Hannah tells him that she’s a reporter for the Lake Tahoe Gazette.
“Can I ask you a few questions?” she says. “For an article.”
He agrees, and he gives her exactly what she’s hoping for: lively, pathos-laden quotes about what they witnessed.
When the interview concludes, Hannah leans against her car and waits for Logan to come walking down the path. He has a two- or three-mile hike to get back, and she’s surprised he hasn’t made it yet. He’s had plenty of time.
She pulls out her phone and watches the video. The images are incredible. She’s no professional videographer, but the camera is in focus, and she was in the right place at the right time. When Logan carries the girl out of the water, he looks like a movie hero. His shirt sticks to his chest. His arm muscles are taut. His expression is calm, yet determined.
She watches it again, mesmerized.
Now she feels antsy. She wants to get to the newspaper. The art department can extract an image from the video—a picture of Logan looking heroic—and put it next to her story in tomorrow’s paper. They can also have the article up on the website by this afternoon, along with the full video.
“This thing’s gonna go viral,” she mutters to herself as she watches the video a third time.
She looks up and still there’s no sign of Logan. Is it possible he went ahead and hiked up to Lake Aloha? She doubts it. He has no water, no food.
Hannah knows her article will be much better if she has an interview with the hero himself. But she also knows how the news business works, and a story like this will demand follow-up articles. She can do an interview with the girl and her family. Another interview with Logan. Not getting a quote from him in the first article won’t be a big deal if she’s able to interview him tomorrow. Or the next day.
And if she’s honest with herself, she knows this will give her an excuse to call him. All of her misgivings about him being a rich trust-fund baby are erased. She saw the real Logan in action. Money or no money, he’s a good person.
As she climbs into her car and starts the engine, she looks again to the path. Still no sign of him.
After she drives away, when no one is watching, there’s movement from the shadows of a cluster of pine trees near the trailhead.
Logan steps out of hiding.
Chapter 5
I sleep in late, and when I do get up, I’m more stiff and sore than I expected to be. I’m in good shape, so I didn’t think the dive into the water and the jog back up the trail would have taxed my muscles. Certainly, summiting Mount Tallac or snowboarding all day at Heavenly Mountain Resort is more exhausting. But there must be something about the intensity of saving someone’s life, the adrenaline of the experience, and the stress it puts on the body.
I check the time on my phone and see an unfamiliar number called me twice. It’s a Lake Tahoe number. Maybe Hannah? I’ll listen to the messages later.
I walk through my small two-bedroom house in my boxers, rolling my neck from side to side. My house is furnished modestly, with most of the furniture purchased at thrift stores. No paintings or photographs hang on the walls. I might have a few million dollars in diamonds at my disposal, but I’ve always preferred an austere lifestyle.
My place could use a woman’s touch, though.
I look through the refrigerator and decide a big helping of protein is what I need. I pull out egg whites, sliced turkey, and shredded mozzarella cheese to make myself an omelet.
As I cook, I think about the day before. After I called 911 and answered all their questions, I ran back down the path toward the general store and the parking lot. I knew there was nothing else I could do. More than anything, I was jogging because I was cold. The air was chilly in the morning, and I was wearing wet shorts and T-shirt. My shoes squished water with every step.
When I approached the store and could see the paramedics loading the girl into the ambulance, I stopped and then crept into the trees, climbing up the mountainside, looking for a place to lay low.
I wasn’t sure why I’d hidden.
I’d liked Hannah from the moment we started talking. But in my mind, some kind of warning bell was going