“Gas levels are rising faster. We need to get the security team out.”
Jamie’s brows furrowed. Fuck. He’d almost forgotten about the gas. He held his hand up and called the men to his side. “Things are getting very dangerous. Any minute, we could have an explosion or a full structural collapse. I know some of you have family and loved ones. Don’t risk yours to save mine. Anyone who wants out, you’re free to leave now.” He met and held their gazes one by one. No one moved.
“No one will ever know,” he insisted. Still no one left. “All right then. Let’s do this. Colin and Evan, make sure the security guys leave the building. Then come back and be ready to get Chloe and Rickie out of the building.” He paused and everyone waited for him to continue. “And call for a back-up medic unit. We’re going to need it.” The sooner they could get Chloe to the hospital, the better. Rickie’s injuries weren’t life-threatening, but he’d feel better if she was seen by a doctor. Then there was Dani. God only knew how much of the gas she’d inhaled.
“Right on it, LJ,” Colin said as he and Evan headed for the stairwell.
Jamie stepped to the edge of the hole in the floor and looked down at the scene below. The steel I-beam that had nearly destroyed his family was clearly visible. Looking up, he pointed at an exposed area of the ceiling. “Get the rigging in place. One set for me and one set for the beam.”
“You should let one of us do it,” Gabe said.
He shook his head. “Nope. I have the most experience with rope rescues.”
They made quick work of anchoring the ropes on the beams and setting up the pulley systems. Within minutes, Jamie was strapped into a harness and holding onto the simple web sling they’d use to raise the I-beam. They only needed to lift it up a foot or two, just enough for the women to slip out from under the debris and get Chloe’s stretcher through. The quake had certainly disturbed things, so their path out might not be as easy as it had been going in. He only hoped they didn’t encounter any obstacles that required drilling. With the gas levels so high, it would be suicide to even attempt it.
Hollywood double-checked the threading of the climbing rope through the figure eight descender and its attachment to the carabiner on Jamie’s harness. Then he yanked on the ropes to test the strength of the anchor system while all the men held onto the ends of the ropes tug-of-war style. “Okay, LJ. Ready when you are.”
Leaving the relative safety of the floor behind, Jamie swung into the void and rappelled down one level, using his hands on the rope to control his rate of descent. Seconds later, his feet touched the ground. “Dani, I’m here. Make sure everyone is in a protected position.” When the I-beam lifted, the chances were very high that more shit would fall on them. “But be ready to move when I say go.”
“Understood, LJ.”
With light movements, he secured the sling around the beam and attached it to the master link at the end of the second rope. After double-checking the equipment, he alerted Hollywood. “Okay, lift it up. Smooth and steady.” He kept his hands on the beam to stabilize it as it angled upward, inch by agonizing inch. “Get ready, Dani. A little more, Hollywood.”
The large crossbeam they’d used as leverage for the sling creaked and groaned. Jamie jerked his head up, concerned. “Stop. Hollywood, get some binoculars. Check out the leverage pieces.”
A few rustlings and curses later, Hollywood said, “We’ve got trouble. The load is too high and the beam is bending.”
“How bad?”
“I’m seeing some edge cracks.”
What had he said earlier about his luck holding out? Yeah. He’d fucking jinxed himself. “Well, we can’t stop now.”
“But if it breaks—”
“I’m well aware. Keep going.” Under his hands, the I-beam pinning the women lifted another inch. “Dani? Everyone okay?”
“We’re getting some fallout, but nothing too bad.”
“Things might get rough, so try to move into position for exit.”
He heard some quiet whispers and shuffling. “Need two more inches at least,” Dani said.
“You got it.” As the beam rose, he added his support beneath it, guiding it with his hands. “Easy does it, Hollywood. Almost there.”
“That’s good, LJ,” Dani said. “We’re moving out.”
“Try to keep everyone calm and make sure Rickie gets her share of oxygen. Air’s real bad.”
“Will do. I’ll let you know once we’re clear.”
As he listened to their movements, he heard a sharp snap from above, along with the shouts of his team. “LJ, the cracks are getting larger.” Hollywood warned.
Without thought, Jamie moved under the beam, shoring it with his arms and shoulders. He pulled a knife from his belt, flipped it open and cut the ropes holding the beam. The last thing he needed was for the failing beam to fall on their heads. But the weight of the I-beam almost drove him to his knees. “Dani,” he panted, widening his stance. “By all that’s holy, run like the fucking wind and save my family.”
“LJ! What—?”
Hollywood saved him from answering. “Dani, the anchor was about to rupture, so he cut the ropes. Get everyone out of there. Fast.”
“Oh God.” She didn’t say any more to him, but Jamie heard her giving Rickie instructions.
He also heard Rickie’s soft cries. He’d forgotten she had a radio too. His throat felt like a garotte was wrapped around it, but he pushed the words out. He had to say goodbye. “Everything will be all right, Rickie. Just know that I love you and Chloe. I always have. I always will.”
“Jamie, no. Don’t—”
“It’s the only way, Rickie. Please just…” His voice broke and he stopped himself. This was not the time to be morbid. Don’t let our daughter forget me. Sucking the words and thoughts down, he walled them off in a secret corner of his heart. “Go. Get to safety.”
“Is Daddy going to be okay?” Chloe asked. Her lower lip trembled and her beautiful blue Caldwell eyes pleaded for a positive answer.
Swallowing her tears, Erica forced herself to offer her daughter a smile. They had to get out fast. Jamie wouldn’t be able to hold the beam up much longer. “Daddy’s the best at his job, sweetie. Remember that.” She nodded to Dani, who turned and began pulling the stretcher out of the void Chloe had been trapped in. Coco went ahead, sniffing out the easiest path.
Despite her injured foot, the cut in her thigh, and the tourniquet she’d had to improvise, they managed to get Chloe in the stretcher over the wall, using the ropes she and Dani had left behind on their way in. Fortunately, nothing blocked the hole Dani had drilled through the reinforced concrete either. Erica had a brief moment of despair when she saw that the two beams crossed in a V were now covered in a mountain of pipes, plaster, and wood. But Coco ran to the left and barked until they followed. The shifting caused by the aftershock had opened a different path, a much easier one with far fewer obstacles. Without pausing, they raced away from Jamie and the fallen I-beam.
Away from the man she loved.
After what felt like hours but was really only a few minutes, they exited where they’d entered and found two members of the team, Colin and Evan, waiting for them. The men each grabbed an end of the stretcher and ran the remaining distance to the stairs.
As soon as they entered the shelter of the stairwell, Dani instructed the men to tuck the stretcher along the wall and told Erica to hunker down. “We’re clear, LJ,” she said to Jamie over the radio.
Erica’s heart clenched as she realized what was about to happen. Ignoring Dani, she stood and peered out the door to where Jamie continued to single-handedly hold up the I-beam that had almost killed them all. God. How could he do it? Illuminated by strong spotlights from the fourth floor, she saw his muscles bulging. Sweat soaked his hair and dripped down over his mask.
He looked up and his gaze held hers. After a moment, he stepped back and let the beam fall. The entire building shook, the noise deafening. Her heart pounding, her mind reeling, she
watched in frozen disbelief as the floor caved and Jamie disappeared. Her knees gave out and she sank to the ground, screaming, “Jamie! Jamie, no!”
Her cries ripped through her throat, her entire body suddenly cold. This couldn’t be happening. Jamie was a survivor. The best at his job. It couldn’t end this way. Scrambling to her feet, she started running back the way she’d come. Maybe she could get to him. Maybe he was still alive.
Before she’d gone three yards, she was tackled from behind and fell face first on top of a broken desk.
“Erica, calm down,” Dani said. “You can’t go there.”
“But, Jamie—”
Dani turned Erica’s head and pointed. Out of the haze of dust and plaster, Jamie’s limp body rose out of the hole in the floor suspended from a rope. Joy filled her chest to overflowing. He was alive. Jamie was going to be okay. Only…
“Dani! What’s wrong with him?” He hung unmoving in the harness as his team pulled him up to the fourth floor.
When she turned to Dani, she saw the woman’s pale face and sad eyes. “Hollywood? How is he?” she asked into the radio.
Not waiting for an answer, Erica spun on her heel and ran back into the stairwell and pointed to the lower levels. “Get Chloe out of the building. Now,” she shouted to the men. Then she tore off in the opposite direction, bounding up the steps to the next floor as fast as she could with her bum leg. Colin tried to catch her, but she twisted and evaded his hold, bursting through the doors to the fourth floor.
No one was going to stop her. She needed to be with her husband.
Like a mad woman, she dashed through the dark rubble-ridden halls, her flashlight bobbing wildly. She hurdled mounds of broken office furniture, stumbled, tripped, and picked herself up again. Every obstacle fed her need to overcome, her need to be with Jamie.
After what felt like a marathon, she arrived panting and bleeding in the ruined common area, which now featured a gaping hole in the floor. Her legs weakened at the sight of the team hovering over Jamie’s prone body. She staggered forward, pushing through the men, and fell to her knees beside Hollywood, who was carefully disengaging Jamie’s harness. “Is he?” she asked in a whisper, unable to give voice to her worst fear.
Hollywood gave her a crooked smile as he removed Jamie’s mask. “I think his lordship just needs a kiss from his lady to wake him up.”
Dropping to the ground beside Jamie, she ripped off her own mask and took his hand. It was warm. His chest rose and fell in even beats. She leaned over, hugging him, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. “Thank God.” She kissed his lips. Wonderful soft lips that had haunted her nights for the last year. “Did you hear that, Jamie? You’re going to be fine. We’re all going to be fine.”
“Well, he’s going to have a pretty sore head for a few days, and he probably has a concussion. But yeah, he’ll live.”
Frowning, she rose up and touched the swelling on the side of Jamie’s head. His eyes popped open, and seeing her, he smiled. “Rickie.”
“How are you feeling?” she asked gently.
“Glad to be alive.”
“You got a nasty bump on your head. Why weren’t you wearing your helmet?”
He reached his hand up and tapped her head with his knuckles, grinning.
Hearing the thud, she remembered. He’d given her his helmet. He’d wanted her to be safe. “I’m so sorry, Jamie.”
“Shh… I did it because I wanted to. I’d give my life for yours.”
“You almost did.”
Hollywood coughed. “I hate to interrupt the reunion, but unless we get out of here ASAP, you still might.”
Jamie struggled to sit up. Erica quickly tucked her shoulder under his and helped him to his feet.
After helping her put her mask back on, he smiled down at her. “Let’s go see our daughter.”
CHAPTER 8
Jamie sat on a stretcher at the foot of Medic 11, enduring his younger brother Chad’s ministrations. He resisted and feigned annoyance like any older brother would do, but in reality, he was relieved to see Chad. Relieved to know his brother was safe. Chad had updated him on the rest of the family. William had been at his condo when the quake hit. That building, built to all the latest earthquake codes, had withstood the tremors without a single paint fleck. His parents and Victoria, Chad’s twin, were also fine. Their older house in Queen Anne had sustained some damage, but they’d taken shelter in the reinforced bathroom he’d insisted they build.
Simmons and his security team gathered around Aid 44, where Colin and Evan cleaned wounds and bandaged injuries. Several people clearly in need of medical attention broke away from the crowd gathered in City Hall Park, next to the Courthouse, and approached the ambulances.
It was going to be a very long night.
Jamie looked over at the stretcher beside his where Rickie watched anxiously as Chad’s partner, Liam, strapped Chloe’s leg into a temporary brace while she kept a tight hold on her mother’s hand. “How’s she doing?” he asked.
Liam smiled at Chloe. “Leg’s broken. But our little lass is taking it like her old man. She hasn’t complained once,” he said with a thick Irish brogue.
Chloe’s face scrunched up and she giggled. “You sound funny, like a leprechaun.”
Jamie slid off the stretcher and took her hand, winking. “Good thing he doesn’t look like one though.”
She studied Liam’s face, then Chad’s before nodding. “Good thing, ‘cause Uncle Chad doesn’t like leprechauns.”
Everyone laughed. Except Hollywood. What was up with that? Whatever. Jamie had too much on his mind to worry about his friend’s mood right now. He let go of Chloe’s hand and moved back, giving Liam space to work, but still close enough to keep a watchful eye on his daughter. Rickie came to stand beside him and he laid a hand on her shoulder. “How are you doing?”
She leaned into him a little and looked up, her lips curving. “A lot better than I thought I would be an hour ago.” Her smile fell and her bottom lip trembled. “I really thought we were all going to die.”
He ran the back of his index finger along her cheek. “We wouldn’t have all made it if you hadn’t stepped in. You’re one of the bravest women I’ve ever known.”
She turned in his arms and laid her head on his chest. “About that trip…”
It took him a moment to figure out what she was talking about. The trip he’d suggested earlier. The trip she’d shot down. “What about it?”
“I think we should go.”
“Sure. When Chloe’s healed up, we can celebrate and take her to Disneyland. She’ll love that.”
Her chin lifted and she met his gaze. “I was thinking of something a little more adult.”
Did she mean what he thought she meant? “Adult how?”
She ducked her head and tried to step out of his arms. He tightened his hold. No way was he letting her squirm out of this now. She’d started it, she was going to finish it. “I’ve got a concussion, Rickie. You’re going to have to spell it out for me.”
“I think we need some time alone. Like you said, some time to reconnect.”
“So you want to go away for the weekend, something like that?”
“I was thinking something more along the lines of a proper honeymoon. We never did have one.”
A honeymoon? Holy shit. Was she saying she wanted to get back together? His heart started hammering against his ribs and his breathing came in short huffs. Take it easy, man. Don’t scare her. “What would we do with Chloe?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
She toyed with the fabric of his T-shirt. “I thought your mom might like to have her over for a visit.”
Jamie stumbled and quickly covered it up by sitting on the bumper of the ambulance. “You sure you trust my mom to take care of Chloe while we’re gone? It’ll have to be at least a week.”
Her gaze roamed from Jamie, to Drew and Chad. “I figure if she could cope with all you Caldwell boys, she can deal with Chloe.”
Was he imagining all of this? If he was, he prayed never to wake up. But if this was real, then he had to clear up a few things. He’d made a lot of mistakes both in what he’d done and in what’d he’d accepted. He wasn’t going to make the same mistakes again. He took her hand and pulled her down beside him. “If this is going to work, a few things need to change.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed. “Like what?”
“Like I don’t want to be an absentee father anymore. I want—no, I need—to be a part of Chloe’s everyday life. A part of yours.”
“I want that too.”
“And you’ll tell me if something I do bothers you?”
“Yes, and I’ll expect you to do the same.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss. As soon as her lips touched his, he knew he was in trouble. Love and lust surged through his veins, and he hardened almost to the point of pain. Christ, he wanted this woman. He wanted his wife. And after a long year of celibacy, he was finally going to have her. But not until they got home. Reluctantly, he softened the kiss and drew back. “Where do you want to go?”
“Go?”
Eyes glazed with arousal stared back at him. He grinned. “For our honeymoon.”
“I don’t much care.” She smiled. “But no extreme adventure vacation please. I’ve had enough of that to last me a lifetime.”
He tucked a loose strand of hair around her ear. “Come on. I’m sure you have some ideas.” Rickie never proposed anything without having a clear idea of exactly what she wanted to do.
“Well, I’ve always wanted to visit London. I’ve already checked out all the tourist attractions.”
He couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of his chest. Rickie would change, but it would be a long road. “I bet you have an itinerary already planned.”
A blush colored her cheeks. “Seven fun-filled days.”
Unable to resist the show of vulnerability, he pressed his lips to hers once again. His hand slid into her hair and he held her neck, loving how she let him control the kiss. Christ, he’d missed her. Pulling back, he chuckled. “Seven fun-filled days in London sounds like an expedition to me. Remember how we talked about visiting Hawaii after Chloe was born?”
Aftershocks (Six-Alarm Sexy) Page 8