Page 72 of Mountain Shadow

“Is she going to be okay?”

His laugh chilled her. “That’s not what you asked of me. Come on, Sarah. It’s your turn now.”

* * *

Jens

Jens stumbled, falling against Gael, who swore, but held them both upright until Jens found his footing.

Jesus. After all night running around in the dark, and you’re going to break your ankle just as dawn comes.

“Hell. Slow down, Jens. We’ve been out here all night and haven’t found anything. We don’t even have cell coverage here. We should go back to the car and wait for Hiro and Alex to call.”

Jens swallowed the ball of fear that was lodged deep in his gut. “I can’t, Gael. I understand if you need to go back, but I need to be out here, I need to—”

Gael’s green gaze was full of understanding. “I’m with you. I’m not leaving you. But I need a short break,” the climber said, taking off his pack and bringing out a dark green water bottle.

Jens kept his own backpack on but rolled his shoulders gratefully to release the tension. His standard medical backpack, the one he always kept in the car, was heavy, but Jens hadn’t wanted to take anything out. If—when—they found Sarah and Kat, he had no idea what state the two women would be in.

A few minutes later, Gael shouldered his pack again. “I’m ready, let’s—” He never finished the sentence. “Wait, look!”

Jens turned, and there, in the distance, a lone figure was running hard.

“Is that—”

“It’s Kat.”

Both men sprinted towards her. Jens’s longer legs allowed him to cover lots of ground, but Gael was a mountain runner, and easily overtook him.

Kat’s figure wavered. She was close enough now that they could see how pale she was. Jens exchanged a quick look with Gael, then they both drove their feet into the ground, urging their bodies for additional speed.

With every step Jens took, a lone thought hammered in the back of his mind.

Where’s Sarah?

Gael reached Kat first. She collapsed in his arms, and Gael went down on his knees with her in his arms.

“Kat!”

Kat’s voice came out as a shallow pant. “Sarah … we need to go back for her.”

Sarah’s alive.

Jens forced himself to focus on Kat. He didn’t like the pale clamminess of her forehead. Her hands were tied in front of her with thick twine, her skin bloody underneath. He brought out the sharp knife he always carried, looping his finger between the rope and her wrist to protect her skin as he made a clean cut.

“Shh … we’ve got you, Kat,” he said, in his most professional voice. “Take off her coat. I need access to her arm.” He dug into his pack for his ultra-compact blood pressure cuff and placed it around Kat’s arm.

“90/50. A bit low,” he said in a neutral voice. He exchanged a quick look with Gael, who nodded gravely. “How long have you been out here, Kat?”

She looked up at him. Her pupils were dilated with shock or fear.

“We must go back now.”

Jens offered her his water bottle. “Small sips,” he cautioned. “What happened, Kat?”

“We were in a small hut. Sarah … she convinced him to let me go.”

Jens’s hand clenched into a fist.