by Jody Klaire
I could sense that Renee was itching to take charge. She was highly trained in all sorts of emergency stuff and I was pretty sure before CIG she had been involved in this kind of thing. Not that she’d ever tell me nothing.
“That looks more recent than last night,” she said. “We were caught in the run on the north side of town.”
McKinley scowled at his deputy. “Then, ma’am. I’m glad your—”
He howled as the doctor moved his leg and I bit back my own howl.
“Safe,” he grunted. “But we got a big problem on our hands.”
“Can we help?” Renee asked. Her mask was slipping away by the second.
McKinley eyed her. “You a medic?”
Renee sighed. “No, sir. I’m a doctor but in psychiatry.” I wanted to poke her. She was a medic and I was better than any sniffer dog at finding people who were trapped. I went to speak but she elbowed me in the ribs.
“My deputy will show you out,” he said.
I stepped forward. No way was I going to let the guy suffer like he was. He had things to do. I knew from meeting his deputy Hal that although he had a good heart, he was not ready to run a rescue operation.
“Can I take a look?” I asked the doctor.
“You got training?”
Ignoring the blast of panic from Renee, I nodded. “I was in the army a while back. Seen some similar injuries.” I glanced at Renee whose face remained impassive even though her aura was waving around like it was performing acrobatics. “Emergency battlefield stuff but I might know how to fix it?”
“We need that kind of help,” the doctor told McKinley. “You trained for the cold weather?”
His question made me thankful that I’d been at Franken-Frei’s mercy for all these months. Oh, I’d seen cold weather, I’d been dunked in sub-zero waters for my trouble too. Even the memory made my skin sting.
“Yes, sir,” I said. “An’ I know that the doc here is not specifically medic trained but she’s pretty handy in a crisis too.”
Renee glared at me but I knew she wanted to help as much as I did. There was a time and place for secrecy but what kind of protection team were we if we just stood by now?
“I was in Mountain Rescue for a while,” she mumbled.
All I could do was stare dumb at her and blink. Mountain Rescue? It sounded like the truth too.
“It’ll do,” the doctor said, stepping aside for me. “Have at it.”
I took off my gloves, looked at the pretty black-looking appendage, and knew exactly where to touch.
“Just hold still,” I said to McKinley. “This might tingle.”
Renee started to murmur a warning but I placed my hands on his leg.
What am I going to tell them? What will happen? This is so unfair, so damn unfair. Why?
The heat shot through my paws and I felt like my skin was going to burn right off then and there. McKinley groaned in relief. Renee pulled me back from him and the room swayed.
“You okay there?” the doctor asked me as Renee held me steady. I fought the urge to be sick and bent over at the waist, sucking in my breaths. I didn’t normally feel that way. I didn’t get it.
“She got hit herself last night,” Renee explained. “She should really be resting.”
McKinley rubbed his stomach, the confusion clear in his eyes. He was a handsome guy, like the rugged types that were always heroes in films. I looked down at my hands and realized that I needed to get rid of what I’d drained from him and soon.
“I gotta go,” I muttered to Renee. “Bathroom.”
“I’ll take you,” she said and hauled me down the corridor and into the tiny cupboard-for-a-rest-room. “Aeron. What do you think—?”
“Water,” I snapped. “Turn on the damn water.”
Her eyes were wide in shock but she nodded and I shoved my hands under the running water. Next thing I knew I was on my knees. The room spun. My stomach crunched. I couldn’t breathe. I spluttered. Renee moved forward.
“No,” I barked. “Stay there.”
“Watch your head then,” she muttered. “You’ll be no good concussed.”
The pain increased. I gasped, the air drained from me. The room was crushing me. It started to get dark. I knew I was close to passing out.
“Now,” I told Renee.
She stepped forward and pulled me away from the sink. I dropped down onto my back and lay on the floor shivering.
“Next time I decide to do this,” I said. “Hit me.”
Renee pulled me into a hug and tried to help me warm up. I just hoped nobody wandered in. What a picture. Me lying on the bathroom floor shivering with Renee clinging to me.
“At least the sheriff is fighting fit now.”
Sighing, Renee squeezed me tighter. “We have got to find a better way of you getting rid of the ailments.”
I couldn’t argue with that, not a bit.
Chapter 7
WE MANAGED TO get me off the floor and headed back to the sheriff’s office. The doctor looked pretty perplexed. He was rubbing at his chin as we entered. McKinley sat in his office chair, staring down at his fixed-up leg with a grin of genuine relief.
“Maybe it’s just bruising?” the doc mumbled to himself. “I swore there was a break.” He turned to me, a smile lit up his chisel-thin face. “You got a touch. I don’t know where you learned that technique but you’ll have to show me sometime.”
I was still shivering. I doubted that anyone would want my burdens. “So how many people are trapped?” I asked, hoping they would let it drop.
The smile fell from McKinley’s face. “Lord only knows. The road was packed. Not in all my life or any of those who were born here has there been such an event.”
“What happened?” Renee asked. Her confusion parted her lips, as she leaned forward, arms folded.
“This morning the snow on the lower part of the mountain crashed down onto the road below the town.” McKinley rubbed his hand over his face as if to try and wipe away the memory. “People were coming in to work and shop. Buried everything in its path.”
Renee leaned in closer. Her fingers dug into her jacket sleeves that turned white at the tips. “Emergency crews are there though, right?”
“Wrong,” McKinley said. His wide jaw twitched like he was trying not to bite at her. “The fire crew are all we got up this way in winter months. The weather and visibility are so bad that choppers can’t fly up here to us.” He motioned to the room. “What you see in this station . . . that’s it.”
“Have you got dogs trained?” Renee asked.
I nudged her as she said it, trying to warn her that she sounded more like Commander Renee Black of CIG than helpless Dr. Llys who she was meant to be. She didn’t seem to get the message.
“There’s got to be a couple of locals with mountain dogs,” Renee said.
McKinley nodded, his eyes narrowed. If she weren’t careful he’d start asking questions. “But most of those people are under maybe two feet of snow. Even if they weren’t crushed to death, by now, they are probably gone with hypothermia.”
Renee stepped forward. Her intensity rippled from her. “Most of the people around here know about the cold weather. They will have had blankets, food, water.” She leaned on McKinley’s desk. “We’ve got to try.”
“Doctor Llys here is right,” I said, hoping she would stop acting like a commander. “I know that I can find folks when they are under much worse.” I folded my arms as if I always trudged about on snow looking for trapped people. “If we work together we could help some folks.” I turned to Renee. “You remember that triage emergency medical system I told you about in the bathroom?”
Renee’s eyes filled with so much pride that I felt like my cheeks were about ready to toast s’mores. “That I do. I can get everything in place but it might be a good idea if you have a radio. You know, to keep an eye on me?”
I looked at McKinley whose relief swept off him. “Sure we can do that but they only have limited range in this
weather.” He tried out his fixed-up leg as he went to stand up and looked at me. “You think you can help with the rescue crew?”
No, was my mental answer and thank cotton, Renee took over.
“Aeron’s briefed me on it all,” she said with complete conviction, her hands on her hips like she owned the place. “She’ll head over to the café and get some supplies for the trip. If she takes your deputy . . . Hal, right?”
McKinley nodded. I wasn’t sure if he was more shocked that she was taking charge or her dominant posture.
Renee didn’t seem at all fazed by this and carried on like she was issuing orders to the CIG folks. “Maybe the local ski shops will lend some equipment, and people.”
“Sounds like you will make a great deputy,” McKinley said, regarding Renee with a twinkle in his eyes. “Lead the way, Doctor.”
Renee gave me the look that said, “Shift it,” and I nodded, then headed out to find the intrepid Hal. He was outside still trying to calm the growing crowd of people. I looked back into the station and then back at the crowd. I weren’t much for public speaking but if I didn’t say nothing, McKinley would get invaded.
“My name is Aeron,” I said to them, thinking that my name was as good as any place to start. “You folks know about the . . . er . . . incident earlier on.” I looked at Hal who watched me as avidly as the rest of them. “Well, we kinda need your help.”
The offers from the crowd hit me with such a force that I had to clear my throat. They were ready to do pretty much anything. There were so many I couldn’t tell one from the other. I raised my hands, hoping it would calm them.
“Right, well . . .” I looked at Hal who was nodding too. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was supposed to help anyhow.
“Do you guys have a hospital?” It seemed like something Renee would ask. At least I hoped it was.
“No, ma’am,” Hal said, gazing up at me. “We got the doc’s place though.”
That didn’t sound big enough to me so I went with the first thought that popped into my head. “We need a space for a field hospital, warm, quiet with as many beds as you got.”
“You can use our place,” a guy piped up. “I run the hotel just there.”
I turned to Hal. “Go tell Re—I mean Doc Llys—that we got a place for the hospital.”
“Sure thing!”
Hal hurried off and I tried to remember what Renee had said. “Okay, I need people with ski experience and maybe dogs who are good on snow.”
“Got a St. Bernard,” a woman said to my left. “My boys were born for snow.” The five large young men around her puffed themselves up.
“We have a couple of mobiles and any equipment you need,” A tall, muscular man added. “Brian and I can navigate pretty much any place on this mountain.”
The eagerness to help left me shocked as the ladies in the group started talking about how they could help with the field hospital and with supplies. After growing up in Oppidum, I had no idea that people could band together so quickly. It made me want to hug them all.
“Okay,” I said, my voice sounded wobbly. “Anyone who can help out with rescue, you head inside with the sheriff.” I looked at the ladies who were now grouped together to talk cooking. “You ladies got some ideas to help out, head on over to the hotel there.”
“Aeron,” one lady said. Why her calling my name shocked me I didn’t know but I ended up staring at her blankly. “Oi, freak,” was the usual greeting.
“Charlie,” she said. “He’s my husband, he was on that road.”
Without a single thought in my head, I walked over to her and took off my gloves. I knew that it would look crazy if I just started touching her so I pulled her into a hug. Her surprised “Oh” made me tense but I made a show of pulling her back and gripped her hands in mine.
So cold . . . so tired . . . I have to get back . . . she can’t take care of herself . . . I have to—
The woman snapped her hand away with the effect of the static shock I’d just given her but I focused on her, trying to convey complete confidence.
“We’ll find him,” I said. “Have you taken your meds?”
She looked at me with narrowed eyes. “How—?”
“I am medically trained,” I lied. “Your sugars are low.”
“I forgot,” she whispered. “I forget sometimes.”
I looked at the group of ladies who seemed to take that opportunity to sweep in like some kind of mothering convention.
“We’ll take Joyce with us,” one of them said. “She’ll be fine with us.”
With that I headed back to find Renee, forgetting all about Martha and Earl’s supplies. Charlie was running out of time and his survival was critical, the blast of wind that buffered me confirmed it. As I walked down the hallway, I took in the name of the place for the first time. Renee couldn’t cover up every indication of where we were and it was painted in nice bright letters on a sign hanging from the ceiling. Somehow, I’d missed it earlier when we walked in. Now, I stood looking at it, shaking my head. St. Jude’s—I would have laughed if my stomach wasn’t in knots. Fate had a funny sense of humor.
“Patron saint of hopeless causes,” I mumbled. “No wonder this place suits me just fine.”
Chapter 8
RENEE HAD PRETTY much marshaled the troops by the time I got into the room. Her aura was calmer than I’d seen it since she picked me up, and I almost forgot my urgency as I took in the sight. She was one of those special people who shone in a crisis. That was when her true heroic nature seemed to come bursting out of her and there was no doubt that she was a natural born leader.
I cleared my throat as I realized that, sometime during my daydreaming, Renee had turned to look at me, along with the rest of the guys present.
“Did you manage to get supplies too?” Renee asked. Her smile lifted the corners of her lips and filled her aura. She was pretty impressed with my gaggle of volunteers and their offerings.
I shook my head, hoping nobody would see me blush in response.
“What’s wrong?” Her grey eyes tracked over mine. Her aura rumbled like a towering storm cloud.
“Charlie,” I said, turning to McKinley. “He’s a deputy, right?”
McKinley nodded, his misery poured off him. “Poor guy was on the way home.” He looked at the rescue team. “Took the hit hard.”
“He’s alive,” I announced, earning myself some shocked looks in return. “I can find him but I need an ATV to carry him back, a medical person . . . to . . . er assist me and that St. Bernard.”
The five strapping brothers once again puffed out their chests.
“Evan has been training Duke since he was a pup,” one of them announced, pushing forward the smallest. “If anyone can find him, Duke and Evan can.”
I looked at Evan who was just a nose shorter than me and gripped his shoulder. “Welcome aboard.” I glanced around the room for show. “I think the doctor should stay in the field hospital. I’ll take Doc Llys here with me.”
“I’m Mark Jenson,” the man from the ski shop said. “I’ll take you down on the ATV.”
“Will it cause another avalanche?” I asked the rescue team.
“Could do,” one guy answered. “But there’s no way you’ll get down there that won’t.” He shrugged. “Even animals and skiers can set off a run.”
Reassuring. As if nearly being buried alive once wasn’t enough. Renee’s warning look made me stand up that much straighter. I was supposed to be a cold weather expert.
“Right,” I said, clearing my throat. “We ready?”
“How about the food and water provisions?” Renee asked. “The essential things for the cold.”
“That’s all sorted,” I lied. “Mark here is outfitting us, right?” He nodded and I tried not to show the relief that thudded through me. “And Martha and Earl will have food and water.”
“Don’t you think freeze dried would be better?” Renee asked again. “Easier to carry and the high energy sup
plements would help?”
Like heck did I know, so I nodded.
Renee must have seen the panic on my face as she turned to Mark Jenson. “Do you have them?”
“Yes,” he answered. “I am always stocked up for ski season.”
“Guess we’re lucky it ain’t then,” I said, earning myself another glare from Renee. Note to self. When I ain’t got the foggiest what is going on, I should shut up. “Just kidding,” I said with a smile, making most of the room laugh.
As we headed to the ski shop, Renee hung back with me. I didn’t need to be an empath to know that she was going to give me an earful.
“Did you pay any attention to Ursula . . . at all?” she muttered. Then she turned to me, her hands on her hips. “And why an ATV? Why not a snowmobile?”
“I kinda lost the thread after the three hours of safety stuff . . . I ain’t built for learning.”
Renee scowled at me. I was pretty sure that she would start poking me in the shoulder any second. “You are, you taught yourself to play the violin like Vanessa Mae.” She poked me in the ribs. “You just have no attention span for the things that don’t interest you.”
“Yeah, well. Being a superhero was never in my game plan.” I smiled at a couple of well-wishers as we headed down the street. “I never thought I’d get out of—”
Renee placed her finger over my lips. “Not here.”
I sighed. There are lots of things that I ain’t good at and lying, concealing the truth, whatever you want to call it is one of them. “Why can’t we just tell the sheriff what you are and then you can lead?”
Renee stopped us both and pulled me around by the shoulders. “Listen to me. Under no circumstances, and I mean none whatsoever, are you to utter a word to anyone.”
“But—”
“I mean it, Aeron.” Renee’s eyes blazed with intensity, making me want to look anywhere but at her. “There is nothing, bar national security, that warrants anyone knowing.”
“National security?” I asked. “As in—”
“Nothing you need to think about.” She sighed and motioned to the busy main street filled with folks hurrying back and forth as they pitched in to help. “Look, even if you told these people what we were, they wouldn’t understand.” She smiled as another couple of folks wished us well. “And even if they did . . .” She looked at the shop door as Mark Jenson stood waiting for us. “If they did know what it meant, they could get hurt or worse.”