Phoenix Inheritance (4 page)

Charlie knelt on her shoulders. “Stand up,” she ordered.

He did, though he held on to one of her hands to steady himself. Step one, accomplished. Just a few feet higher and he'd be able to grab one of the tree branches overlooking the edge of the cliff. All he'd need after that was one big shove and he'd be safe.

She moved her hand to his bum and pushed up. “Steady.”

“Okay.”

He was heavier than she remembered. This would have been easier before his growth spurt. Ack.

“I'm almost there.”

He sounded happy, almost exhilarated. Great. “I knew you could do it.”

“I got it!” His hands firmly curled around the lowest branch of a tree.

Yes!
“Awesome. Now pull yourself over and I'll be right behind you.” She hoped. It was only a few feet. Maybe she could make a leap for it with the scarf as her safety rope.

Wood cracked overhead.

“Ma!”

“Steady! Get up there! Don't worry!”

She craned her neck to see what tree or branch was threatening to topple over. Just one more second, she pleaded to the storm. Let her son have one more second.

Charlie was halfway to solid ground now. “Just about there,” she called to him.

A louder crack. Wood splintered somewhere above them. Bits of bark rained down on her face. She ducked her head to avoid getting them in her eyes.

The falling tree slammed into the branch Charlie was hanging on to. It gave way. Charlie screamed. She screamed. Her scarf went slack. Her son fell.
Oh, shit.
She lunged sideways for Charlie and snagged his coat collar again by the merest of inches.

“Gotcha!” she yelled.

Breathing heavily, she hauled him back to her and the relative safety of the sideways birch tree. She lost her footing, fell back against the trunk hard and Charlie slammed into her. Pain fired through her shoulder and back. It didn't matter. Charlie was crying and his sobs nearly ripped out her heart. She wrapped her arms tight around her son.

“It's okay. I got you,” she wheezed out. Safe. He was still safe.

“I hate heights!”

“I know, I know. Easy, Charlie. I've got you. Mom's here.”

Out of sight, more wood crashed against wood with a horrible, solid thud. Snow and leaves rained down on them. Something big whooshed by them, too fast for her to even be scared of it.

The tension in her scarf went slack.

A loud crash echoed from below as the tree hit the ground.

“Holy shit,” Charlie said.

“Careful with the swear words, kid.” She uttered the rebuke automatically. As if she should care he was swearing. That was the least of their problems.

The leaves stopped falling. No more thuds. She took several deep breaths, trying to find some measure of calm.

“You okay?” she asked Charlie.

“Scared.” His teeth chattered. “I didn't go higher. I'm sorry.”

“You went plenty high. Not your fault the tree didn't cooperate.”

Her back set against the tree, she wondered how long before their perch gave way from the weight of the snow collecting on its leaves. Seconds, minutes, hours? She really did need Captain Marvel right now. Damn.

She swatted around the flakes that had gathered on her face and eyelashes and tried to stare up into the storm. She caught a glimpse of her scarf, hanging from what was left of the tree branch. She glanced down at her wrist. It was still attached. It must have ripped apart.

“Ma, the kitty's here,” Charlie said.

“What?”

“Look!” He pointed and she heard a meow above them.

I could kill you, cat
, she thought.

The cat meowed again.

“He's worried about me,” Charlie said.

The cat did sound scared. Join the club, furball.

“He says he could have gone to a warm spot, but he likes me. He says I need a cuddle.”

To her disbelieving eyes, the cat picked his way down the slope, through the branches, leaves and snow, and jumped onto Charlie's chest.

Oh, great
, she thought.
Now I'm not just trapped out here in the storm with my son, now I have to deal with a stray cat on top of us.
Wonder of wonders, the cat started purring and settled down against Charlie.

“I guess he does like you,” Renee said. “But be careful and don't move around too much.”

“He'll be calm. He likes me, likes me better than other people he knows.”

“He sure seems to like you.” The cat was distracting Charlie from their situation, so that was good, so long as it didn't scratch or claw at them.

“Ma? We're stuck, aren't we?”

“Yeah, we're stuck. For now. But I'm catching my breath and then we'll try something else.”

“You'll get us out. I know you will. Even if he says you can't.”

“Who says I can't?”

“Odin. The cat.”

Great. She was being doubted by a cat. Not just a cat, the cat who'd caused this problem in the first place. No, wait. Charlie was probably the one who was scared and doubting her and pretending it was the cat.

“I've done harder rescues than this. I'll find a way to get us out.”

She looked down at Charlie and he looked up at her. His eyes were wide and trusting and, for an instant, so like his father's that it took her breath away.

“Okay.” Charlie nodded and went back to petting the cat.

First, assess the situation, Renee decided. Visibility was poor, near whiteout conditions. There was no chance anyone would stumble over them, not in this. That meant they had to either get out themselves or somehow send for help.

Second, assess how long they could last out here. They were both dressed warmly so they had maybe a few hours before exposure became a problem. She suspected, however, that the storm would last far longer than that.

No, what they needed was help and fast. She searched in her pocket for her cell phone and came up empty. She must have put the phone on the counter before going out for the patio furniture. Fuck, fuck.

She closed her eyes to regain calm. If she lost it, so would Charlie.

“How's the cat?”

“Getting a little cold.”

He's not the only one
. She tapped Charlie's shoulder. “Since he's so calm, see if he'll tuck inside your coat and then zip it back up. Shared body heat will keep both of you warmer.”

“Good idea. Thanks, Mom!”

“But only if you're sure he won't scratch you.”

“Nah, he wants to do it. He says it's a good idea.”

Nice to have your approval, cat.

While Charlie fiddled with his zipper and the cat, she took off her gloves with her teeth, not wanting to lose her hold on her son. With no people around, she'd have to rely on the dogs.

Fingers trembling, she dug out the dog whistle from under her coat and blew it three quick times, a sound that was too high-pitched for any human to hear. Thor and Loki would hear the whistle, rush through the dog door and come to her. Once they were here, she might be able to shove Charlie close enough to them that one of the dogs could grab him with their teeth. Or the dogs might be able to throw her down a branch. And maybe she'd left out rope. They knew enough to retrieve it for her.

If not, she could send one for help, probably Loki, who was marginally faster and less arthritic.

That was assuming, of course, if anyone else was stupid enough to be out in this freakin' blizzard.

Chapter Three

Daz pulled his van into Renee's driveway. The snow had already covered her yard in a white blanket. This storm had moved in so very fast. He'd seen several huge branches strewn over the main road already, including one that had just missed the van by a few feet.

They might have to weather the storm at Renee's. But he had supplies in the van and he bet Renee had prepared to be snowed in as well. He was just glad he'd be here to help.

Daz jammed on his gloves, opened the van door, stepped out and was instantly confronted by two barking German Shepherds. Renee's SAR dogs seemed determined to prevent him from going anywhere. He flattened himself against the side of the van.

“Hey, easy, guys! Thor! Loki! You know me.”

One of them stopped at his feet—he could never tell which was which—barked three quick times at him, and tapped his leg, like it was some sort of signal.

Crap, it was a search-and-rescue signal, but he didn't remember which one. The other dog ran off around the side of the garage to the backyard. He came zooming back in only a few seconds, barking all the while. What were they trying to tell him?

“Renee!” he yelled. “Call off Thor and Loki!”

No answer save the sounds of falling flakes and the storm-muffled rustle of leaves and branches.

Very strange, because the garage door was open and Renee's truck was inside. Could they be out in this storm?

He took a step toward the house. One of the dogs growled. “Easy, boy.” He slipped the cell phone out of his pocket, keeping his eye on the dogs all the while, and dialed Renee's number. He heard the ring echo inside the house. The answering machine picked up after five rings. Nothing stirred in there.

This isn't right.

A thousand horrible scenarios ran through his mind. A tree had fallen on them. They were trapped in the forest. One of his enemies found out where his son lived and was after them…

Daz shut them all down. Think, don't panic. The answer was right in front of him. He knelt down to face the dogs. They came closer and stopped barking. Damn, what was the command word for them?

“Thor, Loki,
mellon
,” he said.

They quieted for a second but then one of them repeated the springing, backing off, and running into the yard and coming back. The other repeated the tapping on his leg.

Finally, he remembered what
that
meant: a signal for find and retrieve.

The dogs had found someone and needed human help.

Not someone. His family. “Renee! Charlie!” he yelled as he scrambled to open the back of his van, the dogs at his heels.

His
son
was out in this storm. So was Renee. And they were maybe hurt or worse.

He grabbed a coil of rope from the back of the van and slipped a Swiss Army knife and a flashlight into his pocket. He tossed the rope over his shoulder and slammed the back door of the van shut.

“Okay, Lassie,” he muttered to the nearest dog. “Let's find out where Timmy fell down the well.”

The dogs led him around the garage and into the backyard. One stayed at his side, the other loped along a few feet ahead. Behind him, Daz heard a branch crack and fall and nearly jumped out of his skin.
The damned forest was coming down around them. Give him a nice, predictable enemy with a weapon any day rather than Mother Nature.

He called out for Renee and Charlie again. No answer. They were trapped, they were hurt, maybe one of them was dead… All those wasted years waiting for the right moment to talk to Renee, to tell her how he really felt. He should have forced the issue, he should have done something to win her back and now it might be too late. A few months ago, in what he thought were going to be his last seconds on Earth, all he'd wanted was Charlie and Renee.

The forest loomed ahead, a big mass of trees, branches and debris. He plunged in after the dogs. They slowed, allowing him to pick his way over the snow-laden limbs already littering the ground.

If there had been a path here once, it was gone now. He called out again but his voice was whipped away by the wind.

Visibility narrowed to a few feet. He turned on the flashlight but the beam helped only a little. A hunk of snow smashed into his shoulder. He sidestepped, fearing it was a prelude to a tree coming down. Luckily, the snow was it. For now.

Every instinct he had told him to get the hell out of here.

If Renee and Charlie were trapped in this, they wouldn't last long. Don't be hurt, he thought. Be okay. Sweat began to roll down his back, despite the chill.

The lead dog stopped and began barking at something ahead of him. He thought he heard a female voice yell “Thor!” but that might be just the wind.

The dog hunched down and barked once at someone or something.

Daz shouted for Renee and Charlie again as he jumped over a fallen tree. His next step came up nothing but air. He flailed his arms wildly to maintain his balance, reached back, found a steady branch and hauled himself away from the edge.

Fuck, that was close. He'd nearly gone over.

Oh God. Just like they must have done. How high was this cliff?

He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Renee! Charlie!”

“Daz?!”

“Dad!”

Alive. They were both
alive
.

“I'm here! Hang tight. You hurt?”
Please say no.

Fingers fumbling from the cold, he tied one end of the rope to a sturdy pine that shouldn't come down, no matter how bad the snowstorm.

“Not hurt,” Renee screamed from somewhere below. “Stuck!”

As he feared. “How far down are you from this edge?”

“About six feet,” she answered.

Six feet. Six feet was definitely doable. He had plenty of rope for that.

“How far to the bottom?” he yelled.

“Thirty.”

Fuck.
No sense trying to lower them gently to the bottom rather than pulling them up. Too many things could go wrong with them starting so high up. Better to yank them back this way, ASAP.

“I've got rope. Hang on!”

How they hell had they gotten stuck? He noticed one of Renee's ugly orange scarves tied around a branch littering the ground. Had Charlie gone over and she'd tried to grab him, using the scarf as support? He'd ask later.

He tightened the rope around the pine and knelt over the edge, searching with the flashlight. He spotted them together, one large person and one small person covered in snow, huddled against the trunk of a tree growing sideways out of the ground. Renee had her arms wrapped in a death grip around Charlie. The remains of a scarf hung limply from her wrist. The cliff was about a seventy-degree angle and littered with wet leaves. No way they could climb back up.

Damn, this was going to be tricky, even with the rope.

“Hey, Charlie!”

“Dad! How'd you get here? You're like a superhero!”

“Maybe so.” Daz smiled. Despite the situation, his son's voice was steady. Renee had kept him calm. He better follow her example and not let the kid see how worried he was. Treat it like work. Like any rescue. But it wasn't. This was his family. Now he wished he had Alec with him. Alec could grab them with the TK. Alec was really a superhero.

“Situational assessment, Renee?” he called to her.

He'd asked her that when they worked together in disaster relief but never had he needed her more clear-headed than now.

“Traction's terrible. We're not getting up without a rope for leverage and a strong back pulling us up.”

“Luckily, I have both.”

“Great.” The relief in her voice was palpable.

“I'll lower the rope to you. Tie it around both of you and I'll pull you up.”

“We'll be about two-hundred pounds of dead weight to you.”

“No problem.”

He backed off to prepare. She was right to be concerned about pulling them both up at once. Two hundred pounds was about right considering their winter gear and the snow caked on it. He could do it but it wouldn't be easy in this weather.

It would be safer to get Charlie, then Renee, but separate rescues would take time and he wasn't sure how much they had. He uncoiled the other end of the rope and tossed it over. “Here it comes!”

“Got it!” About thirty seconds later, thirty long seconds where his mind screamed at him to get them out of this storm before the very woods themselves began raining down on them, the line went taut.

“Pull, Daz!” Renee yelled.

He braced his foot against the trunk of the fallen tree for leverage, wrapped the rope around his wrist and arm to prevent slippage and pulled. The rope bit into his gloves, threatening to cut off circulation, but the load was unexpectedly light.

She'd sent Charlie up first, to make absolutely certain their son was safe, even if it did mean she might get left behind. She'd put her safety at risk for their son.

Dammit, Renee.

Pull and wrap the line, pull and wrap the line, don't worry about Renee, don't worry that Charlie would fall, don't worry about anything, just keep pulling…

“Dad!”

Charlie's head and shoulders, shrouded in white, appeared at the top of the cliff's edge.

“Hey, Charlie!” Daz grinned and gave more one big pull. Charlie rolled on his back to steady ground.

One down.

“Crawl to me so I can get that rope off you.”

Charlie tried to stand, slipped on the leaves, thought better of it, and instead crawled the few feet on his hands and knees to Daz. But it was a weird, half-sideways crawl. And there seemed to be a lump under Charlie's jacket.

“You hurt?”

“Nah.” Charlie scrambled to his feet, his hand under the lump in his jacket. “You'll pull Mom up too? You won't leave her here?”

“Sure. Why wouldn't I?”

Charlie glared at him. “Well, sometimes you don't seem to like her much.”

“I like her just fine.”

One of the dogs sniffed at a lump under Charlie's coat. He giggled.

Good, the calmer Charlie was, the more he could concentrate on getting Renee up. Daz knocked snow off his son's hat and untied the rope from under his shoulders. “What's your dog sniffing at? What's that lump?”

“That's Odin. My new cat.”

“You have a
cat
under there?”

“
My
cat!”

“Sure, fine.” Get Renee first, deal with this later. “You and your cat chill while I get your mom.” Daz pointed to the pine tree that he'd wrapped the rope around. “Stand up against that tree. Wait right there while I get your mom. Do. Not. Move.”

“I want to help.”

“You'll help by doing what I said. And you're wasting time.”

“Got it,” Charlie mumbled, both hands wrapped around the lump, er, cat.

Wood creaked around them again, more branches straining against the weight of leaves and snow. Faster, Daz told himself. He tossed the rope back over the edge again.

“Is Charlie safe?” Renee yelled.

He could barely hear the question over the wind. “He's fine. Tug when you're set to go.”

He wrapped the rope around his wrist tighter than the first time. Renee might be skinny but she still weighed more than the kid, and his gloves and the line were becoming slick from the snow.

He braced himself again, waiting, waiting…

“When!” Renee called and tugged on the rope.

Daz took a deep breath, set his feet, and pulled. The tension vibrated up his arms to his shoulders and back. He pulled, wrapped the excess rope around his wrist, and pulled again. The rope bit into his wrist just above his gloves.

“Fuck.”

“That's a bad word, Dad.”

“Yeah, I know.”

He knocked the snow from his gloves, brushed it off the line and fell into a new rhythm. Pull, wind up the extra rope around his arm, pull again…

He put his back and legs into the effort, stepping back with each yank, getting his full strength behind it all.

“Just one more big pull, Daz!”

Good, because he was running out of room on his arm. He heaved, arms, shoulders, back and legs all into a final effort.

Like Charlie before her, Renee's face and shoulders appeared over the top of the ridge. He let out a deep breath and held steady.

She scrambled up to safety with the help of the same branch Charlie had used, and rose to her knees.

“Mom!” Charlie yelled.

He took a step toward her. She put up a hand. “Stay right there, Charles Baldur Black.”

He froze. “Yes'm.”

Daz took a deep breath and grinned at her, feeling as much relief at the sight of her as he'd felt when he had his son safe. Life without Renee was unacceptable.

She grinned back. Hell, she was wearing that damned green peacoat that had been ragged for ages. He resisted the urge to pick her up, crush her against him and kiss her.

Renee stood, put her hands on her knees and bent over to catch her breath. “Well, that was fun. Not.”

“Yeah,” Daz said, still smiling. He'd tried to tell himself over the years that he was over their breakup, that he was fine with the way things were between them now.

Liar.

He'd known that when he was certain he was going to be killed in Germany. Seeing Renee almost lose her life just confirmed it.

She untied her knots. He gathered up the excess rope. She took one step, tripped over a tree root hidden in the debris, and fell against him.

He caught her easily and wrapped his arms around her. Ah, this was good. Perfect. As it should be. Wonder of wonders, she even returned the hug.

“Hey,” he finally said.
Hello there.

“Hey.” She brushed snow off his shoulders. A second or two passed and then Charlie joined them, turning it into a group hug.

“That was great, Dad!” He pumped his fist. “You
are
Batman.”

“Thanks,” he said.