Page 30 of Steeped In Problems (Badges & Baristas #3)
“That’s our way inside,” Hendricks declared with optimism, as the sounds of the crying grew louder.
Dixon and his K9 partner were the first ones through the window, followed by Hendricks and Joe who brought up the rear. Bilmont remained outside to keep an eye on the surrounding area, and to assist with helping any possible victims out of the structure.
Inside, they turned on their flashlights and scanned the area, which turned out to be a restroom facility.
As they moved further into the structure, they looked for the source of the cries.
In the far corner of the building, there was a small boy, who looked to be about seven years old.
He was huddled in the corner, next to an unconscious man.
“Hello, I’m Officer Hendricks and I’m here to help you,” Joe’s colleague said as he approached the boy. “Are you hurt?”
The young boy shook his head. “I’m okay, but my dad’s not. When the ground started to shift, he rushed me in here. He hit his head when he tried to close the door and got a bad headache and couldn’t stay awake.”
Joe bent down and inspected the boy’s father.
There was a large bump as well as a cut above his right brow.
He bandaged it up, then quickly inspected the victim for any other injuries.
When he didn’t see any, he assessed he was suffering from a concussion.
Just to be safe; however, Joe placed a protective collar around the other man’s neck.
He gently tapped his arm to see if he could wake him up.
“Sir, can you hear me? I’m Officer Griffin with Disaster City Search and Rescue.
You were caught in a mudslide, but we’re here to help. ”
The man’s eyelids fluttered for a couple of seconds, as if processing what Joe just said. He opened his mouth and stammered out, “How’s my son?”
“I’m fine, Dad, I’m right here.” The young boy patted his father’s arm.
“We’re going to get you both out of here,” Dixon, who was beside Joe, stated. “And we need to do it right away. We don’t want to take the chance that another shift of the ground above could cause this place to cave in on itself.”
“Can you both walk?” Joe inquired.
Both victims nodded, prompting Hendricks to help the boy to the window first. Joe and Dixon assisted the father into a standing position.
Both officers followed after them to assure he remained mobile.
Bilmont retrieved the boy and had him move out of the way.
Dixon went through next to assist with pulling the father out from the other side.
Joe helped the man through the window. On the other side, Bilmont and Dixon secured him just as the ground started to shift again.
“Get out of there,” Dixon shouted to Hendricks and Joe.
“You go first,” Joe ordered Hendricks, knowing his friend had a pregnant wife waiting for him at home. “I’m right behind you.”
Once the junior search and rescue officer was through the window, Joe scurried out after him. He made it out just in time, because a few moments later, a fresh section of mud slid down the nearby hill, covering the top of the structure just as the group rushed out of the way.
Dixon called in the helicopter to evacuate the victims. While they waited, they gave them snacks and drinks.
“Thank you for helping us,” the father stated as they climbed onto the chopper. “We owe you our lives.”
“It was nothing,” Dixon stated with a warm smile. “We were glad to help.”
“It was everything,” the man countered, waving goodbye. “And I’ll never forget it.”
They gave their K9 partners water in travel bowls while they drank from their own water bottles. Even though they all wanted to keep going, it was important to take a small break and hydrate.
“That was a close one,” Hendricks stated with a sigh. “Promise me, you won’t tell Deanna about this one.”
“You can bet I won’t. I’m not going to incite the anger of a pregnant woman,” Bilmont stated as he took a swig from his bottle.
“We should get back at it,” Joe stated as he stood up from one of the boulders they were sitting on. “There could be more victims out here waiting for us to find them.”
The team continued to search the campgrounds but didn’t turn up any new victims. They were about to head back to command for a new assignment, when in the distance, Joe noticed a group of people on horseback.
Confused, he almost thought he was seeing things from his lack of sleep the past couple of nights.
It was only when he heard Bilmont shout with surprise, “Cowboys out here in the middle of a disaster area. Now I’ve seen it all,” Joe knew it wasn’t a mirage.
“What do you think they are doing out here?” Hendricks asked with curiosity.
“I have no idea,” Joe mumbled under his breath as he ran his hand through his dark hair, his own curiosity growing by the minute.
Since moving to Texas six years prior, Joe had adopted the cowboy lifestyle, donning the hat and wranglers on his days off, as well as learning how to ride horses in his free time.
He’d even mulled over the idea of buying a ranch near the academy, but decided against it, knowing with his job, he didn’t have time to take care of it.
“You should flag them down and talk to them, Griffin. You probably speak the same language,” Dixon teased.
“I bet they’re fluent in bullheaded bronco,” Bilmont added with a chuckle.
The other instructors were relentless about razzing Joe about how odd it was to have a born-and-bred New Yorker morph into a Texan cowboy. He couldn’t help that he was drawn to the lifestyle, despite it being a strong contrast to how he grew up.
Before Joe knew what was happening, Hendricks was doing exactly what the other two officers suggested. He was waving at the cowboys, saying, “Hey, over here.”
The two men came trotting up on their set of brown horses.
As they got closer, Joe noticed that though they were wearing Wranglers and Stetson’s, they also had shiny gold badges on the right side of their flannel shirts.
Wild Animal Protection Agency was scrolled across the emblem.
Joe had never heard of the agency and wondered what they did.
“Are you guys out here searching for victims?” one of the cowboys asked, scanning them up and down. “We heard there might be some trapped victims at the nearby campgrounds.”
“We already searched the area and found a father and son,” Joe stated, his need to defend his team manifesting out of nowhere. Why did he feel like he had to prove himself to these men? He didn’t even know them, but somehow, he felt like it was important they respected him.
“I’m Rescue Agent Brian Crawford, and my partner here is Senior Rescue Agent Richard Dooley. We’re with the Wild Animal Protection Agency,” the dark-haired, younger cowboy stated as an introduction.
“What are you doing out here?” Joe asked, unable to help himself from prying into their reason for being in such a remote area during a disaster.
The second blond-haired man, who looked to be a few years older than the other agent, gave their reason for being there.
“We’re looking for a lost herd of wild mustang.
The Bureau of Land Management requested us to come out and secure the herd that was last known to be inside this mudslide area.
They were supposed to remain in the Jicarilla Wild Horse Territory but had wandered out of the area just before the flood hit and caused the slide. ”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Joe offered, surprising even himself by doing it.
“Thanks for the offer, but herding the mustangs requires us to work from horseback,” the first agent explained. “We’ll let you get back to your own mission.”
The two groups took off in separate directions, but Joe found himself trailing behind the rest of his team, constantly looking over his shoulder at the cowboys disappearing out of sight. Their job intrigued him, making him wonder what it would be like to work at an agency like that.
Legend must have sensed something, because he started to bark, then moved towards a hilly area to the west of them. “What is it, boy?” Joe asked, following behind him. “Is there a victim this way?”
“What’s going on, Griffin?” Dixon asked from the front of the group. “Did Legend find something?”
“I don’t think so,” Joe hollered back. “I think it’s most likely a small animal, but just to be sure, we’ll go check it out. You guys keep going, and I’ll radio you to come back if it’s a victim.”
Joe moved along the bottom of the hill, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of movement as he followed Legend. There was a stirring behind a large thicket of bushes, confirming Joe’s theory that it was most likely an animal rather than a person.
“Did you hear a groundhog, Legend?”
When he barked again, there was a sound that immediately made Joe realize it wasn’t a rodent at all. The neighing sound belonged to a young foal that didn’t look to be any older than six months. The animal was tangled up in the brush with her hooves trapped in the mud.
“Whoa, there, girl,” Joe said, moving towards the horse in a slow and steady pace. The foal was skittish, clearly unfamiliar with people, but had no way of escaping. Joe was certain if the young horse could run off, it would. “It’s all right; I can help you.”
Joe pulled out his shovel and carefully dug around the horse’s legs.
Once all four were free, the foal backed away, but there was a rock wall behind her.
She neighed in fear, but Joe didn’t let it keep him from trying to help her.
He slowly reached out and placed his hand on the bridge of her nose. “Easy, girl, easy.”
The young horse must have sensed his good intentions because she calmed down and let him guide her out of the thicket. As soon as she was free; however, she took off, heading towards the worst part of the mudslide.
“Legend, cut her off,” Joe shouted with trepidation, knowing there was no way he was fast enough to do the job. His K9 partner did what Joe commanded, chasing after the foal. He barked, then circled the horse, causing her to stop in her tracks.
“This way, Legend, bring her this way towards me,” Joe ordered, knowing she was safer heading in the direction of the rescue agents that just left.
Legend barked repeatedly as he paced back and forth in front of the horse, causing her to turn around and run the opposite way, just as Joe wanted.
They ran after her, Legend keeping a pretty good pace but making sure to move in front of her when needed to keep her from getting too far ahead of them. Before he knew it, they were catching up to the rescue agents.
They stopped and turned around, surprised to not only see them but also the young horse with them.
“What’s going on here?” Rescue Agent Dooley questioned, glancing between the two animals and Joe.
“We found this foal and thought we would bring her to you,” Joe explained, realizing it might seem silly when he could have just called in the location, he added, “I hope we didn’t overstep.”
“No, I’m just surprised you were able to do it,” Dooley admitted. “Wild horses are difficult to herd, especially on foot. It must mean you and your K9 partner are naturals. Maybe you’re in the wrong profession.”
“He’s right,” Rescue Agent Crawford agreed, pulling out a card from his shirt pocket and handing it to Joe. “If you ever think about switching agencies, you could be a real asset to WAPA. We could use a search and rescue team like the two of you.”
As Joe watched the rescue agents depart for the final time, he couldn’t help but wonder if the perfect solution to his current predicament had fallen into his lap.
Working with Legend to help save the young horse felt natural, like something they were always meant to do.