Seven
Mac and Ali went home to Heartache Falls. The Callahans, Murphys, Raffertys, Davenports, and Celeste went with them.
The phone call from Lana had ended before she’d provided more than bottom-line information. Local search-and-rescue officials had needed to speak with her, so she’d promised to provide more details via Internet phone call in two hours.
They were the longest two hours of Lori’s life.
She hadn’t spoken one word since hearing Ali say that Chase was missing. In Chizickstan. It wasn’t like he’d gone off the trail on Murphy Mountain. He was in a part of the world where bad things happened. Really bad things.
The fear that gripped her was unlike any she’d ever experienced. Her insides had turned to ice, and she felt as if she stood at the very rim of Lover’s Leap, waiting for news that would push her over the edge. Conversation remained muted. Tension thickened the air in the Timberlakes’ family room where they’d all gathered, waiting for the call. Lori was inordinately grateful when her mother sat down beside her on the sofa and silently took her hand.
The two-hour mark finally came—and went. The computer remained despairingly silent. Finally, eight and one half minutes after the appointed time, the laptop signaled an incoming call.
Lana’s face came into view, and seeing her, Lori gripped her mother’s hand even harder. The woman looked haggard. “Mr. and Mrs. Timberlake, I’m so sorry. I—”
“Wait,” Mac interrupted. “Please repeat what you told Chase’s mother for my benefit.”
Lana visibly swallowed hard, and then in a shaky voice, she spoke of a helicopter trip into a remote mountain wilderness carrying Chase and two other men. No phone was on board, but at some point, they activated their emergency beacons.
“Miscommunication at camp meant that nobody was concerned when they didn’t return by dark,” Lana said. “I had left shortly after Chase, so I wasn’t there. I returned after dark and didn’t realize the helo wasn’t in the LZ. Nobody noticed the emergency signal until late the following afternoon, and by then, it was too close to dark to track them.”
“You didn’t notice?” Cam muttered.
Lana rubbed her brow, then shoved her fingers through her hair. “We took off at first light and followed the beacon right to the helicopter. It’s in a high meadow. It didn’t wreck. They obviously landed safely. Only—” She closed her eyes. “It’s burned. It’s burned and there are no bodies inside, but my men are not there.” Her voice broke. “There’s no sign of them.”
Mac dragged his intense gaze away from the computer screen long enough to look at his wife. “That’s good news, honey. If anyone knows how to survive in the wilderness, it’s Chase.”
Ali held her hands steepled over her mouth. She still didn’t speak, but nodded.
“What’s being done to find them?”
“We are searching by air, and we currently have twelve people on the ground searching the plateau. We have located the nearest villages and we have people looking for locals who are familiar with that area, but it is extremely remote. So far, we’ve struck out. Although…” She drew a deep breath and exhaled sharply.
A wave of dread rolled over Lori. She didn’t like the sound of that sigh one bit. Mac’s subtle stiffening told her that he sensed the same thing.
Lana continued. “I’m not sure they’re telling the truth. My crew members have picked up some rumors about the presence of strangers in the mountains. A completely different part of the mountains, mind you, but if Chase was right—”
“About what?”
“Outsiders. Chase believed that outsiders from other countries might be coming into the more remote areas of Chizickstan.”
Outsiders, Lori silently repeated. What did she mean … oh. Terrorists? No. Please God, no.
“So, what? My son decided to climb onto a helicopter and check out the rumors himself?” Mac snapped.
Lana opened her
Mac and Ali went home to Heartache Falls. The Callahans, Murphys, Raffertys, Davenports, and Celeste went with them.
The phone call from Lana had ended before she’d provided more than bottom-line information. Local search-and-rescue officials had needed to speak with her, so she’d promised to provide more details via Internet phone call in two hours.
They were the longest two hours of Lori’s life.
She hadn’t spoken one word since hearing Ali say that Chase was missing. In Chizickstan. It wasn’t like he’d gone off the trail on Murphy Mountain. He was in a part of the world where bad things happened. Really bad things.
The fear that gripped her was unlike any she’d ever experienced. Her insides had turned to ice, and she felt as if she stood at the very rim of Lover’s Leap, waiting for news that would push her over the edge. Conversation remained muted. Tension thickened the air in the Timberlakes’ family room where they’d all gathered, waiting for the call. Lori was inordinately grateful when her mother sat down beside her on the sofa and silently took her hand.
The two-hour mark finally came—and went. The computer remained despairingly silent. Finally, eight and one half minutes after the appointed time, the laptop signaled an incoming call.
Lana’s face came into view, and seeing her, Lori gripped her mother’s hand even harder. The woman looked haggard. “Mr. and Mrs. Timberlake, I’m so sorry. I—”
“Wait,” Mac interrupted. “Please repeat what you told Chase’s mother for my benefit.”
Lana visibly swallowed hard, and then in a shaky voice, she spoke of a helicopter trip into a remote mountain wilderness carrying Chase and two other men. No phone was on board, but at some point, they activated their emergency beacons.
“Miscommunication at camp meant that nobody was concerned when they didn’t return by dark,” Lana said. “I had left shortly after Chase, so I wasn’t there. I returned after dark and didn’t realize the helo wasn’t in the LZ. Nobody noticed the emergency signal until late the following afternoon, and by then, it was too close to dark to track them.”
“You didn’t notice?” Cam muttered.
Lana rubbed her brow, then shoved her fingers through her hair. “We took off at first light and followed the beacon right to the helicopter. It’s in a high meadow. It didn’t wreck. They obviously landed safely. Only—” She closed her eyes. “It’s burned. It’s burned and there are no bodies inside, but my men are not there.” Her voice broke. “There’s no sign of them.”
Mac dragged his intense gaze away from the computer screen long enough to look at his wife. “That’s good news, honey. If anyone knows how to survive in the wilderness, it’s Chase.”
Ali held her hands steepled over her mouth. She still didn’t speak, but nodded.
“What’s being done to find them?”
“We are searching by air, and we currently have twelve people on the ground searching the plateau. We have located the nearest villages and we have people looking for locals who are familiar with that area, but it is extremely remote. So far, we’ve struck out. Although…” She drew a deep breath and exhaled sharply.
A wave of dread rolled over Lori. She didn’t like the sound of that sigh one bit. Mac’s subtle stiffening told her that he sensed the same thing.
Lana continued. “I’m not sure they’re telling the truth. My crew members have picked up some rumors about the presence of strangers in the mountains. A completely different part of the mountains, mind you, but if Chase was right—”
“About what?”
“Outsiders. Chase believed that outsiders from other countries might be coming into the more remote areas of Chizickstan.”
Outsiders, Lori silently repeated. What did she mean … oh. Terrorists? No. Please God, no.
“So, what? My son decided to climb onto a helicopter and check out the rumors himself?” Mac snapped.
Lana opened her
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