Page 18 of Vanished in the Mist (A Mystic Lake Mystery #2)

Kaden was the first to reach the ditch and saw the nude body of a young woman half in and half out of the water. Her fingers clutched the green grass as if she was trying to pull herself up onto the bank. But the rest of her, from her hips down, was still beneath the water. Her eyes were closed.

He slid down the incline and pressed his fingers against the side of her neck, which he noted had two burn marks. A Taser? Stun gun? He couldn’t find a pulse, and she was cold. He quickly pulled her out of the water. Then he put her on his shoulder and climbed up to the level grassy area.

After gently laying her down, he swiped her long dark hair back from her face.

“No-o-o-o!” The scream resonated through the crowd.

He jerked his head up to see Peyton Holloway framed in the French doors of the restaurant, her mouth now covered with her hands.

Shanna dropped down beside Kaden as he began chest compressions on the young woman.

“Police are on the way,” she said. “They don’t have an ambulance or hospital around here.

They’re sending a medevac chopper from the local marina.

Apparently, the owner doubles as a chopper pilot and Stella rides with him to take patients to the hospital in Chattanooga.

I asked one of the patrons to get Stella.

I’m surprised she’s not here already with all the commotion going on. ”

He nodded, silently keeping count of compressions. Once he hit thirty, he pinched the woman’s nose closed and blew a quick deep breath into her mouth, watching to ensure that her chest rose. After a second breath, he felt her carotid again. Still no pulse. He started compressions again.

“Out of the way, people. Move.” Stella suddenly burst through the crowd, her knees popping as Shanna helped her down across from Kaden. She was carrying a red box with the picture of a heart on it and a jagged electrical line going down the middle—an automated external defibrillator.

Stella glanced at the woman’s face, then gasped. “It’s Jessica DeWalt.” She shook her head in sympathy as she quickly affixed two patches on the woman’s chest, one below and one to the side of where Kaden was doing compressions.

“Okay,” she said. “Kaden, stop. Shanna, back up. Make sure neither of you are touching her.”

Kaden grabbed Shanna around her waist and scooted her back several feet.

She smiled her thanks, tears in her eyes as she looked at DeWalt, the young cheerleader with her entire future ahead of her.

A light on the AED went green. Stella pressed it, sending electricity sizzling through the leads to the pads on DeWalt’s chest. Her body jumped, but her eyes remained closed. Her chest was still, no breaths filling her lungs.

Stella pressed a stethoscope against the woman’s chest. “She’s cold.”

“Hypothermia?” Kaden asked.

Her haunted gaze met his. “Even in the mountains this time of year, I don’t think it’s cold enough for that. I think we’re too late.”

Kaden immediately began compressions again. “Recharge, Stella.”

“It’s charging. Just a couple more seconds.” The light turned green. “Everyone clear.”

Kaden sat back and watched Stella deliver another shock. She listened with her stethoscope again and shook her head.

“Charge it.” He continued compressions. How old was this woman?

Eighteen? Nineteen? Too young to die. Stella was wrong, had to be.

The cold mountain water running through the ditch must have cooled her body, putting her into shock.

How many times had he heard about someone being submerged in an icy cold lake and later being revived?

The cold water had slowed down their brain activity, allowed them to survive.

Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty. He stopped and blew two deep breaths.

“Clear,” Stella said, the urgency gone from her voice.

He pulled back, waited for the zip of electricity to flow into the woman’s body.

Kaden watched as Stella listened through her stethoscope, then shook her head.

“Damn it. Again, Stella. Again.” He began compressions as the machine charged.

“Kaden.” Shanna’s hand touched his shoulder. “She’s gone. Jessica’s gone.”

He shook off her hand. “Stella? Is it ready?”

“Ready,” Stella said. “Clear.”

He leaned back, holding his arms out to make sure that Shanna was safely out of danger as well.

A blast of air was accompanied by a loud thwap-thwap-thwap sound. Kaden and Shanna looked up to see the medevac chopper hovering out on the street in front of the B and B as it slowly lowered.

The sound of a ragged cough had Kaden jerking his head back around.

“My God,” Stella whispered. “She’s breathing.” She stared at him in shock.

Kaden looked down, his own breath catching as he looked into a pair of light brown eyes. “It’s okay,” he whispered brokenly. “You’re safe, Jessica.”

Her eyes welled up with tears.

“A blanket,” Stella ordered. “We need to warm her and—”

Kaden was already pulling his shirt over his head. He placed it over the small woman, covering her from chest to thigh.

“Back up, folks. Back up.” The man from the chopper rushed over with a rolling gurney.

Kaden started to rise, but the girl grabbed his hand, clinging to it. “D-don’t let h-h-him get m-me. D-d-don’t—”

“Shh,” Shanna whispered, crossing to Kaden’s other side and gently feathering the girl’s hair back from her cheeks. “You’re safe. No one is going to hurt you again. The chopper pilot—”

“Mr. Thompson,” the man said, his voice calm and soothing. “Jessica, it’s Bobby. We’re taking you to the hospital, okay?”

She frowned. “Billy Bob?”

He grinned. “Stop with the Billy and Billy Bob stuff. I prefer Bobby and you know it.”

A tear slid down her cheek.

Thompson grimaced. “I’m teasing. Call me whatever you want, sweetie. We’re going to take care of you. Let, Mr. ah—”

“Rafferty. Call me Kaden.”

Bobby nodded. “You need to let Kaden’s hand go, Jessica, so we can take you on a chopper ride.”

She nodded, still crying, but finally let go of Kaden’s hand.

“Stella, where’s she hurt?” Bobby asked, motioning toward the gurney. “Do we need the backboard and neck brace?”

Kaden’s breath caught. He’d been so intent on getting her out of the water and reviving her that he hadn’t considered the possibility of broken bones. God, please don’t let her be paralyzed.

“Grab the brace and backboard as a precaution.” Stella leaned over, meeting the girl’s tortured gaze. “Jessica, are you hurting anywhere? Any broken bones?”

“N-neck. Burns.”

Stella checked Jessica’s neck. Then her gaze shot to Kaden.

He nodded, silently mouthing the words stun gun .

“Ch-chest hurts,” Jessica whispered. “On…fire.”

Guilt slammed through Kaden. Had he been too rough with his compressions? Broken some ribs?

Stella, as if sensing his turmoil, gave him a reassuring look.

“We’ll take care of that. Bobby’s going to put a brace on your neck to make you comfortable.

” She moved to give Bobby room, holding the girl’s head still as he put the neck brace on her.

As he positioned the backboard beside her, Stella asked, “Do you hurt anywhere else?”

“All… All over. Sore. C-cold.” Her voice was strained, her brow furrowed in obvious pain.

“We’re going to roll you on your side really carefully and put a hard board under you to protect your back, okay? I’ll hold your head while Kaden and Bobby roll you and slide the board under.”

“O-okay. Th-thank you.” Her voice seemed to be getting weaker.

Stella gave Bobby a sharp look and whispered, “Hurry. I’ll get her vitals in the chopper.”

Kaden helped with Bobby’s directions. Soon, Jessica was on the backboard and they were strapping her onto the gurney.

Kaden pushed the gurney while Bobby guided it and helped rush Jessica to the chopper. In a matter of seconds, she was loaded, along with Stella, and the chopper began its ascent.

The sound of sirens filled the air as a police car raced up the road on this side of the lake, coming from the direction of the marina toward the B and B.

“The cavalry is finally here,” Shanna said. “I’d hate being them right now, with so much happening. They have to be stretched pretty thin.”

Kaden nodded, looking at the crowd gathered outside the restaurant. “Where did Peyton go?”

Shanna slid an arm around his waist, startling him. He looked down in question.

“I don’t care about Peyton right now.” She pressed a hand against his chest, her soft warm fingers against his bare skin heating him like fire. “How are you? That was an awful, traumatic thing to go through. Are you okay?”

He slowly shook his head in wonder. “You’re worried about me? You went through it, too.”

“It’s not the same. You had her life in your hands. And even though Stella and I were ready to let go, you didn’t. You saved her, Kaden. You saved a life.” She stepped closer, pressing her cheek against his chest as she hugged him.

In spite of his vow to keep things cool between the two of them, he was powerless to stop himself as he tightened his arms around her and rested his cheek on the top of her head.

The feel of her in his arms, her warmth cradled against his naked chest, made the agony of almost being unable to save a dying girl begin to fade.

As Shanna had reminded him, the woman hadn’t died.

They’d given her a chance at a future. And that was the best feeling of all.

“Get a room,” a man’s voice said close to them, laughter heavy in his tone.

Shanna stiffened, then quickly pulled away, her cheeks flushing a light pink.

Kaden frowned at an amused-looking Chief Dawson. “You’re late. And your timing sucks.”

Dawson’s smile faded as he glanced around at the chattering onlookers.

“Yeah. I know. When the call came in about another body being found, Officers Fletcher and Collier were searching around Mrs. Tate’s cabin for signs of the Warren guy.

Ortiz and O’Brien were responding to a medical emergency and I was at the lake with the Chattanooga diving team.

Days like this, I sure wish I had more than four deputies.

I saw the chopper head out. I’m hoping that’s a good sign?

I don’t need to call the medical examiner? Again?”

“Jessica DeWalt is alive,” Kaden said. “Or, she was, when we loaded her onto the chopper.”

“DeWalt.” Dawson shook his head, clearly surprised to hear that name.

“Kaden saved her,” Shanna said.

“With help,” he corrected. “It was a team effort. There wasn’t any blood or obvious injuries that I saw. But there were two parallel burn marks on her neck.”

“Stun gun?”

“I think so, yes.”

Dawson swore. “What else?”

“When I found her, she was naked, lying in the ditch, unresponsive. We had to revive her. Thank God that Stella was here with a defibrillator.”

Dawson raked his hands through his short hair. “What’s going on around here? DeWalt’s a kid. Why would anyone want to hurt her?” He let out a deep breath, then motioned toward Kaden’s chest. “We’re about the same size. I’ll grab you a shirt from the go bag in my patrol car.”