“Maybe. Who you calling?”
“My mom.” She hit the CALL button but got her automated message. “Dang it. It’s not going through. She must be at the canyon already. I wonder if—”
An urgent whisper interrupted her mid-sentence, echoing off the buildings around them. “Auri!”
She looked around for the speaker and saw a piece of notebook paper flying frantically from an open classroom window. She tilted her head for a better view.
“Auri, run!” the speaker said, her whisper not unlike the mating call of a screech owl.
She pushed off the truck and straightened. “Sybil?”
“Run! Coach Love spotted you. He’s…” The hand disappeared just as Coach Love cornered the building and walked toward them.
Auri hitched her backpack over a shoulder and prepared to run, but the coach was way faster than he looked. He was on them in three strides. There was no escape now. She looked over and saw Sybil’s head half out of the window, craning her neck for a better view, and tried not to giggle despite her dire circumstances.
“Ms. Vicram,” the coach said as he came to a stop in front of them. “Mr. De los Santos.”
“Coach,” they replied in unison.
“I haven’t seen you since everything happened, Cruz. I just … I wanted to…” He lowered his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m very sorry about your father.”
“Oh.” Cruz cast Auri a surprised glance before turning back to him. “Thanks, Coach.”
The coach reached out his hand and took Cruz’s in a firm shake. “And, despite everything you’ve been through, I hope you’ll stay in Del Sol. The football team won’t be the same without you, son.”
Auri had heard Cruz was quite the quarterback and destined to be first string for varsity next year even though he would only be a sophomore. Having started at Del Sol High after the winter break, she’d missed the entire season.
“And, well, I hope you’ll consider us part of your family.” When Cruz hesitated, he quickly added, “No one can replace your dad, of course. I’m not suggesting that. Just, you know, like long-lost aunts and uncles and cousins and such. Either way, we’re here if you need anything.”
“I second that.”
They turned to see Principal Jacobs come out of the front offices. Auri tried not to groan. He was super tight with her mom. Called her Little Miss Sunshine, which was horrifying on so many levels.
“Anything you need, Cruz,” the principal said, “just call my cell.”
Cruz had the principal’s contact info? “Hey, Mr. Jacobs,” Auri said a little too perkily.
“Auri,” he replied, swinging his attention her way. Slowly. Purposefully. “Is there a reason you’re not in class?”
“It’s my fault, Mr. Jacobs.” Cruz grabbed his midsection and only then did Auri see the spots of blood on the front of his white T-shirt.
“Cruz!” She knew it. Helping her down had been a bad idea.
“I asked her to come out here. I think I ripped my stitches.”
“Oh, son,” Mr. Jacobs said, lunging forward, clearly shaken. “Let’s get you to the nurse’s office.”
“Okay, thanks.” Cruz put an arm around Auri’s shoulders, cast her a single, conspiratorial wink, and made a show of limping inside the building.
She could have kissed him for saving her. Or punched him for ripping his stitches. It was a fine line.
* * *
Not thirty seconds after Sun had asked her newest deputy for a neck brace and stretcher from the ambulance that had shown up, Rojas was lowering the requested items over the guardrail, clearly two steps ahead of her. They went to work, first securing their Jane Doe’s neck, then easing her onto the stretcher while balancing their own weight against the sharp incline.
There would be time later to assess girl’s wounds. She had deep gashes on her abdomen and thighs. None were bleeding or seemed life-threatening at the moment, but the fact that they’d clearly been put there on purpose—almost painstakingly so—was troublesome.
Rojas came over the radio. “Tie the rope onto the head of the stretcher, boss.”
Another of her deputies, Azaria Bell—aka, Zee—came on the radio. “We don’t have any more anchors, boss, but Rojas and I will keep her from getting away from you.”
Sun glanced up to see Del Sol County’s official sniper peering down at them from over the guardrail. Rojas looked on from beside her, a place he liked to be. He’d been pining over the woman for weeks. Sun could hardly blame him. The dark-skinned beauty had mad skills and could pad her résumé with accolades like a stellar military service record, two years with Albuquerque PD, and multiple competition wins. She’d been with the APD SWAT team when Sun lured her away with promises of slow, stress-free days and high pay, neither of which she actually delivered on. Yet there Zee was. Watching over her from above. Thankfully it wasn’t through a scope. Sun didn’t miss the fact that Rojas stole glances at the sniper every few seconds.
“Thanks, Zee,” she said into her mic. She took a deep breath and returned her attention to Quince and Levi. “Are we ready?”
They both nodded, Quincy studying their path and Levi tying the rope onto the head end of the stretcher before checking Sun’s harness yet again. He tugged at her ties and tested the knots at her carabiner while Sun tried to ignore what his ministrations were doing to her insides. And not just the lower parts, either. Her chest tightened with his attention to detail on her behalf.
“What can I do?” Drew asked.
Sun considered where best to use him. “Maybe go ahead of us. If we lose control…”
“Got it.” He started down the mountain and barely managed to stop when he hit a particularly slippery spot, the moisture beneath the leaves proving hazardous.
“Take hold of my rope if you need to, Drew.”
“Will do.”
Once he had a strong foothold, Levi and Quince nodded to each other and started down as Sun took hold of the stretcher, hoping to bear some of the weight.
Drew tried to help keep it steady, but he ended up sliding down the incline with almost every step. If not for the rappelling gear, Sun would’ve done the same. As Rojas and Zee fed them rope, they slowly picked their way down the steep incline. Which didn’t look that steep from up top. She’d never look at the Sangre de Cristos the same way again.
By the time they got to the bottom, Sun’s hands ached with effort, but she never lost her grip, even when Quincy slid into a muddy indentation and dropped his side, jostling their victim. Levi and Sun kept hold until he righted himself, straining under the weight despite the fact that their Jane was little more than a toothpick. But having to keep both themselves and their victim from sliding on the muddy pass was proving far more difficult than she’d imagined.
What amazed Sun, however, was how well Quincy and Levi worked together to get their victim to safety. They grunted and swore under their breaths, but they kept the lines of communication open all the way down.
“I’ve got her,” Levi would say, his muscles bunching with effort when Quincy needed some leeway to adjust his footing.