In the Ground (David Wolf Book 14)

steel that were undoubtedly digging into the rope. “Okay, how good are you with that loader?”
McBeth shook his head. “Not as good as Sexton.”
While Wolf considered his options, another flash of lightning hit the side of the nearest mountain. “Get him in that thing.”
“Sexton!”
Wolf watched a man dart from the crowd toward the front-end loader. With practiced precision he lunged up the side, popped inside the cab and fired up the engine.
It lurched, growling to life. Black smoke poured out of the exhaust pipe, smothered immediately by the downpour, as Sexton drove quickly forward, jammed the brakes, turned a quick two-point turn and sped past Wolf and McBeth.
Bouncing hard over boulders, he went at a full clip toward the plant, at such alarming speed that he looked like he might ram it with the raising boom, the angle of the scoop changing at the same time so that the shiny metal teeth would bite clean through the dirt chute, killing everyone on board the other side with the force of the impact.
Oh God. What had he done? Wolf’s heart stopped.
But so did the loader.
Expertly, Sexton careened to a stop with the scoop on the loader mere inches from the metal façade, only a foot below the dangling body.
Sexton edged the boom up, placing the scoop under the spine board like a mother cradling her baby.
“Good?”
Wolf looked into the cabin of the loader and saw the single word had come from inside. Sexton was staring at Wolf for approval.
Wolf gestured up with his thumb, then showed a few inches with his other hand.
Instantly Sexton adjusted, and the boom raised. Sexton seemed to not need more coaxing at that point, because he turned his attention forward again and raised the boom in a slow continuous motion, capturing the entirety of the body into the upraised scoop.
“Let go of the ropes!” Wolf said.
Rachette and the other deputies dropped their ropes at their feet.
Sexton backed up, then came to a stop when one side remained stuck on the grate above.
“We have to cut that!” Sexton said, looking at Wolf again.
Wolf held up a finger and sprinted back toward the plant, this time skipping two steps at a time as he shot up the stairway.
“Wait!” McBeth called.
Wolf looked over his shoulder.
“I’ll drop the gate! Everyone get ready!”
“He’s dropping the gate again,” Wolf said as he reached the catwalk.
Lightning flashed, thunder clapping unnervingly close, and an even bigger explosion of sound came crashing down, rattling the machine and his brain inside his skull. Particles of rock and dirt joined the rain landing on them as the hydraulic gate slammed down with zero grace.
“Shit! What’s happening over there?” Patterson asked as Wolf squeezed past again.
“Everyone down! Now!” Wolf shouted as he climbed up the ladder.
He reached the top and scrambled onto the grate. He went to the edge and looked over into the scoop of the loader. Oakley’s body lay face up in the center of the scoop. One of the ropes lashed to the board was caught on a burr in one of the metal slats. He unsheathed his Leatherman multi-tool, flipped out the serrated blade and cut both ropes, dropping the line down onto the body.
The loader revved angrily, sounding like a semi-truck as it backed away. The boom came down, the scoop maintaining its angle relative to ground with practiced precision.
“What happened!” he heard from down below.
Wolf climbed to the other side. “Okay, we’re finished! I said get down! Get off this plant and into your vehicles now!”
Another lightning strike flashed somewhere in his peripheral vision, and Wolf decided to take his own advice. Keeping his four limbs attached to the rebar ladder at all times, he slowly climbed down to Rachette who waited for him on the catwalk, pointedly ignoring his earlier order as the others had already scrambled away.
“Let’s go!” Wolf said.
Wolf followed him to the steps, running into Rachette’s back as he came to a sudden halt.
A crowd had gathered in a tight circle below. In the middle lay Patterson. She gritted her teeth while her good hand clutched at her ankle.

Chapter 2
Wolf jumped down the last couple of steps. "Everybody back! Give her some air. What happened?"
"Somebody pushed me from behind," Patterson said. “Ah, shit. Right there. Right there. Yeah."
"I'm so sorry,” Deputy Nelson knelt next to her. “I was just trying...I slipped, and I slipped into her. Sorry, Patterson."
Rachette pulled Nelson back toward the group. "Back up, man, give her some space."
"Don't worry about it," Patterson said. “You didn’t mean it.” She let loose a stream of curse words through clenched teeth, her eyes screwed shut.
"Everybody back up,” Wolf said. “I want everyone to take shelter from this storm. Get in your cars, now."
Reluctantly, the crowd dissipated, all except Rachette. Another woman who had been kneeling next to Patterson and cradling her leg also remained. The hood on her SBCSD jacket covered her head and shielded her face, making it impossible to see who it was.
Wolf tapped her shoulder. "Deputy, thanks for your help, but I need you to get into your car."
"I'm a trained medic," she said.
"Join the club," Rachette said. “Let’s move!”
“What about here?” the woman said, prodding Patterson’s shin.
“Ahhhh, yeah. That hurts.”
“More than here?”
“No. Just as much. It all hurts.”
Rachette put his hands on his hips and gestured to the hooded figure in theatrical fashion.
"What’s your name?" Wolf asked, kneeling down on Patterson’s other side. He finally caught a glimpse of her face beneath the hood.
"Deputy Cain, sir. Dredge Satellite Unit."
Her eyes were large and dark brown, almost black, as if God had skipped the iris and gave her all pupil. She looked familiar, like he'd met her before, but…no. He would have definitely remembered meeting her, he decided.
“… to be careful.”
Wolf blinked, realizing she’d just said something and he’d missed it. “What?”
"I said she'll definitely need X-rays," she said.
"Right."
"Ah!” Patterson leaned her head back to the pouring rain. "What the hell? What’s happening to me!"
“You think it’s a fracture?” Rachette said. “What was your