Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“I wouldn’t take the cover off the well,” she said in answer.
“How much are you bleeding?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
“Not a lot, I think,” she said, her voice strained. “I can’t really tell.”
“Okay, we’ll see when we get you out.” Leaves crackled close by. A branch snapped, and Hawk was there, leaning over the side of the well, the climbing rope from my SUV slung over his shoulder.
Straightening, he began to tie a slipknot at the end, creating a wide loop. He leaned over the edge of the well. “Avery, see if you can get this over your head.”
She let go of my belt, and I pulled it up, watching as she ducked her head to catch it in the loop and worked it over her shoulders. “That’s it, Avery,” I said, tossing my belt behind me. “Now get an arm through the loop. Both, if you can.”
My racing heart calmed a fraction when her bloody arm cleared the loop along with the other, and Hawk tugged the rope tight around her chest. Standing, I grabbed the rope beside Hawk. “Drop your feet from the wall, Ave. We’re going to pull you up.”
She shifted, her feet slipping, a short scream escaping as she dropped a foot, almost out of sight in the dark below. The rope jerked in our hands, my feet skidding in the dirt. I hauled back, stopping her fall. “We have you,” I promised, and pulled with everything I had.
We walked back, step by step, dragging Avery up until she hit the edge. Hawk braced his feet. “Pull her up,” he grunted.
I let go of the rope, waiting a second to make sure Hawk had Avery’s weight, and moved to the side of the well, hooking my hands under her arms and lifting her clear. I stood there, Avery in my arms, solid ground under our feet, rocking her back and forth, breathing in the scent of her hair, feeling her heart pound against me. “I’ve got you,” I whispered, over and over. “I’ve got you.”
From my left, Hawk said, “That arm’s still bleeding. You need to get her to the hospital.”
I eased back, turning Avery to look at her arm. The sleeve of her shirt was torn in a jagged line, exposing a bloody gouge in her bicep. “He grazed you,” I said to Avery. “Any other injuries?”
She shivered and shook her head. Her eyes shot to the deer path leading back to the vehicles. “Cole?”
“Haywood’s secured,” Hawk answered. ”He’s not going anywhere.”
“He still breathing?” I asked. There was a pause before Hawk replied.
“Mostly.”
“Good enough for me,” I said.
Avery might be able to handle the walk back to the SUV, but she was shaky and pale. Blood loss or shock? I didn’t know. “Hold still.” I lifted her into my arms. We’d move faster this way, and after the last hour, I needed her close, next to my heart. She rested her head on my shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut.
I followed Hawk back down the trail, the distance so much shorter now that we knew where we were going. The clearing appeared, with Haywood’s sedan and my SUV exactly where we’d left them. Hawk turned as we reached the SUV, handing me his keys.
“I’m right behind you,” he said. “You take Avery to the ER, and I’ll deliver Haywood to the station.”
“I’ll let them know you’re on the way,” I agreed, taking his keys. If I were doing everything by the book, it should have been the other way around, with me handling the prisoner and Hawk taking Avery to the hospital, but now that I had Avery back, there was no way in hell I was letting her go.
She was alert as I set her on her feet beside the door of Hawk’s oversized black SUV, but still squinting, shielding her eyes from the rays of light that penetrated the canopy of leaves above.
“Everything’s going to be okay now,” I said. “We’ve got Haywood, and I’ve got you.”
Avery leaned into me. “I knew you’d find me. I just had to buy enough time, and you’d find me.”
“I’ll always find you,” I said, helping her into the passenger seat and buckling her seatbelt. “No matter what. Always.”
Epilogue
AVERY
Iwoke gradually to an odd combination of absolute comfort and sharp, nagging pain. The pain was isolated to my left bicep. The comfort was everything else—West, solid beside me, his long, slow breaths like the waves of the ocean, and his strong arm curled around my back.
“Arm wake you up?” he said into the quiet.
“Maybe.” I ran a hand down his side, fingers tracing the muscle under soft skin, the rough texture of hair on his chest and his upper thigh—and decided to take advantage.
Before I could, West rolled, pinning me to the mattress, careful not to jostle my arm. “Exactly where I want you.” He paused, cupping my chin as he looked down at me, his dark eyes serious. “How much does it hurt? Do you need another pill?”