Disclaimer: The characters are property of Janet Evanovich and I am not making any money from this story. The story line is mine.
Prologue – The Choice
By, Elissahara30 and Lintu68
Steam rose from the forest floor, making the air so humid it was almost too thick to breathe. Out of the murky mist Ranger and Stephanie walked along the marked trail. Ranger's pack felt heavy, like lead weights hanging off his shoulders. His eyes itched from all the dryness despite the humidity. The flies tried to drink the sweat from his brow; he had given up on swatting them away hours ago. He was tired, but moved forward with a determination born out of years of discipline. The trail was small and the edge of the ravine had a steep drop. Any wrong step and it could be over in a matter of seconds.
Stephanie had been quiet for an hour now, her footsteps the only indication that she was still behind him. Ranger knew she was as tired as he was, maybe even more so. She wasn't used to this kind of physical stress, and he worried about them making it to camp to meet up with the others. So much depended on them making it to their next check point.
The ground seemed to be getting soft, especially on the edge. Ranger looked to his right at the rock wall and frowned at the small rivulets of water running down. He turned to tell Stephanie to be careful; when she lost her footing and started to fall backwards. He lunged forward as fast as he could and reached out and grabbed the sternum strap of her backpack, as she started going over the edge of the ravine.
Rearing back, Ranger used as much of his body weight possible to keep himself from going over, "I got you Babe," He said through clenched teeth. His muscles screaming from the sudden pull forward.
She looked up at him and her eyes were wide and huge, but she seemed calm as she tried to get her center of weight closer to him. "Ranger," she said almost breathlessly, "I can't get to you."
"I'm not letting go," he said, as he hopelessly watched his feet get closer to the edge, chunks of ground started coming loose around him.
"Ranger," Stephanie said again, "we both can't go over . . ."
"You're not fucking giving up on me," He fought to get to her hands as she kept swinging her arms toward him, and again he inched closer to the edge. There was desperation in their actions; Ranger trying to get better footing and Stephanie trying to reach up to him.
Then Stephanie seemed to go limp and stopped struggling, "You have to let me go," she said, "the others need you. Tell my family I love them and Joe . . .," she paused with tears in her eyes, "That I'm sorry."
Her hands covered his on the sternum belt and their eyes met and an eternity of things crossed between them. Unfulfilled promises and unsaid feelings, settled in a matter of seconds. And she undid the clasp. She hovered for a space before the sudden release made him fall backward and all the oxygen evaporated out of his lungs.
Ranger looked out at the empty space knowing she was gone, and that he must continue on alone.
A/N: Welcome to another addition my crazy plot ideas. Also I have managed to con, I mean ask Lintu68/Linda to be my co-author on this journey. For those fallowing Finding Yesterday – yes it is going to be finished. It's just taking longer to wrap up the ending than I expected.