Big Bear Mountain - The Complete Series (2 page)

T
he blue and red strobe lights of the
troopers Highway Patrol car lightened Elle’s mood a little and made her feel a
tiny bit more secure as a not-so-gentle breeze began to buffet her sleek, shiny
BWM that hung perilously over the edge of the cliff. Only a ragged piece of
railing snagged on the front wheel arch prevented the car careening thousands
of feet down the rocky slope. Elle was almost glad darkness had descended on
the mountainside so she was no longer tortured by the view of the cruel fate
that awaited her.

Having balanced over the edge of the cliff
for nearly an hour, during which Elle reassessed her wisdom in throwing her
cell phone out the window with such bravado, the sight of the Highway Patrol
car on the road behind her was a welcome relief as she knew it was only by pure
chance that she’d been found.

Only the rear half of her car was partially
on the road. The front section, which included the driver’s door and window was
well and truly overhanging the edge of the road as the car rocked like a giant see
saw with the increasing wind.

Consequently, Trooper Ryan wasn’t able to
do much other than call it in and stress the urgency of the situation, after
which he squatted as near as he dared to the edge of the road to assess the
situation in the car itself.

“Miss? I’m Trooper Ryan, you can call me
Jeff, if you like. Mountain Rescue are on their way. They’re coming by chopper
and should be here any minute now.” He spoke loud enough to be heard through
the closed window of the car, hoping to give some comfort to the trapped
occupant.

Elle nodded thankfully, too much in a state
of shock to reply. Tears began to fill her eyes. The distance the trooper was
keeping from the car and the fact that he wasn’t even attempting to save her
drove home the realization that her predicament was every bit as dire as she
imagined. And she’d imagined the very worst.

“Are you hurt, Miss?”

She shook her head, her chin quivering as
she tried gallantly not to bawl her eyes out. Somehow, she didn’t think the
officer wanted to hear about her shoe with the snapped heel, her broken nail or
her damaged pride. She had a perfectly clean driving record. Until now.

“I’m cold,” she said, trembling. The
temperature had plummeted as soon as the sun had descended. That’s how it was
in these parts. The sun set real quick and real early behind the tall
mountains. One minute it was bright and sunny, five minutes later, the
temperature dropped like a stone and darkness enveloped everything this side of
the mountain.

“Have you got a jacket or blanket or
something to keep you warm?” Ryan asked.

Elle just shook her head and rubbed her
bare arms with her hands in a vain attempt to stave off the bitter cold that
penetrated the BMW’s cabin.

“You ain’t from around here.” It wasn’t a
question. Ryan, had 20 years’ experience with Highway Patrol and knew a
townie
when he saw one. He’d seen his share of ill equipped and unprepared young folks
making their way up here for sightseeing and adventure. This one, though, she
wasn’t here for either of those. That much he could tell.

Taking his notepad and pen from his pocket,
he began to record the vehicle description and license plate details. After
all, who knew how much longer it would still be there for him to take note.

“What’s your name, Miss? I need it to file
the report.”

Elle shook her head.

“I need your full name for my paperwork.”
Something wasn’t right. Ryan’s cop instincts were picking up a vibe. “If I run
your tags, is that fine looking car of yours going to come back as ‘reported
stolen’ or involved in some kind of incident?”

Elle shook her head. Her shoulders slumped.
She hadn’t thought about that possibility.

Suddenly, the entire crash site was bathed
in bright light and the car started to rock wildly as the wash of the rotor
blades pummeled it.

Elle white knuckled her seat belt and let
out a scream as the car shuddered violently, sliding a few inches further over
the edge. Suddenly, the rescue helicopter she’d been relying on to save her
didn’t seem like such a great idea.

“T
his ain’t gonna work,” Spider shouted into
the mic as he took the chopper higher to reduce the impact of the rotors on the
teetering car.

“Hold it here. Auto-hover if you have to,
but keep it right here. I’m going down.”

Spider shook his head vehemently. “You
can’t. It’s too far. If I have to haul ass out of here or if the wind picks up,
I can’t have you swinging on that much cable. I’ll lose control. It won’t do
you a whole lot of good, either, swinging so close to the rock face.”

Jarrad’s bear growled, angry at the delay.
They had a job to do and talking wasn’t getting the job done.

“I got this, Spider. Just keep her here and
keep her steady.” Jarrad commanded.

The worried look on Spider’s face said it
all. He wasn’t so sure he could do it.

“From all those war stories you keep boring
us with at the bar,” Jarrad challenged, “this ought to be a piece of cake for
you. Or maybe that’s just the beer talking?”

Before Spider could protest further,
Jarrad, already in the safety harness and hitched to the winch cable, was
lowering himself down toward the helpless driver. He hoped he could get to her
in time, but seeing how unstable the car now was, he wasn’t so sure.

Finally, Jarrad was able to stop his
descent level with the driver’s door of the rocking BMW and he carefully timed
a grab at the door handle, opening it fully before reaching inside and wrapping
his thick arms around Elle.

“Release the seat belt,” he shouted with
urgency, pointing animatedly at the buckle.

Elle hesitated, afraid to let go of the
belt long enough to actually release the buckle.

“Now!” Jarrad’s voice boomed over the
thunderous sound of the helicopter above as the car began to slip further over
the edge.

Everything happened at once and it happened
fast. To Elle, it was like it was all happening in slow motion. To Jarrad, it
was all happening way too fast and he thought he was going to lose her.

As the seat belt unbuckled, the twisted
metal that had been acting as Elle’s personal lifeline, finally gave out and
the car slid, unrestrained down the mountainside.

At the same time, Jarrad swung himself
clear of the car with Elle securely in his arms and together, they both watched
the car plunge into the darkness. What was left of her shoes soon followed as
her legs flailed in the air seeking purchase.

Holding her securely in his powerful arms
as he reversed the winch, Jarrad took a moment to properly look at the girl
whose life he had just saved. His heart skipped a beat and his bear growled
deeply and unreservedly in loud appreciation.

“What was that?” Elle screamed nervously.
She couldn’t hear anything over the noise of the hovering helicopter, but she
felt the vibration, sure enough, through Jarrad’s chest.

“Nothing,” Jarrad was quick to reply, “It’s
just the winch cable. It does that sometimes.”

And it had better not do it again
, he commanded his restless bear.

“Are you hurt?” he asked in an attempt to
distract her from his grumbling bear.

She shook her head before looking up at the
distant chopper, then down into the darkness which, moments ago, had swallowed
her car. And her shoes.

“Stop kicking! I’ve got you, now. I won’t
let you go.”

Again, the bear growled in acknowledgement,
deeply satisfied with Jarrad’s choice of words.

O
nce inside the relative comfort of the
helicopter cabin, Jarrad directed Elle to her seat as he tapped Spider on the
shoulder, gave him a big thumbs up and an even bigger I-told-you-so grin.
Spider simply shook his head. He wasn’t taking the bait. Jarrad knew how
dangerous that stunt was and how close he came to losing the girl, his own life
and maybe even Spider’s. There was nothing Spider could say that Jarrad didn’t
already know. That’s how Jarrad rolled. He was all about the mission. He’d
always been that way.

Fetching an emergency thermal blanket from
a nearby storage locker, Jarrad wrapped it around Elle’s shivering shoulders.
For the first time, he looked into her frightened yet stunning brown eyes.
Something wasn’t quite right. This was usually the part when they thanked him
profusely and the fear dissipated.

Yet, she was as frightened as when she was
still stuck inside the car and she hadn’t thanked him once.

He saw nothing but fear in her widening
eyes and his heart went out to her.

His bear smelled her scent through Jarrad’s
flared nostrils as he breathed in deeply. His bear smelled her fear, too. But
it also smelled something else. Something much, much more important than
anything else his human senses could detect.

E
lle should have felt grateful to be alive,
but without a car, handbag, shoes, cell phone or even a change of clothes, her
safety felt temporary. As did her ability to stay alive. It was only a matter
of time before the cartel, or whoever they paid to come after her, found her.
That trooper finding her like that had seemed like a blessing. Now it felt more
like a curse.

She felt vulnerable and she hated feeling
that way. Her frantic dash for freedom, safety and anonymity had come to a
crashing halt in the middle of nowhere. She might not have actually been at the
ass end of the earth, but she was pretty sure she could see it from where she
was, right about now.

To distract herself from the stomach
churning motion of the wind buffeted helicopter and her ever increasing
feelings of hopelessness, Elle took a moment to get a good look at her rescuer
as he struggled, somewhat comically, to fit the safety harness over his
impossibly broad shoulders.

He was, without doubt, the largest man she
had ever seen.

Wow! They sure do grow them big up here
in the mountains.

And easy on the eye, too, she couldn’t help
but notice, despite her many worries. Or perhaps because of them. Eventually,
he gave up the struggle and threw the undersized harness aside before looking
up at Elle. Her cheeks flushed at the realization that he’d caught her checking
him out. A sly smile threatened the corners of his mouth as he pretended not to
notice.

Standing to move toward her, the helicopter
lurched in response, throwing the huge specimen of a man back into his cramped
seat.

Spider turned and waved at Jarrad to stay
seated. Clearly, he was heavy enough to upset the state-of-the-art helicopters
stability.

Pointing to a headset hanging next to Elle’s
seat, Jarrad gestured for her to put it on. Elle pulled it from the hook
securing it to the bulkhead and examined it for traces of earwax before
screwing up her cute, upturned nose at the thought of placing communal
headphones over her ears.

Just when I thought the day couldn’t get
any worse. Eew!

“What’s your name?” Jarrad asked as she got
the headphones adjusted.

“Elle,” she screamed over the drone of the
rotors.

Jarrad winced as her voice threatened to
pop an eardrum.

“You don’t have to shout. I can hear you
just fine if you talk normally. These things are designed that way, you know.”

Elle shrugged her shoulders apologetically.

“I’m Jarrad. Up front at the controls is
Spider.” Spider raised his hand by way of greeting, without turning around.

“Spider?” she quizzed.

“Webb. Jim Webb, at your service Ma’m,”
Spider replied smoothly transitioning to his native Texas drawl, which was
usually a bit of a hit with
the
ladies
.

“Thank you
both
for saving me,” she
met Jarrad’s gaze as she spoke, “I know that sounds pretty lame after what you
did, but I don’t know what else to say.”

“That’s alright, darlin’. Any time.” The
flirtatious smile was evident in his voice, even though neither Jarrad or Elle
could see his face.

The bear rumbled possessively deep within while
Jarrad himself felt a stab of jealousy, too, which surprised him.

Elle looked again at Jarrad, squashed
awkwardly in his seat and started to giggle. Perhaps it was just a post trauma coping
mechanism. She didn’t really care why; it just felt good to laugh for the first
time in quite a while.

“Did I miss something?” Jarrad asked,
confused by her sudden outburst.

“No. I just wondered if the Highway Patrol
radioed in that there was a curvy girl stuck on the mountain, so that’s why
they sent the biggest guy they could find to rescue her,” she squeaked in
between fits of laughter.

Spider turned in his seat to wink at
Jarrad. “They don’t call this place Big Bear Mountain for nothin —”

Jarrad shot him a stern glance to cut him
off.

Then he softened as he looked back at Elle
who appeared to be enjoying her own little joke. He loved how her face lit up when
she laughed.