Page 57 of High Country Escape

Dalton ignored him, focused on Carrie. “Has she said anything?” he asked. “Does she know what happened to Roxanne?”

“She’s still unconscious,” Gage said.

The radio crackled. “She’s awake,” Ryan said. “She says her name is Debra and she was attacked by a man and a woman.”

“What about Roxanne?” Dalton asked.

“Does she know where Roxanne is?” Gage asked.

Silence, then the radio crackled again. “When I asked her about Roxanne, she started crying,” Ryan said. “I don’t want to upset her any more.”

The distant throb of a helicopter drew their attention to the sky. Moments later, a yellow-and-white helicopter soared into view. Carrie’s radio crackled to life. “We’ve completed our site assessment.” Someone spoke above the rush of air and throb of rotor blades. “Is the patient ready to go?”

“She’s ready,” Carrie said. “We’ve got Life Flight on their way to transport her to the hospital.”

“We’ll be back in about ten minutes,” the pilot said, and the helicopter turned away.

“Why ten minutes?” Ryker asked.

“They have to attach the short-haul hook and cable and double-check all their safety gear,” Carrie said. She switched to a different radio channel. “Caleb, is everything ready down there? The short-haul crew should be down in a few minutes.”

“She’s ready to go,” Caleb replied.

Moments later, the helicopter was back. It soared over the ridge and hovered just above them, the wash from the rotor bending the fireweed to the ground and kicking up dust. Those watching shielded their eyes and craned their necks as a man clinging to a cable descended from the belly of the chopper. Seconds later, he touched down a few feet from the waiting search and rescue volunteers. Like a well-trained pit crew, they swarmed around the litter containing Debra Percy. In less than a minute, the litter was secured to the cable, with the short-haul rescuer situated to one side. The helicopter rose into the sky, the litter and the rescuer swinging from the cable beneath it. They would be carried this way to a second landing zone, near where the Life Flight had landed, and Debra would be transferred to the Life Flight aircraft for her trip to the hospital in Junction.

When the throb of the helicopter rotors had faded, Gage turned to Dalton. “We’re still searching for Roxanne,” he said. “We’ll talk to Debra as soon as possible and find out everything she knows.”

“Hey.”

They turned to see Carter picking his way across the rocks toward them. “What are you doing here?” Dalton asked.

“Dad called and told me what was going on,” he said. “I’ve come to take you home.”

Dalton looked around. The other volunteers were gathering up equipment scattered along the ridge. “I should stay here, in case they find Roxanne,” he said.

Carter took his arm. “You can wait at home,” he said. “Come on.”

“Go home,” Gage told him. “Please.”

Dalton let his brother lead him away. The other volunteers watched him go. “Let’s get cleaned up here,” Carrie said. “Then we’ve got more searching to do.”

Chapter Fifteen

“I was taking a picture of some flowers—some fireweed. I crouched down to try a close-up shot and something hit me in the head. I fell over. I tried to fight, to call for help, but a man came up and hit me again—just punched me right in the face.” Debra put a hand to her bruised face. She was sitting up in a hospital bed, an IV trailing from one arm, the other arm in a cast, monitor lines trailing from her chest. She had a black eye, broken ribs, a mild concussion and her legs were scraped raw from where her assailant had dragged her over the rocks.

“What did the man look like?” Gage asked. He stood beside the hospital bed. Ryker sat in the only chair, taking notes on the interview.

Debra frowned. “It all happened so fast. But he was an older guy—maybe in his fifties. Not too tall—kind of stocky. Gray hair. And a mustache. He had a mustache, I’m sure.”

Gage nodded. So far, this fit the description they had of William Ledger. Though the same description might apply to many other men. “What happened next?” he asked.

“A woman came running up. She looked...familiar. But I can’t remember where I’d seen her before.”

“What did she look like?” Gage asked.

“She had short, red hair. And she was little. At first I thought she was a girl.”

“By little, do you mean short?” Ryker asked.