Page 28 of Kent's Watch
“Can you use people that aren’t trained for search and rescue?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean like today. I called the guys in, and Logan was able to bring them in a helicopter. They helped me get Mikey off that ledge and get him to where he needed to be. Then Ryder came up to come back with you.”
“Okay, I can see what you’re saying. With the help of your friends, I didn’t have to call for a medivac, you were there and it helped save Mikey’s life.”
“Yeah, when I was waiting at the hospital, I had heard that the medivac they usually used was on scene at a different location, and it would have taken them hours to get to Mikey.”
“Let me talk this all over with Dad and see what he says. From my experience, I don’t think it would be a problem. I’d like to talk with your friends first before we commit to anything.”
“That’s doable and perfectly understandable. We’re both exhausted now, but why don’t you think about it for a few days? Do what you have to do, you know, talk to your father, then maybe we can get together and talk it over. All of us.” Kent grinned tiredly at her. “Maybe we can have a cookout or something, to make it more relaxing to talk.”
“I’ll get back to you,” Rita said. She looked at him when he remained sitting there. “Bye. I’m not being rude, but I need to get home.”
“Right.” Kent shook his head, and at the last minute, he leaned in, gripped the back of her neck, and brought her in for a kiss. He had intended for it to be short and sweet, but it didn’t take long to get hot and heavy. When he broke it off, they were both breathing deeply.
“Until next time,” he said as he kissed the center of her forehead, then hurried out of his door. He quickly got Tate out of the truck, along with his belongings, and shut the door. He stood there and waited until she left before he turned toward his apartment. He wore a grin that felt like it split his entire face wide open when he saw her fumble with the gear shift. With a light step, he directed Tate toward their door, but made sure he did his business before they went in for the night.
Ten minutes after they were inside, Tator was snoring loudly from his bed in the corner of the living room. With a smile, Kent finished taking care of his things, repacked his go bag, then made his way up to his room. He stepped into the hot shower and sighed in contentment as the hot water washed away the day.
CHAPTER 12
Rita sighed heavilywhen she pulled into her driveway and saw her father’s truck parked there. She didn’t know whether it was a curse or a blessing that she had given him a key when she’d bought the place. She parked, and looked in the rearview mirror at her dog.
“Looks like we have company, Zeke.” She smiled when she thought she heard Zeke moan. They both had a long day under their belt. She didn’t know about her dog, but all she wanted was a hot shower and a cold glass of wine. The good thing about her father being there was that she could talk to him about what Kent suggested in having his buddies help if needed.
She opened her door, hopped out, and let Zeke out. Once he hit the ground and went around the back of the house to do his business, she gathered the things she’d bought at the store, and made her way over to the side door. She knew Zeke would come in his door when he was done in the back yard.
“Hey,” Rita said as she saw her father standing at the stove with a spoon in his hand. She paused long enough to take a deep breath, then grinned as she smelt the tangy scent of sauce. “What are you doing?”
“Cooking.” Marvin looked at his daughter with a grin. It quickly left his face as he really looked at her. “What happened?”
Marvin stood by the stove, and watched as Rita unloaded her arms. After emptying the grocery bag, he nodded when she opened several packages and dumped them in a backpack, which she promptly hung by the back door, along with Zeke’s leash. He waited until she took care of everything, but he quickly poured her a glass of wine. As she settled at the island with a heavy sigh, he waited for her to answer him.
“There was a call.”
“Shit, and I was away. How did it go?”
“Not good, at least not at first. Scott’s dog, Princess, was in the middle of giving birth, you were gone, and it was just me.”
“Shit, what did you do?”
“Don’t be mad at me, but I called Kent Palmer in to help.” Rita chanced a look at her father, and was surprised he didn’t start yelling at her for working with a rookie. “Before you say anything, I’ve changed my mind about him.”
“How so?” Marvin turned the flame down on the sauce simmering in a pan and leaned his hips against the counter. He picked up his own glass of bourbon and sipped it as he studied his daughter intently.
“He may never have trained a dog before, but he knows his shit. The call was for a lost camper. A little boy, he was only three-years-old, Dad.”
“Did you find him alive?”
“Yes, thank God. He was five miles from the campsite.” Rita held up her hand as her father started asking questions and told him everything that had happened that day. How they had searched for little Mikey, how Tate had alerted them to the edge of a cliff, and even how Kent used his own personal satellite phone to call for help.
“So, Kent asked me a question before I dropped him off.” She said in conclusion of her retelling her experiences of the day. It was her way of opening up the subject.
“What was that?” Marvin had begun putting the pasta noodles in the boiling water as he listened to his daughter’s tale. He knew she had to get it all out before he could ask any questions. So far, all the questions he wanted to ask had been answered. As she talked, he’d continued cooking their supper.
“Kent would like to know if we can use his buddies in the future, like we did today. It wasn’t until I got back to the campsite with one of his friends that we learned that Medivac was on the other side of the county with an accident over there. They took their patients to Denver. It would have been at least three, maybe more, hours before they could come to get Mikey off that ledge. I don’t know if you know any of Kent’s buddies, but he moved here with four other men. They were teammates while in the Air Force. The man who drove the chopper to come get Mikey runs several classes out at The Centre on the outside of town.”
