A flash went off to their right. Marcus blinked rapidly as he twisted to face the culprits. Ted and his cohort with the camera smiled politely, but their focus was on Becki and not the team, and all sorts of warning signals went off inside.
“There you are.” Devon stepped forward, strategically plopping himself directly in front of Alisha and Erin. “We were talking about you. We thought a photo shoot by the windows would work if you’d like to wait until after Alisha’s spoken.”
“Sounds great,” Ted agreed. “First, I wanted to get a few general questions answered.”
Marcus squeezed Becki’s fingers where they lay on his arm. He backed up, doing the same as Devon and blocking Ted from a clear shot at the ladies. “We’ll leave you to them, then.”
He turned and tucked an arm around Becki. Trying to make their departure look less like fleeing and more like a casual need to get somewhere else.
Ted didn’t let them take more than a few steps before raising his voice loud enough to be overheard by the partygoers standing nearby. “Before you go, Becki, did you have anything you wanted to share regarding your accident?”
Goddamn reporters. Marcus was going to rip his head off. Becki pulled to a stop, patting Marcus’s arm soothingly. “Don’t worry, it’s not an issue.”
She smiled at the curious onlookers as she turned, facing Ted with a slight shake of her head. “Actually, no. I think you can find everything on file you need. If you don’t mind . . .”
“I meant regarding the new developments,” Ted interrupted. “Will you be going back to Yellowstone for the funeral now that they found your partner’s body?”
It wasn’t a gasp that escaped Becki, more like a total and complete cessation of breathing altogether. Marcus caught his arm around her as she wavered. Questions and confusion rose on the air as the news spread rapidly, as those who hadn’t been aware of Becki’s presence caught hold of the word and turned to see what was going on.
“Ted, not here—” Marcus’s attempt to slow down the train was destroyed by the very insistent man.
“I have the news report from the team that found him earlier today. Seems there’re some irregularities. Have you been contacted yet by the state police to find out if you can help answer their questions?”
“What irregularities? Where did you get this information?” Becki had Marcus’s hand in a tight grip, but she was moving now, stepping across the room to Ted’s side. Another flash went off, and Becki glared at the cameraman. “Call off your hound and let’s go somewhere private to finish this.”
Marcus tugged her back. “Don’t talk to him. We can go. We can make the calls ourselves to find out what the ass is up to.”
She pressed her lips close to his ear and whispered rapidly, “But if we get him out of the room, he can’t continue to mess up David’s event.”
He didn’t give a damn about the fund-raiser right then. All his energies were aimed in one direction—getting Ted away from Becki as soon as possible. “Let’s take this outside, Ted.”
Ted lifted his hands in protest, then pointed toward where the Lifeline crew had all risen to their feet, standing at attention. “Just wanted to get a reaction from the team as well. Since Becki’s been training them.” Ted checked a paper he pulled from his pocket. “How do you feel learning that Dane’s safety line appears to have been cut?”
CHAPTER 26
She’d gone numb. There was a faint ringing in her ears but beyond that, nothing.
Becki leaned her forehead against the window of Marcus’s truck and stared at the lights flashing by, the water on the streets reflecting the streetlamps and creating a far too beautiful setting compared to the pain rippling inside.
Dane.
A soft touch landed on her shoulder as they paused at an intersection. Marcus squeezed her briefly before taking the wheel again. “We’ll make some calls. Find out what happened.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“I should have shoved that damn reporter’s notebook up his ass the first time I met him,” Marcus growled lightly as the truck moved forward. The slick of water being spun from under the tires and the windshield wipers stroking back and forth merged into a rhythm and gave her something to cling to.
She wanted to smile, to tease back that she figured Ted was plenty afraid of Marcus now, after he’d hauled the man from the room and given him hell.
She couldn’t. All that consumed her were images that stacked and fell apart, never creating the correct picture, teasing her with their incomplete story.
They’d found Dane’s body. That alone would have been enough to give her pause. She might have shuddered briefly to a stop but made herself keep moving because that was what you did. People died on the mountain, and you kept on. She’d mourned Dane, stopped asking why, and over the past couple of months slowly accepted that she might never know the truth.
Hearing how they’d found him had been blunt and definitely announced to be hurtful.
Dane’s safety line had been cut.
And now, the questions were all out there again. What had happened? Why couldn’t she remember?
Oh God, had she done the unthinkable?
They stopped and she sat there, unable to move. All the while as Marcus guided her into the house and slipped her into a chair by the fire, she was only borderline aware of what was happening. She closed her eyes to shut out the pain, but it refused to leave her alone, haunting her.
“Becki.” Marcus’s voice cut through, but she didn’t want to answer. What would he do? What would he think? Opening her eyes, would she discover that he had a look of sympathy on his face, or distrust, or . . . ?
She wasn’t sure what emotion she expected from him, or which would be the worst.
Dane’s rope had been cut. The one that had held the two of them together.
“Becki—you’re in shock. I’m going to get you warmed up, and then we’ll talk.”
He undressed her—when had they gone to his room?—and helped her into sweatpants and one of his oversized sweaters. Something sweet and warm passed her lips, and she swallowed instinctively.
Tea. Marcus’s magical blend.
Then she was nestled against a strong chest and being held. Protected. The phone rang and they ignored it, Marcus stroking her hair as she clung to him, holding on tight.
“Should we answer?” she asked, choking out the question through a tight throat.
“Tomorrow is soon enough. David and the team know how to reach me if there’s a real emergency. This call isn’t important.”
“I’m not going to fall apart. I’m not,” Becki insisted, knowing even as she said the words they would seem ridiculous.
“You’re going to be fine,” Marcus agreed. “But you don’t have to hide anything from me. Don’t have to be strong 24/7. I won’t judge.”
“God, I wish I could remember.”
“You will,” he reassured her. “When you’re ready. In the meantime, whatever you need, take.”
She didn’t know what she needed. To scream her frustrations at having huge, vital gaps in her past? To punch and hit Ted for deliberately choosing the worst possible time and place? Part of her was even tempted to curl into a ball and pretend none of it had happened. Not the news announcement that night, not the accident eight months ago. Never learned to climb, never left the farm . . .
A sense of the ridiculousness of that last thought struck her, and a snort of derision escaped. Okay, maybe not that far back.
A wave of mental exhaustion was settling in and turning everything darker than it should be. The one thing she was sure of in the middle of all the other doubts was that she trusted Marcus.