Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

JESSE

I am an idiot.

They stopped to rest a little after noon and Jesse gratefully dropped her pack before sinking to the ground. Mark was completely correct that altitude made this much harder.

Add the pack, which weighed at least thirty pounds, and she now had…regrets.

Mark secured the mules and walked over, kneeling in front of her.

With his pack on.

Moving like it weighed nothing and it looked even bigger than hers.

“You doing okay?”

She hated the concern in his tone. “I’ll live.”

“There’s no shame in taking breaks,” Christopher added.

“The good news,” Mark said, “is we’re making excellent progress. If we maintain this pace we might make the first site even earlier than I estimated. So we can slow down.”

She shook her head. “No, let’s keep moving.”

She wasn’t even able to enjoy the landscape because she was increasingly finding herself focusing on the ground in front of her, of carefully picking where she put her feet out of fear of stumbling or turning an ankle.

I am in so much trouble.

Her dad might get his wish for her to take a long vacation, because she might need a couple of weeks in a hotel room to recover from this. The thought of getting in a car and driving to Spokane right now nearly drove her to tears.

I can do this.

“Want me to fill your water bottle for you?” Chris asked her.

She nodded. “Thank you.” At least she’d purchased the right water filter.

He and Mark headed just off the trail to a small spring.

I am soooo out of my league.

She could have asked anyone on her engineering team do this, but her plan all along was to do it herself, to prove to the world at large that she was capable. It was her design, her programming.

Her reputation in a field where douchey tech bros were all too common.

Christopher brought her water bottle to her. “Thank you,” she said, taking it.

Christopher smiled, sitting next to her. She realized he still wore his pack, too. “You’re welcome.”

Mark was a few yards away and checking the mules’ harnesses. She dropped her voice. “Is he aggravated at me yet?”

“No! You’re doing fine.”

“You’re a horrible liar, Christopher.”

He smiled. “So I’ve been told.” His smile faded. “Seriously, ask to take breaks if you need them.”

“I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight,” she said. “Tomorrow I’ll do a lot better. I should be acclimated to the altitude by then.”

He nodded. “Just remember there’s no shame in resting.”

CHRISTOPHER

While they were refilling the water bottles, Mark dropped his voice. “Honest opinion?” he asked, tipping his head to indicate Jesse.

“She’s determined and stubborn, that’s for sure.”

“Do you think she’ll make it the whole way?”

“I have no idea. I guess we’ll see.”

Throughout the afternoon they made good time and Jesse settle into a rhythm. She wasn’t talking much, but that didn’t bother Chris and he knew it didn’t bother Mark, either. It was rare the men engaged in small talk while hiking, preferring to save it for their breaks. Usually, the noises they made were regular shouts of, “Hey, bear!” to warn off any that might be nearby.

When they spotted the solar panel of the USGS station, it was still two hours before sunset.

Jesse laughed for the first time since they’d hit the trail that morning. “That’s it!”

“How did you select the sites to place your sensors?” Christopher asked.

“I collaborated with the USGS and Park Service to determine which existing sensors would work best. This way, we didn’t need extensive surveys and studies. My sensors work with the equipment already installed and won’t create additional impacts to wildlife or the land.”

When they reached the sensor she shimmied out of her pack, dug into the cases on the mules, and removed a sensor unit and its solar panel, tools, her tablet, and a ring of keys.

“Dr. Fornier-Thomas got these for me,” she said, holding up the keys.

“Guess it’d suck if you forgot them,” Mark commented.

She opened the control box. Thirty minutes later she had the sensor up and running and calibrated with her tablet. She added the small solar panel, then took several pictures and video with her tablet’s camera.

“That’s it?” Mark asked, but Christopher knew from the look on his guy’s face Mark was impressed.

“Yep!” She smirked. “I like to work smart, not hard. I received the plans for each existing unit so I could design mine to fit with no disruption and minimal installation.” She locked the unit and started stowing her tools. “And I can lighten my pack with each unit I install.” She removed some things from her backpack and put them in the empty case. “See?”

Mark slowly nodded. “Now I know why you were being so cocky,” he said with a teasing tone that made Christopher watch Jesse’s reaction to make sure she understood.

Apparently she did because she stuck her tongue out at him. “If I could make it through today, I knew my pack would get lighter.”

“I apologize for doubting you,” Mark said with a snarky flourish and bow.

Another laugh from her, and Christopher wondered if they could keep her laughing. “Accepted,” she said, returning his flourish and bow.

“Well, we still have daylight,” Christopher said. “Do we keep going, or stop here for the night?”

Mark pointed to the east. “There’s a good place to camp for the night not far that way. Flat, small spring for the stock and us, and sheltered from the wind. Let’s go there.”

MARK

Upon their arrival at the sensor it was like Jesse shifted into a different mode in a way he’d seen Christopher do during work.

It was sexy to watch, if he was honest.

Once they set up camp and tended to the mules, they settled in around a small camp stove to heat their dinners. He and Chris would share a tent, while she brought a tiny one-person tent that would have made Mark claustrophobic.

And Chris got her talking—about her work, and even about her personal life. Mark silently ate, listening, taking everything in while Chris worked his typical magic on her. He felt badly she’d lost her mom so young but it sounded like she had a great relationship with her step-mom and father.

It was an hour past full dark when she started yawning uncontrollably. They cleaned up, Chris helped Mark hang their foot and trash in a nearby tree, and by the time they finished that Jesse softly snored in her tent.

Chris grabbed the front of Mark’s jacket, pulled him in, and kissed him. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“For what?”

“For the full reboot.” Chris smiled. “I like her.”

“I do too, but don’t get your hopes up. We still have five sensors to install. There’s plenty of time for us to kill each other.”

The soft chuckle Chris made as he kissed Mark again before releasing him would have hardened Mark’s cock if he wasn’t already exhausted.

JESSE

Oh…fuuuuuck.

She lay in her sleeping bag the next morning and wondered if maybe getting eaten by a bear wasn’t such a bad thing.

Everything hurt.

Eeevvverything.

And that was just day one.

She heard the men talking and decided she needed to pry her ass off the ground. At least her exhaustion last night made the tent’s tiny size completely moot.

She’d spent exactly zero seconds thinking about it once she crawled in, and wasn’t sure she might not have been asleep before she even finished zipping herself into her sleeping bag.

It wasn’t quite daylight yet, but colors crept into the eastern horizon. The men already had their tent and most of their other things packed and were sitting around the small stove with?—

“Is that coffee?” she asked.

The men looked at her, all smiles. “There she is,” Mark said. “Yes, it is. Want some?”

“Oh my god, yes please.” She practically crawled over to them while Mark poured some into a metal camp mug.

But Chris held out a water bottle and something.

“Take these,” he said. “Thank me later.”

“What are they?”

“Ibuprofen.”

“Bless you, my son.” She finally managed to sit upright, swallowed the tablets, and then wrapped her hands around the warm, steaming mug of deliciousness.

“Do you want help taking down your tent and packing?” Mark asked. “We’re not leaving until it’s safe light, so there’s plenty of time.”

She huddled over her mug. “Yes, please.” She was beyond trying to fake it. “I might move a little slower today.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Mark said, but without snark. “You did great yesterday.”

She didn’t know why that sent a thrill zipping through her. “Thanks.”

“No, really, you did. Let that coffee kick in, handle your morning stuff, stretch your legs, and we’ll take it easy for a couple of hours when we head out. Once you’re warmed up you’ll feel better, I promise. Are your feet okay?”

She looked down at them, still in her socks. “Sore,” she said.

“Blisters?”

“Oh, no.”

“That’s good. Another tip—if you think you might be getting one, say so. Let’s take care of it immediately so it doesn’t hobble you.”

Speaking of that, she looked over at the mules. The men had tacked them up but they weren’t loaded yet. “They look like they’re ready to go.”

“This is their job,” Mark said. “They enjoy it. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t be using them. Believe me, mules let you know if they don’t like something.”

“And they are great alarm systems,” Chris added.

“What do you mean?”

“They don’t like bears. When they start reacting, you know one’s close by.”

“Oh.” She looked around. “Are there bears around right now?”

“Not here,” Mark said. “But they’re all through the park. I’ll let you know when I see fresh signs of activity.”

By the time she strapped her pack on and set off following Mark, Jesse almost felt human again.

Sort of.

But they made good time and reached the next sensor late in the afternoon. After checking the map, Mark made an announcement. “Let’s set up camp here.”

“You don’t want to keep going?” she asked.

“No, because you need a break, Chris and I could use a break, and I don’t know if we’ll find a better spot to camp before dark.”

She was even able to clean herself up with one of the soapless cloths she’d brought, change clothes, and she felt marginally better as they sat outside their tents and ate while the mules grazed nearby.

The longer she spent with the men, the more she liked them, relaxed around them.

Felt safe with them, and not just physically.

Emotionally. Mark talked about his childhood and now she understood why he didn’t like to think of himself as a “cop.”

And she made a silent resolution to not tease him about it again.

It wasn’t even dark when she crawled into her tent and closed her eyes, sleep coming immediately.