Finn: Congrats Uncle Sheriff! I’m so glad you were there for the delivery. That’s pretty amazing, and you’re right about him looking like a fat raisin lol. I’m at work. Night climb went well last night, but Nolan’s trying to rework some things. Don’t worry, though. Nothing I can’t handle. I’ll tell you about it when I see you. Go enjoy the baby, okay? I miss you. I can’t wait to see you. I have some things I want to talk to you about. All good stuff, I promise.
I tried calling him back, but it went straight to voicemail. I texted him back.
Me: I miss you too. Have a good day at work, and good luck with whatever is going on. I know you can handle it, baby. I’m going to head back to Aster Valley as soon as Shawn gets here to hang out with Tessa. I don’t know what time, but if you want to meet me at the house after work, the keypad code is the way Penny would relay confidential information ;-)
“You’re so gooey over that guy,” Tessa gloated as she cuddled the baby. “You’re texting with a big grin on your face, and you don’t even realize it.”
“Am I?”
“Mmhmm. And it’s hella satisfying to see. I’m just glad to know there’s someone else in the world who recognizes how special you are. You deserve that, Dec.”
“He’s the special one.” I shook my head. “He came in like a shot out of the blue and shook my whole life up. I’m not sure I could go back to the way it was before.”
And I knew for sure I didn’t want to.
Finn Heller was a dream come to life.
But when Shawn arrived a couple of hours later, wide-eyed and white as a ghost, that dream quickly turned into a nightmare.
“Sheriff!” Shawn panted like he’d run the whole distance from the campground to the hospital, and I instantly jumped out of my chair. “Penny’s been trying to get in touch with you for half an hour. There’s been an explosion. Up on the mountain. By the film set.”
I blinked, and my blood instantly ran cold. On the film set? The film set where Finn had an early call?
I had to work to keep my hands steady as I called Penny back, vowing to replace my broken phone as soon as possible. “What’s going on?” I demanded. “Shawn said there was an accident on the set?”
I couldn’t bring myself to say the word explosion. I couldn’t bring myself to ask about Finn.
“Sheriff, thank god. It’s a 10-80. There’s a report of an explosion on the mountain that triggered a rockslide.” She sounded harried, and I heard several phones ringing in the background. “Multiple 911 calls for medical and fire response. I called in Janine for backup and all hands on deck.”
My brain couldn’t even process what she was saying. I met Shawn’s eyes. “The film crew wasn’t supposed to set off their pyrotechnics until late next week, and the structure they were demo-ing shouldn’t have been close enough to the side of the mountain to trigger a slide. How the hell did this happen?”
“Initial reports are saying it’s not the temporary structure that exploded. It was the cave.” Penny’s no-nonsense voice quavered. “And it caused… hold on…”
I could hear her talking quickly, and I recognized the voices of Deputies Farmer and Kenton in the background. When she came back, she said, “Witnesses are reporting a rockslide and a cave-in. Missing persons from the cast and crew. Not sure who or how many. The director was hit with flying debris, and no one’s able to tell us if there are any other charges set. We might need a bomb squad.”
“I’ll get back there as soon as possible. In the meantime, do the best you can. Tell Farmer to take the lead until I get there. I’ll call the bomb squad here in Denver County, then I’ll call Cort and get Routt County to give us a hand. Tell Kenton to call in mountain rescue if needed. Give me updates as often as you can.”
I felt my training kick in—observe, assess, delegate, execute—and I was grateful for it. It held me together despite the fear gripping my chest.
I called the state folks and arranged for a bomb crew. They had access to a helicopter and told me to be ready on the hospital’s helipad in ten minutes for departure.
I declined Shawn’s offer to come with me and said a quick goodbye before making my way to the helipad and dealing with hospital security. While I waited, I made all the necessary calls to arrange extra support from the neighboring county and continued to touch base with Penny and the deputies onsite. When I finally had a minute on the helicopter to try and get Finn on the phone, the call went straight to voicemail. I tried again and again with no success.