Kisses at Sunset

by Sarah Morgan

  Ally knew that in this weather the skill of the dogs in tracking a missing person was crucial.

  ‘I’ll meet you at Dungeon Ghyll in twenty minutes.’

  ‘Fine. Sean can give you a lift.’

  Ally swallowed. ‘Is he coming, too?’

  ‘Too right.’ Jack gave a short laugh. ‘He’s got skills we might need.’

  She bowed to the inevitable and was ready and dressed in all her gear when a knock came fifteen minutes later.

  Quickly she let her mother in and gave Sean, who was with her, a brief nod before making for his car.

  He drove as quickly as was safe on the gritted roads, but already the snow was falling heavily, swirling into the headlights and reducing visibility.

  ‘I should have guessed.’ Ally stared into the darkness, her face strained. ‘I should have guessed he might do something like this.’

  Sean cursed as the car slewed across the road, turning into the skid and regaining control with admirable skill.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not clairvoyant.’ His eyes were fixed on the road, his face a mask of concentration as he battled with the awful driving conditions.

  ‘But I suspected he was depressed.’ Ally sighed and fastened her blonde hair securely, before tugging a woolly hat over her head.

  Sean frowned and slowed down as they approached a junction, even though there was no traffic on the roads.

  ‘Forget it, Ally. You’re not responsible.’

  Ally stared at his hard profile. ‘He’ll die of hypothermia if we don’t get to him soon.’

  Sean’s mouth tightened and he eased the car up a gear. ‘Well, then, let’s hope we do.’

  He pulled in to the car park and yanked on the handbrake, his breathing unsteady as he stared straight ahead. ‘Ally, I want you to wait here.’

  Ally glanced at him in surprise. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The weather’s filthy.’ Sean turned to look at her and she saw the lines of strain around his dark eyes. ‘I don’t want you out there on a night like this.’

  Her heart stumbled. He must care about her—surely, he must—then her shoulders sagged slightly and she pulled herself together. Of course he didn’t. He’d made that clear enough already. He was just too much of an original male chauvinist to recognise that she was capable of being part of the rescue team.

  ‘He’s my patient, Sean,’ she said quietly. ‘I have to go.’

  She reached for the doorhandle but his hand closed over hers, his fingers biting into her flesh.

  ‘Dammit, no, Ally!’ His voice was urgent and there was a flash of something that looked like panic in his eyes. ‘I’m asking you not to. It isn’t safe.’

  Ally gave him a wry smile. ‘Wasn’t this where we came in?’

  He stared at her for a moment and his mouth twisted. ‘I suppose it was.’

  ‘You admitted you were wrong last time.’

  ‘Only under duress—because you called me a chauvinist.’ He shook his head and sat back in his seat, his eyes bleak and strained. ‘I’ll never be comfortable with you roaming the mountains on your own.’

  ‘Because I’m a woman?’

  His eyes held hers for a long moment and he shook his head. ‘No. Not just because of that.’

  Her heart thumped. ‘Why, then?’

  He opened his mouth and closed it again, rubbing his temples with long fingers. ‘Oh, hell! I don’t know. I don’t know what I think any more. I just know I can’t let you do it.’

  ‘Why not, Sean?’ Her voice was urgent and her eyes begged him to say it. To say that he didn’t want her to go because he cared about her. Loved her.

  ‘Dammit, Ally!’ He swallowed, emotions chasing each other across his hard, male features. Then he took a deep breath and his eyes searched hers. ‘You know how hard this is for me—’

  The door of the car was wrenched open and Jack stood there.

  ‘Are you two going to sit in here gossiping all night or are you coming?’

  Brilliant! Full marks for timing. Ally gritted her teeth and managed to smile at Jack—just.

  ‘We’re coming. What’s the plan?’ Tearing her eyes away from Sean, Ally swung her legs out of the car and shivered as the freezing air folded itself around her.

  Jack gathered the whole team together for a final briefing and Ally tried to concentrate on what was being said and not on the fact that Sean was standing conspicuously close to her.

  As they set off up the mountain she glanced at him questioningly. ‘Are you going to hold my hand all the way up in case I trip?’

  He didn’t laugh, his features strained and taut. ‘If I could stop you going I would.’

  ‘I’ll be fine, Sean.’

  ‘Too right you will—’ his voice was a low growl ‘—because you’ll have me breathing down your neck.’

  The thought warmed her insides and for a brief moment she allowed herself the luxury of pretending it was because he really cared. Gazing at those powerful shoulders, she felt her heart flip and a lump form in her throat. She loved him so much. For a brief moment her hand covered their baby. He saw the gesture, his eyes lifting to hers.

  Then the moment passed and they were tramping up the mountain at a steady pace behind the rest of the mountain rescue team in search of Geoff Thompson, their torches cutting through the darkness and the swirling snow.

  * * *

  It was Red, Lucy’s search dog, that found Geoff nearly three hours later when they’d almost given up hope. Barking to indicate what she’d found, the dog stood stock still, waiting for the rest of the team to join her and her handler.

  ‘He’s down on that ledge.’ Lucy shone her torch down the side of a gully onto a lump perched on a narrow ledge above a sheer drop.

  ‘Oh, great!’ Jack brushed snow out of his eyes and breathed out heavily. ‘Well, now we’ve got a problem. That ledge is too bloody narrow to take a chicken, let alone one of us. OK, let’s think this one through.’

  They argued the options for a few minutes and then one of the team hurried over, his face anxious.

  ‘We’ve managed to talk to him, but he’s threatening to jump if we try and rescue him. He says he just wants to be left to die.’

  Jack closed his eyes and muttered something unprintable. ‘Oh, great. This I really need. Right, then, we need the doc.’

  ‘I’m here.’ Ally slipped off her rucksack and huddled deeper inside her coat. It was freezing. The darkness and bitter cold seemed to seep inside even the most sophisticated outdoor clothing. They had to get Geoff down the mountain fast or he’d die of hypothermia.

  ‘Go with Ted and see if you can talk some sense into him,’ Jack ordered, flashing his torch at the equipment officer. ‘We’ll prepare for the worst.’

  Ally frowned. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Some poor sod having to rope up and go over the edge to save him,’ Jack said wryly, walking over to consult with his team.

  Ally moved as close to the edge as was safe and called down, her words muffled by the falling snow. ‘Geoff—it’s me, Dr McGuire.’

  For a moment there was no answer and she thought he couldn’t have heard her, but just as she opened her mouth to shout again she heard his voice.

  ‘I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to talk to anyone.’

  ‘Geoff, please!’ Ally lay down and wriggled closer to the edge. ‘I just want to help.’

  ‘No one can help.’

  ‘For goodness’ sake, someone get a rope on the woman before that cornice gives way!’ Jack’s voice drifted through the darkness and Ally shifted to allow them to secure a rope to her waist, her mind on Geoff rather than her own safety.

  She thought fast, choosing her words carefully. ‘Geoff—this isn’t the way. Think of Mary!’

  ‘I am thinking of Mary—that’s why I’m doing this. She’d be better off without me.’

  ‘That’s not true.’ Ally shivered slightly and wondered what state Geoff was in. If she was this cold then he
must be freezing. ‘She loves you so much.’

  ‘Well, I don’t deserve it.’ Geoff huddled down, his outline barely visible in the darkness. ‘Nothing I do ever turns out right. Look at me now! I tried to throw myself off the edge but I got caught on this stupid rock.’

  Ally exchanged a look with Jack. ‘Are you hurt, Geoff?’

  ‘I don’t care if I am!’

  ‘Well, I care. I care a lot. I blame myself for this.’

  There was a long silence. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

  ‘I should have seen how depressed you were.’ Ally raised her voice above the wind. ‘If you fall off that ledge, Geoff, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid!’ Geoff’s words were barely audible.

  ‘Let one of the boys come down and get you off there.’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Geoff, please!’

  ‘I’ll jump—I swear I’ll jump.’

  Ally closed her eyes and tried again. ‘Me, then. Will you let me come down and talk? I know I can help you, Geoff, if you’ll let me.’

  There was another silence. ‘OK. You. But no one else.’

  ‘No!’ Sean’s voice was hoarse. ‘Dammit, Jack, you can’t let her go down there. It’s too dangerous.’

  Jack thought for a moment, indecision written clearly on his craggy features. Then he shrugged, his mind made up. ‘I’ve got no choice, mate. She knows what she’s doing and we’ll have a tight hold on her.’

  ‘No way!’ Sean’s eyes were black and furious and he stepped towards Jack menacingly. ‘She’s not going down there—’

  ‘Oh, yes, I am.’ Ally was already standing still while they fixed a harness around her hips and secured a rope.

  ‘Now, you listen to me, girl!’ Jack’s jaw was rigid. ‘You climb down and you assess him and you talk. You don’t unclip the rope at any stage. You don’t do anything heroic. Do you understand me?’

  Ally nodded. ‘Yes, but—’

  Jack shook his head. ‘No. No buts at all on this one. You don’t unclip your own rope. We’ll drop a spare rope for him and you can use that. Clear?’

  ‘Yes, boss.’ Ally gave a wry grin and moved towards the edge, but Sean grabbed her, his fingers closing like a vice on her arm.

  ‘I’ll go instead.’

  ‘Don’t be daft! You heard the man. He’ll jump if you go.’ Jack put a hand on Sean’s arm and pulled him back, his voice gruff. ‘You’re not being rational, Sean. Think, man. Think.’

  Sean stared at him for a long moment, his jaw tense, and then his eyes swivelled to Ally who was poised ready to go over the side.

  ‘Right. Well, in that case, I want her roped to me.’ He strode over to her, his eyes fierce. ‘You do everything I say when I say it—do you hear me?’

  She nodded mutely, wondering why she wasn’t arguing with him. Despite the fact that her harness had been securely fitted and checked by one of the team, Sean checked it again, running his fingers along it and tugging until he gave a grunt of satisfaction. ‘If he jumps, you let him go. Do you hear me?’

  She stared at him. ‘But—’

  ‘Dammit, Ally, do you hear me?’ He shook her slightly, his voice a deep growl of frustration. ‘No heroics.’

  ‘OK.’ She nodded and wiped the snow out of her eyes. Aware of Jack standing slightly to one side, watching them both, she waited quietly while they checked and rechecked and made the final preparations. Geoff had gone over the side of a deep gully but the jagged, rocky sides made it unsuitable for abseiling. She was going to have to scramble down to him and join him on the ledge. Squinting down into the snowy darkness, she felt a moment of panic. Was there even room for two people on that ledge?

  Taking a deep breath, she walked gingerly towards the edge and went over the side, using her hands and feet to feel for a way down, relying on Sean who was shouting instructions from above her.

  It felt like for ever but finally her feet found the ledge and she flattened herself against the side of the gully to try and protect herself from the elements. The wind was rising, and without doubt the ledge was the most exposed place she’d ever been in her life.

  ‘Geoff?’

  He was huddled next to her, and with the light from the torch on her helmet she registered that there was no room for manoeuvre at all. The ledge was just too narrow. How on earth had he managed to fall onto it? By rights he should have been lying in a mangled heap at the bottom of the mountain.

  ‘Geoff?’ Was he unconscious? Certainly he wasn’t moving at all, and gingerly she crouched down next to him, feeling a rush of relief when he lifted his head, his ravaged features visible by her torchlight.

  ‘Leave me alone. I don’t know why you’re risking your neck for me. You should have just let me die.’

  ‘You’re not going to die, Geoff.’ Ally was finding it almost impossible to manoeuvre on the ledge with a rope attached to her waist, but she knew better than to risk removing it. ‘First things first. Are you hurt anywhere?’

  Geoff was silent for a moment then he shifted with a grunt. ‘My ankle. I can’t stand on it.’

  ‘Right.’ Ally slipped her gloved fingers into a handhold as the wind gusted against them. ‘Well, let’s get you to safety and then look at it. Will you let me put a harness on you?’

  ‘No!’ Geoff straightened and winced as his injured ankle took his weight. ‘Dammit, I don’t want to be rescued.’

  ‘Geoff, nothing is ever this bad!’ She was yelling now, her voice deadened by the wind. ‘We can make it better. You’ve already beaten the alcohol.’

  ‘Mary’s better off without me.’

  Ally thought for a moment and decided to use a different tack. ‘Geoff Thompson, don’t you dare pretend you care about Mary!’

  He stared at her, bemused. ‘Of course I care about Mary. That’s why I’m doing this—so she doesn’t have to be shackled to a loser any more.’

  ‘If you cared about Mary you’d be thinking of her now. How do you think she feels, Geoff? She’s been worried sick about you since you disappeared without letting anyone know where you were going. Then she gets a report that you’ve been sighted up here.’ Ally flinched as the wind buffeted her against the rock, bruising her arm. ‘She thinks you’re already dead, Geoff, and she’s beside herself. She adores you and she blames herself for not helping you.’

  Geoff stared at her, his face anguished. ‘She did help me. It wasn’t her fault—’

  ‘Well, she thinks it is!’ Ally knew she was being brutal but gentle kindness hadn’t worked at all. ‘If you die now you’ll be leaving Mary with a lifetime of grief and guilt. Is that what you want?’

  Geoff shook his head slowly and groaned. ‘No, it isn’t. Of course it isn’t what I want.’

  ‘Then let me get you up this rockface to safety and then we can sort the whole thing out.’

  He stared at her and then sagged, all the fight gone. ‘All right. All right.’

  Ally felt a rush of relief and fumbled with the spare harness on her waist. Unclipping it, she stepped towards Geoff, helping him into it and clipping it into place, checking it was secure before attaching the spare rope and yelling up to Jack.

  ‘He’s roped up. We need help to get him up—he’s fractured his ankle.’

  Jack’s words were lost in the howling of wind that followed, and with a cry of alarm Ally lost her footing and went over the edge. Supported by the rope, she swung like a pendulum against the rockface and then the world went black.

  * * *

  ‘Ally? Ally, for God’s sake!’ The voice was male, urgent and very, very familiar.

  Feeling as though an elephant were sitting on her eyelids, she opened her eyes briefly and closed them again as pain ripped through her head.

  ‘She’s awake, thank God!’ That was Jack’s voice, unusually strained. ‘OK, let’s get her off this mountain.’

  ‘We’re not moving her until I’ve checked her thoroughly.’

  This time Ally’s eyes fle
w open and clashed with Sean’s.

  ‘Tell me your name.’ His voice was like a pistol crack and she blinked slowly.

  ‘Minnie Mouse.’ Her poor attempt at a joke fell on stony ground and he muttered under his breath.

  ‘Ally, don’t do this to me!’

  Her smiled faltered as she saw the anguish in his dark eyes. He seemed to be hanging onto control by a thread.

  ‘Sean, I’m OK. Really.’ She saw the stubborn look on his face and sighed. ‘OK, my name’s Ally McGuire, I’m twenty-eight, I have a little girl called Charlie and—’

  He frowned as he checked her pupillary reaction. ‘And what?’

  She swallowed. ‘And I’m pregnant. Oh, Sean, what if I lose the baby?’

  His jaw tensed. ‘You won’t lose it.’

  ‘What’s she worried about?’ Jack came closer and frowned at them.

  Sean opened his mouth but Ally shook her head. ‘No! Nothing, Jack. How’s Geoff?’

  ‘Fine, thanks to you.’ Jack waited for Sean to finish examining her and then secured her to the stretcher. ‘Broken ankle and severe depression, but both those should heal with time. Lucy’s with him. Do you want to supervise what they do with him, Sean?’

  ‘No.’ Sean shook his head, his eyes on Ally. ‘I’m staying here.’

  ‘But I’ll…’ Jack glanced at the lines of tension on his face and nodded slowly. ‘On second thoughts, don’t worry about it. I’ll sort Geoff out. No problem.’

  Ally watched Sean as he gave instructions to the rest of the mountain rescue team, tears suddenly clogging in her throat. She loved him so much. He was so strong and dependable and yet such a large part of him was locked away. And she didn’t have the key.

  ‘Are you in pain?’ In seconds Sean was crouched down beside her, his eyes searching hers.

  ‘No.’ She closed her eyes but tears carried on seeping out from under her lashes. ‘No, I’m fine.’

  ‘Ally, for God’s sake, talk to me!’ Sean cupped her face with his hands and forced her to look at him. ‘Why are you crying? Are you hurt?’

  Yes. But not from her fall. She stared up at him. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Sorry?’ He frowned. ‘Sorry for what?’

  ‘For getting pregnant. I wasn’t trying to trap you.’