Page 168 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

“Seriously. We’re impressed as hell,” Ragnar said.

“Catch Angela. I’m going to ease her down,” Jackson called.

“On it, just let go, Angela. We’re here,” Mark said.

Jackson grinned at Angela. They were still hanging upsidedown and probably did look like a pair of vampirebats.

“I’m going to catch your hands. Hold mine tight. We don’twant to dislocate a shoulder here. Then I’m going to let you ease into a flipand then let you go.”

“Like one of those trust exercises, huh?” she asked. “Soundsvery Cirque du Soleil.”

He smiled. “Kind of. You trust me and those guys down there,right?”

“With my life,” she assured him.

Angela held tight, and she was strong. Her body didn’t losethe tension at all. Now, it was as if she were doing an extreme pull-up, and heeased her slowly down and then let her drop. Ragnar caught her first, and heand Mark worked together to balance her until she could stand on her own twofeet.

“You next, my friend,” Mark toldJackson.

“I’m a hell of a lot heavier,” Jackson reminded him.

“Wait!” Colleen, who had been sitting with OfficerWhittaker, his head cradled in her lap, called out the word. Twisting in hisabsurd position, Jackson saw that Patrick, Jordan, and Brybowere hurrying into the area.

Patrick, however, didn’t even glance Jackson’s way.

“You found him!” he said, referring to Whittaker. He rushedto the man’s side, and Jackson saw him pulling a syringe from the medical baghe had thrown over his shoulder.

“Patrick—” he began.

“They play with fentanyl. I have naloxone. It’s a temporaryantidote. I’m willing to bet my life on this.”

He gave the man the shot he carried.

Seconds that seemed like hours ticked by. Even the ghost ofColonel George Clayborn looked on silently.

Then Colleen looked at her brother before all of them. “He’salready breathing easier!” she cried.

“Great. Now, we can try to get Jackson out of the tree,”Mark said.

“No need,” Ragnar said. “Ladder and EMTs have made their waythrough.”

And they had. Two men and two women carrying a stretcher anda ladder appeared. One pair went to quickly speak with Patrick and getWhittaker on a stretcher, and the other set the ladder up for Jackson to makean easy descent from the tree.

Once again, Patrick planned to accompany the EMTs and hispatient. Jordan would take their car and Brybo andmeet him at the hospital.

“We’re keeping the hospital watch overnight, if that’s allright,” Jordan said. “Now we have two people who could be in danger, and we allknow that killers have the ability to sneak into even ICUs dressed as doctors or nurses. And while thecops are there, and they’re great—”

“We need to be on this. Your plan is solid,” Jackson assuredher.

Brybo barked as if saying goodbye,and Jordan hurried after Patrick and the EMT squad.

When they were gone, Mark looked at Jackson and then atColleen. “How the hell did you find the man in a tree?”

Angela smiled. “Well, I think we’ve figured out a few thingsnow. The rest is just my research and ability to retain knowledge.” She smiled.“We know they’re making use of these woods. They’re doing a lot by more or less hiding in plain sight or disguising whatthey’re doing, but... it all came down to this documentary I saw about somekids finding a corpse in a tree in England during World War II. So, I looked atthe tree.”

“Still. Remarkable,” Colleen told her.

“At least we found Whittaker. Or I should say, Angela foundhim. And she’s right. We still need to scour these woods. But we’ve been goingfor about sixteen hours straight now, and the only light we have is the moon.Thankfully, it’s full. We need to begin fresh in the morning. Our crime scenetechs and forensic crews have been working thecemetery, but those they’re working on can’t be helped. It’s time for us tocall it quits for the night.”