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Excruciating pain stabbed across her shoulder and back. Her body suddenly jerked and her forward momentum stopped. Something had caught her. Wrenched her from the river’s grasp.
Stunned, recoiling in pain, Jewel twisted around. A branch from the fallen trunk had snagged and cut her deeply, but had saved her life even as it had wounded her. She held on with everything in her.
This was the chance she’d been hoping for. She wouldn’t lose it. After coughing up more water, she dragged in air and allowed a measure of relief to set in. Now to pass the next test.
This was no time to rest. She had to get out of the river.
She gripped the slick trunk and pulled herself up, higher out of the water until only her legs were beneath the surface. Slowly, she inched toward the bank.
Her left hand slipped, and she let out a cry as she slid deeper into the water. But she reached again, grappling with another branch to keep from slipping completely back into the river’s grasp. If only she weren’t already so weak from her injuries and exhaustion.
Finally, she reached the rocky outcropping of boulders hugging the bank and pulled herself out of the river completely. Laying flat across a slick boulder, Jewel rested her gaze on the swift river and its endless push toward the deeper waters of the channel.
I made it out. Thank You, Lord.
Jewel rallied and pushed to her knees to climb over more boulders. Every ache, every bruise, every scratch and sprain screamed in agony as the numbing power of cold water that had served as an anesthetic now seeped away.
Free of the rocky edge, Jewel crawled until the river was no longer a threat and fell face forward into the mossy loam. She clung to the dirt, breathed in the earth. She’d made it this far, and she would be grateful for small things.
She wouldn’t think about getting out of the wilderness. Maybe by now Meral and Buck would have reported her missing.
How long would they wait until they called for help? How long would it take that help to find her?
Terror snaked over and around her like a living, deadly vine and squeezed. It would crush the life out of her if she let it. She shoved her growing fear down and focused on surviving. She’d escaped the river and would draw confidence from that.
But it wasn’t just nature she had to contend with. Another danger loomed out there somewhere. Someone had pushed her into the falls. They could still be out there.
Had they watched the river carry her away? Were they tracking her now, on the verge of approaching to finish her off?
The pain in her back throbbed in rhythm with her innumerable other injuries. If the person who’d tried to kill her found her here now, nearly incapacitated after fighting and surviving Dead Man Falls and the river, Jewel wasn’t sure her self-defense classes would do her a bit of good.
But she held on to the hope they believed she had drowned in the falls as per their intent.
Since Tracy—her friend and previous employee at Jewel’s Bed and Breakfast—had dealt with a vicious stalker about two years ago, a visceral fear had taken over Jewel, a dread that followed her everywhere with the awareness of just how easily danger could get close. It had taken them all far too long to realize that the stalker, who had hidden his appearance from Tracy, had actually been staying as a guest at the B and B.
Jewel had taken the self-defense classes, hoping to instill confidence in her ability to protect herself and to push away fear. Yet now that fear twisted deeper, hooking her full and well.
If help didn’t arrive soon, Jewel would have to spend the night here and rest before she could find her own way out. She crawled forward and into the brush to hide, hoping it would be enough camouflage if the person who’d tried to kill her came looking.
* * *
All Chief Colin Winters wanted to do was take the week off. The month. Or maybe even the whole year. What would it feel like not to answer a phone? Not to have an endless list of problems vying for his attention?
But when his cell rang and he spotted the fire chief’s number, he answered.
“Winters.” Something in David Warren’s voice had Colin on edge.
“What is it?”
“It’s Jewel Caraway.”
Colin’s heart seized up. He couldn’t speak.
“She went into the river at Dead Falls Canyon.”
As police chief, Colin was trained to push down the panic and act. But at this news he couldn’t move, couldn’t think. He pressed his hand against the wall for support. “Is she...”
“Someone called the state troopers, and we have an incident number. North Face Mountain Search and Rescue is on the scene, and I’m calling you. I knew you’d want to know immediately.”
Colin heard the meaning behind David’s words. David was aware that Colin thought Jewel was a special woman. They all did.
They hadn’t found a body, but his relief was short-lived. Dead Man Falls deserved the name.
Colin had already exited his office and was making his way to the back door to get into his Jeep.
“We’re meeting at the trailhead by the mouth of the river.”
Sherry, the dispatcher, called after him. “Chief! Chief!” He ignored her.
“I’m on my way,” he spoke into the phone.
When he plowed through the back door, a truck screeched to a stop in the parking lot.
“I figured you would be.” David leaned out the open window.
Colin shoved his cell in his pocket and climbed in. He’d let the new fire chief drive. Though he was anxious to get to the river and be part of the search, his hands trembled. He wouldn’t be any good at the wheel. Nor did he want David to see how he was struggling with this news. It hit him much too personally when he had no right.
David swerved out of the parking lot and onto Main Street, going over the speed limit, but Colin wasn’t about to stop him. This was an emergency.
“You doing okay?” David glanced his way intermittently.
Colin barely nodded. “What happened? Do you know?”
“According to Tracy, she went hiking with her sister and brother-in-law. I don’t know what happened or how she fell in.”
“She’s a skilled hiker. Knows what she’s doing.” So how did this happen? He couldn’t reconcile this with what he knew about her.
“I hope she’s a better swimmer,” David said.
Colin thought he would be sick. God, please let her survive.
But it seemed impossible.
Twenty aching minutes later, David parked his truck at the boat dock. Colin hopped onto the Warren family boat. Others from the North Face Mountain Search and Rescue team had already left for the scene. But David, who was on the team, too, had stayed behind, knowing Colin would want to be there.
“Thanks, David.”
David started up the boat. “For what?”
“For waiting. For taking me there.”
“Of course. You’ve saved my skin countless times. You were the one to figure out who had put Tracy in danger.”
All part of the job. “Still, I appreciate it.”
“I knew you’d want to help find Jewel.”
The wind whipped over his face as the boat sped away from Mountain Cove. Colin stared ahead, going through all the possible scenarios in his mind, except the worst-case scenario. He couldn’t think about finding Jewel’s body.
The boat ride took far too long, and he was glad others had gotten to the trailhead and started the search before he and David arrived. Kayaks and other boats rested along the shore, all empty, all except one. Cade Warren—David’s brother—stood on the deck hovering over maps. Colin followed David over to the boat and climbed aboard to speak to Cade, who was in charge of the search at the ICC, or Incident Command Center.
“Anything?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Tracy’s here with Solomon,” Cade said. “You knew that, right?”
David straightened. Grinned at his brother. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Jewel means the world to Tracy. Solomon’ll find her.”
Colin wasn’t surprised to hear the news. David’s wife, Tracy, was trained at search and rescue, as was her dog, Solomon. Plus, she used to work for Jewel at the B and B until the twins came along, and had a close relationship with her employer. It made sense that she’d rush out to help as soon as she learned what had happened.
“Where are they?” Colin asked.
Cade pointed at the map. “Sent them off here to search the riverbank. Later, we’ll be looking...”
When Cade glanced up at Colin, he let his sentence trail off. He was glad Cade decided not to finish. He didn’t want to think about dredging the river or this channel for a body. He was glad he wasn’t in charge of the search.
Hopping off the boat and onto the small deck, he left David and Cade behind.
“Winters! Where are you going?”
“What do you think? I’m going to look for Jewel.” He marched up the trail.
He didn’t have time for pleasant conversation.
“Hold up.” David left Cade behind to follow and jogged up to him.
Colin didn’t wait for him, hiking up a few yards, then veering off into the forest to the left toward the river. That raging, deadly river.
David gripped his arm. “We’ll find her, Winters. Though I have to say,” he added with a frown, “I didn’t realize you were in this deep.”
“What are you talking about?”
Tracy rushed up to her husband. Breathless, she pointed. “I think Solomon’s found something.”
Colin and David followed Tracy through the woods, around trees and fallen trunks, over rocks and boulders to Solomon’s bark and whine. Colin tensed at the dog’s signals. He knew Solomon had finally gotten certified as a cadaver dog.
He braced himself, unsure what they would find—a living, breathing Jewel or her body.
TWO (#ulink_fa5a0bd3-82e0-523a-a17b-62cd104848af)
Something wet slid across her nose, eyes and mouth. Jewel stirred and tried to turn over to defend herself, but a bone-piercing throb coursed through her wrist.
A dog’s whimper and continued licking steadied her breathing. Calmed her fear. She recognized the animal.
“Solomon.” Her voice didn’t sound like her own.
Footsteps, twigs snapping and breaking, resounded through the undergrowth on the river’s edge.
“Jewel,” Tracy said. “Are you all right?”
Relief swelled inside. “Depends on your definition.”
Tracy spoke to someone nearby and then radioed others that Jewel had been found.
“Shouldn’t you be home with your babies? Your twins?” Jewel managed.
“Grandma Katy needs her time with them. Besides, you had to know I would come looking for you. Solomon and I.”
“Jewel!” A familiar, masculine voice joined Tracy’s.
Jewel heard the immeasurable relief in his tone. That ignited her heart. She was alive. She had survived.
“Chief Winters,” she croaked. Colin. She had always called him by his official title to keep personal feelings out of it. To keep her distance. Otherwise, the man could undo her resolve to protect her heart.
Her bruises throbbed with any movement or effort on her part. She squeezed her eyes shut, unwilling to look at him.
“We’re here now, Jewel. You’re going to be okay. You just rest now.”
As other SAR members arrived and focused in on Jewel, they crowded him out and away.
“No! No... Chief Winters.” She reached for him.
He stepped forward, closer again.
“I’m here, Jewel. I never left.” His electric blue eyes pierced hers, concern and relief spilling from them. “What is it? What do you need?”
“Someone pushed me into those falls.”
Anger rose in his gaze and maybe a little disbelief. “Can you describe him?”
“No... I...”
Chief Winters grabbed her hand. “Whoever it was, we’ll find him, Jewel. Don’t you worry. You’re in good hands now. I have to go and make sure nobody else gets hurt.”
Then he slipped out of the way of her search and rescue friends. Jewel endured the poking and prodding and assessing and finally the hefting and assisting her back to civilization.
On the helicopter ride back to Mountain Cove, Jewel closed her eyes, wanting to forget what had happened, wanting to pretend it had simply been a bad dream. Wanting to wake up with a body free of pain and evidence of the nightmare. But she couldn’t let go of the blurred image of the person she’d seen standing at the top of the falls.
