Page 13 of Frost and Venom

“I’ve had CAT scans, X-rays, MRIs, you name it, numerous times. With contrast, without contrast, and they tell me the plate and pins are holding. I have to get the leg stronger. That’s what they keep saying: get my leg stronger. I’ve been stretching, walking, hiking, going up hills, but I haven’t tried climbing yet. I won’t do much, but I want to see how the leg does.”

Harlow shoved down the uneasy feeling she had. She knew she was overprotective when it came to Raine. She detested the way Raine’s family treated her, acting as if she were responsible for her father’s death when she wasn’t. The man had been in the Irish mob. What did anyone expect? He’d lived a dangerous life, put his family in danger, and then, when he was killed, the family wanted to blame someone, so Raine was convenient. At least, that was how Harlow saw it. And she’d been shot, nearly losing her leg. Throughout the long ordeal of several surgeries and infections, she had persisted in working. In helping out the other women, no matter what was going on in her life. Harlow thought Raine was extraordinary, and she didn’t want anything to happen to her.

“You know I’ve got to use my leg, Harlow, in order to build it up. It’s scary for me to do this. I’m not about to climb high. I’ll climb a few feet and then downclimb. I have no intention of overdoing it. I’ll stay very low.”

Harlow could see the logic in Raine’s decision. She’d been told her leg needed to be stronger. She’d completed over a year of physical therapy. She was walking, swimming, hiking and stretching daily. Climbing seemed the next step. It was just that…Harlow found herself uneasy, but then she had been for a while. She couldn’t shake the feeling that in the next few weeks a disastrous storm was coming for them.

Seeing her hesitation, Raine pressed one hand to the thigh of her bad leg. “Harlow, I have to get back to me. In all this”—she indicated the leg—“I’ve lost me. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s the truth. I’ve lost my focus and drive. I don’t even know myself anymore.”

Harlow understood. How could she not? She felt lost more often than she felt whole. “We’ll do it then.”

“You go ahead. The other side of this rock looks as if it has super-easy climbs. V1 for sure. I can practice on that. I’m not going to try more than a few times,” Raine said. “But I’ll spot you first just to get back in the swing of things. When I’m feeling more confident, I’ll try the easy route.”

It sounded like a decent enough plan. Harlow looked up at the rock surface and at once her heart lightened. Bouldering was a giant puzzle, and her mind loved puzzles. It was the reason she preferred bouldering to trad climbing. She could look at the face of the rock and begin to work out how to climb, the puzzle occupying her completely, so the rest of the world dropped away. She didn’t have to think about losing patients or people she knew and cared about. There was no room to think about her perverted father and the fact that she knew he was capable of great violence against women. Or her mother, who protected and covered for her father. There was only the boulder and her.

She found peace on the rock, no matter how difficult the climb was. Often, the more difficult, the more she liked it. She lost herself in time, climbing up, having to traverse sideways for several moves before going upward again. When she came to new holds, she downclimbed to ensure she could get back to the ground without mishap.

Raine called out encouragement, sounding excited and happy. The dogs rushed around, playing in the field and close to the rock. At times, they’d come to drink water from the travel bowls Raine had set out for them. They seemed as happy as Harlow felt. She found herself enjoying the climb far more than when she’d been on her own. One of the things that had brought the women together in the first place was climbing.

After Raine spent time watching her, stretching and warming up, she took her crash pad around to the easier side of the second boulder. It was tall but had several levels as well as multiple easier routes. Harlow was grateful Raine was doing exactly as she said she would. She should have known. Raine might be feeling lost or rebellious, but she was always practical.

The sun climbed higher, and the rock got hotter. When Harlow’s hands were too torn up to continue, she came off the rock and wandered around to the side of the boulder where Raine had been climbing a much easier route.

Harlow was very happy she’d agreed to Raine climbing, because for the first time, Raine looked completely relaxed and happy. There had been such a strain in her face for so long that Harlow had forgotten how young she looked as a rule.

Raine could easily pass for a teenager, something she found truly annoying at first, but then she viewed it as an advantage. No one noticed the silent teen in the corner with her laptop. No one ever saw her as a threat. They didn’t take her seriously unless they knew her. Few had the knowledge that she was highly respected and had one of the highest levels of clearance in the military and the CIA.

Raine referred to herself as an analyst. She claimed she was an independent contractor, but Harlow knew she worked for the government. She just wasn’t certain in what capacity that was. But Raine had access to information most others didn’t, and she was sent for at all times of the day and night and transported by military helicopters. Harlow was actually a bit surprised that they had gotten away with coming out to the Twin Devils with no one finding them. On the heels of that thought, she heard the sound of a helicopter in the distance, and her heart dropped. It seemed too much of a coincidence for that helicopter to be in the air so close and not be searching for them.

Raine had grown in confidence as the afternoon progressed and was much higher than she had been before. Clearly, she was intending to top out on the lower edge of the boulder. Harlow got that uneasy feeling she often did right before disaster struck. Raine’s leg was shaking even as she stretched out to claim a tiny ledge with her toes.

“You’ve been climbing for the better part of the afternoon, Raine; you should probably rest your leg.”

“I agree,” Raine called down even as she reached upward with one hand to curl her fingers on an outcropping just below her goal. She stretched her upper body to full length while her legs were nearly doing the splits. She had perfect form. That was Raine: even rusty at the sport, she was amazing. “I’ll get to the top and feel as if I was actually successful.” Her voice held a note of joy. Clearly, even though she had always chosen much more difficult routes, succeeding at climbing an easy route gave her the feeling of accomplishment.

The helicopter came out of the sun to rush directly toward them, distracting Harlow for a moment. She could see the brand on the side marking it as one of the helicopters from Rainier’s security company, and her heart sank. They were going to be in trouble. Rainier didn’t even have to lecture. He would just give them a look and they’d be reduced to two wayward teenagers.

“Snake!” Raine suddenly called out, her usually calm voice carrying a slight note of shock. Maybe even panic.

Harlow looked up to see Raine jerk her right arm high, throwing herself backward away from the outcropping. She caught a brief glimpse of the striking head of a rattlesnake as it retracted. Raine was already falling, her body hurtling toward the ground. She had moved around the rock as she climbed and her crash pad hadn’t moved with her.

Harlow’s heart nearly stopped and then went into overtime as she raced to try to break Raine’s fall. She knew it was too late, but she tried anyway. Raine hit hard, unable to get herself in a good position for a fall. Harlow heard her low cry as her bad leg took the impact, crumpling like a broken twig. She swore she even heard bones break.

Raine let out another low cry and reached for her calf, and then abruptly pulled her arm to her chest. That was a very bad sign. Her leg had to be hurting like hell, but she was cradling her arm.

Harlow dropped down to her knees beside her. “Let me see. Did the snake bite you?” She caught Raine’s forearm and lowered it so the telltale twin punctures were below Raine’s heart. Blood oozed from the wound.

“I was already pulling away when it struck,” Raine said. “I don’t think it managed to inject that much venom into me.”

The helicopter set down a distance from them and three men leapt out, already running once they hit the ground. Harlow was suddenly grateful they’d been tracked down. Already, Raine was showing signs that the rattlesnake had scored. That or the pain in her leg was excruciating. Either way, they needed help fast.

Harlow couldn’t help but think of the terrible way Lawyer had died. Infectious disease? Or venom? Surely, they would have known had he been bitten by a rattlesnake. He was a climber, and the rattlesnakes were coming out of their dens hungry. Active. Sunning themselves on rocks.

Rush got to them first. Harlow knew he was a good doctor, an excellent surgeon. He’d helped save Raine’s leg when the bones had been shattered by a bullet. He crouched down beside Raine, one hand sweeping back her hair so he could look at her face, the other moving lightly over her leg.

“A rattlesnake bit her,” Harlow reported. “That’s why she came off the rock.”

“I don’t think it injected a full measure of venom into me. I threw myself backward just as it was striking.”