Where the hell did he even get binoculars? Had they come in with one of those deliveries?
“Just thinking he might go closer to the edge, and I’m probably worrying over nothing, but…”
Redstone Ridge wasn’t somewhere you loitered. Not with the thaw starting. Not with the history up there. I turned and grabbed the radio from the hook by the door.
“Lucas,” I said into it, keeping my voice even. “Come back.”
Static answered me.
I tried again, switching channels. “Lucas Barrett, you copy?”
Nothing.
I pulled my phone out next, thumb jabbing the screen harder than necessary as I dialed. It rang. And rang. Then went to nothing. Out of range, I told myself. I bet he hadn’t taken a radio with him. Or worse—he had one and was ignoring me.
I lifted the radio again, grip tight.
“Lucas,” I said, sharper this time. “We’ve had a landslip near where you are. It’s signposted, but you hear me. Don’t move off the road. Stay put.”
The words vanished into static.
I stood there for a second too long, the unease settling heavy in my chest.
Goddamn it.
If he’d gone wandering up there on his own—if he’d gotten out and stepped off the road because he wanted a better look, a better angle, a clearer photo?—
I clipped the radio back onto my belt and turned toward the yard.
“You want me to head up there?” Gunner asked, but I shook my head.
“I’ve got it.”
I saddled Boone and headed out that way to find out what the hell he thought he was doing.
It wasn’t hard to spot him. The idiot had moved past the sign and parked front and center on the bluff. He’d moved on from where Gunner said he was and was now less than ten feet from the edge, as if he trusted the bluff to hold without ever looking down. If he were seeing it from my angle, he’d have known to move the truck back to the road. The rule of thumb up here was double the distance you thought was safe—we’d learned that when we’d had to rescue Colt after he’d gotten caught in a slide five years back. We’d already had two rock falls up there—did Lucas not even see the sign? The damned idiot was gonna get himself killed.
“Shit,” I muttered as I nudged Boone forward. He responded, lengthening his stride as we ate up the distance between us.
I slowed Boone well before the bluff, ground-tied him, and approached on foot the rest of the way. The snow wasn’t as deep up here, sheltered by trees, but the melt from above was forming streams running on either side of where Lucas was parked, eroding the soil as I stood there.
I reached the truck and yanked the door open so hard it was close to slamming shut again on the rebound.
Lucas gasped. The binoculars smashed back into his face as he jumped about a mile, a sharp cry tearing out of him.Thank fuck the brake was on. I did not think that through—and the flash of guilt hit hard when I realized I’d nearly caused a second accident.
Heat swept through me. “Get the truck back from the edge, you idiot.”
He stared at me, wide-eyed, blood already streaming down his nose from where the binoculars had caught him.
“What?” he said, blinking hard. “I can’t see the edge.”
That did it. I grabbed him by the arm and hauled him out of the cab. He weighed nothing, all angles and surprise, and I shoved him toward Boone.
“Stay here,” I snapped. Then I was back in the truck, slamming it into reverse and easing it away from the bluff until all four tires were back on solid ground. I killed the engine and climbed back out, slamming the door harder than necessary. My hands were shaking now, adrenaline finally catching up, fear and fury tangled so tight I couldn’t separate them.
“What the hell were you thinking?” I snapped, rounding on him. “This entire ridge is unstable. You think you’re immortal, that you can ignore the sign?”
Lucas straightened, blood still running down his face, eyes bright with shock and something defensive snapping into place. “No,” he shot back, and coughed. “I didn’t ignore a sign. I didn’t even see a sign.” He coughed again, his voice sounding nasal, and he pressed between his eyes as if that might help. “Is that another thing you haven’t bothered fixing around here?”
