Chapter Fourteen
Tag knew that the radio going off in the middle of the night wasn’t a good sign.
Torren still had the group of college kids up on Crescent Mountain.
He was supposed to have been back earlier that evening, but decided not to chance hiking back down the mountain in case the forecasted snowstorm hit.
It was safer for their group to stay put and wait out the weather.
Usually, these late spring snow squalls moved in and out without much fanfare.
The lack of experience in the group of young college students made him a little nervous.
Torren convinced him that they had enough gear to hunker down and wait out the weather, but he was still worried.
Tag pulled his arm free from under Piper.
Her naked body was snuggled against his side, and he regretted having to leave her in their bed.
She grumbled something in her sleep and rolled over, giving Tag a view of her glorious ass.
He covered her back up, grabbed his radio, and headed to the kitchen.
Since he was up, he would just make some breakfast and coffee.
First, he needed to radio Torren back to find out what was going on.
He looked out his back door and found about eight inches of snow on the ground, and it was still falling.
Almost whiteout conditions made him curse out loud.
“Torren, can you hear me?” His radio crackled in response, but nothing from his brother. He tried three more times before he could hear his brother’s weak voice through the airwaves.
“Tag, I’ve lost one of the kids. He wandered off to take a piss.” The frustration and worry were evident in Torren’s voice.
“What are your coordinates?” Tag knew that worry and panic weren’t going to find the missing kid.
It took Torren two more tries to get his location to Tag.
They had a shitty connection. “You know what to do, Tor. Stay with the rest of the kids, and I will send up Search and Rescue.” Torren’s radio sent back static.
Tag hoped that his brother heard him, but he gave up trying to get through after a few minutes.
He needed to put a call into SAR and then call Aaron.
Being in the fire department, his friend had connections with local agencies, and Tag needed to get a team together fast. Every minute counted in this type of weather.
Aaron answered on the fourth ring, sleep still heavy in his voice. “Lo,” Aaron grumbled.
“Hey Aaron, sorry to wake you, but Torren’s group is in a fix.” Tag regretted having to wake up his friend in the middle of the night.
“I’m up.” Tag laughed at his friend’s lie.
“Give me the details.” He could hear Aaron rustling around his bedroom, and he imagined him trying to find his pants in the piles of clothes that probably covered his floor.
His friend was a slob when it came to picking up after himself.
Tag filled Aaron in on the limited details, giving him the coordinates that Torren sent.
“Can you help?” Tag knew that he sounded desperate. Hell, he felt desperate.
“Yeah, I’m on it. I just need to find my keys, and I’ll head into the station. Want to meet me there?” Aaron asked.
“I’ll leave here soon. I just have a few more calls to make.” And, a woman to explain all of this to, but Aaron didn’t need to know that. “I’ll meet you there. And, Aaron—check the fridge. You always leave your keys in there.” He could hear his friend pull the refrigerator door open.
“Fuck, found them,” Aaron grumbled. Tag couldn’t help but laugh at Aaron’s charming, colorful ways. He was certainly his most entertaining friend.
“See you in a few,” Aaron grunted his reply and ended the call.
Tag turned to find Piper stretching in his t-shirt, watching him from the kitchen doorway.
He knew that she was going to have issues with what he was about to tell her, but leaving his brother and the rest of their group stranded on the side of a mountain wasn’t an option.
“So, where are you off to in the middle of the night?” Piper was going for nonchalant, but Tag knew her well enough to see the concern in her eyes.
He crossed the kitchen to where she stood and pulled her into his arms. She went willingly but remained rigid, not cuddling in as she usually did.
He could tell that she was waiting for him out wanting an answer.
He softly kissed her warm lips and pulled back to look her in the eyes.
He wanted to show her that he wasn’t trying to hide anything from her, though he would downplay the danger of the situation.
She was the only person who could control her fear levels.
His only choice was to lay it all out there and let the chips fall where they may.
“Torren is in trouble,” he admitted. He didn’t like her sharp gasp.
She covered her mouth with a trembling hand, and he knew this next part was going to set her off.
“I’m going up the mountain to find him and his group.
” She pulled away from him, and he reluctantly let her go.
“Piper,” he groaned. “You need to trust me. This is what I do for a living, Honey.” She started pacing his kitchen, worry etched in her beautiful features.
“Torren took up a group of college kids, and one of them is missing. He wandered off in the snow to take a piss, and he didn’t make it back,” Tag continued.
Piper continued to pace in front of him.
He wanted to stop her but knew it was better to let her work everything out for herself.
“Say something, Honey.” She made a noise that sounded like a combination of a grunt and a laugh and turned to face Tag.
“Do you want me to tell you that I’m okay with you going out to get yourself killed? Is that what you want to hear?” She started pacing again, not waiting for his answer.
“Pipe, you know that I’m not going out to get myself killed.
What I’m going to do is dangerous, but I’ve done it a million times before.
Freak snowstorms hit this mountain all the time, you know that.
I’ve dealt with stupid, lost kids before, and I’ve certainly dealt with this type of weather.
It’s not my first rodeo, Honey. There is nothing to worry about.
” Piper shot Tag an incredulous look, telling him that she wasn’t buying it.
“I know you think I’m being hypersensitive, Tag.
I don’t know, maybe I am. But I also know that you are putting yourself in danger no matter what the circumstances are, and it scares me to death.
I don’t know if I can do this.” Piper stopped in the middle of his kitchen to look at him. He almost preferred her pacing.
“That look on your face is worrying me. Careful, Honey. Don’t say anything; either of us will regret it later,” he warned. Tag held out his hand as a silent plea for her to consider her next words.
“Tag, you made me a promise that you weren’t going anywhere, yet here you are, leaving me.”
Tag pulled Piper into his arms. He wanted to give her comfort, promise her that he wouldn’t leave, but Torren and his group were depending on him. He had to go.
“I’m going to find my brother and those kids, and then I’ll be right back here.
It won’t take any time at all. I’ve already called SAR, and they’re heading out to the coordinates that Tor sent me.
Aaron is going to get the local agencies ready, and I’m going to head out with him.
I’ll be as safe as I can be, but I can’t sit back here and let others risk their lives to save my brother.
He’s my responsibility.” Piper remained in his arms this time, silently nodding her understanding.
“I get it, Tag. You go and do what you have to do,” she whispered. Tag kissed the top of her head, inhaling her sweet scent.
“Tell me you’ll be here when I get back. I don’t want you trying to make it down the mountain into town. This storm isn’t supposed to let up until lunchtime, and we already have about eight inches.” Piper nodded her head again, almost as if she couldn’t find the words.
“I’ll call Lorna and Sunny to let them know that I won’t be opening the shop. I guess it’s best; no one is going to want ice cream today.” Tag laughed.
“Honey, people in this town seem to want ice cream every day, no matter how cold it gets. I think most of them are almost as crazy as you are about the stuff.” Piper wrapped her arms tighter around Tag’s waist.
“I can’t blame them. Ice cream is pretty awesome.” Tag laughed and kissed her on his way to get dressed. He looked back to see Piper trying to hold back her tears, and that just about gutted him.
Piper called Lorna to let her know that she wasn’t going to be in town for the next day or two.
Lorna agreed that if the weather cleared, she would open the shop for a few hours, but not many people were out and about.
Most would wait out the storm and then venture out for the day.
She called Sunny next and was surprised that her friend wasn’t in her bakery, so she called Sunny’s cell.
She answered, somewhat out of breath on the third ring.
“Yeah,” Sunny barked. Piper could hear a man laughing in the background.
“Sunny? Where are you? And, before you tell me that you are at the bakery, I just tried that number.” Piper could hear Sunny shushing someone, her hand probably over the phone to muffle the sound.
She smiled to herself at the thought of her best friend being caught with her pants down.
Sunny wasn’t a nun, but Piper was pretty sure she also was not currently seeing anyone.
“Wait, is this a one-night stand kind of thing, and I’m messing up your mojo?” Piper laughed at her joke.
“I do not have mojo, and you couldn’t mess it up even if you tried, Piper Flynn.
” Sunny sounded far away again as she whispered for whoever she was with to find her bra, and then the call ended.
Piper found herself smiling again. Messing with Sunny was going to be a fun distraction, and right now, that was exactly what she needed.