Page 8 of One Last Shot
Oaken pulled down hard on the handles, and the chute luffed. He landed, almost running, then fell, hit his knees, and skidded to the earth.
Wanted to grab the tufts of sodden, lifeless grass and hang on.
“Mike!” Oaken rolled up, not bothering to unhook his chute, and ran over to him.
Please let him be alive. Mike lay on his side, hisarm clearly dislocated, barely breathing. Blood trickled from his mouth. Oaken pressed fingers to his carotid artery.
Thready, but alive. Oaken let out an audible moan of relief.
“Mike. Buddy. Wake up.”
Mike didn’t move. Oaken didn’t roll him onto his back—he knew better. They couldn’t stay here. He searched Mike’s jacket and found the walkie.
Crushed.
Perfect.
He leaned back on his heels, looking around for the pack, then up at the sky, now a darker gray, the taste of menace in the wind.
And even as he got up and started to run to the pack, he knew the worst.
Apparently, God had found him.
CHAPTER 2
If she closed her eyes, Boo might be back home in Minnesota, sitting around the family table in the middle of the raucous Kingston sibling chatter. Sure, the log lodge of Sky King Ranch here in Alaska didn’t exactly possess the Victorian charm of her family’s King Inn, but it bore its own cozy aura, with the open-concept great room and the massive stone fireplace that rose two stories. And nothing could compare with the grandeur of the Alaska Range, white and majestic, rising from their backyard—although today storm clouds hid it, the sky a bleak gray.
Even the Alaska Kingstons resembled her own family—her uncle Barry almost the spitting image of her father, her cousin Dodge like her bossy oldest brother, and Larke, the oldest of the Alaska Kingstons, reminded her of her sister, despite the eighteen-month-old on Larke’s lap.
But theyweren’tthe Minnesota Kingstons. Her cousins in the far north weren’t judgmental and bossy, and as far as she knew, Dodge and Larke and Uncle Barry didn’t know about... well, the Great Betrayal.
And all the splinters of painthat went with it.
So yeah, maybe heading up from Anchorage to Copper Mountain and the ranch for the day to hang out with Dodge and his wife, Echo, along with Larke and Riley and baby CeeCee, eat a homemade meal, and catch up with her cousins could be a sort of healing. Not quite redemption or forgiveness, but maybe a cool balm on the wound.
At least for today. And maybe, if she kept her cool and didn’t make a mess of her current gig, she’d figure out a way, someday, to go home.
“This is amazing chili, Echo,” Boo said, reaching for a slice of freshly baked bread.
“It’s a family recipe.” Echo ran a hand over her expanding belly. “Although I think I need to cut down on the chili powder.” She made a face. “Heartburn.” She wore her dark hair down and pulled back in a loose braid, and one of her husband’s sweaters, maybe, because despite being at the middle of her second trimester, it seemed to swallow her.
“I remember that part,” Larke said, then leaned down and kissed her baby, her blonde hair wispy white and curly.
“Me too,” Riley said.
“Please.” Larke gave him a look. “You were barely home.”
“The perils of the Navy.” Riley reached over and pulled Cee from her lap, set her on his own.
“No, the perils of being an active-duty SEAL.” Dodge grabbed his bowl and filled it with seconds from the pot in the middle of the table. “How much leave do you have left?”
“A couple more weeks.” Riley’s attention, however, had gone to his daughter as he bounced her on his knee, clapping her hands. Cee squealed with laughter. He looked up at Boo. “So, you’re out for good? Didn’t even go into the Reserves?”
“No. One tour was enough. Uncle Barry, you want more chili?”
Her uncle’s gaze on her seemed fuzzy and he nodded. Dodge had filled her in on Uncle Barry’s macular degenerationa couple months ago, after she’d arrived in Alaska. Tough end for a bush pilot. But Uncle Barry still helped with dispatch for Air One Rescue, the Sky King Ranch branch.
Boo scooped up the chili and set it in front of him. Tried not to watch as he found his bowl and spoon. How she hoped that the hereditary disease didn’t touch her father.