CHAPTER 6

He hadn't realized he closed his eyes until he heard laughter. Looking up he saw two men standing over him one holding a rifle.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The speaker was not a very tall man, but he was muscular and looked like he could fight a grizzly bear all of his own. "Say hello to Matthew Hawkes, Commander of the High Mountain Rangers. All by yourself this morning, Commander Hawkes?" he said with a sneer.

"So this is the asshole that put you in jail?" the other man asked.

"Yeah, but looks like he's the one that gets the death sentence this time," the man said with a laugh.

"Michael Davis," Matt whispered, the pain obvious in his voice. "How the hell did you get out of jail?"

"It's called being smart and taking advantage of an opportunity when it arises," Davis said. "I'm surprised to see you out here all on your own, Hawkes. Usually you Rangers travel in packs, like wolves."

The quiet in the clearing was shattered by a growling that came from behind the two standing men. They spun around, Davis raising the rifle, but he was too late to prevent the teeth from clamping onto his arm. He screamed and dropped the rifle. His buddy, whose name Matt didn't know, took a couple of steps back then came forward again, kicking Teagan in the side.

Teagan yelped and released Davis' arm. The injured man clutched the injured arm to his chest and snarled, kicking out of the dog and connecting with her head.

"Teagan, come," Matt called. Matt reached out grabbing the rifle that had fallen to the ground as Teagan crawled over to lie beside him. Painfully, he sat up, raising the rifle and pointing it at the two men. Davis was helped from the ground by his friend and the two men moved away, not willing to take on an armed Matt Hawkes, even injured.

"Come on, Mike. He'll bleed to death before anyone finds him," Davis' buddy told him with a smile.

"This ain't over, Hawkes," Davis said. "We'll meet again...if you live." Davis and his friend stumbled off, Davis dripping blood on the ground as he tripped and nearly fell. Only the fact that his buddy had hold of him, prevented him from falling.

His arms suddenly exhausted from holding the rifle up, Matt allowed it to drop softly to the earth, as he sighed and laid his head back down on the ground. Teagan stood up and limped over next to Matt, leaning down beside him and placing her head on his chest. Laying his hand across her head, he was too tired to even pet her. Man and beast lay there for several minutes both breathing through the pain they were experiencing.

When Matt moved to sit up Teagan whined. "It's okay, girl," Matt assured her. "We need to get out of here in case they come back." Steeling himself for the pain, he slowly got to his feet and looked around, grateful to see his horse standing nearby. He threw a quiet thank you into the sky as he staggered over to Shadow, his right hand pressed against his injured left shoulder.

He reached into his saddlebags then pulled out a towel he kept in the bottom. Unzipping the top of his jacket he gently slid the towel against the wound. He hissed as that re-ignited the pain but he knew it had to be done. He leaned his forehead against the saddle, giving himself a moment, before he attempted to mount up.

He raised his head back up and glanced around. Teagan was standing next to him, favoring her rear leg. "You okay, girl?" he asked, knowing that Davis' buddy had gotten a hard kick in. The dog licked his hand, as if reassuring him that she was fine. Looking around, Matt gauged where he was.

"I think it'll be closer to try to get to Dad's," he spoke out loud. "Let's try for the cabin, okay?" He reached up with one arm, painfully, and with difficulty, pulled himself into the saddle. "Teagan, I hope you can walk okay, cuz I sure can't lift you this time."

As if to prove that she was fine, the dog set off in the lead, still limping slightly. Matt gave a soft kick, putting his horse into motion. It was about ten miles to his dad's cabin, but the way his vision was blurring in and out, he just hoped he would be able to make it there.

He estimated he was about a mile away from his father's cabin, when he finally couldn't hold on any longer. His vision narrowed and finally went black as he slowly slid sideways and dropped hard to the ground. Shadow sidestepped, moving a few feet away. Teagan ran back to her human, and began licking his face, whining when Matt barely stirred. After several minutes of attention, Matt slowly opened his eyes.

"Teagan," he ordered in a whispered, "find Cody. Go get Cody, girl." He weakly pushed the dog away. "Get Cody."

Teagan briefly walked away, then turned back, reluctant to leave her injured human. "Go, girl. Get Cody," Matt breathed out before laying his head back down, hoping to stave off unconsciousness.

Teagan whimpered again, before taking off to follow Matt's last order. She had been to the cabin on several occasions over the last month. Matt had made a game of it recently, sending Teagan to the cabin ahead of him, with an order to 'find Cody' or 'find Dad'. The dog had recently been able to get there unerringly, often bringing Cody out to meet Matt part way. He hoped the dog remembered the lessons, he thought as darkness finally took him away.

/

Cody was chopping wood, hoping to get a good supply stocked before nightfall. He brought down the ax, splitting a log in two, then standing up one half of the log to split again. He'd just finished splitting the second half when he heard barking from the woods.

He smiled. Sounded like Teagan. Matt had told them he'd try to make it up today, but hadn't been sure he'd be there before noon. Dingy ran off the porch, heading toward his new friend, barking a greeting. But it quickly became apparent that something was wrong as Teagan refused to play with Dingy and just continued to bark and run back and forth to the woods. She finally ran up to Cody, grabbed his jeans leg in her teeth and began pulling.

"Easy, girl, hold up. Dad!" He ran toward the cabin, pushing open the door and placing the ax down, and yelling out again. "DAD!"

"Cody, what are you bellowing about?" Jesse said, coming out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dishtowel.

"Teagan's here. She's acting funny, Dad, keeps barking, and tried to drag me toward the woods."

That was unusual. Jesse could hear the dog and as he walked outside, she latched onto his sleeve, attempting to pull him with her toward the woods.

"Cody, saddle the horses. Quickly now. I'll grab the first aid kit."

"You think something happened to Matt?" Cody asked, worried.

"Let's go find out. The horses, Cody, now!"

Cody raced off the porch, making quick work of getting both horses ready to go. Teagan hadn't quit barking and running around the entire time, causing Dingy to also get excited, realizing something was wrong. As soon as the two mounted, Teagan took off like a shot. Jesse and Cody were hard-pressed to keep up, but she returned periodically to make sure they were still following, Dingy racing off with her as she ran off each time.

Twenty minutes later, Jesse spurred his horse faster, seeing now what had Teagan in such a fit.

"Matt!" he cried out as he quickly slid from his saddle, grabbing the first aid kit as he did. Teagan, now having done her job, lay down next to Matt, nuzzling his face, trying to wake him up. Jesse opened Matt's coat and shirt, removing the saturated towel and tossing it aside.

Cody slid down across from him, putting a hand absentmindedly on Teagan. He felt something wet and sticky on his hand and looking down, noticed blood. "Dad?" he asked, his voice shaking, not only from seeing his brother unconscious and bleeding, but also to see blood on Matt's beloved dog.

Jesse looked up from rooting through the first aid kit. Pulling out some gauze pad, he bit out. "Check her, see if she has any injuries." He concentrated on bandaging Matt's wound, while Cody checked Teagan.

"I don't see anything," Cody said.

"It's likely Matt's blood, then." Jesse carefully turned Matt onto his side and sighed. He didn't see an exit wound, so the bullet was still in there. "Son, help me get your brother up. I'll have to hold him on my horse with me. Then, I'll need you to ride back and call the Rangers. We're gonna need Frank to bring the chopper up."

Being as careful as possible, they slowly lifted Matt up and carried him over toward a large flat rock at the edge of the clearing. Laying him down, Jesse held him while Cody brought his Dad's horse close by. They picked Matt up and hefted him onto the horse, holding him in place while Jesse mounted behind him, the well-trained mount standing still while all this activity went on. Matt didn't stir while all of this was going on, which worried Jesse even more.

Jesse found his seat, then pulled Matt against his chest, his left arm wrapping around Matt while he grabbed up the reins in his right hand. Cody ran to his horse and mounted up, calling out "I'll see you at the cabin," and raced off, Dingy right behind him. Teagan stayed beside Jesse the entire way back to the cabin. He took it slow, not wanting to jostle his injured son any more than he had to. There was no telling where the bullet was inside Matt, but Jesse didn't want it moving any more.

Cody sped to the cabin, pushing Cooper as much as possible. He jumped off the horse and rushed up the steps, slamming through the door and hurrying into his father's room.

Grabbing up the mic, he called for help. "High Mountain Rangers, This is Cody Hawkes. Repeat this is Cody Hawkes. We have an emergency! We need the chopper. Matt's hurt!" he rambled quickly.

"KLM four-zero-five, this is KLM seven-seven-niner. Cody, it's Cutler. Frank's firing up the chopper. Where is he?"

"Dad's bringing him back to the cabin."

"Do you know what happened, Cody?"

"I think he got shot!"

Back at the Ranger station, the Rangers were scrambling to gather their gear. Robin grabbed her large paramedic bag and ran out to the chopper, climbing in as Frank fired up the engines. Hart yelled, "I'll get our horses ready, Jimmy! Find out where they found him?"

Cutler nodded and got the information from Cody. "Frank's lifting off now, Cody. Robin is with him and Izzy will call the hospital and let them know that Matt's coming in." Izzy acknowledged the implied order, picking up the phone to do just that. "Where was he shot?"

"Left shoulder. It was bleeding badly and he was unconscious," Cody replied, the anxiety evident in his tone.

"Where did you find him?"

"Near Battery Creek, south side by Table Rock. His horse is still there."

"Good. Hart and I will head there and bring Shadow down," Cutler said, trying to keep his voice calm for Cody's sake, but was sure he didn't succeed completely. "Frank will be there in fifteen minutes, Cody. You hang tough. Matt's one of the strongest guys I know."

In the cabin, Cody took a deep breath and blew it out, briefly closing his eyes, opening them when he felt Dingy lean up against him. "Yeah, I know, Jimmy. I know," he said, reaching down to pet his four-legged friend.

"We'll see you and Jesse later at the hospital."

"Okay. You gonna find the guy that did this to my brother, Jimmy?" he asked, timidly.

"We'll do our best. You just concentrate on Matt. Gotta go, Code. KLM seven-seven-niner out."

Belatedly remembering radio protocol, Cody answered with the expected "KLM four-zero-five, over and out." He took a moment to take a couple of deep breaths, then grabbed a backpack to put together some extra clothes for him and his father, in case they needed to stay in town for a while.

At the station, Cutler tossed the radio mic to Izzy, who leaned back in his chair, wishing he could join the others in the search for the person who shot their Commander. He picked up the phone again, calling the Sheriff's Department and letting Mike McBride know what was going on. They might need extra personnel to assist in searching for the shooter. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office had several Deputies who had extensive training in mountain searches-not as much as the High Mountain Rangers, but enough to be useful in an all-out search in the mountains. Plus, they might need Laura Skinner and her dog.

He also contacted the Sacramento office of the FBI. Since the Rangers were a federal law enforcement agency, the FBI had nominal authority over them, although they were pretty much hands-off, letting the Rangers do their thing and only coming in when requested. It was protocol to notify them when one of the Rangers was seriously injured, and since this was a shooting, and possible attempted murder, of a federal law enforcement officer, the FBI would likely be on scene sooner rather than later, unless the suspect or suspects were found quickly by Matt's fellow Rangers.

Generally, the FBI would allow Matt to keep control of any investigation, having worked with him before. They'd come to respect the tall blond Ranger, as they had his father. But with Matt being the one injured this time, Izzy wondered if they would show Hart, as the Rangers second-in-command, the same courtesy. He hoped so, because no matter what, the Rangers weren't about to take a back seat on this one.

/

Jesse bypassed his cabin, heading straight for the large open space between the cabin and the small lake to the rear of his property. It was the usual landing zone for Avila when he needed to put down in the vicinity. Jesse knew Cody would close up the house and join him there. And he did, just as the chopper was touching down. Cody ran over to his father's side, helping him get Matt from the horse, then the two men carried him over to the idling chopper and climbed on. Both dogs tried to jump on as Robin joined them in the rear of the helicopter to start assessing her patient, but Jesse shooed them back out again. Cody slid the door shut as Frank began to ascend again, having been on the ground for less than a minute.

They lifted off, Frank radioing to Hart and Cutler, asking them to take care of Jesse and Cody's horses and both dogs as well, when they got a chance. Then he turned the big bird toward Tahoe and flew down the mountain. It would be a twenty-minute ride to town and each second counted, so Frank pushed the bird as hard as he could.

As the bird headed down, Cutler and Hart headed up, on horseback. They decided to get Matt's horse and see what they could find on scene. After that, they'd head to Jesse's place, and take care of the animals. Cutler left Zephyr behind, not wanting to contend with all three dogs.

They found the spot that Cody had identified as being where he and Jesse had found Matt. Seeing the large amount of blood on the ground, and realizing whose it was, unnerved both men. But they had a job to do. Cutler gathered up Shadow's reins and tied him up. Then he and Hart checked the area for evidence.

They walked the outer edges of the clearing first, following the training their Commander had ingrained in them over the years. It was second nature now to start at the outer edges and work in ever-smaller circles, moving in opposite directions, searching the ground for clues as they walked.

They finally met in the middle. "Well?" Hart asked.

"This doesn't look like the primary crime scene," Cutler offered. "The shooting likely occurred somewhere else, Matt was able to get away, and tried to make it to Jesse's, but didn't quite make it."

Hart nodded. "I agree. Hoof prints came from that way, which would make sense if he was heading to his Dad's from town. Let's walk that way and see what we find."

Both men grabbed up the reins of their horses, but instead of mounting up, they decide to walk the horses so they didn't miss any clues along the way. They followed the sometimes uneven tracks of Matt's horse several miles before coming to the location where the shooting had actually occurred.

They carefully searched the area, finding two sets of boot prints aside from Matt's. That meant they likely had two suspects, and judging by the size of the prints, both were adult males. They also found some blood leading in a different direction. It appeared that one of Matt's assailants was also injured. Both men silently prayed that the man was bleeding severely enough to need medical assistance. Cutler pulled out his digital camera and photographed the footprints since they weren't able to take casts of the prints and he didn't want to lose any evidence to the elements.

As Cutler gathered up the rifle that still lay on the ground where Matt had dropped it when he'd gotten up to get to his horse, Hart called the Station to have Izzy put out a B.O.L.O. to area hospitals, including Truckee, Placerville and even Sacramento, though that might be a long shot. There were also several smaller clinics in the area. And if the suspect or suspects lived in the area, they might even know where some of the local doctors lived. Cutler passed along the serial number from the rifle, knowing that Izzy would check to see if it was registered and/or listed as stolen.

They followed the tracks, and ended up near a fire service road, where they could see a vehicle had been parked recently. Since they saw no more sign of the footprints, they realized the suspects had left in a vehicle. Cutler took more photos with his digital camera while Hart looked for something he could use to cover up the tracks to preserve them as much as possible until the FBI boys got there.

They secured the rifle, went back to gather up Shadow, then headed to Jesse's cabin to get the other two horses. When they got there, the found Dingy sitting on the porch, but there was no sign of Teagan. Cody hadn't mentioned the dog being injured, but both men took a look around anyway to see if they could find any sign of the Shepherd. They didn't find her and hoped that she'd show up back in town or at Matt's house.

They checked the cabin to make sure nothing had been left on the stove, then banked the fire and closed up as they left. They gathered up the three horses, mounted their own and headed back to town, Dingy following behind them.

They were worried about their Commander and hoped he was still alive.

/