Going Gone. Sharon SalaЧитать онлайн книгу.
She pointed at a tall, stoop-shouldered man with graying hair near the com center.
“That’s him on the phone.”
“Thank you,” Cameron said, dropped his gear against a wall and quickly moved in that direction. Once the lieutenant hung up the phone, Cameron flashed his badge as he introduced himself.
Clark frowned. “What interest does the FBI have in this?”
Cameron pocketed his badge. “It’s strictly personal, sir. I’m involved with Laura Doyle, one of the passengers.”
Clark’s expression cleared. “Ah. Sorry.”
“Is there any news?” Cameron asked.
Clark’s shoulders slumped a little more, as if weighed down by his responsibilities.
“Not really. We have a general idea of where the plane most likely went down, but it’s snowing heavily up in the mountains today, so the search planes are grounded.”
Cameron’s heart sank. “I want to help. Assign me to a search team. I have all the necessary training.”
“I don’t—”
“Please,” Cameron added. “I can’t just sit by and wait when I have the skills to help.”
Clark eyed Cameron, who knew what the lieutenant was seeing: a big man, twenty-eight or twenty-nine, and obviously fit. He wasn’t the type to slow anybody down.
“I brought clothes and equipment,” Cameron added.
Clark relented. “Very well. We have cots set up in the adjoining room and a temporary kitchen beyond that. Find a place to bunk. You can go out in the morning.”
Cameron groaned inwardly. So close and still he had to wait.
“Yes, sir, thank you,” Cameron said, grabbing his gear.
The snow stopped at midnight, but Laura continued to slip in and out of consciousness, unaware of her surroundings, alternately freezing and burning up with fever. Once when she woke up, she saw wolves standing in the doorway, snarling. Before she could panic, she passed out again. The next time she woke up, her sister was peering in through one of the small windows.
“Wolves, Sarah. Run,” she mumbled, then slipped back into her mental abyss.
The next time she came to, it was pitch-black, and her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth.
“Water,” she muttered, and felt around in her bed until she found her stash, knowing she had to hydrate so her internal organs would not shut down.
Her hands were shaking so hard she could barely hold the bottle, but she drank until it was gone.
Easy, honey. Too much, too fast.
She tried to sit up, but didn’t have the strength. “Cameron? Is that you?” When no one answered, she dropped her head and closed her eyes.
“I’m lost, Cameron. I’m so lost. Please, find me.”
She passed out with the empty water bottle still in her hand.
* * *
Cameron was up and dressed for the task ahead long before daybreak. When he went to the kitchen in search of coffee, the first thing he heard from the even earlier risers was that it had stopped snowing in the mountains. That meant the search would move into the air as well, which was a positive. Now they just needed to find the wreckage. He picked up a sweet roll and a cup of coffee, and sat down at an empty table to eat.
Lieutenant Clark walked in and spotted him. He, too, got a sweet roll and a cup of coffee, then walked over.
“Good morning, Agent Winger. I see you’re ready.”
Cameron wiped his mouth as he stood.
“Yes, sir.”
“I have planes about ready to go up. You can go with the air search, or with a ground crew. It’s your choice.”
“I choose ground.”
Clark nodded. “As soon as you’ve finished, I’ll—”
Cameron interrupted. “I’m ready now. Let me get my gear.”
Once Cameron returned, Clark headed for the back door.
“Follow me,” he said, and took a big bite of his sweet roll on the way out.
Large four-wheel-drive vehicles were coming into the parking lot every few minutes to unload cold, weary searchers who’d been out since the day before. Two big trucks were loading up on fuel, while other vehicles were waiting to take new crews of searchers out.
Clark flagged down one of the drivers, who was standing beside an older-model Suburban.
“Hey, Wilson, got room in there for one more?”
The driver, a heavyset woman with a shock of crimson-red hair, turned around. She eyed Cameron’s gear and backpack, and then nodded.
“Get in, but you may have to sit on that pack.”
“I don’t mind,” Cameron said, and climbed in.
The men inside shifted enough to give him legroom as he shoved the backpack in a corner, and then sat down in front of it, using it for a backrest. A few minutes later the doors slammed shut, and the vehicle began to move.
Cameron nodded cordially at the men but had no desire to visit. Still, one of them was more curious than the others and took away his decision to remain under the radar. The man leaned over, his hand extended in welcome.
“Reno Brown,” he said as he shook Cameron’s hand.
“Cameron Winger.”
“You’re not a local,” Reno said.
Cameron shook his head. “No, I’m from D.C.”
The other men in the vehicle eyed him curiously, but it was Reno who asked the pertinent question.
“That’s a far piece to come to look for a downed plane.”
Cameron nodded, but Reno wasn’t satisfied.
“Do you work for the FAA or something?”
“No,” Cameron said.
Reno waited for more, but when he figured out he wasn’t going to get it voluntarily, he smiled, shrugged and shut up.
Cameron shifted focus to a large clod of dirt beneath a seat that was turning into mud from the snowmelt next to it. They rode for almost an hour before the vehicle began slowing down.
“I guess we’re there,” Reno said.
A few moments later the doors opened.
“Leave your sleeping gear in the big tent, and if we’re lucky, you won’t need it,” Wilson said as the searchers began getting out.
“From your lips to God’s ears,” Reno said, and strode toward the waiting snowmobiles.
Cameron was right behind him.
“We ride in pairs,” Reno said. “The driver makes sure we don’t fall off the mountain. The rider looks for wreckage.”
Cameron stopped. He was anxious to search but didn’t want to waste time watching where they were going. He wanted to watch for signs.
“I know the area. Want to ride with me?” Reno asked.
Cameron nodded as he followed the men inside.
The on-site quarters consisted of a very large tent with at least three dozen cots set up. Another radio operator was on-site to monitor updates from the air