He shook his head. “I don’t want you rescuing me. I will choose where I die. And it won’t be in some hospital bed after months or years of not really living.”
Oh my God. A flash of understanding hit too late. Becki reached for him to drag him to safety, but he shoved her back violently. She staggered away, fighting to keep her balance.
Dane turned and stepped off the cliff.
Becki screamed.
The world went dark.
CHAPTER 36
Marcus had one rope halfway coiled when he paused. Stood. Glanced around quickly at the team, looking for whatever it was that was sending him warning signals. He turned back to Becki just in time to see her lean hard on the rock behind her, body shaking.
“Shit. Alisha—take over. Becki’s in trouble.”
His lead hand snatched the rope from him. “Shock?”
“Maybe.” He was across to the wall and crouched at Becki’s side in a moment, catching hold of her cold fingers with his. “Becki. Come on, what’s happening?”
Her eyes were wide but unfocused, as if she were watching a screen he couldn’t see.
Screw protocol. Marcus dropped to the ground beside her and scooped her into his arms, cradling her from the cold and protecting her from the rock. “Come on, Becki. Come back to me. You’re okay, the rescue is going great. You made it this far. You’re going to make it all the way.”
She dragged in a shuddering breath and snapped her hands free, arms jerking outward as if grabbing for something.
“Hush, come on.” Marcus kicked his own ass. He should have been prepared for this possibility. Should have been there to stop her from going it alone. He put his lips next to her ear and spoke softly, rocking her carefully. “You’re the strongest woman I know. Brave, committed. Talented. Damn, I have no idea why you were willing to put up with an ass like me, but I’m so glad you did. Now you need to come back to me, sweet Becki. You need to give me hell a few more times.”
Her hands moved until her fingers clutched the fabric of his jacket. She gasped, then buried her face against his chest. “Oh God, no . . .”
The utter misery in her cry tore him apart.
A hand touched his shoulder, Xavier leaning in close. “Boss, you need help?”
As if the unfamiliar voice were a trigger, Becki’s head snapped up, her green eyes sparkling bright with the tears that filled them. “Marcus—oh God, Marcus, I know. I know it all.”
“What do you know, sweet Becki?” And more important, was she aware of what was going on, or did she need medical care herself? “Are you here with me again? Tell me where we are.”
She sucked in a huge breath of air, shakily letting it escape as a tear trickled down her cheek. “We’re in the Needles. We rescued Colin and Rob. We need to get them out for medical attention. I know where we are.”
Marcus glanced at Xavier. “Gear up. We’ll be okay.”
“Three minutes to exit, if you can be ready,” Xavier warned.
Becki responded before Marcus could. “I’m good. Sorry for making trouble. We’ll be ready.”
“Hell, you’re not trouble,” Xavier insisted. “FYI, clouds are clearing a little.”
The paramedic left them, and Marcus lifted her chin so he could stare into her eyes. “What happened?”
“I think the rescue prompted it. The final missing part.” She sighed and shook her head. “But we have two minutes and a rescue to finish. I’ll tell you the rest at home.”
Goddamn. “Becki . . .”
“Give one hundred percent, Marcus. We’re not done.” She ran her hands up his arms until she could wrap around his shoulders and squeeze him with her strong grip. “It looks as if you were having to babysit me.”
“I’ll do it again in a minute.” He was going to go crazy on the hike out, not knowing the details, but she was right. They weren’t out of the mountains. Still, there was something he had to tell her before they went anywhere. Before she told him anything, because whatever she said, he’d made a decision.
The past few hours had only strengthened his resolve. It wasn’t a case anymore of wanting the best for her. That was a priority, but it wasn’t the only thing. No matter what it took, he wasn’t going to let her leave him behind.
He pulled them upright, keeping her in his arms for a moment, his fingers skimming over her cheek until his palm cradled the back of her head. He pressed their lips together and kissed her. Gentle in pressure, but as possessively as he knew how. A brand of ownership—only in reverse.
A declaration that he was totally hers.
There was a question in her eyes as he pulled away, and he paused to rub his thumb lightly over her bottom lip. “I’ve got your back,” he promised.
Becki tilted her head to the side, wonder still on her face. “One minute to get ready,” she warned.
“We’re ready.” For anything. Convincing her of that was now his number one objective. No matter what her memories had brought, they were going to go forward together.
The trip out passed in a blur. The trail, the headwall. Marcus never more than a pace away from her, his presence comforting, reassuring.
There wasn’t as much to distract her on the outward journey. Colin walked in front with Devon, or Alisha, listening to school stories from them. Xavier and Anders carried the stretcher, the entire team moving smoothly on the steeper sections to ease the awkward object forward.
Even at the headwall there were no hesitations. Alisha and Devon swarmed up the rock and had the stretcher rising into the shrouded air in what seemed to be moments.
Marcus hugged her from behind as they waited their turn. His breath warm by her ear, his hand curled possessively around her hip as he cradled her between his thighs. He hadn’t poked to be told what she’d seen, and she appreciated that. It was too big to spit out in a moment, too huge to simply blurt out in one sentence.
Only the truth changed everything. Becki twisted her head to touch her lips to his cheek, needing to at least let him know that whatever was between them hadn’t changed.
What she was going to do next was still up in the air.
A shiver struck as the first fixed rope for their ascent smacked the ground. “I’m so not ready for this,” she confessed.
Marcus patted her butt and pushed her forward. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You can’t expect to leave the past behind that fast.”
Anders held her rope until she clutched it tight, knotting herself in, staring straight ahead and focusing until Marcus moved behind her.
If she closed her eyes for most of the time they were in the air, she figured Marcus wasn’t going to blame her.
The final bit of trail vanished under their feet, the chopper dead ahead, Erin hanging out the door to help load the stretcher before giving Devon a fist bump and disappearing back into the cockpit.
Marcus boosted her into the chopper and took the seat next to her, grabbing hold of her fingers as soon as they were both buckled in.
She rested her temple on his shoulder and didn’t bother to turn on the headset. She was officially done for the day—someone else could make the decisions from here on.
Only the lift and travel time gave opportunity for the images of Dane to repeat. She struggled against them, choosing instead to go back to the earlier days; to try to remember the moments that she’d thought were out of character for him.
Exhaustion took its toll, and even the memories faded, her eyelids heavy, sleep pulling her under.
CHAPTER 37
A brush over her cheek woke her
Everything had gone quiet. Shockingly quiet, with no helicopter or voices. Something soft cradled her head, and she glanced around to discover the familiar walls of Marcus’s bedroom. He sat beside her, reaching out to stroke her hair behind her ear and down over her shoulder. “Sleeping Beauty wakes.”