Page 4 of Mountain Struggle

“Is that you volunteering?”

“Always, jefe. You know that.”

“I volunteer as well, Commandant,” Rémy said. “We brought a lot of rope with us.”

Damien nodded, looking at the two men. They’d both spent the day in the mountains, probably climbing hard, yet here they were, willing to climb again.

Drake didn’t say anything. Each member of their team knew his or her strengths. Drake was a powerful athlete, but at two hundred and forty pounds climbing wasn’t his forte.

“Gael and I will go up and evaluate the situation,” Damien decided. “Drake and Rémy will wait below to help us on the way down.”

Kat set the helicopter down smoothly. “Stay safe, guys,” she said.

The four men got off, carrying all the equipment they were going to need. Estimating the distance between them and the rescues, Damien coiled the longest length of static line around his upper body. It’d be cumbersome during the climb but, if there was a chance to bring the couple down that way, they would need a long enough line.

They emptied their packs of anything that might not be essential but left their water bottles, clothing and first aid equipment. They didn’t know what they would find when they reached the couple.

Gael, being the strongest climber, led the climb. Damien settled to belay him on the first pitch.

“I free soloed this just a few weeks ago,” Gael said, his tone easy, as he started climbing. Damien knew the man was a risk taker, but to hear him speaking so calmly about free soloing, where ropes weren’t used at all and any mistake was, by definition, fatal, bothered him.

“Not interested. Keep clipping on to those bolts, Gael,” Damien warned.

“Relax, jefe. I know what I’m doing, and we’re working. I’m not going to take any risks with your life or theirs.”

Damien noticed Gael didn’t say anything about taking risks with his own life, but chose not to say anything.

Gael reached the top of the first pitch and secured himself to the wall. Damien waited for the thumbs up signal before starting to climb himself. His tight shoulder muscles complained, and he gritted his teeth. If the pain didn’t subside, he was going to need to visit a physiotherapist at some point.

He reached Gael and kept climbing—it was his turn to lead in the second pitch. They’d done this so many times before, they didn’t even need to speak. Once Damien had secured himself, Gael began climbing again. Damien couldn’t help but admire the ease with which Gael moved, as if he were part of the rock he was ascending. Finally, Gael overtook him, leading in the third and final pitch.

After forty-five minutes of climbing, Damien reached the ledge where they’d seen the couple. He stood up and stretched his arms and legs gratefully. Unlike Gael, who wasn’t even breaking a sweat, he felt every one of his thirty-six years.

Gael had already clipped himself to the wall, and Damien wasted no time doing the same. It was over three hundred feet to the ground—a fall from that distance was not something either of them wanted to consider.

The ledge was wider than it’d looked from the helicopter—enough that Damien imagined it’d be a magnificent spot for a picnic. Not that he or Gael were admiring the view right now.

Damien quickly approached Gael and the pair on the ground. He struggled to remember their names—Mr. Reeds and Miss Lefevre.

Gael was speaking calmly to the pair.

“My girlfriend is hurt,” the man interrupted, shouting. “My phone doesn’t work, we’ve been here for hours!”

Why do people come all the way out here and expect their phone to work as if they’d stayed in the city?

Swallowing his irritation, Damien kneeled beside the prostrate climber. Her lips were pulled at the corner, but her eyes were calm. He noticed with relief that she was clipped in to a bolt on the wall.

One less thing to worry about.

“We’re here to help, Miss Lefevre. Can you tell us what happened?

“Aline,” she said, shaking her head.

“Aline,” Damien agreed easily.

“We were climbing, doing pretty good time—for us, I mean, we’re not competitive climbers. I put my foot on a large foothold and suddenly felt my foot swing out from under me. I heard a distinct pop on the outside of my ankle … I haven’t been able to put any weight on it since then.”

Damien and Gael exchanged a quick look. Though both men kept their expressions neutral, they were both relieved.