But I’ve heard that after a deluge of rain, the river surges to deadly levels, its fatal crush of white water falling like bombs from above before its swift current takes you under, crashing you against rocks and downstream to the next lethal plunge over the falls.
On the other side of the river, there’s a woman. Looks like she’s wet, naked, and crouched, stuck on the slippery outcrop, unable to climb the steep, rocky cliff behind her.
Tugging the chin strap on her helmet, Alena doesn’t hesitate. “I’m going. She’ll trust me.”
“No, I’ll do it.” But our head ranger, Paul, thinks he’s protecting her when really, he’s undermining her skills.
“Allen is the only woman rescuer we have,” I shout, gesturing to the harrowing rapids. “She’s also a damn strong rescue swimmer and the best chance we got.”
Shit, I let it slip.How I saw her rescue that boy at the beach.
Alena’s chestnut eyes go wide, surprised by my praise, so I cover my tracks. “And men will only scare the hell out of that woman.” I point to her. “Why is she out there naked? There’s obviously some trauma going on, and Allen is the only one who can get her.”
“Fine.” The chief in charge points to me. “She tethers to you. You’re a fucking house and our biggest; we’ll hold the ropes to you.”
Tourists crowd the steps above us. Their phones are up. The news crew has its camera aimed on us. Alena sees them and orders our head ranger, “You’re in charge of this park, so make them put their cameras down. I can’t rescue her if the whole fucking world violates her privacy, and she goes viral.”
I gawp, impressed by this side of Alena. She’s sweet and plays by the rules until someone’s at risk; then all bets are off.
She’s fearless.
We don’t waste time. Our boss controls the crowd while the rescue crew stands by the edge of the river, attaching ropes to me, and I stand behind Alena, clipping my rope with the carabiner into the hook on the back of her life vest.
“You got this.” I tug, securing her to me with the rope. “And I gotyou.”
She glances back, grinning. “You owe me a Slurpee when this is over.”
But she doesn’t give me time to promise her my life.
She jumps, chest-first, hitting the water aggressively, as we’re trained. Swimming through rushing rapids to the nearest rocks, she fights to gain her footing as the roaring water threatens to take her down.
Fuck, my hammering heart’s in my throat. One wrong step and Alena’s going under, smashed against the rocks, and drowning.
Training tells me to give her enough slack. To let her fight her way across the chest-deep rapids. But instinct tells me to pull this rope and bring her back to me. To keep her safe. Or to plunge into the raging water and go down with her.
But she makes it to the other side, emerging from the churning water to climb the low slippery rocks to the woman crouched there; she’s scurrying backward.
Over the roaring falls, I can’t hear what they’re saying, but it looks like the woman would rather die than be saved.
Alena takes off her helmet.
No!That’s dangerous, Babygirl. What are you doing?
One fall, and Alena’s skull will crack open on the rocks. But she shakes her long hair out.Damn.Her gear hides her feminine curves, so she’s proving she’s a woman to the other. She holds her hands out, crouching low, waiting for the woman to come to her instead of scaring her away.
“What in the hell is Allen doing?” One of the crew yells from the shore, “Her goddamn hair?”
I turn around, barking, “Her fucking job! Shut the fuck up!” I hold my tether to her with both hands, waiting for the woman to trust Alena.
Finally, she does.
She lets Alena put a life vest on her nude body. She lets her put an extra helmet on her, too, while Alena snaps hers back on. She must be listening while Alena points at the surging river, explaining how they have to cross back to safety to me.
Then…fuck!Alena breaks protocol again. She reaches around, unhooking my tether to her, securing it to the victim’s vest instead.
“Alena!” I shout into the cacophony. “Babygirl, no,” I mutter under my breath, fucking terrified of her bravery.
She’s supposed to hang on to the victim and bring them back, not sacrifice her safety for her.
