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“Book…you’re not serious are you, Paige?” Hillary questioned holding the door open.
“What can I say I know everyone, including some publishers who want me to write for them. Maybe one of these days, I will sit down and write it all out but for now I like flying under the radar. Oh, come on guys how do you think I’m able to fly anywhere I want on a moment’s notice? I know the right people and they keep my secrets safe. Now we need to go so get to work. That’s an order from me and the vice president.”
“Good to have you calling the shots boss,” Rabbit said sending her a salute.
“Welcome back boss,” Moose added.
“I’m not back,” she said settling back into the seat as Joel and Jesse watched her closely. “What?”
“Nothing,” Jesse said shaking his head.
“You love this, the unknown danger that might be lurking around the corner…I can’t believe I didn’t see it before,” Joel stated. “That light in your eyes when Dawson showed up wasn’t because of him, it was because you were remembering what you’d done to get him out of his mess. The way you looked when we met up in the mountain…it’s the same excitement.”
“God Joel, that’s crazy. Why the hell would I love knowing that my friends or family’s in danger? I love it when things work out, when my ideas do exactly what they’re meant to, but I don’t go seeking it. I’m not an adrenaline junky. If I never had to work a disaster scene again, I’d happily sit back with my toes in the sand drinking wine all day. I mean really, did you enjoy being trapped in the mine for sixty some hours? No, this doesn’t excite me. Every time I work a scene or go looking for a missing person, I’m terrified but when that person is someone, I care about…never mind you wouldn’t get it.”
“What wouldn’t I get? Damn it Paige, would you just talk to me for once in your life?”
“What’s the point when you never listen? I say one thing and you hear the exact opposite. One of my best friends is out there and I have no clue if she’s alive. If her daughter, mygoddaughteris alive. You wouldn’t understand even if I try and explain.”
“Try me, you apparently love them both although you’ve barely looked at your own nephew, so what’s the story here Paige? Why are you willing to risk your own neck to save them?”
“Tami was my roommate when I left. Little did we know we were both pregnant. She was next to me holding my hand while I lost the baby all the while terrified that it might happen to her. It didn’t, thank god, and she finally told me. Unlike us Tristan had stood up to his family and asked her to marry him. I was their witness and despite it being held in the courthouse it was the most beautiful wedding I’d ever seen because they loved each other beyond anything else.”
“How did you end up as godmother?”
“Tristan had went out of town for a weekend to check on his grandmother and I was staying with Tami…it was dark, rainy and the power went out right about the time her water broke. We called for an ambulance because we didn’t want to risk driving, not with that storm raging, which was a good thing considering she went from no to go in about five minutes. I delivered Nicole in the middle of the living room about ten minutes before the ambulance finally arrived.”
“You…” Joel said looking at her.
“Yeah me. I was the first person to hold her so there’s no way on earth I’ll let someone else do this. Nicole is a beautiful little girl who deserves to grow up with two parents who love her. She’s nine.”
“Ah baby, I get it,” he said moving over next to her and hugging her tightly to his side. “Are you sure you’re up to this? If we do find them and they’re not…”
“Don’t say it, Joel. I can’t begin to think of that right now. If I start, then it’s not going to stop, and you haven’t seen this mountain up close. Honestly, I’d prefer Everest to this one on fire.”
“That bad?”
“Worse,” Jesse stated. “We’d better get ready though, Caleb’s bringing us in.”
She nodded and pushed herself past the emotions that clogged her throat. She’d find them and they’d be fine…they had to be.
“I’ll hold her steady as long as I can,” Caleb stated, “but this wind’s kicking up more each second that passes by. Don’t unhook yourself until you’re firmly on the ground and tethered to something. If it gets too rough, I’ll have to pull up and I don’t want you falling.”
“Got it Caleb, you want your paycheck,” she joked knowing it would help alleviate the worry that was coursing through her. They unrolled the ladder and rope and began to climb down one by one. Jesse insisted on going first and he signaled once he was clear, and she started after him.
The wind kicked the ladder back and forth despite Jesse’s hold on it and she closed her eyes swallowing the fear. She could climb anything anywhere but dangling on a ladder from a chopper was not within her comfort zone. The wind died down a hint and she hurried the rest of the way down reaching Jesse and accepting his help as he unhooked her from the chopper and steadied her while she adjusted to being on the ground.
Joel followed, moving quickly despite the wind. He landed beside them nodding to Craig who wound the ladder and rope back up, and Caleb pulled up as the flames began to flare upward towards them.
“Damn,” Jesse muttered looking around at the thick smoke that hung above them.
“Double damn,” Joel agreed as the heat began to seep into their senses.
“Come on, if it’s this bad up here it’ll be worse where they’re at. I’m bringing them home so let’s get a move on.”
Jesse and Joel casted worried glances at each other as she began to ease herself down the side of the peak.
“Whose grand idea was this again?” Joel said following her progress.
