Blind Faith - Sharon Sala Page 0,20
he’d fallen from the trail above first, and was too afraid of internal injuries to pull him out.
He put a hand on Tony’s head. He had a fever and it was high, and the boy’s lips were cracked and bleeding from dehydration. He pulled out a handkerchief, dipped it in the little pool of water beside the body, then squeezed a few drops between his lips.
Tony moaned.
“Hang on, Tony... Hang on, kid. I’m getting you out of here,” Charlie said, then left the lantern by the boy and crawled out.
The moment he was outside, he called the park office.
“Chisos Mountain Lodge,” the clerk said.
“This is Charlie Dodge. I just found your missing hiker.”
“Oh my God! Hang on a moment. Ranger Collins is out in the parking lot. Let me get him.”
Charlie heard her drop the phone and run. A couple of minutes later, Collins picked up.
“This is Arnie.”
“Hey, Arnie. It’s Charlie Dodge. I found Tony Dawson. He’s alive, but in bad shape. I can give you a GPS location, but you’re going to have to airlift him out from somewhere nearby, because he’s not going to tolerate being carried.”
“Give me the coordinates,” Arnie said, and wrote down what Charlie gave him. “How the hell did you find him?”
“I went down Boot Canyon Trail. Then after I found the backpack, I stayed in the canyon to search further. I found a boot wedged between some rocks, guessed it was his, and I found him nearby in a cave.”
“A cave? No wonder we didn’t find him. Good job, Charlie. Good job.”
“Have you picked up his backpack yet?” Charlie asked.
“Yes. That’s what I was doing out in the parking lot. A couple of rangers retrieved it and brought it in.”
“Hang on to it for me. It was a reflection of sunlight on that metal dog tag on the zipper that I saw. It set me on the right track to find him. His parents are going to want it back.”
“Will do,” Arnie said. “Is he still in the cave?”
“Yes. I was afraid to move him. I don’t know if he fell from the trail above or if he got hurt another way, but his ankle is badly broken, and maybe his leg above it, too. His fever is in the danger zone, and he’s unconscious.”
“Got it,” Arnie said. “Just hang on. I’ll get help to you.”
“Tell them to call out for me when they get here, because I’m going back into the cave to stay with the kid. He’s been in there on his own long enough.”
“Will do,” Arnie said, and hung up.
Charlie heard him disconnect and then called Wyrick. He guessed she was sitting beside the phone because she picked up while it was first ringing.
“Hello? Charlie?”
“I found him. He’s in bad shape, but he’s alive. Take down this number. It’s for the office at the Chisos Mountain Lodge,” he said, and then read it off.
Wyrick breathed a slow sigh of relief that he’d been found and wrote the number down.
“Got it,” she said.
“Call Baxter and Macie Dawson. Tell them he’s alive and we’re waiting to be airlifted out. That will take some time. They’ll have a million questions. I found him unconscious, so I don’t have answers for anything. Give them the number I just gave you. They can coordinate everything else from there, via the rangers on-site. And tell them not to tell anyone else he’s been found yet.”
“Why? What about calling Trish Caldwell?”
“Not even her. Not yet,” Charlie said. “For sure don’t tell Randall’s or Justin’s families. I know Tony Dawson did not hide his own backpack. There’s still more to this story than we know.”
“Understood,” Wyrick said. “As soon as I get the calls made, I’ll head your way to pick you up.”
“I’m a long way from the lodge, and I don’t know how long it will take for help to get here.”
“Well, hell, that means I’m going to miss my hair appointment because of you,” she drawled.
Charlie grinned. “Okay, fine. Suit yourself.”
“I always do,” Wyrick said. “I’ll be at the lodge waiting...whenever you show up.”
She hung up on him. Before he could say thank you or kiss my ass.
“Damn woman,” he muttered, then got a bottle of water from his backpack and crawled back inside the cave.
* * *
Macie Dawson was in the kitchen making coffee. Baxter was at the table eating a piece of the coconut cream pie she’d made that morning.
“This sure is good pie, honey,” he said.
“It’s Tony’s favorite,” Macie said, and then burst