The Alaskan Rescue (5 page)

His thoughts kept returning to Sashi, that beautiful woman
who’d entranced him just a few nights ago. How could he be doing a
search-and-rescue for her today? He was supposed to be meeting her for a date!
He prayed to God nothing bad had happened to her or her friend.

It brought back painful memories from another time and place,
memories that needed to be put away while he searched for the women. Cole shook
his head, forcing the dark thoughts from his mind, and brought the plane in for
a soft landing.

He taxied over to the Red Bay’s run-down dock, all the while
trying to deal with his turbulent emotions. If the women had to spend the night
in the wilderness alone, at least it hadn’t been on a cold snowy mountaintop
like he’d once had to do.

Within seconds of bringing the plane to a stop, Cole saw Jake
and his father, Doug, at the top of the hill making their way down to him. He
could always count on the good people of Prince of Wales Island to give up their
time to look for some lost city folk. Cole unbuckled himself and headed to the
rear of the plane. He grabbed his backpack full of medical supplies and his .416
Rigby Magnum rifle.

Prince of Wales Island was black bear country and he didn’t
know what he’d be up against. In Alaska it was better to be safe than sorry.
After loading up with everything he thought he’d need, he opened the hatch of
the plane. “I can see you’ve been keeping up the docks, Jake,” he said wryly.
Cole realized this would be a wet docking and he needed to go back for his
waders.

Doug, Jake’s father, was a fisherman by trade and an avid
hunter. He always came with everything he needed. “Looks like our Doc Stevens
didn’t come prepared. Pretty boys always have to look good, don’t they, Jakey?”
He turned to his son with a big smile on his face.

Jake, who studied the many fish in the Tongass National forest,
virtually lived in waders and never thought much of how grubby he looked. His
wife, Sammi, thought he was handsome, though, and that was all that mattered to
him.

“Cole?” he said. “Just throw us your stuff and jump. I’ll lock
up your plane so you won’t have to get your fancy mountain gear wet.”

“If your dad weren’t here right now, I’d give you a lesson in
manners, Powell,” Cole retorted testily. He threw his bag in Jake’s face, took
one giant leap and bounded from the plane. Gun held high, he landed on dry land
in perfect form.

Jake put the bag down next to Cole and gave him a good swat on
the back before he waded out to the plane. “What’s got you so ruffled,
princess?” He climbed up and locked the plane.

“Jake!” Doug called. “I think Cole’s had enough.”

“I need to know something,” Cole yelled to Jake. “Do you
remember when you met your wife, Sammi?”

Jake had just jumped back into the lake. “What are you talking
about?” he asked. He looked at Cole as if he was crazy.

Cole donned his backpack and slung his gun around his shoulder.
“I’m kind of involved with one of the women who’s missing.”

Jake waded out of the lake. “Okay, but what does this have to
do with my wife? I don’t get the connection.”

Doug explained. “I think what he’s trying to tell you, fish for
brains, is that he’s fallen for a girl the same way you did for Sammi.” He
looked at Cole for a denial. When none came he had his answer.

Jake looked at his buddy in shock. “When did you meet her?”

“When I flew up to Marshall’s a couple of days ago.”

“Is it serious?”

“I don’t know,” Cole replied. “All I know is that I’ve never
felt this way about a woman before. We were supposed to meet for lunch today.
Now...I might be looking for a body.” A shadow crossed his face.

“Come on, Cole. Don’t go down that road. You and I have saved
more people than I can remember.
Don’t think about your
brother.
Not today. Think about the
people you’ve saved. So we’re looking for a live person now. What’s her
name?”

“Sashi Hansen. She’s up here with her friend Kendra, the other
missing girl.”

Doug came in and gave him a hug. “Cole, you and Jake are known
as miracle workers around here. If anyone can save those girls, it’ll be
you.”

Cole looked up at the brawny man who’d become like a surrogate
dad over the years. “Thanks, Doug.”

The trio headed up the slope to a clearing a couple of yards
from the cabin to obtain their instructions for the search-and-rescue.

Cole caught sight of Jake’s twin brother, CJ, also a fire
ranger up in the Tongass National Park. It was amazing how alike the two were
physically. Both were tall with dark hair and deep blue eyes, yet each had his
own personality. There was, however, one thing they did have in common besides
looks. The Powell brothers were brave as hell in situations of life and
death.

A hand grabbed him firmly on the arm, and Cole turned to look
down at his dear friend Joe Running Bear. He’d never seen Joe look so
distressed. “I need you to come with me now, my brother.”

Cole sensed Joe wasn’t going to leave him alone. “Okay, Joe.”
He turned to CJ. “I’ll catch ya later, pal. Say hi to Natasha for me.”

“I will. Good to see you, too, Doc.” CJ gave him a big whack on
the back.

Cole looked back at the Powells. You could always count on them
for love, either in the form of bear hugs from Doug or friendly pummels from the
brothers. He envied them for finding themselves such beautiful wives inside and
out.

His glance returned to Joe, who packed the same kind of gun
Cole carried. When it came to arming themselves on a mission like this, they
both thought alike. Now that the search group was assembled, he and Joe made
their way to the front of the group to hear instructions from the captain of the
Alaska State Troopers.

Trace Hunter stood before the rescuers wearing the brimmed hat
and uniform of the police, along with his signature leather duster. “I’d like to
thank you for coming out and helping us on our search and rescue today. We have
two women last seen by Freddy and some friends at around nineteen hundred
hours.

“Our friend Joe Running Bear gave Sashi Hansen a GPS emergency
beacon to wear yesterday. It has not been triggered. We hope it still might be
used. As I discussed with you, we don’t believe the women spent the night at the
cabin.

“We’re handing out a flyer with the two women’s pictures, names
and identification. Their families have just been informed. Keep in mind these
women are only twenty-eight and both somebody’s daughter.”

Cole got one of the flyers. His hands shook as he looked at the
beautiful picture of Sashi. He read the facts about her: five-four, one hundred
pounds, green eyes, strawberry-blond hair.

The other woman was Kendra Knight: five-eleven, 140 pounds,
brown eyes and hair.

Cole looked up from his paper to Trace. “It’s now thirteen
hundred hours. The two women have officially been missing eighteen hours.” He
began to separate his mind from the task at hand. He was an expert in this
field. The most important thing he could do was put his feelings aside and be
the search-and-rescue doctor he was acclaimed to be.

“We’ve divided you into teams,” Trace continued, “that will
cover the landscape in a distinct pattern so we don’t miss anything. Everyone
here has an asset. Some of you have ATV’s, so you can cover long distances. Some
of you have horses, others have dogs. We have four hours till the sun sets.
Let’s make the most of our time.”

“Let’s go,” Joe said to Cole. “No time to waste.”

Joe walked Cole over to where a lone bag lay among the bushes
with Native protection charms on it. “This is full of spelunking items to check
the caves. I hope we find my friends. I am very worried about them. I think they
are going to be near the limestone caves in the area I told them about.”

“I’ll let you know if that emergency beacon goes off, Joe,”
Trace said.

“Thank you.”

“Good luck.”

Cole waved to Trace, who disappeared behind a bush.

* * *

A
LONE
BIRD
SANG
. T
HEN
IT
was joined by others in a cacophony of sounds.
Sashi tried to lift her head, but couldn’t summon the strength. The birds seemed
to mock her in her terrible state of weakness. Did they know she was dying?
Come on, Sashi. Get it together.
She decided to
focus on her parents’ faces. Her mom’s soft brown eyes that shone with joy when
she laughed. The safety of her father’s arms that made her feel nothing could
harm her. She had to fight to stay alive for them.

She closed her eyes and thought how hard she worked for her
life. Even if she had not grown up in the wilderness, she knew people like her
survived traumatic events like this. She was not going to let her fears get the
best of her.

She tried to move her leg, but it was too painful. She must
have broken it. If there was a chance she was going to dance again and open her
studio, she had to straighten her leg and keep it straight until she received
medical care.

The movement was agony. “Oh, God,” she gasped. She beat her
right hand angrily against her padded vest. It was then she felt the emergency
beacon Joe had placed in her pocket the day before.

Gripping the top of her vest with her teeth, she got a strong
hold on the zippered pocket and pulled the beacon free with a trembling hand. In
tears of anguish, she turned on the signal, praying that somehow her forgetting
about the device wouldn’t cost Kendra and herself their lives.

She held the beacon to her face and cried, “Please, God, please
let someone find me and Kendra. I’ll do anything. Please just let us live. Let
us be found.”

* * *

“I
T
’
S
BEEN
THREE
HOURS
, J
OE
. We’ve searched
all known caves and found nothing.” Cole was devastated.

“There are other caves, my doctor friend. We just don’t know
them,” Joe said confidently, “but we will continue to search.”

Cole watched Joe with his spelunking helmet on. The man was an
odd mix of the modern and the ancient world, but a master tracker. If anyone
could find the women, it was Joe.

“Joe? Joe?” Cole heard Trace’s voice over the two-way talking
device attached to Joe’s belt. Joe picked it up. “Roger.”

“We’ve picked up the rescue beacon signal,” Trace said. “Do you
copy?”

Cole saw Joe begin to shake, saw a tear slide from his
jet-black eyes. Both men felt a degree of hope for the first time in three heart
wrenching hours of searching. Cole prayed for the women’s survival. He knew what
it was like to just survive...

“Hold on, Sashi. I’m coming,” he whispered to the wind.

“Roger,” Joe answered. “Do you have coordinates?”

As he heard the longitude and latitude repeated, Cole
triangulated their location on the map. He was shocked to discover they were
only a quarter mile away from the beacon’s signal. But before they got to the
scene, he needed to talk to Trace. Cole was worried about what Joe might see.
Even trained first responders had a hard time dealing with the horrors of
tragedy.

He walked over and motioned for his friend to hand him the
radio.

“Trace, this is Cole.”

“Roger that, Stevens.”

“Are the Powell brothers in the vicinity?”

“We should be at rendezvous in five minutes. Luck had us
mapping that square area of the land when the signal was called in.”

“Good to hear. Over and Out.”

Cole picked up his belongings and began to head out. “Let’s
hurry, Joe. If Sashi and Kendra need medical help, I want to reach them as fast
as I can.”

“I’m with you, my friend.” Joe said.

Chapter Four

The sky turned cloudy and it looked as if it might
start raining. Dusk was nearly upon them, making Cole nervous about bears,
especially as he and Joe approached a dense hemlock forest. Both of them knew
the consequences of scaring a bear or coming unaware upon a mother who was
protecting her cubs.

He bent down to reach a pocket near the calf of his waterproof
hiking pants. He took a bell out of a little rag that held it still and tied it
to his belt loop. He was grateful for his Native friend and his insistence on
wearing one. He noticed that Joe had done the same thing, except his bell was
bigger and hung off his backpack.

Armed with loaded guns, they fought their way through the
foliage and emerged into a clearing. Cole’s GPS device claimed they were close
to the location of the rescue beacon.

The rain forest was coming alive in a new way with owls hooting
and vermin scurrying to and fro in the dense underbrush. Cole turned on the
light of his helmet for extra help.

Joe began to sing a song in Tlingit. Cole glanced at him and
then down the hill at Jake, CJ and Trace. They were taping off an area for
police work. That meant they’d found a dead body!

Cole and Joe descended the hill, and Cole looked to the sky
while his mind screamed,
Please don’t let it be
Sashi!
He had to get a grip before he met Jake’s eyes. The pair had
been in more scrapes and rescues than he could remember. They had a special way
of reading each other’s body language, which allowed them to converse without
speaking.

All Cole had to do was motion to the perimeter. Jake understood
immediately and he raised his right hand high then moved it horizontally. Now
Cole knew it was the tall woman who was dead, not Sashi. He almost fell over
from relief.

He raised his forearms to shoulder height, then let his hands
fall open in an outward motion. It was their way of asking how it happened.

Jake spread his hands in the air like bear claws.

“So a bear mauled Kendra,” Joe stated, obviously reading Jake’s
gesture, too.

Cole only nodded. Then he turned away and followed his GPS
device until it led him right to a cave. It surprised him to realize he’d passed
by this area before, yet had never noticed this cave. The opening was hidden by
a large aspen tree that had a big splatter of blood on its trunk.

“Joe? We have something.” Cole pointed to the first sign of
human existence.

“Captain Powell? We need your help. Do you hear me?”

“Roger that, Cole. I’ll be there in a minute. Over and
out.”

As they drew closer, more blood was noticeable on the bottom of
the cave. Joe stayed by Cole’s side, and Cole knew the man was keeping his eyes
open for any clues one of the women might have left.

Joe threw his pack down and began to call into the cave.
“Sashi? Sashi? Are you there? It’s Joe!” The old man’s voice was filled with
concern.

“Stop.” Cole took a deep breath. With all his heart he prayed
he wouldn’t find another mauled body. “Joe, I need you to hurry and unpack our
gear. Wait for CJ. I’ll go in and survey the first ten feet or so. When he gets
here, you two come in after me.”

Joe nodded his head in agreement. He sensed why Cole didn’t
want him to be the first to enter the cave. “I know you will bring her back. You
are a great healer.” Their eyes met and a chill ran down Cole’s spine.

“Be safe, my friend.” Cole grabbed Joe’s shoulder
affectionately.

“Sashi. Sashi Hansen. Can you hear me? It’s Cole, the doctor
you met a couple of days ago. Dr. Cole Stevens. I’m here to help you.” Silence.
As he walked into the dank tomblike space, the smell of wet earth filled his
nostrils, while fear filled his heart. Was Sashi alive in here?

Grabbing a flashlight out of his backpack, Cole scoured the
cave for a clue. When he shone it on the earthen floor, he could see earth had
been disturbed. Someone or something had crawled in here recently. That thought
got his heart pounding. Her little body could’ve done that.

The cave ceiling grew lower, forcing him to hunker down while
he searched for human life.

“Sashi? Sashi, can you hear me?” He got down on his knees,
carefully scanning each side of the dirt crevasses. “It’s Cole. Dr. Cole
Stevens. Are you there?” Finding strength from within, he kept his voice very
calm.

* * *

S
ASHI
AWOKE
AT
THE
RUCKUS
coming from
the opening of the cave. Then a voice permeated her consciousness, making her
think she was losing her mind. For how could Cole be here? She must be dreaming.
Just then a light ran across the cave. Was this the light people said you walked
toward when you were dying?

It was beautiful, she thought. If only she could reach it. She
lifted her arm, but she could only make it reach so far before the light fell
from her grasp. Was death toying with her?

“Sashi? Sashi, can you hear me?” She heard her name being
called in the darkness. In an effort to move her head to the sound, she saw...
How could it be? Cole was moving toward her, then seemed to float to the floor
beside her.

He grabbed her hands warmly. Tears filled her eyes. She must
have done something right to have his beautiful gaze on her again. She was so
happy to see him she never wanted him to let go of her. How did he find her?

Cole wouldn’t stop talking. He kept saying a name over and over
again desperately. She knew it was important to him so she listened intently,
and finally her mind connected with the name.

“Sashi,” Cole kept saying. He warmed her fingers and looked
over her body to see her condition.

She lay there basking in the joy that she’d been found. Cole
made her feel so warm and safe.
Sashi,
she thought.
I like that name. It’s very pretty. It sounds so
familiar. I know a Sashi,
she decided.

She tried to grab Cole’s shirt, she was so happy to see him.
But she was confused as to what was going on. More tears filled her eyes.

At last she was able to speak. She pulled his hand closer to
her body. “What’s happened, Cole? Are you a dream? Am I dead?”

“No,” Cole replied, his voice calm. “You’re alive.”

“Then why do you look like an angel?”

* * *

H
ER
QUESTION
SHOOK
HIM
to the core. It was at moments like these Cole had to reassure himself that he
was the doctor, not the patient. “It’s the light on my hat.”

“Then why is the light shimmering around your head?” Her voice
sounded like sandpaper on wood.

“Sashi, the light helped me find you. It casts a glow around my
head so I can see the wounds you’ve received. Do you remember me telling you I’m
a search-and-rescue doctor who flies out to the bush to help people? Well, today
I’ve been searching for you.” Cole touched her face with his fingertips, felt
the moisture there.

“Cole, I thought you were something I made up to take me to the
other side.”

Cole gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Not today, Sashi.
I’m going to do all I can to keep you here. You still owe me a date.”

A cough erupted from her beat-up body. Their eyes met and he
could see the terror and shock in hers.

He took off his pack and assembled the items he needed.

* * *

S
ASHI
HEARD
HIM
SAY
HE
WAS
grateful she was talking. He began to rattle on about how reviving patients in
the bush was a bit trickier. She could tell he was now looking her over like a
patient, which made her sad, yet she was still glad he was close. If she wasn’t
going to die, she knew this man would take care of her.

Cole’s voice made her feel more human, more alive, not one of
the dead. She was so grateful for him. He seemed to know exactly what to say and
do.

While still holding her hand, he grabbed his stethoscope out of
his bag with the other. He listened to her heart and lungs, then finally took
her pulse. “It’s weak but stable.” He flashed her a smile that warmed her from
the inside.

“It’s a miracle you survived the night, Sashi. When you told me
you were a ballerina who worked in the packing plant, I knew you had grit. But
you have a mental ability many people don’t have. It’s hard not to give up in
the cold Alaskan night and let fear drive you mad.” He caressed her cheek. “But
you fought the fear and won.”

“Thank you.” She tried to give him a smile. He examined the
injury on the side of her head without hurting her. Reaching for the penlight on
his utility belt, he said, “I have to make sure each pupil is the same size.
Those green eyes are perfect, just like I remember.”

“What?”

“I’m saying you’re in better shape than I expected. My friend
Joe Running Bear—”

“There was a giant bear, Cole, and he...” She shuddered in
remembered terror.

“I know,” he said, “but the bear’s gone. You’re safe now,
Sashi.”

“Thank God,” she thought she heard him mutter. “Sashi,” he
said, “I need you to keep hanging on and we’ll get you out of here soon.”

“Do you know what happened to Kendra? She ran...I tried to stop
her...” Sashi was genuinely worried.

Cole held her hand, looked into her eyes and said calmly, “My
friends, all dedicated civil servants, are taking care of the search for Kendra.
Right now we need to take care of you.” The way he talked and cared for her was
so warm and gentle.

Sashi had to tell him about Kendra. “Cole...Kendra’s pregnant.
They need to find her.”

Just then she saw Joe quietly entering the cave. “Joe,” she
said, “any news of Kendra yet?”

Sashi found she could only talk as long as Cole held her hand.
He seemed to give her strength, she didn’t know why or how.

Joe said, “Sashi, my lone wolf, you are safe and I feel
blessed. Believe me when I say Kendra has been found and everything will be
okay. You listen to Dr. Cole. He will take care of you.”

* * *

O
NCE
J
OE
HAD
CALMED
Sashi with his words, Cole whispered to her,
“I need to talk to a paramedic just outside the cave.” He still hadn’t let go of
her hand. “I’ll be back in two minutes tops and then we’ll devise a plan to get
you out of here. Joe will be by your side the whole time.”

“Promise me you’ll be right back?” she begged.

He looked down at the woman he thought had disappeared from his
life and squeezed her hand. “I promise. I just need to get the right equipment
to move you, okay?”

“Okay,” she murmured.

The look of trust on her face brought back feelings he’d tried
to hide, and as he began to slip out of the cave, he struggled against his
personal demons. He knew firsthand the trauma she was living through. He’d lived
it many nights in his own nightmares. Hard to believe it was twenty years ago
that he’d held his dead brother on the mountain after the avalanche, begging him
to come back to life. But it wasn’t to be. At least today he didn’t have to beg
God to bring Sashi back.

He had to focus. Right now the only thing important was to get
her stable before transporting her. The truth about Kendra could send her into
shock. He didn’t want anything upsetting her. That was when he changed his mind
about leaving her.

He turned back. “Joe?” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Will you please go get Ranger Powell for me? I don’t want to
leave my patient.”

“I’ll go now.” Joe took off in the darkness.

Cole took a deep breath and leaned over so he could get a
closer look at Sashi. Her face was covered with mud and blood. But even that
wasn’t enough to hide her classic beauty.

Don’t lose your focus, Stevens.
He
had to make sure she was hemodynamic for transportation to a hospital. Amazing
she’d survived the night. How many times had they found people who hadn’t
survived? He didn’t envy Trace making the call to Kendra’s family.

“New York?” he said to her. “You must lie still so I can
examine you thoroughly. All right?”

Her breathing evened out, and she nodded.

Cole felt her neck and began to examine it for spinal cord
damage. He couldn’t find any. Just in case, he put her neck in a brace to keep
it immovable. Later she’d be given an MRI scan and looked over by a radiology
team.

Sashi reached for his hand and held on. The strength in those
slender fingers surprised the hell out of him.

“Sashi, you’re safe,” he said.

“I know. You’re here now. It’s going to be okay.”

Cole felt a huge mantle of responsibility as she said those
words. He’d always taken his job as a doctor seriously, but in that moment he
felt accountable for Sashi. He’d never felt like that before.

He radioed the rescue operation. “Stevens here. I’ve found
Sashi Hansen alive and talking.”

“Captain Hunter here. Do you need backup?”

“I’ve sent out Joe Running Bear to bring in backup.” There were
audible cheers in the background over the two-way radio. “I need Captain Powell
to provide assistance.”

He looked at Sashi as he explained the noise over the two-way.
“Can you hear that? Everyone is so excited you’ve been found.”

She looked at him and nodded her head. “I just want to leave
the cave.” She rewarded him with a smile.

“That’s what I want, too.” He gave her a wink.

“I’m on my way, Cole. Over and out.” CJ clicked off.

“I need you to tell me where you hurt the most.” He began
looking in her ears, mouth, nose and then he pressed on her stomach to check for
internal bleeding. She seemed okay.

“Where do you hurt, Sashi?”

Cole examined her left arm, removing the makeshift bandage and
looking at the gash. He used his stethoscope to make sure there was still a
pulse in the hand. “Can you move your fingers for me?” She wiggled them. She
would carry a scar on that arm the rest of her life, but the wound would
heal.