Garrett awoke in the back of the ambulance, unsure of how he’d even gotten there. Given the hum and beep of all the lifesaving equipment around him, his assumption was that the paramedic beside him was in the full-swing process of trying to save his life. But when he fully came to and sat up in the gurney, he realized that other than a goose egg knot above the back of his head, and a few cuts and scrapes on his arms, he was fine—at least as far as he could tell.
Looking left, Garrett saw the body across from him was covered with a sheet. His muddled mind searched for answers not easily found. The last of his recollections was of someone coming toward him, who he assumed was the Frenchman. But then that desperate feeling all rushed back.
In his mind, Garrett saw himself clawing at the ice, grasping for his bow as it slid between the cracks and plunked into the black waters. His pulse raced at the thought of the hopelessness. But in a hazy fast-forward memory of events, he came to the sad conclusion of what happened on the banks of the Washita River. And he knew right then who was lying there beside him.
As if psychically connected, the paramedic turned from his equipment and eased over, looking a bit uneasy. The name Roberts was engraved on his ID badge.
“We did everything we could,” Roberts reported. “But he’d just lost too much blood. Had a bad head wound and it looks like his arm was shattered too.”
“So, he brought me in?” Garrett couldn’t take his eyes off Kai. “All busted up like that?”
“Carried you the whole way and it’s a good thing he did.” Roberts smiled. “Given where you were by the river, and with the snow covering your tracks, we wouldn’t have found you until daylight. With your core temperature as low as it was, I doubt you would’ve survived.”
Garrett grasped for any inkling of a memory that could help him piece it all together. “He stared at the body beneath the sheet. “What about the other one? Big guy with a beard.”
Roberts shook his head. “You’re the only one who made it.” He turned to Kai and added, “Your friend here was like the Terminator. Given his injuries, what he did was impossible.”
There was genuine admiration in the paramedic’s voice.
“Impossible for most,” Garrett said. “But not for him. Not for that Ranger.”
There was a temptation to really try to focus on the sequence of events, but Garrett was far too exhausted and his headache seemed to be getting worse. Aside from that, he knew that he’d be reliving that moment on the icy riverbank for the rest of his life. Although devastated by what happened, Garrett found comfort in knowing that Kai no longer suffered. There’d be no more climbing that mountain in the Panjshir Valley. After all these years, he’d made it to the top.
Roberts looked ahead, out the windshield, and then turned back again. “Just got to the hospital in Canadian. Your family is waiting. Of course, they were already here.” He added as almost a second thought, “Because of your son.”
Despite the sincere and adamant protest from the paramedic, Garrett ripped off the monitoring equipment, jumped out of the gurney, and flew out of the back of the ambulance before it even stopped. To his shock, it wasn’t just his family but nearly everyone he’d known since birth. News of peril traveled fast in small towns, especially when kids were involved.
Smitty spotted Garrett as he was coming down the hall and met him halfway. And he’d seen that dangerous look in his eyes before. Knowing that he’d better head him off before things got out of hand, he pointed to an empty room.
“Step in here, Garrett, and I’ll tell you what’s going on before you face the mob.”
Garrett flipped on the light and closed the door after Smitty came through. “What the hell happened? Nobody at the front desk seems to have a damn clue.”
“Everybody’s okay,” Smitty began. “Just know that from the start.”
“Where’s Asadi?”
“He’s in surgery.”
Garrett’s eyes went wide. “Surgery!”
“Ankle surgery,” Smitty explained. “Tore some ligaments out there, that’s all.”
“Out where? Last I heard they were bringing in horses at the Mescalero.”
“They were,” Smitty confirmed. “But they had a wreck on Duke’s UTV out in the sandhills.”
“Duke was driving?”
Smitty shook his head. “Asadi was at the wheel, but it wasn’t his fault. Just a pure accident. Horses busted through the barbed wire, and the kids were doing their best to try and bring them back in. Just one of those hazards of ranch life.”
Garrett took a moment before replying but seemed to understand. “Sorry about that. Don’t know why, but I feel responsible since it’s my son. What about Savanah? She okay?”
“Thank God, she’ll make it. Broke a few ribs and is being treated for hypothermia. She’ll recover though.” Smitty smiled. “You know her. More worried about the damn horses than herself. Ike and Bo went out and brought them back to the barn.”
“And Duke?” Garrett asked, almost as if it were obligatory. “He all right?”
Smitty cocked an eye. “The drunks always walk away unscathed, don’t they?”
“Duke was drunk?” It was clear Garrett’s dander was up again. “He the cause of all this?”
“In a roundabout way, yes, but he’s not entirely to blame.”
“Drunk on the job isn’t a great start. He here? Because I’ve got a few questions.”
Smitty caught Garrett by the shoulder before he could blast past him toward the door. “Hold on a minute. There’s plenty of time for all that. For now, everyone just needs our support. We’ve had enough drama for one day, if you know what I mean?”
Garrett untensed. “You have no idea, my friend.”
What Smitty wasn’t going to reveal to Garrett now or possibly ever was Crystal’s confession on the way to the hospital. He’d long suspected she was keeping a big secret from him, but he’d never imagined it was that Duke was her son. But that was a problem for another day. Another year. Or maybe never at all.
What Smitty did know was that the kid had major problems, and he couldn’t help but suspect that Duke had lied about Asadi and Savanah’s whereabouts for a reason. The fact that he had caused the whole thing by being drunk wasn’t enough to make the average person fabricate a story that would result in the witness’s death. But Duke wasn’t your average person.
Smitty had worked for Duke’s real father long enough to know that getting rid of an inconvenience, no matter how insignificant, was right out of Preston Kaiser’s playbook. And he knew that because at one point, he had been one of those inconveniences. Of course, Smitty couldn’t levy accusations in just yet. But it didn’t mean he wouldn’t watch that kid like a hawk.
Feeling the sudden need to shift the topic away from Duke, Smitty changed the subject. “Good news is that David is out of surgery and he’s going to make it. Will be a tough recovery process requiring some skin grafts, but he’ll be good as new in a few months.”
“Glad to hear that.” Garrett let out a sigh. “I’ll go find Tony as soon as I can. Obviously, I’ve got a few irons in the fire right now with everything that happened out at the Washita.”
“Yeah, Sheriff Crowley told me. I’m sure I don’t know the half of it, but it sounds like we’re at least done with all these accidents around here.”
Garrett gave a slow nod. “I think we got our man.”
“Anything I need to tend to on my end?”
Garrett shook it off. “Nah, Bridger has it covered on the big-picture evidence. Ones who were bankrolling it. I’ve got a contact who will take it up with the Europeans and deal with the Qataris. It’s at the diplomatic level now. They’ll handle the political and corporate ramifications. Not to mention criminal charges. Go after the company behind the sabotage.”
“Company?” Smitty asked. “I’ve seen drug cartels that are more subtle than these people.”
“You ain’t kidding. But greed is greed. And the ones who are behind what happened here are going to pay for it. I’ve got a couple of friends who will see to that.”
Smitty opted not to dive any further into Garrett’s cryptic answer because he was already certain that it had something to do with the CIA. Over the years he’d learned it was better not to know. But a payback mission had Kim Manning and Mario Contreras written all over it. They were old pros at making problems, and sometimes people, just disappear.
“And Cosmic Order?” Smitty asked. “All the protesters?”
“They’ll be gone soon enough. Once word spreads that one of their own was involved in the explosions, someone up high will pull the plug. Not exactly the kind of positive publicity that gets the big donations from the Aspen crowd.”
At this point, Smitty had heard enough. It looked like things were about to go back to normal. He tilted his head toward the door. “What do you say we go check on our kids?”