He knew what it felt like to feel the rumble of the avalanche in your bones a second before it cascaded over you. The fight to ride it, stay on top, avoiding trees, boulders, your heart caught in your throat as you struggled to stay upright. Then, the taste of your own blood in your mouth as you fell, catapulted into the flood, swimming to stay above the current until the tumult slowed.
The snow pressing in, encasing your arms, your legs into icy cement, the cold filling every pore. The real fear now was suffocation and the battle against panic as you fought to build an air pocket, praying your beacon wasn’t dislodged or lying forty feet downhill.
You prayed for a rescue dog while you dug for the surface, hoping desperately that you weren’t in fact upside-down. And you counted down the precious fifteen minutes of the golden zone, the highest chance of survival.
In truth, once an avalanche took you, there was little hope of escaping.
Unless, of course, someone found you.
“I think we’re clear,” Ty said into his mic. He shoved his bag into the cargo area behind the seat. “Take us in, Kacey.”
Kacey affirmed his assessment, and soon they were banking, heading over the ski area, which was just now coming to life with cars in the lot and a few early morning enthusiasts hiking up to the chalet.
She put them down in a controlled area near the ski patrol hut and turned off the chopper. “Chet said we should probably sit tight in case we have any calls today,” she said as she got out. As the only SAR chopper in the area, PEAK Rescue hired out for all sorts of jobs to help fund their SAR efforts. The budget from Mercy Falls EMS just didn’t stretch far enough. Thankfully, they’d scraped up enough to buy a pair of late-model Polaris snowmobiles, perfect for backcountry rescues.
Hopefully, however, they’d stay locked up, pristine and unused this season.
Gage followed Kacey and Ty into the ski patrol headquarters, located in an outbuilding not far from the main compound.
The patrols had already been deployed to ski the slopes, check the runs. A few probably also headed to the ridge to rope off the back slope.
By tomorrow, the avalanche pack would settle and they could reopen the slope.
He walked past the empty front office—probably Emmett, his boss, was out on the slope, gathering snow conditions. He’d call everyone in for a briefing before the resort opened.
The main area housed four padded picnic tables, first-aid gear, and a few thermoses and lunch boxes piled in the middle. A television tuned to the weather channel displayed the low-pressure system coming in from the west.
Another storm front, and this one might hit them by tonight.
Hopefully Ella had talked some sense into her brother.
Gage pulled off his gloves and helmet and wandered over to the kitchen area to pour himself a cup of coffee. Jess stood in her black ski pants and a purple fleece, her golden hair caught back into a braid. She shoved a bag lunch into the ancient yellow fridge.
“Hey,” she said. Her gaze ran back, behind him, and landed on Ty. She smiled, and Gage knew it wasn’t just for him. Or perhaps not for him at all.
He didn’t know what exactly was going on between Ty and Jess, but it seemed, from Jess’s smile, that Pete was a distant memory. At least at the moment.
“Hey, Jess. I didn’t know you were on patrol today.”
“I asked Emmett to give me a few more hours. I need to buy some carpet for the upstairs bedrooms.”
Every penny she earned went to fixing up her 1902 Victorian fixer-upper in Mercy Falls.
Ty poured himself a cup of coffee and followed Gage back to the main area. Jess stayed in the kitchen with Kacey, and Gage took the opportunity to glance at Ty and raise an eyebrow.
“What?”
“So, I don’t get it. Do you or don’t you have something going with Jess? Ever since last summer, you two seem to be hanging out more, much to Pete’s ire. You should see the way he looks at you.”
Ty’s mouth tightened around the edges. He looked away.
“See, that’s what I mean. Are you two dating or—”
“Jess and I are just friends.”
His tone, quiet and dark, cut Gage off. He glanced at Jess. “Why? Jess is a knockout. And she’s perfect for you. Solid, down to earth. She likes you, which . . . no offense, but you’re not exactly Casanova.”
“I’ll leave the lineup of women to Pete,” Ty said. He got up, glanced at Jess, then back at Gage. “Let’s just say that Jess needs me, and if that means you and the team think we’re dating, then . . . well, that’s what teammates are for. Standing beside each other even if it doesn’t make sense. Now it’s your turn. Tell me about Ella.”
Gage was about to answer something along the lines that there was nothing to talk about when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.