Chapter Fifteen
Tag met Aaron at his store to grab the gear they needed for the trek up the mountain.
When they got to the fire station, about twenty-five Search and Rescue team members were there and ready to go.
They ran their trucks up as far as the mountain allowed.
Tag worried about the weather with every passing minute.
They were experiencing near whiteout conditions, and there wouldn’t be any relief until at least midday.
They had about two miles to cover on foot to reach the group, but the snow made it feel more like ten miles.
They slowly made their way to the last coordinates that Torren radioed in.
Aaron was the first to radio Tag that he found the group of college students huddled in their tents, but no Torren.
“Fuck, where did he go?” Tag knew that he was talking to himself, but he didn’t care.
He told Torren to stay with the kids. It was protocol to stick together; otherwise, they would be looking for multiple people.
Torren knew the drill, so why did he ignore it?
Tag caught up with Aaron and the group of college kids wanting to question them about where his brother had headed off to.
Unfortunately, none of the kids knew what direction Torren went in.
Tag ran his hands through his hair and replaced his ski cap and hood.
He needed to get out there to find his brother.
Every second that passed increased the chances that things would not end well.
Torren must have felt the same way about just leaving the lost kid out there.
Having to take responsibility for a bunch of nineteen-year-old college students was more than they bargained for.
He worried about sending Torren and their new summer hire out together with such a young group.
Tag regretted not leading them himself, but then he would have to leave Piper for the night, and that wasn’t something he was ready to do.
He wanted time with her to prove that he could live up to the promises that he made her.
Aaron agreed to stay with the group and assist SAR in getting them down the mountain.
Against his better judgment, Tag let most of the team go.
He knew that the more help they had, the better the odds were of getting the college kids home safely.
Tag kept three men with him, splitting up into two groups of two.
They were able to get a GPS location on Torren since he turned on his cell phone.
Tag was thankful that his brother left him a breadcrumb to follow.
He led the way, hoping that the blinding snow wouldn’t stop them from finding Torren.
He could barely see two feet in front of himself.
There was no path to follow; his only guide was his GPS.
He stopped to let his partner know that they were only about five hundred feet from where the signal was transmitted when he realized that no one was behind him.
“Shit!” He retrieved his radio from his pack and tried to reach Aaron, but he had no signal.
Tag searched for anything that would give him a clue to his bearings—a trail sign or even a rock formation.
He stumbled through the knee-deep snow to find a small overhang and ducked inside to get out of the driving snow.
His only hope now was to wait out the storm or at least wait until it slowed down some.
He recognized the small cave as one he and Torren had played in as kids.
Dane jokingly called it the “Harrison hangout”.
He felt a little more relaxed—at least he knew where he was—but he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
He still needed to find Torren, the lost college student, and now his lost Search and Rescue partner.
All he could do was sit and wait for the storm to let up.
He dropped his pack and settled in against the back wall of the overhang.
He barely slept the night before, thanks to Piper’s sexy little body lying next to him in bed.
He couldn’t get enough of her. The last thing he needed now was to think about her sitting in his cabin, just a few miles from where he sat, worrying about him.
He didn’t want to think about how upset she would be knowing that he was stranded on the side of the mountain waiting out the storm.
He wished he could get her a message that he was safe, but he still had no signal.
The storm raged on, and all he could do was sit and watch it, thankful that he had some shelter from the elements.
He knew it wasn’t the smartest decision, but he felt himself drifting off, too exhausted to stay awake.
He just needed a little shut-eye before the storm ended, and he could set off to find his brother.
He hoped that Torren found someplace safe to weather the storm, too.
Tag was startled awake by a rustling noise just outside the small cave.
He knew that bears were awake since it was technically spring, and the realization had him jumping to life and grabbing his pack to make a quick getaway.
Instead of a bear, Tag was nearly plowed down by Torren.
He was covered in snow and helping, whom Tag supposed was the lost college student.
The poor kid had on a light jacket, a ski cap, and some gloves.
He at least had on hiking boots from their earlier trek, but Tag was afraid that if they didn’t get him medical help quickly, he would be in trouble.
“Fuck Tag, where have you been?” Torren asked, helping the kid to sit against the back wall and covering him with a thermal blanket that he retrieved from his pack. He pulled Torren in for a quick hug, happy to see that his brother was in one piece.
“Well, let’s see, Tor. Oh, yeah. I was here waiting out the storm so that I could rescue your ass when it all blew over,” Tag said, not missing the scowl on his brother’s face.
Torren was never one to ask for help. He would never admit to ever needing it from anyone, especially not Tag.
As much as Tag wanted to take care of Torren, he knew that his brother could take care of himself.
He always could—even after losing Dane, Torren never seemed to need Tag.
It was more like the other way around; Tag needed Torren.
He couldn’t imagine his life without his twin.
He would have never gotten over his mother’s death or his father abandoning them.
Torren even helped him through losing Dane, which Tag took much harder than his brother.
“As you can see, big brother, I’m just fine. No need to rescue me or our wandering college student over there.” Torren nodded to where the kid was shivering under the blanket.
“Where did you find him?” Tag asked, pulling his thermal blanket from his pack and piling it on top of the kid.
“About a mile up the mountain. He was huddled under a tree, turning blue,” Torren said. Tag didn’t miss the worry on Torren’s face. His brother knew that time was a major concern.
“We just need to wait out the tail end of the storm, and then we can get everyone back down the mountain safely,” Tag said. Torren nodded his agreement.
“Tell me that you didn’t come up here by yourself, man.” Torren looked around as if Tag was hiding a rescue team behind his back.
“No, I know better than to head out alone in this weather, unlike some people.” Tag was trying for mad, but he was so relieved that his brother was safe, he really couldn’t muster much anger. “Really, Torren, you should have stayed with the group. You know the drill.”
“Yeah, I know the drill, and I also know that if I waited too much longer, our friend here would be dead by now,” Torren said. They both knew that it was the truth; still, Tag didn’t like that his brother took the risk. If he were being honest, he would admit that he would have done the same thing.
“I get it, man. I’m just glad you found him,” Tag said. Torren looked over to where the college student was watching them.
“Me too, man. Did the rest of the group make it out safely?” Torren questioned.
Tag nodded, “Yeah. After you called me, I called Aaron, and he rounded up SAR. He took the group back down the mountain with most of the team. I kept three guys, and we broke up into two groups.” Tag ran his hand over his face, feeling more fatigued than earlier.
“I lost the guy who was with me. He was behind me one minute and gone the next. I can’t believe I just left him, but it was damn near impossible to see in that shit.
What if he’s out there? What if he’s—” Tag couldn’t finish his sentence, not wanting to think about the worst-case scenario.
Torren rested his hand on Tag’s shoulder.
“Dude, don’t do that to yourself. I’m sure he found a safe place to wait out the storm just like you did.
Those SAR guys go through months of training before they ever get an assignment.
I’m sure he knew what to do when you two were separated.
We’ll find him; don’t worry, Tag.” Tag knew that everything his brother said was true, but he just had a gnawing feeling in his gut that told him that something was wrong.