Mountain Hostage. Hope White

      “Romeo Albert Garrett Monroe,” Jack said.

      She frowned, as if trying to figure out what he was talking about.

      “I know,” he said. “I’ve been told that’s a lot of names for a dog. I’m Jack Monroe. Just two names.”

      She blinked and was no longer squirming.

      “I’m going to pull you up now.”

      He didn’t wait for a response, didn’t want to take the chance she’d drift back into hysteria. In one swift motion he yanked her up and her lithe body slid across his and landed on the other side of him.

      Flat on his back, an uncomfortable position considering his backpack, he took a deep, relieved breath. Snow started falling again, a little more insistent than today’s earlier dusting of flurries.

      The woman sat up and scooted away from him. “Who are you?”

      He’d just told her his name. Had she forgotten already?

      “I’m Jack Monroe,” he said. “I’m a volunteer with Mt. Stevens Search and Rescue, K9 unit.”

      Romeo barked from above, frustrated that he wasn’t a part of the action.

      She glanced up.

      “That’s Romeo,” he said. “You know my name and his name. What’s yours?”

      “Zoe. Zoe Pratt.”

      “Is she okay?” Leslie called down.

      “Yes!” Jack responded, although he suspected she wasn’t totally okay. He wasn’t sure how serious her injuries were.

      “Did you find Shannon?” Zoe asked.

      “Who is Shannon?”

      “My friend.”

      “Did she fall, too?”

      “No, she was...” Zoe hesitated and hugged herself “...taken.”

      “Taken, you mean...?”

      “A big guy attacked us and grabbed her and...” Her voice hitched.

      Jack was supposed to do something here, something that would make her feel better. But what?

      “They’re sending a team to treat your injuries and bring you safely down the mountain,” he offered.

      She pinned him with intense brown eyes. “No, I’m not leaving without Shannon.”

      He searched his mind for a logical response. There was none, since staying out here, injured and cold, wasn’t sensible. He didn’t want to upset her, so he tried something he’d heard before. “I understand.”

      Although he didn’t. This woman might be helpful in the search for her friend, but delaying treatment of her injuries could make her condition worse. At least, her physical condition. He had no idea how to assess her mental condition.

      “Because of Romeo?” she said.

      “Excuse me?”

      “You understand because you love your dog, Romeo?”

      “Sure.”

      He’d initially said he understood her desire not to leave the mountain because that was the appropriate response. Now that she connected her situation to his dog, it actually made some sense.

      He didn’t like the fact that this irrational and highly emotional woman was making sense to him.

      He took off his gloves and pack, and dug for the first aid kit. “You have a cut on your cheek.” He tore open an antiseptic wipe and reached out to treat her wound.

      “Don’t.” She jerked away and started shivering. Not from the cold.

      Although he wasn’t an expert at reading emotion, he knew fear when he saw it. His gut clenched. “I won’t hurt you,” he said.

      She glanced at him with those expressive eyes, hugging her knees to her chest. Her body still trembled.

      Although he’d talked her out of her hysterical response to falling, she might still be processing that trauma, or the trauma of seeing her friend kidnapped, or the trauma of... Oh. Something clicked in his brain.

      “The man who took your friend,” he started, “did he hurt you, too?”

      She pinched her eyes shut and nodded.

      “Did he push you off the trail?”

      “Yes,” she said softly.

      “Zoe?”

      She opened her eyes.

      “He’s not here now. He can’t hurt you.”

      “He’s got Shannon. Please call someone, the police, and tell them what happened.”

      Jack wouldn’t be able to tend to her injuries unless he did as she requested. He clicked on the radio. “Command, this is Jack Monroe.”

      “Go ahead, Jack.”

      “The victim says her friend was taken by a stranger, the same man responsible for the victim’s fall, over.”

      “Taken, as in kidnapped?”

      “Affirmative.”

      “I’ll notify the sheriff’s office. Which way are they headed?”

      Jack glanced at Zoe.

      “Up toward Prairie’s Peak,” she said.

      He shared the information with base.

      “Sheriff’s office might radio back for details,” Command responded. “This changes things. Be careful.”

      “Roger, out.” Jack hooked the radio to his belt. Unfortunately, making the call didn’t seem to ease Zoe’s anxiety. “They’ll do their best to find her,” he said, but stopped before giving her the statistics on such a rescue. Given the criminal element of the situation, combined with weather reports calling for heavy snowfall... They wouldn’t be encouraging.

      She reached up and fumbled for where her scarf would be.

      “We found your red scarf on the trail. Leslie has it above,” Jack said. “You can use mine.”

      “My necklace, where is my necklace?” She unzipped her blue jacket and searched her neck with trembling fingers. “It’s a silver dove. It represents the Holy Spirit. I need to hold it, to pray and...and... Shannon’s mom gave it to me when I was thirteen.” She shifted around, as if it had fallen off and was lying beside her.

      She was growing more agitated. He had to calm her down. “‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,’” Jack said.

      Zoe’s fingers froze, and she slowly lowered them. “‘...The Lord your God is with you wherever you go,’” she repeated. “You know the Bible?”

      “I read everything in my aunt Margaret’s house growing up, including the Bible.”

      She sniffed, a tear trailing down her cheek. Jack needed to do more.

      “I will find your necklace,” he said, unsure how he was going to make good on that promise. Yet his words seemed to calm her. “I’d like to treat the cut on your head so it doesn’t become infected. It might take medics a few hours to get here.”

      She nodded, hugging her knees tighter to her chest.

      He tentatively reached out with one hand and brushed dark hair off her cheek. She closed her eyes as if he was hurting her, although he knew he wasn’t. Maybe she didn’t like to be touched, especially after everything that had happened today.

      Lightly pressing the wipe against her skin, he said, “Did you have a hat?”