Ties That Bind
By Peg Keeley
onenerveleft59@hotmail.com
Part 4
Ian found Danny at the payphone outside
dialing for a cab as Lonnie shivered in the cold beside him. It did not
take much convincing to get Williams to agree to come home with him for
the night. Within fifteen minutes, Ian's wife was graciously throwing
sheets on the guest bad and in another ten both Lonnie and Danny were
asleep.
Danny slept the sleep of the dead
he was so exhausted. Ian regretted awakening him at 6:30 AM with the news
that Juliet had just expired. Danny's muscles were stiff from the accident
and the inert sleep.
Sitting before a bowl of hot cereal
and cup of coffee, Danny had little to say and the small, homey kitchen
was silent except for the occasional clink of a spoon against the ceramic
bowl.
"Sorry about her," O'Keefe commented
to break the silence.
Danny merely nodded. "Can't change
that. But we do need to find Audrey. Mind if I go talk to Dr. Ford?"
"I was hoping you'd ask. You're in
that field and all and with Mrs. Harven being your cousin, well the lady
doc might just tell you something. The answering service told us to meet
her there at 9:00 AM. I'll take you by Adair's for a change of clothes."
He nodded.
===================
Danny instructed O'Keefe towards the
back service entrance to the estate that he recalled from his childhood.
He was a little surprised to find it exactly as he'd remembered, except
the trees and shrubs were taller. Gideon, without comment, admitted him,
ushered him through the pantry and kitchen up the back stairs where he
showered, changed, and shaved, then exited the house the same route back
to where Ian waited in the car. Ian could not help but compare the event
to a teenager trying to hide from his parents but he knew better than
to discuss his observations.
At 9:00, they were in Michelle Ford's
office in New City, just a bit north of Nyack. Introductions were exchanged.
"I was out of town until last night,"
Ford offered. "I did not know about Audrey Harven's disappearance or I
would have contacted the FBI."
"And what would you have told the
FBI?" Ian asked.
She opened the file before her. "First,
let me clarify that Dr. Williams, as the sole surviving family member
of Juliet and Audrey, it is your place to provide written permission for
me to reveal the contents of these records."
"Yes, of course," he supplied quietly,
but it was clear he was anxious to hear what Ford had to say.
She nodded. "Very well. Juliet brought
Audrey to me four months ago. She was terribly upset because the child
seemed to be rejecting her in favor of Lincoln Adair. Juliet was a very
troubled young lady. She suffered from clinical depression with obsessive
tendencies. It was difficult to ascertain if her fears were justified
or paranoia. She had some pretty serious unresolved feelings about Adair
herself."
"In what way?" asked Danny. He was
aware that Ford was losing Ian in her terminology, but did not care.
"She had been intimately involved
with him during the time they lived in his home."
Ian perked up. "You mean they were
sexually involved?" He blurted.
Ford gave him a tolerant look. "Yes."
Danny swallowed a gag of disgust.
A new dragon of hatred for Adair was born to accompany the others that
were raging within him. "So Adair had the role of both parent and lover
to Juliet," he clarified with remarkable calm, in spite of his righteous
rage. "Did she terminate the relationship, or did he?"
Ford shook her head. "I never really
was able to get the final on that out of her. At first I believed she
had, but as time went on I began to have my doubts. Juliet had a split
personality." She made the statement as one might have commented about
having the flu. Ford paused for a moment to let it sink in. "As the therapy
continued, it was like peeling an orange. Every section of Juliet was
part of the whole, but separate and apart by itself. She wanted the parental
attention of Adair and was jealous of her daughter. At the same time,
she was apparently fulfilled in their sexual relationship."
That dirty old bastard. I cannot
imagine that withered old prune with a young beautiful woman. The
thought made Danny nauseated.
"Juliet was tormented by jealousy,
guilt, fear, anger. As time went on, she had a more and more difficult
time determining fantasy from reality. She loathed Adair, yet loved him.
Eventually her feelings became so intense that in order to survive, she
fled from Adair. When Adair expressed only concern for the welfare of
Audrey, the jealousy and guilt fed each other."
"Was she capable of violence?" Ian
asked.
"In the beginning, yes. But she was
a long way from what I am describing when I last saw her. Clearly something
happened, but what it was...." she shrugged.
"Well, what do you think it could
have been?"
"Obviously, Audrey's disappearance
would have tipped the scale," Ford offered. "Perhaps it restarted the
same old cycle."
"And Adair got involved when she vanished,"
Danny added. "He was trying to have power over her again."
Ford glanced at her notes. "He is
a forceful personality." She looked up at Danny and he wondered if she
saw straight through him. It took determination not to squirm in the chair.
"There was a part of Juliet that hated her daughter because of Audrey's
childlike affection for him."
Ian spoke up. "When we went through
the child's room, I found a note Audrey had written to Mr. Adair asking
if she could go see him for Christmas. Do you think that would have been
enough to get this all started again?"
There was a pained expression on Ford's
face. "Possibly. Juliet called once before when Audrey had wanted to see
Adair. Only -- this time I was out of town."
"Do you think Audrey could have run
away? Could she actually be hiding on Adair's estate?" O'Keefe asked.
Ford thought for a moment. "No, Audrey,
although she loved Adair, had a very deep bond with her mother that had
been developing in the last two months in particular. It was almost as
if she was mother to Juliet. And if she was on the estate, from all I
have heard about Adair, he would have been prone to brag about it to Juliet,
not hide it."
Good point, not to mention I asked
Gideon. No one could hide anything from Gideon, Danny thought silently.
Ian sighed. "So, are we back to square
one again? Has Audrey actually become just another in the painful numbers
of missing children who are stolen and never recovered?"
Ford sighed quietly. "I'm afraid I
cannot give you an answer to that one, but there is still a chance. Mr.
Williams, you were the last one with Juliet before she died. When she
became violent, what event preceded it?"
It took no effort to remember. Danny
had replayed those fateful moments in his mind many times in the last
several hours. "We were returning to her home so I could get the Mercedes.
Lonnie asked about Singsing Prison. We could see the lights across the
river." He took a breath. "He asked if an escaped convict could cross
the ice. I told him that the ice would be too thin. Then he asked if one
could swim the river."
"In the winder?" Ian laughed.
"Well, that's what I told him. I said
they'd freeze because the water was too cold. Lonnie said something about
it being an awful way to die. Next thing I knew, she was hitting me and
screaming." He snapped his fingers. "Another thing, Ian. Remember yesterday
afternoon? She was supposed to drop the ransom money, but seemed to lose
her nerve? It was like she was mesmerized by the river." He soberly looked
at Ford. "You said there was a part of Juliet that hated Audrey."
Ford slowly nodded. "With all you
are telling me, I hate to say it but -- there is a real chance here that
Audrey was never kidnapped at all."
"The river?" Ian whispered.
===================
The sky had clouded over with a pale
whitish-gray cast and the radio promised snow. Lonnie wanted snow,
Danny thought to try to keep his mind off the horror of the unfolding
events. Juliet did pick up Audrey, then murdered her child by throwing
her into the river and never even knew she did it. Ford says to look by
Lincoln's estate first because Juliet's personality would have wanted
to see him suffer. I'd like to see him suffer, too -- but this is unbelievable.
He drove Juliet to this. Why didn't I ever just contact my cousin and
move her to Hawaii when Bruce died? This should never have happened. I
didn't know. Maybe I didn't want to know.
They had decided to swing by Ian's
home to check on Lonnie.
"Lincoln Adair sent a man to pick
him up," Ian's wife said apologetically. "I hope that was okay."
Danny turned his back. "Let's go,
O'Keefe."
As they headed for the estate, Ian
commented, "The old guy probably thought you'd want him home."
"He's out to do anything to gain some
kind of control," Danny replied coldly. "He wants Lonnie so he goes and
gets Lonnie just to prove to me he can do it."
"The kid probably wanted to go home,"
Ian tried to lighten the air.
"That's for sure," Danny agreed, "but
Lincoln's place isn't home."
They turned up the long drive. The
gates were already standing open. "Why don't you go see your son," Ian
suggested. "I'll start looking along the river."
"Want me to call the FBI?"
He shook his head. "Can't see bringing
them in on this goose chase. Maybe we'll get lucky and be wrong."
They parked near the portico. Danny
headed for the front door, Ian the riverbank out back. Lonnie was waiting
at a window and upon spotting Danny, came running to the door. "What did
you find out, Dad? Kenneth came and we came back and made popcorn balls.
And Uncle Lincoln let me call Uncle Steve. Guess what! Uncle Steve's cow
had her calf and it was twins!" he announced breathlessly.
Uncle Lincoln? "You called
Uncle Steve?" Danny growled. "It is only five in the morning there right
now. You woke him up."
Lonnie's exuberance and smile faded.
"But, Uncle Lincoln said...."
Uncle Lincoln! "Why did you
let him bring you back here?" Danny demanded.
He paused. "I--it was Kenneth. I --
I thought you'd want me to come back."
"If I'd wanted you here we would have
come back last night."
Lonnie's shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry,
Dad. I didn't know."
Danny stopped to consider his responses.
I am starting to be as paranoid as Juliet. "It's okay, Lonnie,
really. I'm sorry. I need to go down to the river to look for some clues
with Officer O'Keefe. Would you ask Gideon to put on a pot of coffee for
us for later?"
"Clues to what?" Lonnie's eyes brightened
eagerly.
"Never mind, just stay here, okay?"
"Let me come."
Danny shook his head. He did not want
his ten year old son finding the frozen body of the girl. "Not this time."
He sighed. "I'll give up the Nintendo
again."
"No," he said gently. "Now, just tell
Gideon like I asked."
Lonnie watched longingly as his dad
left out the front door. He stood on the old wood paneled entryway a moment
or two, watching until Danny could not longer be seen, then took his 49ers
parka from the coat closet.
===================
Danny caught up with O'keefe half
way to the river, examining the wooded grounds for tracks. "We had half
an inch of snow the day she disappeared -- nothing since," Ian explained.
"So, if they were here, there should be some kind of tracks." He glanced
up at the sky. "I shouldn't think that luck will hold for long." He and
Danny separated a little, covering more territory between the trees and
the riverbank. Danny felt the cold wind picking up. He had no gloves,
he stuffed his hands into his pockets but his fingers were cold anyway.
He was glad he did not live here. I suppose there are people who like
this kind of weather. Ian never complains about it being cold, or wet.
They moved south along the river.
Lonnie lingered near the corner of
the porch that faced the river and watched as the two men disappeared
amongst the thick grove of naked trees. He wasn't sure what they were
looking for, but he sure didn't want to miss out on the developing case.
Secret Agent Lonnie is on the case, he kidded himself. Moving
as quiet as a cat, he follows from a distance while the enemy is completely
unaware of his presence. He grinned at the little tale he was weaving.
He slid down the bank to the brink of the ice and stopped to look at the
river. The ice came right up to the dirt, coating twigs and leaves that
were at the edge. He tested the edge of ice. He bent down and rubbed the
rough whitish gray surface with his mittened hand. There did not seem
to be any water at all. Good, I wouldn't want to be on the water. He
shuddered. He remembered how his friends had taunted him at their class
picnic at the beach last summer. They had all gone splashing into the
surf to swim. All of them -- except me. Lonnie did not swim. Lonnie
did not even like to wade in the surf. The feel of water around him, even
when he could touch the bottom, sent absolute panic through him. He stepped
out onto the rough ice. It's not much different than the ice at the
rink at the mall -- just not as smooth. He bent down and picked up
a pebble from the bank and threw it across the ice. As it skipped across
the surface, it made an odd plunking noise as the sound vibrated back
through the ice. Lonnie grinned, found another pebble and did it again.
He slid his feet along the surface of the ice along the bank, pausing
every few feet to toss another stone. He threw one as hard as he could
out towards the center of wide river of ice. It skipped twice, then struck
something protruding from the ice. Lonnie strained to see what it was.
Curiosity rising, he took a few steps
away from the bank on the ice. He looked down, but could only see the
rough gray white surface. He gave a little jump. The ice seemed hard enough.
He looked back out towards the object stuck in the ice. He began to slowly
slide his feet along the ice moving towards the object. He paused once,
listening, but there was no sound except the wind whistling through the
empty branches of the trees. He gained confidence. As Lonnie got closer,
he could tell the thing poking up was green and pink -- maybe a piece
of cloth. At last he reached what he recognized to be a child's backpack
made of green and pink fabric with little daisies on it. He reach down
and yanked on the strap that was visible, but the pack was held fast in
the ice. He kicked the frozen pack, trying to loosen it, to no avail.
Danny and Ian had continued working
their away slowly away from the estate. Ian now paused before a mound
of something covered by snow and stopped. His pulse quickened. Trapped
between hoping to solve the riddle, but not wanting the child to be dead,
he picked up a stick and probed gently with it. The mound was an old piece
of rotting canvas covering a collection of blackened leaves. He heaved
a sigh of relief.
"Ian," Danny called at just that moment,
squatting down before a depression on the loose snow. It could be a human
track. If so, it was probably that of a woman. "What do you think?" Danny
pointed to it.
Ian turned to face Danny, and when
he did, a movement on the ice caught the corner of his eye. "O my God!"
he shouted in his large, deep baritone.
Danny jumped, a moment of confusion
at O'Keefe's reaction, then also turned towards the river.
"That ice won't hold!" Ian shouted.
Lonnie! Lonnie! Get out of there!" He was already running for the river,
Danny right behind him.
Lonnie heard the shouts, but not the
words. With one more heroic kick, he heard the ice crack and he yanked
the backpack free, holding the bag over his head. "Look what I found!"
he shouted. There was an ominous deep groan and a sickening crack. The
ice beneath Lonnie's feet gave way and he was plunged into the frigid
Hudson River. He kicked in panic, clawing at the edge of the ice, trying
to scramble out, but the ice kept breaking off. I'm drowning! I'm going
to die! Numbness and freezing cold caught his breath away. He would
never have imagined cold could be so painful. He could not even call for
help. He kicked and thrashed in the water unable to swim, unable to think,
quickly depleting his energy. Even before the two men could reach the
river, he was already slowing from exhaustion.
O'Keefe caught Danny's arm as they
reached the river's edge. "Get back to the car, call for help. I've got
a blanket in the back. Bring it down here."
"I've got to get Lonnie!" Danny shouted.
No way I'm leaving my son!
"I know what I'm doing!" O'Keefe
fired back. "I've trained for this and you haven't. Now, do as I said!"
In spite of his panic, Danny understood
the plain sense of O'Keefe's words and raced up the steep forested hill
towards the house, slipping on wet snow and leaves as he ran. By the time
he reached the top, his lungs ached from the cold air and he was out of
breath. He yanked Ian's car door open and grabbed the police radio. "Child
in the river," he gasped to the dispatcher. "West bank just south of the
Adair Estate." Upon receiving her confirmation, he snatched up the blanket
from the back seat and was already racing back down to the river.
Ian was inching his way across the
ice on his stomach, trying to spread his two hundred fifty pounds of body
weight as much as possible. "Hang on, Lonnie!" he shouted. "Hold on, I'm
coming!"
Lonnie was already past hearing, pass
speaking, past rational thought. His movements were slowing, as shock
set in. All that remained was animalist terror.
Ian was within ten feet and could
feel the ice beginning to crack beneath him. He wiggled out of his coat
and, holding onto one sleeve threw it like a rope towards the hole. "Lonnie,
see if you can grab my coat!" But the coat fell hopelessly too short and
he could see that the boy was already beyond helping himself. O'Keefe
glanced back over his shoulder to see Danny making his way out onto the
ice on foot. "Lay down! Crawl!" O'Keefe shouted.
Danny immediately obeyed, belatedly
recalling something from first aid about weight distribution on ice. He
scrambled forward, ignoring the wet cold that sank through his clothes,
aware only of the black curls of his son's hair that were sinking lower
in the freezing water.
"Grab my legs!" Ian shouted as Danny
reached him, "I'm going to try to get closer. He elbowed his way closer
to the hole, the coat in one hand. The ice gave a forbidding moan.
Danny gripped Ian about the knees,
"Lonnie! Reach towards us!"
O'Keefe tossed out the coat once again
and this time the edge flopped into the water at the edge of the hole.
It was less than inches from Lonnie. "Grab it, son!" O'Keefe shouted,
but Lonnie was too dazed and numb to reply. "We're gonna have to go all
the way!" Ian shouted back at Danny who himself was so frightened for
Lonnie he was past words. The two men again inched closer towards the
hole, listening as the ice crunched and cracked, but held. Ian knew they
were both past the safe point now.
A siren could be heard in the distance.
A police car bounded into the woods at the top of the hill and slid down
the snow bank, embedding it's hood in a drift. The officer climbed out
of the window, calling directions to other teams as he ran for his trunk
and first aid equipment.
"Come on, Lonnie," Ian murmured, noting
that the boy was almost unconscious. Lonnie's skin had paled, his lips
were purple. There were ice crystals forming on his black hair. "Stay
with me, son." He gave a heroic lunge forward, Danny now clinging to his
ankles, and grabbed hold of Lonnie's hair just as the child slipped beneath
the surface of the water. He pulled him up by the hair, then grabbed his
chin, then under one arm, breathing prayers of thanks to have the boy
at all.
"Can you pass him back here?" Danny
asked. Thank God! Lonnie, hang on, boy, it's almost over.
Ian turned on his side, pulling
Lonnie up onto the ice until the boy's shoulders were out of the water.
There was a loud snap and the ice began to break away beneath O'Keefe's
chest. "Pull back, Dan! Pull back!"
Danny dug in backward with his knees
and feet, trying to pull Lonnie and O'Keefe away from the opening, but
Ian's large build was difficult to pull on the ice and it was taking everything
Danny had to move them at all. Lonnie was out up to his waist when the
ice suddenly collapsed, throwing him back in and dunking Ian up to his
waist.
Ian grabbed desperately at Lonnie,
snatching him back by the collar. There was another deep moan and a crunch.
Danny held onto Ian with all his strength,
but the effort was in vain. With the new fracture, Ian was plunged into
the widening hole with Lonnie. Danny was dragged forward and was soaked
up to his shoulders, but managed to stay on the ice. The temperature caught
his breath away. Ian was struggling to keep Lonnie afloat and keep himself
moving as well. He shoved Lonnie towards Danny who grabbed his son by
the front of his jacket. Danny began to slide backwards along the slippery
surface again. He could not take his eyes off the white skin frosted with
ice crystals. He could not tell if Lonnie was even breathing. I have
to move fast. I need to get O'Keefe out of there, too. He could feel
the ice giving slightly as he finally had Lonnie completely out of the
water. "O'Keefe! Hang on!" Ice formed immediately on Lonnie's soaked clothing.
Danny bearly paid attention to the pink and purple backpack that was entangled
in the boy's legs.
There were shouts from the riverbank
about thirty yards away -- the fire department had arrived. They issued
calls of encouragement as they quickly removed a ladder from the side
of the truck.
Danny checked Lonnie's pulse. At first
he thought there was none, it was so slow. He quickly pulled off his own
coat and wrapped it around the boy. He looked back at O'Keefe who was
making attempts to pull himself from the icy river. Danny extended a hand.
"Give me your hand."
"No," he gasped. "Get the boy to safety.
Move him back."
Danny started to slide back, pulling
Lonnie with him. He crawled back about fifteen yards, continuing to look
back at O'Keefe every few seconds. The officer was no closer to freeing
himself and Danny noticed the man's actions were slowing down. "O'Keefe!"
Ian made another grab at the brittle
ice, then suddenly gasped and gripped his chest. He stiffened, struggled
just a moment before collapsing limp into the water.
He's having a heart attack!
Caught between the two responsibilities, Danny glanced towards shore.
A fireman was crawling across the ice towards them over the ladder laid
across the ice. It was going to take at least another minute. Danny looked
at his unconscious son again, realizing that his help was at hand. Leaving
Lonnie, he started crawling back towards Ian. With no coat, he was shiveringso
badly he could not coordinate his own actions; his fingers numb from the
ice. He made it to the hole and reached out across the icy water to grab
Ian's arm. Danny pulled Ian to the edge of the hole, checked quickly for
a pulse, remembering how slow Lonnie's had been. There was none. He pulled
Ian's head and shoulders onto the ice and it creaked ominously. Danny
puffed two breaths into Ian. Again the ice beneath complained. The combined
weight of the two men was pushing this fragile spot of ice to the limit.
Danny glanced over his shoulder. The rescue team was half way to the shore
with Lonnie. It was ten yards from Lonnie had been to where he clutched
Ian half out of the water at the hole. It's going to take several minutes
for them to get back out here. I have to keep him alive. Danny
breathed into Ian again. He tried to get his hand around to the man's
chest to perform some kind of cardiac compression. He pressed the palm
of his hand against O'Keefe's chest.
Ice water was suddenly rushing up
around him and Danny was struggling towards the surface, Ian beside him.
The cold was devastating. He gripped O'Keefe's shirt in his left hand
snatching with his right repeatedly at the edge of the ice the kept breaking
away.
The rescue workers were nearly to
short with Lonnie when a companion shouted about the others in the river.
Delivering the unconscious Lonnie into their arms, the two workers started
back with the ladder once again. As they passed the spot from which they
had retrieved Lonnie, they observed the ice beginning to bow and crack
around them. One pushed against the surface with his boot and a new small
hole broke through. In three words, they decided for one to remain where
he was with a tow rope connected to his partner who continued ahead with
the ladder across the perilous flow. Still fifteen feet from the hole,
the second man stopped unable to continue forward because of breaking
ice. He knotted another nylon rope to the ladder and pushed it towards
the hole. It slid forward until it stopped, the first rung extended beyond
the edge of the broken ice.
"Grab the ladder!" the fireman yelled
to Danny. "I can pull you back!"
Danny was shivering uncontrollably,
trying to keep Ian above water, so numb he could barely keep a grip on
the other man's shirt. O'Keefe was gray white, his eyes half shut unblinking,
mouth sagging open. He looked dead. Danny tried to breathe into him, but
could hardly breathe for himself. "He's had a heart attack! You need to
do something."
"Grab the ladder!"
Danny could see the aluminum ladder
but it looked so far away. He struggled to reach his arm out. Ian slipped
from his grasp and he needed both arms to grab him again. "I can't reach
it!" he gasped.
"Yes, you can. Just reach out, it's
right there!"
"I can't." It's too hard, I'm too
tired, I just want to rest. Just forget it. Just let it all go.
"Hey!" the fireman shouted, rattling
the ladder. "Grab it. Come on! It's right beside you!"
It's the cold. I can't think. Where
is the ladder? He looked at it again. "Too hard."
"Let go of O'Keefe!" the rescuer shouted.
Danny focused on the voice. Let
go? "I can't. He'll die."
"He's dead already. He goes or you
both do!"
Danny tightened his grip on Ian's
shirt, glancing at the officer who'd risked his life for Lonnie. "I can't."
"Come on. He's dead. Let go of him,"
the fireman called again. "Grab the ladder!"
Danny tried to twist the fingers of
his left hand tighter into the fabric of O'Keefe's shirt. The truth was
the fingers were so numb, he didn't think he could let go if he wanted
to. There is a chance for him, there has to be a chance. With the
last of his strength, he gave a powerful lunge and took hold of the freezing
aluminum ladder with his right hand.
"Hold on!" The fireman began to pull
back on the rope and inch the ladder towards himself.
The ladder began to pull back. As
it did, Danny felt the weight of Ian now holding him back. He was pulled
forward across the edge of the ice that sliced through his shirt and cut
his arm. The ice broke off and dipped him back into the water. Agonizingly
slowly the ladder moved inch by freezing inch , each time the surface
of the ice snapped and broke again, but Dan held onto Ian with one hand,
the ladder with the other. He was numb inside and out, unable to think,
unable to move his fingers, arms, legs, almost unable to breathe. He could
no longer hold his own head out of the water each time they dropped back
into the wintry river. The fireman who was pulling the line back kept
calling encouragement, but Danny could not understand the words.
Then the ladder drew back, the ice
slid beneath Danny's arm, rubbing the bleeding underarm again and this
time held. Danny had a fleeting moment of hope, only dimly able to recognize
that something was different. Suddenly, Ian's weight was holding him back,
doubling, tripling as they were being drawn from the water. The cloth
was twisted around his left wrist to the point of cutting off circulation,
but he did not feel it. And he could not think enough try to let go. Nor
could he feel his right hand that was frozen to the metal ladder. The
ladder hit a small bump in the ladder breaking Danny's frozen grip. The
fingers pulled free from the ladder and the two men started to slide back
into the water.
Danny gasped, comprehending that they
were losing.
They stopped.
He looked up at the leather covered
hand that gripped his right hand and into the hazel eyes of the firefighter
leaning across the ladder hanging onto to him. "Made it," the man said
with a smile. "Pull the rope!" He hollared back and his partner, another
twenty feet back on the ice, began to tow the ladder the fireman laid
across. In moments, Danny and Ian were both out of the water and the wind
whipped across their wet clothes freezing the garments to them.
In moments, the man with the rope
was close enough to shore to throw the rope to others. The three men on
shore hauled on the rope with all their might and the ladder skidded across
the ice like a sled completing the journey to the bank in seconds.
As O'Keefe was dragged ashore, the
paramedics dropped him on his back into the snow and started CPR in earnest.
Danny was too frozen to walk and was
literally carried to the ambulance where Lonnie was being cared for. Someone
threw a thermal blanket over Danny's shoulders. Inside the rig was hot.
Danny began to regain his sense of awareness quickly and was surprised
at how painful the heat was. Every inch of his skin throbbed. Lonnie lay,
wrapped in a blanket that resembled aluminum foil with just his face peeking
out, a warmed IV running in the vein of his arm. Danny noted, gratefully
that the boy's color looked good.
The siren started on the ambulance
and it bounced up the snowy terrain to the road. Danny glanced out the
glass of the back window towards the group that still huddled over Ian
in the snow, as they prepared to place him in the second ambulance. Danny
wondered if the officer could possibly be alive.
===================
End part 4
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