest but didn’t push him away. “Don’t.”
He looked into her eyes with such intensity that Annie nearly lost her ability to breathe. Her eyes fluttered shut when his lips brushed over hers. What had started innocent enough, quickly deepened. It overtook both of them, leaving them shuddering when they parted. “I’m sorry. I have to go, Annie,” he said huskily.
She nodded wordlessly.
He shook his head as if to clear it. “There are things that need to be said, but—”
“Go,” she said softly. “I’ll be right here waiting for you.”
A frown creased his forehead, and he gave her one passionate kiss then stepped away without saying more. She watched him walk down a steep hill before disappearing into a wooded area. He alternated calling out Clay’s name with whistle blows.
Annie went to her radio to call in an update on their location. “I’m waiting with the helicopter.” She replaced the radio.
She stood there, fingers pressed to her lips, wondering where the hell she and Kade were headed. Toward one last friend fuck?
No, I won’t make that mistake again.
Come on, Clay, be where Kade thinks you are.
I need to get home, concentrate on myself for a while, and start over. Not angry. Not sad. Just stronger and wiser.
Chapter Fifteen
‡
Kade blew the whistle one time then waited for any type of response. Clay probably wouldn’t know the code behind the number of sounds, but any other searchers who might be in earshot would. One was a question: Where are you?
Although he hadn’t yet found Clay, Kade had found answers in Annie’s kiss. She wasn’t breaking it off with him because she wasn’t interested. She wasn’t angry with him. She’d told him being with him was hurting her, and he felt that conflict in her.
Because she doesn’t know how I feel about her. How could she when I just figured it out myself?
She will, though. As soon as this is over, she will.
In the distance, a whistle blew in response.
Kade froze and blew his whistle again.
Once again there was an answering blast. Kade headed in the direction of it. He repeated the call and followed the response until he spotted the outline of a tall man coming toward him. Clay looked sweaty and his legs were scratched, but he was walking fine and his color was good.
“G’day mate,” Clay said in a poor impression of an Australian accent. “You’re a welcome sight.”
“You hurt at all?” Kade asked.
Clay shook his head. “No, but I’ve discovered I’m not into nature. Or hiking. Or bugs.” He shuddered. “There’s also a sad lack of public facilities out here.”
Kade took out his phone to tell Annie he’d found Clay.
&
nbsp; “Oh, thank God,” she said. “How is he?”
After looking him over again, Kade announced, “Not hurt. Other than that, about how you’d guess.”
“I’ll radio down that we found him, and inform my crew as well. Do you want me to contact your parents?”
“Please. We’ll be back with you in ten to twenty.”
“Sounds good. See you then.”
Kade turned and started walking, leaving Clay to trot after him. The sooner this was over the sooner he could repair things with Annie.
Clay said, “Hey, where are you going?”
“Back to the helicopter. You might want to follow me.” He wouldn’t normally be so abrupt with someone who had just gone through a traumatic experience. Clay didn’t look worse for wear, though. In fact, there was a cockiness to him that was striking a nerve.
“Well, aren’t we testy,” Clay said with some humor.
“That’s it.” Kade stopped and spun on his heel. “You need to shut the hell up. People die in these mountains. If your arse had, it would have been nothing more than you deserve, but you and Viviana’s brothers led a group of innocent people up here under the false pretense that any of you knew what the fuck you were doing. That’s what is going up my arse the most. It’s not just your life you don’t care about. Had something happened to those people, you wouldn’t even have been able to contact someone for help.”
Raising both hands in surrender, Clay said, “Calm down, did something happen? Everyone else made it back, right?”
“Yes, but no thanks to you.” Advancing on him, Kade growled, “At least look like you fucking care. There are about a hundred people who dropped everything and put their lives at risk to find you. Most of them are volunteers. Some won’t get paid for today because instead of reporting to their jobs, they wasted their time searching for an idiot who had no business being here at all. I made it clear that all you were supposed to do was run damage control in my office.”
Clay’s expression lost all humor. When he answered it was in a quiet tone. “I clearly didn’t think this through.”
Kade ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “All I’m saying is this isn’t a joke to anyone. When you meet the rescue team, and you will because they’ll be with the emergency team who will want to see you before you leave—don’t be a dick.”
Clay nodded once then followed Kade silently back to the peak. Annie met them where the trees opened up.
She gave Clay an assessing once-over then turned her attention to Kade. “It was a good idea to try the peak, Kade.”
Kade caressed the line of her jaw with a brush of his fingertips. God, he could hardly wait to kiss his way from her ear to every other inch of her. “Sometimes I know what I’m doing.”
Her face flushed and she stepped back, breaking the contact between them. “The police want to speak to Clay before he leaves. They asked us to meet them in a field at the entrance of Kimball Road. I figured you’d know where that is.”
“I do. That’s old man Kimball’s field. He and his wife open their property and their home once a month to the Victoria Search and Rescue volunteers for training purposes. It’s a tradition that started because the farm is conveniently located, and Kimball was one of the founding volunteers, but we all joke that it remains an integral part of the training program because his wife makes the best chicken parmi and pav.” Kade wanted that kind of future with Annie. Something solid that would also bring some good into the world. He had no idea what that would look like for them, but the more he thought about it the more certain he was that it was the path they were meant to take.
As if she could sense his thoughts, she flushed again and looked away. “Well, the sooner we get over there the sooner we can all go home.”
Home sounded pretty damn good to Kade.
Clay stepped forward. Thankfully he’d left his smug humor back in the bush. “Annie, thank you for coming to find me.”
Kade met the man’s gaze. “She didn’t come by herself. Every client on her schedule had to find an alternative means of transportation. She called back all her pilots to fly the Barringtons out here to assist in the search. Some are here, some are still en route.”
“Holy shit. I wasn’t lost that long,” Clay said, going a little pale.
“Like I said, not everyone who gets lost in these mountains survives the experience.”
“Well,” Clay said, “I really appreciate it.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay.” Annie gave Clay a sympathetic look. “You’re one of the lucky ones. This is the outcome we all pray for.” She opened the back door of the helicopter. Clay climbed in.
Kade stepped between Annie and the pilot door. “Today reminds me of that day you flew with the firefighters. I was proud of you then. I’m proud of you now.”
She smiled. “Thank you. You should be proud of yourself as well. Your instincts were spot-on.”
He took her hand in his. “We make a good team.”
A storm raged in her eyes, and she slid her hand out of his. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to get back. I have some disgruntled clients to appease. My competition very happily took over the runs. You know how that can go.”
“What do you need?” Kade asked. “Say it and it’s yours. I’m sure with my new connections I can easily get you enough new clients you won’t even miss the ones you lost. Hell, as a thank you I could double the size of your fleet. I’m sure I can afford it now.”
“I’ll be fine, Kade.” She stepped past him, climbed into the pilot seat, and closed her door in his face.
He rushed around to the other side of the helicopter. She didn’t spare him so much as a glance as she started the engine up and took off. He hadn’t meant to offend her, but she definitely didn’t look happy with him.
Through his headset radio, Clay asked, “Has anyone spoken to Lexi? How angry is she?”
As soon as they landed, Annie, Kade, and Clay were separated. Clay was taken to be examined by the medical team while an officer asked him questions. Kade was warmly welcomed by the local volunteers, as well as one very apologetic-looking man Annie guessed was the one who had originally been left in charge of Kade’s office.
Annie had just finished debriefing with one of the officers when her pilots began to land, delivering a good number of the Barrington family. She gasped when the door of one helicopter flew open mere seconds after it landed and didn’t breathe properly until the woman cleared the rotors. That would have been a bloody mess. Literally.
Annie brought a shaking hand to her mouth. She was tired and her nerves were shot. As vulnerable as she was, she knew she had to escape before Kade felt compelled to thank her again. She didn’t want his gratitude any more than she wanted to be paid off. He was already changing—already becoming a Barrington. It was only a matter of time before his opinion of Bright along with his simple life there changed.
He really is leaving even if he doesn’t see it yet.
Annie sought out one of her pilots to tell her she was leaving. “Mel, can you handle organizing everyone on this side? The family will all need to get home. Tell everyone to log their hours, and I’ll compensate them with overtime pay.”
“Will do,” her longtime pilot said. Mel had grown up in Bright and had been a stay-at-home mum until her children had started school. Annie had funded flight school for her, and the payoff had been a reliable and loyal second-in-command who was also a damn good pilot. She referenced the elated group. “Are you sure you want to miss out on all that? You’re the one who found him.”
Annie shrugged. “Not really. I didn’t do anything more than anyone else here. We were just lucky he was where Kade thought he might be.”
Mel had known her long enough to ask, “Is Kade flying back with you?”
Annie squared her shoulders. “No.”
“I’m sorry,” Mel said, hugging Annie.
Annie almost told her it was no big deal, but she simply hugged her back instead. Mel was a friend as well
as an employee. There was no reason to hide the truth from her.
“Annie?” Lexi’s voice interrupted.
Annie looked up from hugging Mel to see Lexi and Clay standing there. Mel excused herself and slipped away. “Yes?”
Lexi wrapped her arms around Annie and hugged her tightly. Clay joined in. Laughing when they finally released her, Annie said, “You’re welcome.”
Looking more serious than Annie had ever seen him, Clay said, “I feel bad, and I’m not used to feeling this way. What can I do for you as a token of appreciation? Something that says thank you for saving my sorry ass?”
Tucking herself beneath one of Clay’s arms, Lexi said, “I’ve never been so scared. Seriously, what can we do to show you how grateful we are?”
Annie looked at the volunteers still gathered and said, “I’m fortunate to be in a place where I don’t need anything, but not everyone here is so lucky. First, fund Wabonga’s search and rescue team. Cover what it cost them to look for you today. Then, if you want to express your gratitude, do something good for this community. Every single person who geared up to find you is a hero, and it would be nice to see them recognized for it.”
Lexi and Clay exchanged a look then nodded. Clay asked, “But you don’t want anything for yourself? Why do I get the feeling you’re going to fly off as soon as we walk away?”
Lexi gushed, “We’re all heading back to the lodge after this. You have to come with.”
Annie shook her head. “It has been a long and crazy day, but it’s not over for me yet. I have work waiting for me back at my office.”
“I’m sure—” Clay started to say then stopped and glanced over to where Kade was talking to the police officer. When his gaze returned to Annie, he said, “Lexi and I will definitely take your advice and make sure good things happen for this town and these people in particular.”
Annie smiled.
Forever Now (The Barrington Billionaires Book 6) Page 16