Page 35 of High Seduction
***
Tim caught Alisha’s wrist and allowed her to drag him to a safe perch on the rock wall. His hips and thighs hurt like a bugger where his harness had jerked around him—no amount of padding could cushion that kind of blow completely—but he was already on to the next thing.
Alisha snapped out a rapid report. “Peter is the ambulatory victim. He stabilized his friend, but Tony needs your attention stat. I’ll help Devon, then climb up to find the pilot. Devon and Tripp can load these two for liftout.”
“Stay safe,” Tim acknowledged as he detached his cable harness from the winch. He left Alisha and hurried up the mountain to where the first two victims were located, climbing over the jagged terrain with his medic kit in hand. Temperatures had to be hovering around freezing, with the wind slamming the cold against him like icy daggers.
The sound of the chopper echoed off the nearby peaks as Erin moved into position, and this time Devon was lowered. Then Tim turned away from the others to focus on his patient.
Pain skittered across the victim’s face as Tim checked his limbs. Possible broken femur, severe lacerations to his right thigh.
“I had pressure on it to stop the bleeding,” offered Peter, the one who’d been waving earlier. Tim eyed him quickly, but other than dirt and scratches he seemed in okay shape. It was his friend in trouble.
“You did great. I’ll just wrap him up a little extra for the trip out,” Tim assured him, working rapidly. He looked into Tony’s eyes. “Stay nice and still, and we’ll get you out of here in no time.”
“What about the others?” Peter asked. “I couldn’t leave Tony, but I haven’t seen any sign of the rest of the passengers. When the bouncing stopped, we were the only ones on this section of the mountain.”
Others? “How many were with you?”
Peter looked confused. “The plane was full. Another half dozen? Maybe a couple more?”
Fuck. Tim engaged his radio. “Anders, Alisha. We’ve got trouble. There were more passengers on board than the three on the manifest.”
“Great. Hang tight. I’ll contact the airfield to see if they can dig up more info.”
“Anders and I are heading to the upper site,” Alisha announced. “Join us when you can.”
Overhead the steady sound of the rotors echoed off the walls to produce a syncopated rhythm. Devon joined him, and for a couple minutes they were occupied loading the injured man onto the stretcher.
The man on the carry board had gone silent once the painkillers kicked in. Tim completed putting down a dressing while Devon tightened security straps.
Anders lowered the connecting cable and the stretcher rose skyward.
“I’m heading after the others.” Tim pointed uphill. “Alisha’s setting fixed ropes.”
Devon gave him a thumbs-up, then returned to completing his task.
Tim hurried over the uneven rock toward the back of the half-moon-shaped amphitheater. He paused, examining the area closer now that there were bodies to put the view into perspective.
Above them, Alisha and Tripp were closing in on the nose of the aircraft. The bright red section was wedged into a section of rock, the broken body in twisted shreds as if some giant dragon had used its claws on a new toy. Below him were the tail and part of the body. Cabin walls and padded seats lay in mangled bits, destroyed by their tumble down the ragged mountain face.
There wasn’t enough rummage to make a plane. Not if he put all the pieces together in a morbid balsam wood model construction.
He moved to the north, gaze darting over the scene. Looking for the missing clue. A narrow, dark line drew him away from following the team, headed instead farther to the side. He cautiously approached the fissure and peered over it. The rough scree rock had been recently disturbed, a darker trail visible that led down to one side and out of view. Signs screamed loud and clear that something had slid that direction.
Tim eyed the incline warily. “Erin, take a swing higher and come at this wall from the other side. I have a suspicion someone went down a side route, and I’m hoping it ends somewhere in the open. Look for wreckage, red paint.”
The chopper lifted before he’d even finished speaking.
“You find something?” Devon asked.
“We have missing people, and missing plane. It’s got to have slid off in a different direction.”
“Tim, we’re at the cockpit. Pilot is dead.” Alisha’s somber announcement made them all pause.
“Damn.”
“No other passengers in this vicinity. Tripp and I are coming back down.”
