He put the milk away, took out a carton of eggs, and made himself an omelet with five egg whites, beating the eggs a bit too hard and tossing in whatever shit he could find—scallions, tomatoes, a leftover boiled potato, shredded Mexican cheese.
After he’d eaten, he left the dishes in the sink, dressed, and brushed his teeth. Then he grabbed his cell phone and gym bag and headed out the door. He needed to get vertical, work off this sexual frustration, clear his head.
He drove to the climbing gym, where he found Sasha already on the wall, her trainer on belay and shouting encouragement as she worked her way through a route with a steep overhang, her body almost parallel to the ground.
“Let your bones do the work. Your skeleton doesn’t get tired. When you’re not moving, let your muscles rest.”
Jesse checked in with the front desk, then walked to one of the benches to put on his climbing shoes and harness. The rock gym, like The Cave, was a second home for him, the anticipation of challenging moves and burning muscles already clearing his thoughts. He’d just clipped into his harness when Herrera walked in, bag slung over his shoulder, mirrored sunglasses on his face, dark hair rumpled from the wind.
“Hey, man,” he called when he saw Jesse. “You ready to kick your own ass?”
Jesse was more than ready.
They picked a 5-11c route next to Sasha.
“Mind if I go first?” Jesse asked.
Herrera’s brown eyes narrowed. “Something eating you?”
“Don’t ask.” Jesse reached for the rope, looped it through his harness, and started tying his figure-eight retrace.
“It’s too late for that.”
“I didn’t sleep last night.” Jesse thought Herrera would let it drop.
He didn’t. “You need a woman. Nothing makes for a good night’s sleep like sex. You should get together with Rain.”
“Rain?” Jesse drew the knot tight, double-checked his harness. “Why Rain?”
“I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She likes you, man.”
“Rain is just being friendly. Besides, Joe will kick the ass of any guy who hits on her in his pub. You know that.”
“So hit on her when she’s not at work.”
Chaska Belcourt walked by with his sister, Winona, both of them wearing harnesses. “How’s eighth grade treating you boys?”
Jesse glared at Herrera. “Are you on belay or what?”
“On belay.”
“Climbing.”
“Climb on.”
Jesse threw himself into the route, the toes of his left foot on a chip, his right hand on a small edge. He reached with his left hand, caught a crimper, and drew himself to the left, shifting his left foot onto a small edge and the toes of his right foot onto the chip. He stretched his right arm, caught an edge, and pushed upward with his left foot. Then he lunged upward toward a fat jug—and caught it.
As he climbed, his mind began to empty. He was barely aware of Herrera and Sasha’s shouts of encouragement from below. By the time he’d climbed to the top of the wall, he was focused, in control of his emotions again.
Herrera lowered him to the mat. “Way to crush it.”
Jesse was about to say that his practice on power moves was paying off when the sound of sirens came from nearby. One siren. Then another. And another.
He walked to the windows to see a fire rescue vehicle and two ambulances headed down the canyon. Hawke must be having a busy day.
“I wonder what happened.” Jesse felt for his pager in his pocket, made sure it was on. “Did you get a page?”
Herrera shook his head. “Nothing.
Sasha held up her silent pager. “Me neither.”
They walked back to the wall. It was Herrera’s turn now. But no sooner had Herrera gotten tied into the rope than Jesse’s cell phone rang.
He pulled it out of his pocket.
Ellie.
He was about to let the call go to voicemail—now was not the time to talk about last night—but something had him answering instead. “Moretti.”
“Hi, Jesse. I’m really sorry to bother you, but there’s been a multiple-casualty incident involving a school bus full of kids in the canyon.”
Jesus. So that’s what that was.
Ellie went on. “I’ve been called in to the ER to help, but my parents are in Denver with my sister seeing a surgeon about her knee. Most of my friends are nurses, and they’ve been called in too. I have no one to watch the kids.”
Wait. What?
“You want me to watch your kids?” Even as he said the words, he knew she couldn’t possibly have meant she wanted him to babysit.
“Yes—if you can. I’m really sorry to ask this of you, but I have no one else I can call who lives nearby.”
“I don’t know anything about kids.” It was the truth.
“No, maybe not, but you have EMT training, and you were an NCO, right? How much harder could it be to watch over two toddlers compared to a camp full of soldiers?”
Okay, she had a point. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
He ended the call. “Sorry. There’s been an accident with a school bus—multiple casualties. My neighbor is a nurse and needs me to watch her kids while she goes to help in the ER.”
Herrera stared at him. “You—babysit?”
Yeah, he’d had that same thought. “I’m good with kids.”
He hoped for everyone’s sake that was true.