“Okay.” Kent went to sign off, then shouted at the last second. “Wait!”
“What?”
“When Logan gets here, do you want us to bring in Vickers’s body?”
“Let me get with Bishop to see how much room he’ll have. I’m assuming you and your dog want to fly down with Rita?”
“That’s a given.” Kent scowled at the phone as he shook his head at the statement.
“Let me do my thing here, then I’ll get back to you.”
“Thanks, Jim.” They rang off, and before Kent rushed back to Rita’s side, he was able to find a few items just inside the entrance of the cave. With his arms loaded, he went back and was able to quickly make up a fire. Knowing he would be there all night, he moved Rita closer to keep her warm, then set about getting food ready for Tate, then himself. The entire time he worked, Rita never woke.
With nothing but time on his hands, and nothing to do until the raging storm outside abated and the rescue team arrived, Kent sat on one side of the fire and began talking. He knew she couldn’t hear him, but he told Rita everything about himself. From growing up, all about his military career, and how he felt about her. By the time he was ready for bed, his throat was raw from all the talking. He took Tate out before he settled down for the night, then very gingerly lay on the other side of her. Between man and beast, they kept Rita between them warm and dry. Before he fell asleep, Kent looked down at Rita and whispered as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. “I think I’m falling in love with you. You don’t have to worry now, sleep. I won’t let anything happen to you on my watch.” He settled down and with his arm around her, and his head on her shoulder, he quickly fell asleep.
The sky outside was just beginning to lighten when Kent felt a wet tongue on his cheek. He smelt the puppy breath and laughed as Tate continued to lick his face to get him to wake up. The first thing he did was check on Rita, and sighed in disappointment when there was no change. He quickly grabbed the book he’d taken notes in the day before and wrote down his observations. As soon as he stood, he took Tate outside to do his business. The first thing he did once outside was to look over to see if Vickers’s body was still there. He sighed in relief when it hadn’t moved. Not that he expected the man to rise from the dead and come after them, but it was nice to know his assessment of the guy was correct and that he was, in fact, dead.
Back in the cave, he stoked the fire, got a pot of coffee started, then fed Tate. As the dog ate, Kent munched on a cold sandwich and checked on Rita. After breakfast, he washed his hands using disinfectant wipes, then set out changing her bandage over her head. He winced in the light of day at the bruise the wound had caused. One side of her entire face was black and blue. If Vickers wasn’t already dead, Kent could have killed him for what he had done to Rita. He shook his head and he finished, then cleaned up the bandages, stuffing them in a plastic bag. He would take them with him, and not leaving them for predators to find. He didn’t need four-legged animals to come looking for Rita when they smelled her blood.
He sat there and sipped his coffee and watched as the sun rose higher. At the mouth of the cave, he stood there and watched not only the sky lighten, but a mist slowly rise over the valley below. At a sound he quickly tossed his coffee to the side, set the cup down, and as he rose, his pistol was in his hand. He stepped back into the shadows, and it took about five minutes, but finally Mason, Cruz, Asher, and Ryder came strolling up the hill. With his gun still in his hand, but down to his side, he stepped out into the light.
“Morning,” he called out, and saw relief on their faces.
“Please, tell us you have coffee,” Mason groused as he was the first to reach Kent, and gave him a man-hug with a slap on the back.
“At the fire,” Kent said as he pointed over his shoulder, and greeted the rest of his buddies the same way. He waited until they all entered, removed their packs and pulled out a cup from their own gear. In no time, there were two more pots of coffee brewing on the fire. They had been in the military so long, that they knew how to be completely self-sufficient when out on a mission.
Cruz squatted before the fire with his hands out to warm them. He looked at Kent with a scowl. “We didn’t have a fire last night, it was too wet.” He looked over at Rita and shook his head, but used his chin to indicate the woman still lying there. “How is she?”
“Not good, she hasn’t woken since I found her. By the amount of blood I found pooled beside her head, she was hit pretty hard. I think she’s in a coma.”
“Damn,” the others said as they shook their heads. It was Ryder who went over and inspected her. He quickly agreed with Kent’s assessment. They watched Tank greet Tate, then sniff Rita. After two or three minutes, he laid down beside her and settled with his head on his front paws. Kent smiled when Tate mimicked his actions.
“What’s with the fire blanket outside?” Asher asked after he filled his coffee cup from the fresh pot.
“That’s how I found Vickers. Don’t quote me, but I would say he was struck and killed by lightning.”
“No shit,” Mason said as he jumped to his feet and made his way to the front of the cave. The others quickly followed him. In no time they had the blanket off the body and again agreed withKent’s assessment. They covered him back up and returned to the fire.
“Did you call it in?”
“Yes, Jim said Bishop refused to fly in last night’s storm, and should be here sometime today.”
“I’m guessing he’s going to wait until the mist clears. You flying down with Rita?”
“I am, and I asked what he wanted to do with Vickers’s body. Sheriff said he’d let me know.” Kent shrugged and refilled his own cup with the hot brew. He sat down next to Rita and laid his free hand on her thigh. “I imagine Bishop will wait until the mist clears.”
“Probably.” They all agreed, and didn’t say anything that they had just mentioned that to him, as they sat there in silence and drank their coffee.
An hour later, they rushed to the entrance when they heard a helicopter overhead. It seemed to hover, then took off, but was back fifteen minutes later. The men on the ground waited as someone was lowered, and once he gave the signal that he was safely down, with the rope still hanging out of the chopper, it took off. The man who came down hurried toward them.
“Stone,” the others said as one. “What’s up?”
“Bishop found a clearing further up the mountain. I’m here to assess the situation and see if we can’t get Rita up there for take-off” The men were so self-sufficient that they knew they would have to use their body bags to get Rita and Vickers up to the helicopter. Kent winced at the thought of putting Rita inside one, but he knew he didn’t have to zip it up. However, they would zip Vickers in his. They waited for Stone to check out Rita, then Vickers’s body. He stood up and shook his head.
“Yeah, that looked like an ugly way to go, but after seeing the damage to Rita, he deserved it.”
No one said anything as they cleaned up their area, doused the fire, then they all gently put Rita into a black body bag, only zipping it up to her chest. With her ready, they went outside placed Vickers in his, zipping it completely shut. With Tate and Tank leading the way, the six of them took turns carrying both Rita and Vickers up to the helicopter waiting for them. Luckily, it was only two miles, and it took them an hour to do it. As soon as they were loaded in, the men hopped inside, along with the two dogs, and Bishop nodded to them.
