The moment I’d opened my mouth to retort, he’d shut me down again. A fucking counselor. I didn’t need to see a goddamn shrink. I was just fine.
So I had nightmares and rarely slept. So what?
Maybe I’d had one too many drinks, which was one reason I was heading out to stock my liquor cabinet, but a little excess was to be anticipated after a tragedy.
Even weeks later.
Okay, fuck it. Maybe I was a mess, but hanging out at the cabin wasn’t going to fix that. At this point, I had no idea if anything could.
With my hand twisting on the thick leather of the steering wheel, I took a deep, rattled breath. The anger had yet to abate. I had no clue what would help. I slammed my hand on the steering wheel with enough force the truck veered off to the side. I hated the damn rain.
A flash of something up ahead caught my eye. What the hell was in the road?
Leaning forward, I adjusted the windshield wipers to high, struggling to make out what I was seeing. The river was out of its banks. Again. “Shit.” This had turned out to be a fucking crappy ass day.
I slowed to a halt maybe thirty feet from a huge body of water covering the two-lane road. It was deep enough to wash anyone away. If I had to guess, I’d say at least one of the dams had broken upstream. I could already see hints of the road breaking up. Fucking fantastic. It took the public works folks over a month to fix a damn pothole. I blamed that on the corruption within the city council. I could only imagine how long it would take to get the dams or the road fixed.
I knew I’d better call it in just in case the authorities hadn’t closed off the road on the other side. As I pulled out my phone, I laughed seeing the limited bars. What little reception there was had been cut off by the storm. Hopefully, the two-way radio I had in my truck would be enough.
Thankfully, the rain was starting to slacken off, but the damage was just beginning, the river way beyond its banks. I was just lucky the road where I was located was on a higher plateau, the path leading up the mountain.
With the receiver in my hand, I was ready to make the call when I noticed something out the window. What was that? The call forgotten, I craned my neck to try to figure out what I was seeing, finally opening the window and sticking my head out.
“What the hell?” Was that a damn vehicle halfway in the water? Ah, shit. I tossed the receiver and yanked on the seatbelt. This was the last damn thing I needed to deal with today. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Just as I threw open the door, I heard a sound.
A shrill but weak scream. An animal caught in the current?
I rushed forward, getting as close to the shore as possible. Yes, there was a vehicle plastered against one of the trees on the shoreline. Only from the way it was swaying, it wouldn’t be long before it became additional river debris.
Inching closer, I stretched to see if there was anyone inside.
No.
Fuck. The sound I’d heard was coming from a distance.
I placed both hands against my mouth to create a tunnel effect. “Is anyone there?” Hearing nothing, I turned in a different direction. “Can you hear me?”
A faint sound was there. I could barely hear it over the roar of the raging water, but there was no doubt someone was caught in the rubble.
I jumped over some debris, scanning up and down the waterline. There was definitely something there. Lodged in the roots of a tree protruding into the water something was floating. And hanging on for dear life. I was certain of it. While the river wasn’t anything I wanted to tangle with, I certainly wasn’t going to leave anyone there to die.
“Hold on.” I rushed back to the truck, grabbing my go bag from the back seat. I kept supplies in case an emergency should arise including rope and other implements. At this point, that was all that could help in the rescue. It was apparent the driver tried to cross over the river on the road. Why were people so damn hardheaded? Turn around, don’t drown, a motto everyone should learn.
Just a few inches of water could sweep you away and when the river was parallel to the road, anyone ignoring basic common sense could face certain death.
But not on my watch.
Snorting, I rushed closer to the rushing water. Even if the June day was warm, the water temperature was still in the low sixties, which meant hypothermia would be a danger in minutes. I scanned the water as I’d done before, concentrating on the roots I’d seen. Had it been a person or just a mound of debris, the sound coming from an animal?
Seconds later, I barely caught sight of an outstretched hand and the glint of long hair floating in the water. The person’s face was slightly obscured by the log, but I sensed it was a woman.
“Listen to me,” I yelled. “I’m coming to get you.”
That’s exactly what I intended, but the conditions wanted me to abandon my heroics for the day. Using very careful steps, I made my way toward her, gasping from the rush of frigid water when I finally waded in up to my thighs.
My boots slipped on the slime underneath and I almost pitched forward, but I kept going. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes!” she yelled, terror gripping her voice.
