Touch And Go - Aiden Bates Page 0,96
of rescues, down time, and getting to know the old eccentric veteran who was now making a weird pattern with the Thermos in his hands.
“Drunk?” I grinned playfully. “Was that you slurring on the radio?”
Jacob chuckled. “Hey, I’m as sober as the day is long. Coffee as always. With those herbs you gave me. Magic.” He scratched Uno behind the ears and motioned for us to come inside. He’d been sober for over ten years, and prided himself on his sharp mind and even sharper reflexes. And I was proud of him too.
The cabin that served as our headquarters was homey, which made sense since Jacob literally lived out back. He was a veteran, nearly in his sixties by my guess, and he was an oddball with some niche interests that overlapped with mine. He was happy to accept my suggestions when it came to medicinal herbs that could help his jittery nerves, and I was happy to keep track of the health of his favorite forest fungi while I was out in the woods.
“Here’s who we're looking for.” He handed me a scrap of paper with a poorly printed photo stapled to it, then took a seat behind his beautifully carved wooden desk.
I quickly grabbed the picture, eager to get to the rescue, but I sat down heavily in the leather chair opposite, and tried to get my mouth to say something, anything, but no words came out. I was struck mute by how gorgeous the guy in the photo looked. His blue eyes seemed to pierce me right through the photo.
I heard Jacob set his Thermos down on the desk and clear his throat. His indication that he was in business mode. No nonsense. Ready to work. “Young guy by the name of Wyatt. Missing since yesterday.”
“What?” My gaze shot up to find Jacob leaned back in his chair with his feet on the desk. “Yesterday?” That wasn’t good. I should have known about it before then. If he’d already spent a night in the wilderness unprepared, his chances of survival were seriously dropping by the minute. I was anxious to get going, and Uno whined at my feet, sensing my uneasiness, but Jacob always made me stay for a full briefing before I sprinted out into the field and today was no exception. He always said that the best rescuers stayed calm in a crisis, and the best way to do that was to have all the information and to take your time. It seemed like a contradiction, to take more time to prepare for a rescue than to get to action, but in the time I’d been working with Jacob, he hadn’t once been wrong. And we hadn’t once failed at a rescue. I respected him more with every day, and the older man was becoming something of a mentor–both professionally, and personally.
“Signed in yesterday morning, was due to sign out that afternoon, but nada. Never did.” He held up his fists and then splayed his fingers like he was doing a magic trick and making something disappear. In this case, the beautiful young guy in the photo. Wyatt.
“Why wasn’t that noticed before now?” I raised my voice and held the paper up before dropping it to my side and looking at Jacob with resignation. “Oh, shit, don’t tell me—”
Jacob steepled his fingers under his chin and nodded with a sigh. “Larry.”
I pinched my mouth into a scowl and refrained from comment. Larry was lazy. Larry was a liability.
“He let it slip.” Jacob shrugged, forgiving the park ranger for shirking his duty yet again. He pointed at the paper in my hand, as if trying to get my mind off Larry. “This guy’s roommate came by looking for him.”
“Nice roommate.” I studied the photo and wondered which part of the park Wyatt would have gone to.
“Naive roommate. Wanted to launch a search party of amateurs.” Jacob chuckled and poured himself a cup of coffee from his Thermos and pointedly didn’t offer me one. “Sun’s going down. You up for it?”
I raised my eyebrows and looked at him like he had to be kidding. “Hola? Have you met me?”
Jacob laughed, his loud guffaw that always made me smile, and Uno barked excitedly. “That’s a lad.”
I jumped up and Uno leaped from where she had been lapping at the water bowl, both of us ready for action. I shot Jacob a wink and pointed at him with the photo of Wyatt. “I’ll find your man. You know I live for this.”
And I truly did. After all, it was what my brothers and I did. We worked the frontlines and saved the day. Because once upon a time, we’d all experienced what it was like to need saving.
Get ready for Book 2 of the Vanguard Towers Series, Search And Rescue!
Available Now!
Search And Rescue
Get ready for Book 2 of the Vanguard Towers Series, Search And Rescue!
Available Now!!
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Touch And Go
Vanguard Towers: Book 1
Aiden Bates
© 2020
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).