Page 65 of Mountain Struggle

“No,” Tess said.

“Yes,” Damien replied with finality.

Tess shook her head. She was feeling stronger now. “He said I have to be there.”

The madman’s words resonated in her mind.

He’s going to make Damien choose.

Damien breathed out. “We can’t take orders from a madman. And I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you, Tess,” he said.

“He said to bring me along,” Tess repeated stonily. “You and your team do whatever you have to do, but I have to be there. We’re not going to risk Jamie’s life.”

“I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to like it. We don’t have a choice, Damien.”

He considered her words carefully for a moment. She saw the slight shake of his head that told her she’d won.

“What about your dad and Jens?”

“Gael is already on his way, with an ambulance. They’ll take care of them and look for any clues.” Damien took her hand in his. “Come on, we need to get to a spot where the helicopter can pick us up.”

Chapter 21

Damien

Whenever he worked a rescue with a rookie, Damien always made sure the young man or woman had something to do—it was the best way to keep panic at bay.

Damien used that trick on himself now. He could keep it together, so long as he had something to do—but, like a shark, if he stopped swimming for a moment, he felt he might lose it. And he had to stay strong. Search and Rescue wasn’t always about immediate results. Sometimes it was about staying power, about keeping the faith when the odds looked insurmountable.

He looked out of the helicopter window at the mountains beneath them, then back towards Tess, who sat in front of him, her hat held in her hands. She looked pale but in control. He knew he should reach over and comfort her, but his body and brain were numb—he couldn’t move.

Drake walked back towards them from the co-pilot seat.

“Kat’s going to patch Hiro in,” he said. “He thinks he’s got something.”

Damien nodded and picked up the headset by his knees, putting it on. He watched Tess do the same, her look almost defiant as she looked in his direction.

“What did you find, Hiro?”

“I went back to the original case files, looking for someone who might fit the description of the man Jens saw outside your house this morning.”

Damien forced himself to keep silent, waiting for Hiro to go on.

“I focused on incidents near where you are—and I think I found something. There was an accident almost five years ago, near Aiguille du Midi.”

That wasn’t strange. Aiguille du Midi was a common accident site for mountaineers and skiers. The PGHM got called out there several times every season.

“What happened?”

“A man and his son were climbing the north face of the Aiguille du Midi. The boy was too young, the climb too technical. They were both exhausted but hanging on when they called for help, but by the time we arrived, the boy had fallen to his death.”

“Why didn’t we flag this case file first time around?”

“The victim had just turned eighteen—he wasn’t technically a child anymore.”

And just like that, Damien knew exactly what case they were speaking about.