Page 27 of SEAL the Deal
“I would be if you listened to instructions,” growled the veteran SEAL. “Caught my ankle under a rock.” He gestured to his naked foot. The ankle looked red and swollen. “Lost my bootie and twisted it pretty bad.”
“Thought we’d lost you,” said Ernie.
“In this pissy river?” scoffed TJ.
“But, the meat grinder,” added Dean.
The Chief laughed. “I made that up. It’s actually called The Chute. Level four plus.” He turned to Rick. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a med kit, Corpsman?”
Rick shrugged off the backpack he wore over his life vest. Inside were his water bladder and a small medical kit. He never went anywhere without one.
“So what now?” asked Mike as Rick strapped TJ’s ankle.
“Well, without a raft we’ve only got one option. We walk out.”
“Follow the river downstream?” asked Ernie.
TJ shook his head. “No, the terrain gets worse. It would take us all night.” He pointed up the bank. “We head due west till we hit one of the fire trails.”
“Why don’t we call for help?” asked Dean as he fished a plastic bag out of his life vest. Inside was his cell phone.
“No coverage up here, son.” TJ selected a branch from a pile left by the river. He snapped off the end and used it to help him climb the riverbank. “We get going and we might be out of here by nightfall.”
* * *
“Leonie, do you think something has happened to them?” Ali sat with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders on the bank of the river. “I mean, they were supposed to be here two hours ago, right?”
The girls had finished their high tea and moved to the agreed meeting point to receive the boys. Maria had organized their food on picnic tables in anticipation of hungry mouths.
“Something might be holding them up,” said Maria. “You know TJ, he always plans for everything. They’ll be along soon.”
Ali turned to where Axe was sitting watching the river. The dog seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to locating Mike. His tongue lolled from his mouth and he wore an unconcerned expression. “Yeah, I’m sure everything is OK.”
As they waited, the girls recounted the antics of the last twenty-four hours. Before long they were all giggling as they drank champagne left over from the high tea.
Another fifteen minutes passed without their arrival. Ali turned when she heard the sound of a car pulling into the parking lot. Her heart skipping a beat when she saw it was a park ranger’s truck.
A tall female ranger walked across the lawn toward them. “Hi guys, I take it the rafters haven’t arrived yet?”
Ali rose to greet her. “You don’t have any news?”
The woman shook her head. “No, I met the boys last night when I ran a class for them. TJ told me they’d be arriving around now.”
“You ran a class for them?” asked Ali.
“Sorry.” She held out her hand. “My name’s Jenny. I run a pole dancing fitness class in town as well as being a park ranger.”
Ali took her hand and introduced the other women.
“I’m confused, pole dancing?” said Leonie.
She laughed. “Yeah, I think Rick was a little confused too. He thought he’d hired a stripper, not a pole dancing instructor.”
“Tell me you made them try it.”
Jenny flashed a cheeky smile. “Of course I did. Rick decided he had something to prove.”
“I hope someone got it on camera,” said Ali.
