“Yeah, you sound like a girl.” Theo chuckled. “Not that I wasn’t happy with my beautiful daughter, but—”
“There was always something missing,” Rico filled in.
“Mmhmm.”
As they got closer to the bottom, the trail grew more difficult. Railings lined the narrow walkway, and metal rungs descended the steep cliff. Theo made sure to keep his mind on his hands and feet and step precisely where he needed to. This wasn’t the time to let his mind wander.
Grabbing a rung, he swung his legs down to the metal below that descended like a ladder. When he stepped down again, the metal creaked. As he placed his other foot on the next step down, the rung gave way, and his feet lost purchase and swung in the air. One arm held tight, but before he could get the other one back on, the side of that rung broke free, and he was slammed back against the rock.
Oh, God. His life flashed before his eyes as he held tight to the piece of metal still anchored into the rock face. Glancing down, he cursed. It was straight cliff below him, and the broken rung had turned and made him fly back so neither his hands nor his feet could get near the other rungs. Were they broken, too?
“Rico!” His partner hadn’t been too far behind him, but they usually gave each other plenty of space when climbing down the rungs.
As his hand held the twisted piece of metal in a death grip, it jolted again. Was the other side pulling out of the rock? His hand slipped further on the rung, and he tried to swing back to facing the cliff wall. Maybe he could find a small handhold in the rock. The momentum only made him slam back and smash his head into the granite surface. The scenery blurred for a moment, but Theo kept his grip tight.
He needed to shift over and find a rung that was solid. When he thrust his free arm to get him back there, he didn’t move. Pushing his feet against the rock behind him, nothing happened except the rustle of leaves. His backpack must be snagged on one of the bushes. Crap.
The moss on the rocks made getting any kind of foot hold impossible.
“Theo, hold on!”
Like he could do anything else, except think about Chelsea and Jordan and what they’d do without him. At least now everything was legal for Chelsea to take care of their daughter.
“Grab ahold of the rope.” Rico’s gruff voice came from above as a thick white rope dangled in front of him. A slip knot had been tied to the end.
Reaching his free hand through the rope, he grabbed hold. Before he could pull himself up, the rung gave way, and he plummeted, his backpack ripping free of the bush.
Heat spiked through his shoulder as the rope caught him, yanking his shoulder from its socket. Quickly reaching up, he grasped the rope with his other hand to ease the weight. They both shook with the intense pain and adrenaline coursing through him.
“Watch out for the rungs,” he yelled up to Rico, who had tied off the top part of the rope to one of the railings. “A few of them pulled out.”
“I see that. I’m going to loosen the knot and lower you until you reach the next ledge. Hold tight.”
Slowly, the rope lowered until he could pull himself to the ledge that led to another path along the rock face. Holding onto the railing, Theo dropped down until he was sitting on the ledge. Rico joined him a minute later.
“Let’s see what we’re dealing with,” Rico said, unclipping Theo’s backpack and slipping it off.
“It’s a dislocated shoulder. I’ve done all the first aid stuff enough to know. Let’s just get to the bottom, so we can find someone who can push it back in.”
Reaching into his own pack, Rico pulled out his phone. “I’m calling SAR.”
“No, don’t.” Theo placed his good hand on his friend’s phone. “We don’t need the flippin’ search and rescue squad for this. By the time they get here and put the equipment in place, we could have climbed down, gotten my shoulder looked at, and gone home.”
“Theo, we shouldn’t take a chance.”
“Look,” Theo said pointing down. “It’s a few hundred feet at most. Let’s strap my stupid shoulder to my chest and go.”
Rico wanted to argue, but Theo could be stubborn, too. He knew Rico would be doing and saying the same thing if the roles were reversed.
“Okay, but I’m using some of the rock-climbing equipment I have in here and belaying you down.”
Taking a deep breath, Theo nodded and waited while Rico prepped. It took longer than he expected but still less time than it would have been getting SAR involved. Theo’s shoulder was on fire by the time they got to the bottom.
“What I want to know is how those rungs came loose?” Theo growled as he pulled off the rope. “They were fine when we went up. We spent, what? An hour or so checking out the birds and path? They certainly couldn’t have corroded in that amount of time.”
“I got a look at them when I passed by on the way down. Someone took a pick or something to them.”
“Clues. See if they left any clues.” Theo began prowling around the parking area while Rico searched through the scrub near the base.
