Chapter Fifteen
Tag met Aaron at his store to grab the gear they needed for the trek up the mountain. When they got to the fire station, about twenty-five Search and Rescue team members were there and ready to go. They ran their trucks up as far as the mountain allowed. Tag worried about the weather with every passing minute. They were experiencing near whiteout conditions, and there wouldn’t be any relief until at least midday. They had about two miles to cover on foot to reach the group, but the snow made it feel more like ten miles. They slowly made their way to the last coordinates that Torren radioed in. Aaron was the first to radio Tag that he found the group of college students huddled in their tents, but no Torren.
“Fuck, where did he go?” Tag knew that he was talking to himself, but he didn’t care. He told Torren to stay with the kids. It was protocol to stick together; otherwise, they would be looking for multiple people. Torren knew the drill, so why did he ignore it? Tag caught up with Aaron and the group of college kids wanting to question them about where his brother had headed off to. Unfortunately, none of the kids knew what direction Torren went in. Tag ran his hands through his hairand replaced his ski cap and hood. He needed to get out there to find his brother. Every second that passed increased the chances that things would not end well. Torren must have felt the same way about just leaving the lost kid out there. Having to take responsibility for a bunch of nineteen-year-old college students was more than they bargained for. He worried about sending Torren and their new summer hire out together with such a young group. Tag regretted not leading them himself, but then he would have to leave Piper for the night, and that wasn’t something he was ready to do. He wanted time with her to prove that he could live up to the promises that he made her.
Aaron agreed to stay with the group and assist SAR in getting them down the mountain. Against his better judgment, Tag let most of the team go. He knew that the more help they had, the better the odds were of getting the college kids home safely. Tag kept three men with him, splitting up into two groups of two. They were able to get a GPS location on Torren since he turned on his cell phone. Tag was thankful that his brother left him a breadcrumb to follow. He led the way, hoping that the blinding snow wouldn’t stop them from finding Torren. He could barely see two feet in front of himself. There was no path to follow; his only guide was his GPS. He stopped to let his partner know that they were only about five hundred feet from where the signal was transmitted when he realized that no one was behind him.
“Shit!” He retrieved his radio from his pack and tried to reach Aaron, but he had no signal. Tag searched for anything that would give him a clue to his bearings—a trail sign or even a rock formation. He stumbled through the knee-deep snow to find a small overhang and ducked inside to get out of the driving snow. His only hope now was to wait out the storm or at least wait until it slowed down some. He recognized the small cave as one he and Torren had played in as kids. Dane jokingly called it the “Harrison hangout”. He felt a little more relaxed—at least heknew where he was—but he wasn’t out of the woods yet. He still needed to find Torren, the lost college student, and now his lost Search and Rescue partner. All he could do was sit and wait for the storm to let up. He dropped his pack and settled in against the back wall of the overhang. He barely slept the night before, thanks to Piper’s sexy little body lying next to him in bed. He couldn’t get enough of her. The last thing he needed now was to think about her sitting in his cabin, just a few miles from where he sat, worrying about him. He didn’t want to think about how upset she would be knowing that he was stranded on the side of the mountain waiting out the storm. He wished he could get her a message that he was safe, but he still had no signal. The storm raged on, and all he could do was sit and watch it, thankful that he had some shelter from the elements. He knew it wasn’t the smartest decision, but he felt himself drifting off, too exhausted to stay awake. He just needed a little shut-eye before the storm ended, and he could set off to find his brother. He hoped that Torren found someplace safe to weather the storm, too.
Tag was startled awake by a rustling noise just outside the small cave. He knew that bears were awake since it was technically spring, and the realization had him jumping to life and grabbing his pack to make a quick getaway. Instead of a bear, Tag was nearly plowed down by Torren. He was covered in snow and helping, whom Tag supposed was the lost college student. The poor kid had on a light jacket, a ski cap, and some gloves. He at least had on hiking boots from their earlier trek, but Tag was afraid that if they didn’t get him medical help quickly, he would be in trouble.
“Fuck Tag, where have you been?” Torren asked, helping the kid to sit against the back wall and covering him with a thermal blanket that he retrieved from his pack. He pulled Torren in for a quick hug, happy to see that his brother was in one piece.
“Well, let’s see, Tor. Oh, yeah. I was here waiting out the storm so that I could rescue your ass when it all blew over,” Tag said, not missing the scowl on his brother’s face. Torren was never one to ask for help. He would never admit to ever needing it from anyone, especially not Tag. As much as Tag wanted to take care of Torren, he knew that his brother could take care of himself. He always could—even after losing Dane, Torren never seemed to need Tag. It was more like the other way around; Tag needed Torren. He couldn’t imagine his life without his twin. He would have never gotten over his mother’s death or his father abandoning them. Torren even helped him through losing Dane, which Tag took much harder than his brother.
“As you can see, big brother, I’m just fine. No need to rescue me or our wandering college student over there.” Torren nodded to where the kid was shivering under the blanket.
“Where did you find him?” Tag asked, pulling his thermal blanket from his pack and piling it on top of the kid.
“About a mile up the mountain. He was huddled under a tree, turning blue,” Torren said. Tag didn’t miss the worry on Torren’s face. His brother knew that time was a major concern.
“We just need to wait out the tail end of the storm, and then we can get everyone back down the mountain safely,” Tag said. Torren nodded his agreement.
“Tell me that you didn’t come up here by yourself, man.” Torren looked around as if Tag was hiding a rescue team behind his back.
“No, I know better than to head out alone in this weather, unlike some people.” Tag was trying for mad, but he was so relieved that his brother was safe, he really couldn’t mustermuch anger. “Really, Torren, you should have stayed with the group. You know the drill.”
“Yeah, I know the drill, and I also know that if I waited too much longer, our friend here would be dead by now,” Torren said. They both knew that it was the truth; still, Tag didn’t like that his brother took the risk. If he were being honest, he would admit that he would have done the same thing.
“I get it, man. I’m just glad you found him,” Tag said. Torren looked over to where the college student was watching them.
“Me too, man. Did the rest of the group make it out safely?” Torren questioned.
Tag nodded, “Yeah. After you called me, I called Aaron, and he rounded up SAR. He took the group back down the mountain with most of the team. I kept three guys, and we broke up into two groups.” Tag ran his hand over his face, feeling more fatigued than earlier. “I lost the guy who was with me. He was behind me one minute and gone the next. I can’t believe I just left him, but it was damn near impossible to see in that shit. What if he’s out there? What if he’s—” Tag couldn’t finish his sentence, not wanting to think about the worst-case scenario. Torren rested his hand on Tag’s shoulder.
“Dude, don’t do that to yourself. I’m sure he found a safe place to wait out the storm just like you did. Those SAR guys go through months of training before they ever get an assignment. I’m sure he knew what to do when you two were separated. We’ll find him; don’t worry, Tag.” Tag knew that everything his brother said was true, but he just had a gnawing feeling in his gut that told him that something was wrong.
“Well, we might as well get comfortable. From the looks of it, we are going to be here for a while,” Tag said. They both watched the snow for a moment until settling to work, trying to build a small fire. They needed to stay warm while they waited. Tag pulled out the dry firewood that they both kept in their packsalong with matches. He built the fire while Torren got some water and granola out for everyone. They would be good for at least a day, maybe two, but Tag hoped like hell it wouldn’t come to that. He promised Piper it would be just a quick trip up the mountain, and then he would be back home. He wasn’t about to break his first promise to her. The sooner the storm stopped, the sooner they could find the three SAR guys, and he could get back home to Piper.
The storm continued to rage around the cabin, and Piper added another log to the fire. She stood by the front window, looking out at the snow, wishing Tag would appear in the doorway. The sun went down hours ago, and there was no word from him or the three SAR guys that stayed behind with him. Aaron called her four hours before, filling her in on everything. All the college kids made it back down the mountain with most of the SAR team and Aaron. Unfortunately, Tag stayed behind with three others to find Torren and the lost college student. The thought of Tag being trapped out in the storm made her feel sick. She knew that she was probably overreacting, but all she could think about was Tag lying frozen to death in the snow. She choked back a sob, trying to calm herself. Piper felt near hysterical. She all but begged Aaron to go back up on the mountain to find Tag and bring him home to her. He replied that all teams were told to stand down and wait out the storm. The conditions were just too dangerous for anyone to go back out in. The practical side of her understood, but the fearful little girl inside of her was screaming for help. She fixed some dinner, hoping that Tag would show up hungry, but he never did. She couldn’t eat orsleep. She knew that at any minute she could get a phone call from someone on the SAR team telling her that Tag was hurt or worse. She wouldn’t be able to bear that—losing Tag would kill her. He became her entire world in such a short amount of time. He became someone that she couldn’t live without. She never wanted to be dependent on anyone else for her happiness. When she lost her parents, she shut that part of herself off from the world. Then Tag happened, and now she couldn’t imagine being without him. She wiped the fresh tears from her face and slumped down into his favorite leather chair, inhaling his scent. She pulled a blanket over herself and stared into the fire.
“Where are you, Tag?” At the sound of her voice cracking, she broke down sobbing. The winds howled on around the cabin as she cried herself into a fitful, restless sleep. Instead of dreaming about Tag making love to her, she dreamt of him being out of reach. He was with her parents, and she was screaming his name, trying to get to him. She woke up to a cold, dark, empty cabin and one missed call from Aaron. Piper dialed his number and held her breath, ready for the bad news that she knew was coming.
Tag was relieved that the storm had just about stopped by daybreak. He and Torren took turns sleeping through the night, although he felt like he only got about five minutes. They needed to get the kid to safety and then find the rest of the team. He pulled out his cell phone and found that it had died. Torren checked his and found the same. Tag tried to reach Aaron by radio but got only static feedback. He knew that the storm had probably taken out the power, even in town. Spring snows were always wet and heavy. Itwould be some time before he could get anyone on the radio, and he wasn’t about to sit around and wait. Between him and Torren, he was sure they could get the kid down the mountain to safety. He would then head back out to help find the rest of his missing team. He could send word to Piper to let her know that he was all right. He knew that she was probably scared to death, but he also knew he would make it up to her. Right now, he needed to focus on getting everyone home safely, then he could concentrate on making everything up to Piper.
Piper didn’t know if she felt relief or panic when Aaron called to tell her that they were sending the team back out at daybreak. She was worried that the next call from him was going to be bad news. A part of her was thankful that she and Tag had no television up at the cabin. He told her that they never had one there, and she was happy to keep that tradition. It gave her and Tag more time together as if they were living in their own little world. She had the radio if she needed to reach anyone, and her phone still had a charge. Other than that, she couldn’t bear to hear any news until Tag was home safe. She spent the morning cleaning her already clean home. She showered and dressed quickly so as not to miss a call from Aaron or even Tag. Aaron assured her that it was normal that they would have no signal during the storm. He even told her that “No news was good news”. She knew that he meant well, but it was still hard to listen to him be optimistic. She needed to hear that Tag might not be okay because that was the truth. Life taught her that bad things can and do happen. It happened to her before she was old enough to know about what evil lurked in the world. She hoped for the best but prepared herself for theworst. Sadly, it was just how she lived her life. Piper decided to try to catch up on some reading and found a good romance on her Kindle. She started the first chapter and jumped when her cell phone buzzed on the coffee table.
“Hello!” She shouted into the phone without checking the caller ID.
“Piper?” Tag’s voice sounded so far away. She wanted to scream, jump up and down, and cheer. But she sat as still as possible, trying to hear him through their weak signal.
“Tag,” she whispered. She cleared her throat, needing to find her voice. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah, Honey. It’s so good to hear your voice,” Tag said.
“You too, I thought—” Her voice cracked, and she couldn’t help her sob.
“I know, Pipe, but I’m fine. So is Torren. We have to go back out, though. We lost three SAR team members while searching for the kid. I can’t leave them out there.” Tag sounded so tired, and she ached to wrap her arms around him.
