Search and Rescue (6 page)

“Listen to me carefully,” I told him. “If we stay here, we'll all die of exposure. We'll freeze to death. Amber will die first. She's already close to death now.”

“No!” he whined. “She won't die.”

“She will, Doug. Give me the damn phone.”

“No!” Doug dug his cell from his back jeans pocket and hurled it over the edge of the road.

“Why the hell did you do that?” I said. He aimed the shotgun at me. “No cops. No Search and Rescue. No one is coming between me and Amber. Nobody.”

“Then Amber may very well die,” I said. We had no way to call for help now. My only hope was that Mom had convinced the cops her story was true. Even if she had, I wasn't sure emergency crews would reach us in time.

Doug stumbled around in a circle, holding the gun to his shoulder as if trying to find a target. His eyes watered. “There's no way out of this,” he moaned. “There's no way out.”

“There's always a way,” I said. “Please, give me the gun.”

At that moment, I heard a car approaching. The vehicle's lights blinded us both as it rounded the bend. Doug flinched and turned away.

My mom jumped out of the driver's side, leaving the lights on. I realized only then that the car was mine.

“Claire!” Mom cried. “Are you all right?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked her. “You were going for help, remember?”

She pointed her thumb at Doug. “I had to follow you,” Mom said. “You know I did.”

Mom had raced up that logging road behind us. I loved her for it, but now I was sure no one would help us.

Doug turned the gun on my mother. “You,” he told her. “Give me your car keys.” When Mom didn't hand them over right away, he shouted, “Now!”

“Okay, okay!” Mom tossed him the keys.

“Reporter lady,” he said. “Get Amber into that car.”

“Only if I'm driving her to a hospital.”

Doug pointed the gun back at Mom. “Do it.”

“This isn't like you, Doug,” I said. “The drugs are messing with your mind. I know you don't really want to hurt any of us.”

Doug fired the gun at Mom's feet to prove he was serious. The gunshot echoed off the hills around us. “Do what he says, Claire,” said Mom. Her voice was tense.

I held both hands out. “Okay!” I said.

“All right. Just calm down.”

I struggled to lift Amber from the van. I put a shoulder under her arm and hauled her to the car. Then I slid her into the backseat of my Honda, clicking her seat belt in place.

Doug waved both Mom and me away with his gun, swaying as if he was having trouble standing. Then he got in my car and started it up.

“Doug, please get Amber medical care,” I begged.

“You can't leave us here,” said Mom. She pointed at my flimsy skirt. “We'll freeze.”

Doug didn't reply. He slammed the car door shut and sped off past the van.

Mom and I watched my car disappear around the next bend. Cushioned by snow, the forest was eerily quiet. We were alone on that logging road.

“No one knows we're here, do they?” I asked Mom.

Mom shook her head. She started to cry as the reality of situation sank in. “Oh my god,” she said. “What do we do now?”

ELEVEN

I
took Mom's hand and strode with her to Doug's van. “Come on,” I said. “I'll tell you what we're going to do.”

I held the passenger door open for her. “I'm going to find a way to stop Doug before he kills both himself and Amber.”

“How are we going to do that?” Mom asked. “We can't catch him on foot.”

“For starters, let's see if we can get this piece of shit back on the road.”

For once, Mom didn't bother to correct my swearing. I got in the van. The keys were still in the ignition. I turned the key, and after the third try, the engine roared back to life. Within moments, heat poured from the vents.

“Hold on,” I told Mom. I put the van in reverse and floored it. We fishtailed back onto the snowy road.

“Oh, thank god!” Mom said. “Now we can go back to the search-and-rescue camp for help.”

“Nope,” I said. I turned the wheel and headed up the logging road, not to the camp.

“No? Claire, what are you thinking?”

“Amber is in really bad shape,” I said. “Search-and-rescue crews may not get to her in time. Doug is so stoned, he'll drive right off this road. We've got to stop him right now. I'm following him.”

“He has a gun. You can't deal with him by yourself.”

I peered at the road in front of me and gripped the wheel. “I have to,” I said. “There is no one else.” I glanced at Mom. “I'm sorry I dragged you into all this.”

“How are you going to stop him?” Mom asked.

“I don't know,” I said. “I'll figure it out.”

“You can't drive this fast in these conditions,” she said. “You can hardly see.”

She was right. That shotgun blast had riddled the windshield with cracks. Only one wiper worked now. To make matters worse, the snow was really coming down.

On one side of the road, there was a rock face and the forest above. On the other, there was a sheer drop-off. The road up this mountain was steep. If we started sliding, we'd slip right off that cliff.

I felt the tires of the van skid as I turned a corner. I slowed briefly and shifted down to gain control. Then I sped up again on a straight stretch.

Up ahead in the dusk I saw my own car bouncing from side to side. Doug was stoned and a less experienced driver than me. He was having trouble keeping my Honda on this slippery road. I quickly caught up with him. As soon as I did, he pressed his foot to the gas and took off.

“That kid is going to kill himself and Amber too,” Mom said. “Pull back so he'll slow down.”

I backed off a little, but Doug didn't reduce his speed. He flew up the mountain ahead of us.

“I've got to get in front of him,” I said. “Force him off the road.”

Mom sat up, clutching the armrests in panic. “You can't be serious!”

I stepped on the gas again and caught up with Doug. The road was narrow. As I attempted to pass the car, my tires came within inches of the drop-off.

Mom grabbed my arm in terror. “You're going to kill us!”

I turned the wheel sharply as we rounded the next bend, to avoid flying off that mountain. Doug and I were side by side now. Through my mother's window, I saw his face glow in the ghostly light of the car's dashboard. Amber was slumped in the backseat with her seat belt still on. I hoped she was still alive.

“Watch out!” Mom cried. Up ahead the road narrowed to a single lane as it rounded the next corner. If I didn't back off, I would drive right off that cliff. Yet I knew I had to stop this kid.

“Hang on,” I told Mom and floored it.

“Claire!” Mom screamed.

I roared past Doug. Then I slid in front of him just as we reached the narrow point. I slammed on the brakes. There was no room for Doug to pass. In the side mirror, I saw my car skid toward me as Doug lost control of it. “Oh, shit,” I said.

The Honda turned a circle, nearly sliding off the road. Then it smashed into the back end of the van, pushing us forward. Mom shrieked as we skidded toward the drop-off. I was sure we were going over the bank and into the ravine below.

But the back end of the van stopped inches from the edge. Mom and I sat in silence for a few moments. I felt my heart banging in my chest. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly they hurt. I released the wheel and turned off the engine.

“You okay?” I asked Mom.

“I think so,” she said. Then she yelled at me. “Don't you ever do that again!”

I didn't make any promises. We were in a terrifying situation, but I realized I found it thrilling too. I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. I now understood why cops and emergency workers like Trevor and Matt loved their jobs.

I opened the door of the van and got out.

“Careful,” Mom said. “Doug still has that gun.”

I approached my own car slowly, with both hands up. The engine of my Honda was still running and the lights were on, blinding me. I couldn't see Doug. Did he have his shotgun trained on me? Was he about to shoot me?

“Doug?” I called. “You okay?”

He didn't answer. I inched forward. “Don't shoot. I'm only coming to see if you and Amber are all right.”

I squinted into the car, then slowly opened the driver's door. Doug's face was turned toward me. His body was limp. He was out cold, but he still had a pulse. I reached down to the floor at Doug's feet and picked up the shotgun.

Amber stirred in the backseat. Thank god, I thought. She was groggy and confused, but still alive. “I want to go home,” she said.

“I know,” I said gently. “We all do.”

TWELVE

M
att phoned for an ambulance as soon as we got back to the camp with the kids. The ambulance arrived within minutes.

Mom and I watched from the bonfire as the attendants took care of both Amber and Doug. Doug would certainly face charges once he recovered. I almost felt sorry for him. I knew he would feel terrible about what he'd done once he was sober.

Matt and Helen joined us by the fire, and Helen gave me a hug. “I don't know how to thank you,” she said. “You saved my daughter's life. You have a gift, a real gift.”

“Stronger than mine, I think,” Mom told me. “You don't give up.” She put a hand on my shoulder. “You realize the responsibility you carry now. You'll always be on call to help people.”

“Like an emergency worker,” I said.

“Yes, like Matt here.” She turned to Matt. “
Now
do you believe my daughter?” she asked him.

“Mom,” I said, warning her to keep quiet.

“Your mom is right,” Matt told me. “I should have listened to you, Claire. We could have found Amber much earlier.” He scratched his cheek, looking sheepish. “In fact, I'm thinking of calling on you in the future.”

I was surprised. “You mean you want to use my visions to track people down?”

“You found Amber when we couldn't,” he said.

Mom tapped her own chest. “Maybe you'll also listen to this crackpot next time she calls,” she said.

Matt grinned. “Maybe,” he said.

Doug was still unconscious, but Amber roused a little as Helen got into the ambulance with her. “Mom?” she said.

“I'm here, honey,” said Helen. “Everything's all right now.”

The attendants closed the doors of the ambulance and got in. I shivered as I watched the ambulance drive down the road. The snow had let up a little, but the evening was still cold.

“You must be freezing,” Matt told me.

I tugged down the hem of my tiny skirt, ashamed of all the skin I showed. “You must think I'm ridiculous,” I told him.

Matt took off his search-and-rescue jacket and draped it over my shoulders. “No, not at all,” he said. “You really do look great tonight.” He cleared his throat. “You're an amazing woman,” he said. “Trevor is lucky to have you.”

I grunted. Trevor hasn't had me yet, I thought. He probably never would now.

Matt gauged the expression on my face. “Things not so good between you and Trevor?” he asked. He sounded kind of hopeful, as if he liked that idea.

“I don't think Trevor is going to want to see me after tonight,” I said.

Mom leaned in to Matt to explain. “This is the third time in two weeks Claire stood him up,” she said.

“Huh,” said Matt. He seemed to think that over. “You never got your dinner, did you?” he asked me.

“No, and I'm starving.”

Mom looked from me to Matt and back again. Then she patted my shoulder. “I'll just leave you two alone,” she said. She waved goodnight as she went to her car. Matt rolled back and forth on his heels until she was gone. He seemed a little nervous, I thought.

“I sure could use a burger about now. I bet you could too. I think I owe you that much. Interested?”

My heart raced, and I felt a thrill run through me. Matt had just asked me out on a date! Finally, I thought. I grinned up at him. “I thought you'd never ask,” I said.

By the age of eighteen,
GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ
knew she wanted to write about women in rural settings. Today, Gail is a bestselling author.
A Recipe for Bees
and
The
Cure for Death by Lightning
were finalists for the Scotiabank Giller prize. She also teaches other authors how to write fiction. Gail lives in the Shuswap region of British Columbia, the landscape found in so much of her writing. For more information, visit
www.gailanderson-dargatz.ca
.

DISCOVER GAIL BOWEN'S
CHARLIE D MYSTERIES

Charlie D is the host of a successful late-night radio
call-in show,
The World According to Charlie D
.
Each of these novels features a mystery that is
played out in a race against time as Charlie D fights
to save the innocent and redeem himself.