Chapter 11
Haley gasped, losing her breath as Nathan’s mouth closed over hers. She was in pain from the shoulder, frantic with worry over him and awash in guilt over a man falling to sure death. But she revelled in the kiss nevertheless. His lips were firm and warm and she leaned into him, trying her best to give as good as she got.
After an endless, all too brief moment, Nathan backed away from her and sighed. “Thank you.”
“Is that what that was? A thank you kiss,” she said, her heart dropping.
He kissed her hard then, brief and definite. “A thank you kiss. An I want you kiss. A you’re not getting rid of me that easy kiss. You name it.”
He looked around them and then at her more closely. “We need to get off this hill and get your arm in a sling.”
“What about—” She looked over her shoulder toward the lower drop off that the other man had gone over. “Shouldn’t we check on him?”
Nathan nodded. “But I want to do it with a rope, not free styling. Let’s get you squared away.” He leaned over and retrieved her backpack, pulling it to him. “You kept the rope that was on the packages in your pack, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but it’s just a thick twine,” she said, confused.
“It’ll do for your arm. I can replace the joint but I need to be more stable than we are here. I’m going to make a sling.” He started making small knots in the rope and Haley watched him fashion a net style sling. She winced and gritted her teeth as he guided her arm through the sling then looked at it with satisfaction. “That’ll do til we get to the trail. Now, I’m going to find some anchors for the rope. I’ll be back.”
She nodded and watched him start up the hill. When Sampson started to follow him he ordered the dog to stay. Haley buried her hand in the dog’s ruff before turning to look toward the cliff. “Who was he, Nathan?”
He didn’t answer for a while as he focused on finding an anchor for the rope and made his way up farther on the hill. When he found a good foothold, he glanced down at her. “Ephram.”
She looked toward the drop off again and sighed. “Another thing Mr. Winters will have to answer for.”
He grunted and continued working his way up the hill. She watched him, thinking about the events of the day. Her fatigue had vanished due to the stress and adrenaline of the fall. But how much had happened in such a short time!
Finally, when he’d made it to the trail, Nathan tied the thick rope off and rappelled down the hill in record time. He leaned down and held out his hand to her. “Let’s go.”
When Haley started to pick up her backpack he shook his head. “You just focus on holding on to me. I’ll take care of the packs.”
She wrapped her left arm around his waist and started up the hill, placing her feet in parallel to his steps. She noted he wasn’t taking as large steps as he had on the way down and realized he was adjusting for her sake.
Her arm ached and her stomach churned from the pain as they made their slow progress up the mountain, but she kept on, determined not to slow down. When the small trail edge came into view she could have wept from relief. She turned and flopped down on the edge of the trail and motioned for him to go get the packs. “We need to check on Ephram.”
He studied her for a minute before nodding and heading down to the ledge. As he skillfully descended, Haley examined the hill she’s so unceremoniously traveled down before.
The low scrubs and brush had been effectively flattened first by her then by the two men who’d followed. A few small pine trees were trying to spring back from their beating but she marveled that she hadn’t been skewered by one or more of them breaking off. At the end of the roll, her stopping place, was a large rock jutting out into the air. To either side of the rock the soil turned into smooth, flat rock extending twenty or more feet before ending in a cliff. If her roll had been a few inches to the left or right, she would have rolled off into space. Haley shivered and again looked to the line of smoothed and cleared dirt and rock where Ephram and then Nathan had slid. She thanked God Nathan had been spared and said a prayer for the man who hadn’t.
Nathan shouldered one backpack and fastened the other to his belt and made his way back to the trail where Haley still sat, her eyes wet with tears. Was her pain that bad? “Is anything else hurting besides your shoulder?” he said as he dropped the packs beside her and hefted himself to a stand on the trail.
She shook her head then reached out her hand for an assist to stand. He knew she must be tired if she’d asked for help and he asked again. “I’m sure, “she said and smiled a bit. “I know I’ll be aching all over by the morning, but right now, only my shoulder hurts.”
“It’s not going to feel good for a while, but I can reset it. It’ll help.”
“Okay.” She stood in front of him and lifted trusting eyes to him. “What do I do?”
He took a breath and instructed her to stand still. Cupping her shoulder in his larger hand, he took her upper arm and with a couple of maneuvers and a jerk, reset the socket in the shoulder joint. Her cry of pain was followed by swift swallowing motions on her part and he quickly turned her so she could vomit in the bushes beside the trail. Afterwards, he gave her water and then an electrolyte drink before approaching moving on.
She nodded, wiping her mouth with her collar. “Let’s go. How are we going to get down?”
He frowned, realizing she was serious about checking on Ephram.
“I can call Hank and send the coordinates. He can report the fall.”
She shook her head. “If there is a chance Ephram is alive, we need to check on him. It might be too late if someone has to come in from Asheville or a park.”
“He was going to take you in, or worse,” Nathan said, trying to figure her out.
“I know,” she said and kept her gaze on him. “Please, Nathan.”
He nodded then looked at the trail. If he remembered correctly, there was a fork a few hundred feet on and they could make their way to the cliff’s bottom from there. He didn’t know if it would do any good, but they could get correct coordinates for a recovery team, if nothing else. “Okay, but I’m calling Hank while we’re in the clear.”
As they walked along the ridge, he reported in to Hank, who had some news in turn. There had been some blood found in Winter’s office. “We managed to get a way in the office and found the evidence,” Hank said with a wry tone. “The fact that we included an off-duty detective in our search helped make the find legitimate. He was able to secure the chain of evidence so the department is having a hard time dismissing the find.”
“Who did you take?”
“Ben Long,” Hank replied. “He’s been thinking about resigning from the department for a while now, getting tired of the politics. Of course, the police department doesn’t know that yet. He’s an old friend of mine.”
Nathan shook his head. Hank had more old friends and friends of friends than any man he’d ever met. The Brotherhood Protectors had grown exponentially since Hank had returned from the desert and started the business out of necessity. “Do you think it’ll help Haley?”
“Definitely. We need to make sure the cops get the message that someone else is responsible for the shooting.”
“But what about Winters? He seems to be in charge of everything there.”
“He’s been busy building a theory that Haley met with Adams at her apartment and killed him there. He quick pedaled when they found Adams’ body and said she must have killed him then driven the body to the business district. If what I’ve heard of her is correct, she’d have to have a forklift to have moved the body, but the police seem to be lapping up the theory like a cat with cream. Now, with the evidence found in his own office, Winters is going to have to back pedal.”
“I still don’t feel really great about this. Is the APB still active?”
“Yeah. And yeah, I think it’s a good idea to stay in the hills for now. You guys doing okay?”
“Well, that was one of the things I was calling about.” Nathan went on to tell Hank about Ephram, the fall and Haley’s injury. Finally, after several minutes of reaction from Hank, he said, “We’re on our way to find him. I’m sending you the coordinates we’re at now. If I have a clear sky, I’ll send you more accurate ones later. I will be calling tomorrow though, for sure.”
He accepted Hank’s well wishes and cautions and then turned to Haley who was standing behind him quietly, her face pale and her eyes huge.
“They found blood in the office and Hank thinks it’s going to help us a lot.” At her sigh he continued. “We still need to stay up here but we’re going to my cabin after we see to Ephram.”
She nodded and they started out again, this time heading to the fork that took them downhill. As the trees began to shade them, Haley wondered where they’d end up that night. And would they have another wounded man to care for or a death to mourn?
The trail went parallel to the cliff so they had to leave it after a slow descent. Nathan pulled the large knife from his belt and started hacking at branches and brush as they made slow progress along the mountain side. The angle of the mountain was so steep Haley had to hold onto trunks of trees and bushes to keep her feet under her. They went along the side of the hill and then came to the place where Ephram had landed.
His body lay crumpled in an ungraceful heap and Haley stifled a cry. One leg lay straight and sure, the other was bent at an impossible angle. One arm was flung out as if he’d tried to grasp something, anything to stop his descent. The other lay under him, a mirror of how Haley had lain with her right arm pinned beneath her. Finally, Ephram’s head was turned away from them and she couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not.
Nathan approached him and, kneeling down, he checked for a pulse at his neck. He glanced up at Haley. “He’s alive.”
She sucked in a breath and stumbled over to the men and dropped down beside Nathan. “I see the break in his leg. What else?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Could be internal damage. I don’t want to move him.” He looked around them, then gestured over several feet. “Take my phone and call Hank. Tell him we’ll need a copter for pull out.”
She nodded and stood, accepting the phone. “What’s the number?”
He rattled it off to her and she dialed the number then walked to a spot where she could see the sky and then pressed the call button. As she waited for Hank to pick up, Nathan called to her. “Haley.”
“Hmm?” she said, her attention on the rings on the phone.
“You know if the chopper comes, the authorities could find us more easily.”
She looked at him and nodded. “I know.”
The helicopter arrivedforty-five minutes later and they watched as the rescue crew loaded Ephram and started to lift off. Instead of climbing into the chopper, the attendant waved both of them over. Nathan and Haley approached the copter, bending low to avoid the blades.
Ephram’s eyes were open though he was obviously struggling to focus on them. “Why?” he said and when they didn’t answer, he repeated, “Why, come, me?”
Haley didn’t answer him but put her hand on his uninjured shoulder. “Take care, Ephram,” and stepped back. He looked at Nathan, his eyes dark with pain and question. Nathan shrugged. “It’s who she is. A woman who’d help the man who’s hunting her.” He stepped away too and they waited for the helicopter to rise up and fly toward the hospital in town.
Nathan was aware she’d taken his hand during their observations and he squeezed hers in turn. “Let’s try for my cabin. If they want to find us, at least I want to be on familiar territory.”
She nodded and turned, her hand automatically releasing his and then cupping Sam’s head as he trotted beside her. They made their way back to the trail and then down the mountain. By nightfall, Nathan had found them a small clearing where they could sleep under the stars. This night, however, he laid their sleeping bags side by side and though they were separated by nylon and down padding, he was able to fall asleep with her in his arms.