Page 9 of One Last Shot
“You still a probie?” Uncle Barry asked now, stirring his chili.
“For another month, according to Moose,” she said. “But I’ve already passed my paramedic certification in Alaska.”
“Moose says she’s the best EMT he’s had on the rescue team,” Dodge said.
“That’s because of her steely nerves from deploying with all those jarheads,” Riley said.
“You really deployed with the Marines?” Echo said.
“I was their attached corpsman, so yes.”
“So that’s how you did it,” Larke said.
Boo frowned.
“Lasted so long onSurvivor Quest.”
Oh.
Quiet around the table. She swallowed. So, clearly they knew too. So much for dinner or healing or?—
“What’sSurvivor Quest?” Echo asked.
Dodge was also frowning.
“It’s a show—likeSurvivormeetsThe Amazing Race. Except you make your own teams, trying to stay alive,” Larke said. “Every week, one person gets cut, voted out by the others along with input from the viewing audience.” She had finished her chili, now pushed it away. “Boo lasted almost to the end. Got cut by her partner.”
That was one way to say it. She met Larke’s gaze.
Larke’s eyes held a touch of compassion.
Aw,that might be worse than the brutal truth.
“It was after Cee was born, and Riley was gone a lot...You did great, Boo.”
Okay, that was enough. “I need to get back to Anchorage before it gets dark.”
“Sun doesn’t set until nine thirty now,” Uncle Barry said.
“It’s a two-hour drive, and it’s nearly seven,” Boo said. “And I think the weatherman might actually be right this time. That storm cloud doesn’t look good.”
Dodge looked up, considering the view. “Any word from Mike Grizz?”
She had pushed away from the table, picking up her bowl. “Who?”
“Mike Grizz—from the showGo Wild with Grizz, the Celebrity Challenge? Fifty hours of survival?”
“I know who Mike Grizz is—but why would I hear from him?”
“He’s filming a show here this week. Moose and I brought his team to O’Kelly’s cabin yesterday. He met Oaken Fox.”
“The country singer?” She set the bowl in the sink, then came back to the granite counter.
“Yeah. He jumped out of my chopper yesterday with Mike over near the Copper Mountain River. We saw both their chutes deploy, and Mike gave us the okay before we veered away. They have a route along the river, all the way back to Bear Lake Inn. I think he’s going to cross the gorge.”
“I’ve seen that show. Mike makes them eat grubs and rappel and sleep out in the open,” Larke said.
“Air One is contracted for transportation and any emergency extraction,” Dodge said. “I’m not sure he’s supposed to check in—maybe he can’t. But with the blizzard coming, I’m hoping they’re hunkered down somewhere.”