Tremors

“I can’t…” She shook her head to emphasize her words. No way could she crawl into that hole.

He took her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “It’s the only way, babe. It might be nothing but a dead end, but we can’t just stand here and wait for the inevitable. I’ll go first.”

For three beats she could only stare into those dark eyes. His face was dusty and grimy, as were his clothes. He looked nothing like the spit-and-polish, suave guy who had a reputation with the ladies. She had a sudden, nearly overwhelming urge to laugh. Hysteria. She knew the symptoms. As funny and out of character as he looked, he was dead serious.

She forced her head in an up-and-down motion. “Okay.”

He knew what he was doing. This wasn’t her area of expertise. If he thought they needed to crawl under the rocks, then by God, she’d follow him into that hole.

He was, after all, that kind of hero.

Again, she had to stifle the urge to laugh. Hysteria had taken root. Focus, she ordered her dizzy brain. She had to do just what he told her…she had to keep it together. Had to listen carefully to his instructions.

JOE SQUEEZED through the opening to the tunnel, tilting his shoulders at odd angles to manage the feat. Lisa stayed right behind him. She was scared. The fear in those blue eyes had been palpable. He’d wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be all right, but there was no time for that. Every second they stayed in this garage pushed them closer to the edge of no return.

If this passage turned out to be a dead end…well, he’d just deal with it.

He stalled at the next turn. Damn, the pathway narrowed here. Maybe he should have let Lisa go first. She was tiny enough to slip through without much effort. He still couldn’t be sure that this would take them where they needed to go. But he was banking on the light. The tunnel would be pitch-dark if the other end was closed.

The dim light gave him hope. He prayed it would be enough.

Grunting with the brutal effort it took, Joe twisted sideways and forced his big body through the passage-way. Thankfully, the end of the tunnel seemed just beyond this turn. The light was much brighter there. Good sign.

They’d almost made it.

Thank God.

He almost shouted with relief when he reached the narrow exit. A short scramble over the rocks and they’d be out of this hole.

“Give me your hand.” He reached for Lisa, and the two of them climbed up and out of the makeshift passage. “You okay?”

She nodded stiffly. Her clothes were covered in dust, but he saw no sign of injury. No blood.

They were close now.

The location of the stairwell and elevator shaft was only a few feet away. They wouldn’t be able to use either of those routes, of course, but he’d figure out something. The knots of tension in his gut tightened, ratcheting up his anxiety. They had to get out of here. Right now. Every instinct was screaming a warning at him.

Joe zigzagged his way through the fallen rubble until he reached the far half wall on the outside of the garage. Relief surged through him as he stared down into a narrow opening next to where the stairwell had once stood. He could actually see all the way to the ground below.

He reached over his shoulder and retrieved his rappelling line. “Spike, O’Shea, you still with me?”

O’Shea’s relieved voice came across the communications link. He quickly related their approximate location and the intended egress. The team would assemble on the ground below in case he needed assistance. Getting Lisa out of here was top priority.

He eased back from the wall and turned to her. She looked terrified. “I’m going to lower you down to Shannon.” Maybe it would comfort Lisa to know her friend waited below. He glanced back outside and saw that O’Shea, along with four others, were ready and waiting to assist.

“What about you?”

The uncertainty that glittered in her eyes almost undid him. Why did she care? He knew he’d hurt her when he’d backed off their…relationship. And yet she still cared what happened to him.

Basic human compassion, he told himself.

Nothing more. She’d likely gotten over him already. She took in stray dogs and cats all the time with every bit as much compassion. Her concern for him was nothing outside the norm for Lisa Malloy. Nothing he wouldn’t expect…and yet it touched him somehow.

“I’ll climb down as soon as you’re on the ground,” he explained.

She blinked rapidly, a frown drawing her sweet face into a scowl. “But how will you—”

He snaked the line around her waist. “Don’t worry about me, babe. I know what I’m doing.” He gave her a few quick instructions on how to pull the line down around her hips and then how to hold on so she didn’t slip. She paid close attention though he sensed that his every touch disturbed her almost as much as their current predicament. He imagined that she didn’t feel comfortable being touched by him since he’d walked away so easily from what they’d shared.

If she only knew.

Easy had not been the way of it.

She stepped into the narrow opening that would take her to freedom as he tugged on his gloves.

“Now, swing your legs over the edge of the wall and I’ll lower you down,” he said as casually as if she did this sort of thing every day.

Her gaze locked with his. “You…you won’t drop me?”

It took all his strength not to kiss the hell out of her. That pouty bottom lip trembled, tempting him almost beyond endurance.

“Not a chance.”

She nodded, then did as he’d instructed.

He heard her gasp as she dropped free of the shelf the remaining wall formed, but he had her. Slowly, but surely, he lowered her through the narrow crevasse to safety. Cheers went up as O’Shea tugged the line free from Lisa and gave Joe a nod. As he hoisted up the line, he watched the two women embrace and couldn’t help feeling a little jealous that it wasn’t him holding Lisa like that.

“Idiot,” he muttered. He’d had his chance. He’d walked away. He couldn’t go down that road with her or anyone else. Staying single was the right thing to do. No matter how wrong it felt at the moment.

LISA WATCHED as Joe rappelled downward as easily as he would walk across a room. When his feet touched the ground, the whole squad flocked to him, thankful their leader had survived.

As she stared up at the collapsed parking garage that she had used so many times, Lisa swallowed hard. It just didn’t seem possible that a building could crumble like that. As if it were made of sand and fragile sticks rather than concrete and steel. But it had.

She closed her eyes and thanked God yet again that she and Joe had made it out safely. It was an absolute miracle that neither of them had been killed.

A wave of dizziness washed over her and she swayed on her feet.

Strong arms went immediately around her. “Whoa.” Joe’s deep, husky voice rumbled in her ear.

“I’m okay,” she assured him as she pulled free of his embrace. “Really.”

He didn’t look convinced.

Shannon started to say something and Joe cut her a look. “Take it from here, O’Shea, I need to run Ms. Malloy by the hospital to be checked out.”

Lisa looked from Joe to Shannon and back. “I’m fine.”

Shannon seemed a little taken aback but didn’t buck her captain’s orders. “Yes, sir, Captain Ripani,” she said sharply, and did an about-face without a word to Lisa.