Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
Emily sat silently in the passenger seat as Jack navigated the streets of Dublin, following the directions she’d pulled up on her cell phone. Her brother’s flat was in a less expensive section of Dublin where the working-class lived, off the beaten path reserved for the tourists. He’d chosen the place for the price and proximity to a bus route that would take him to and from his work on the wharf.
Because she was busy running the pub seven days a week, Emily had had little time to visit her brother across town. She’d been there once when she’d helped him move his things in and hadn’t been back since. Nor had her brother extended an invitation for her to drop by.
Guilt had been eating at her for a while. She had no idea what her brother was up to, who he was hanging out with and if he was well and happy. Too often, her texts to him went unanswered. He didn’t like talking on the phone, and he hadn’t been very communicative even when he’d lived with her and her father in their flat above the pub.
The less contact she had with her brother, the more her promise to her mother weighed on her mind. How could she ensure her brother didn’t get involved with his Traveller relatives if she never saw him and had no idea what he was doing?
She regretted she hadn’t checked on him sooner. Perhaps if she had, she’d know what her uncle had inferred when he’d asked her to warn Finn.
Jack pulled into the parking lot of a five-story apartment building.
Emily remembered the building and her first impression when she’d arrived with Finn. It wasn’t exactly a dump, but it needed someone to pressure wash the exterior to remove a coat of mildew or grime staining what was probably cream-colored paint beneath. For that matter, the staircase leading up to his third-floor flat could have used the same pressure washer to blast away the dirt that had probably accumulated since the building was built fifty or sixty years ago.
Emily led the way up the stairs to the third floor and stopped in front of her brother’s door. When she reached up and tapped her knuckles against the door, it swung open.
Sounds of movement sounded from inside the flat.
Emily opened her mouth. Before she could announce her arrival, Jack grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to the side and out of the doorway.
She started to say something, but the intensity of his gaze made her clamp her mouth shut.
He pointed to her, indicating she should stay where she was while he entered the apartment.
Emily started to shake her head, but it was too late.
Jack had already ducked through the opening into the flat.
For the next few seconds, Emily followed Jack’s silent orders to remain where she was while he checked out the flat's interior.
When she couldn’t wait a moment longer, she eased up to the open door and peered inside.
Jack crossed the living room in front of a set of sliding glass doors that led onto a minuscule balcony and entered what appeared to be a bedroom.
Emily entered the flat and glanced around. The flat had come with furniture, though most of it was old, faded and needed a good cleaning.
“The place is empty,” Jack called out. “Are you sure this was your brother’s flat?” he asked as he came out of the bedroom into the living area.
“I helped him move several boxes of his things in here.” She looked around the room and shook her head. None of his things remained. “Where did he go?”
“I thought I heard movement when we opened the door.”
Emily nodded. “I did, too.”
“I looked everywhere in the apartment, including in closets, under the bed and in the shower. I found a small box on the bed containing shoes, a baseball cap and some other items. It’s like someone had tossed the last few items in the box and then forgot to take them. But there’s no sign of who might have packed them.”
“Is the front door the only door leading out of the flat?” Emily asked.
“It’s the only safe exit. The balcony is three stories up. Anyone considering jumping would suffer serious injuries or death.” Jack tilted his head toward the sliding glass doors, his eyes narrowing. He walked to the glass door and shoved it open. The door slid quietly in its track.
Jack stepped out onto a balcony too small to hide anyone.
Emily followed him and stood in the doorway.
He shrugged and turned to go back into the flat.
That’s when Emily heard a gasp.
Jack leaned over the railing and stared down at something. “Holy shit,” he exclaimed.
“What?” Emily hurried to stand beside him and peered over the balcony rail into the wide, frightened eyes of a young woman.
The girl held onto the railing with both hands, though her grip appeared to be slipping. “Help me.”
Jack reached over the rail and grabbed her wrist as her fingers slipped free of the rail.
Realizing her weight could pull Jack over the rail, Emily wrapped her arms around his waist and held on.
“Please,” the young woman said, “don’t let go.”
“I won’t,” Jack said.
Emily hoped he could keep his word. If the woman dropped the three stories, she could be badly injured, even killed.
Emily’s arms tightened around him. “What can I do?”
“You’re doing it,” he said, his voice tight as he held onto the dangling dead weight of the girl with his one arm. If he didn’t do something soon, the strain could become unbearable. “Let me get my balance.”
He shifted his weight and grabbed the woman’s wrist with his other hand, now holding her with both, hopefully relieving some of the pressure on his one arm. “Can you reach up with your other hand?” he asked the girl.
She flailed unsuccessfully. “No.”
“Emily, I’ve got her now,” Jack said. “Grab the sheets off the bed and tie them together.”
Emily hesitated. “Are you sure you have her?”
“Yes,” he gritted out, the strain evident in his tone. “Hurry.”
Emily slowly released her hold.
Without her anchoring him, Jack struggled to keep his feet firmly planted.
Emily raced for the bed, ripped the sheets from the mattress and tied them together. Moments later, she was back beside him, tying one end of the sheet rope to the railing as an anchor, then making absolutely certain it was secure.
“Do you think you can reach through the railing, loop the sheet under her arm, around her back and under the other arm?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” Emily knelt near Jack’s legs, dragged the other end of the sheet through the rails and reached out as far as she could. She could only get the sheet under one of the woman’s arms. She couldn’t loop it around the woman’s back with the rails blocking her movement.
Jack grunted and shifted his feet. The weight had to be wearing on him.
Emily needed to do something quickly, or both Jack and the woman could fall to their deaths. “This isn’t going to work,” Emily stated. “I can’t get the sheet around her, but I can get it around me.”
“What are you talking about?” Jack asked, his words more a grunt than anything.
“You’ll see.” Emily stood and moved behind Jack, quickly wrapping the sheet tightly around her middle and knotted it. When she had the makeshift rope where she needed it, she eased up beside Jack and climbed over the rail before he could say anything to stop her.
“What the hell?” he exclaimed and nearly lost his hold on the woman.
“Oh, please,” the woman cried out, “don’t drop me.”
Jack adjusted his grip, unable to stop or help Emily.
She leaned out as if rappelling over a cliff and lowered herself inch by inch beside the dangling woman until she was even with her. Then she eased a little lower and anchored the sheet around her to free her hands.
“Get ready to pull her up,” Emily said.
Leaning over the rail, Jack stared down at her, a fierce frown creasing his brow.
Emily leaned toward the woman and spoke in a soothing tone, “You’re going to be all right.”
The woman’s eyes were wide and fearful. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m not going to do anything, but be here for you,” Emily said. “You’re going to do all the work.”
“I can’t,” she said. “I have no upper body strength.”
“That’s where Jack will come in handy. Raise your left leg,” Emily ordered.
When the woman raised her left leg, Emily guided it to her shoulder at the same time as she said, “Be ready, Jack.”
Jack widened his stance, bracing himself.
Emily prayed her sheet was secure enough to hold her weight as well as the other woman’s. Hell, she hoped the balcony rail she’d tied it to would be strong enough for both. Otherwise, both of them would plunge to the ground.
Emily drew in a breath and let it out. “Now, push upward,” she said softly.
The woman pressed her foot into Emily’s shoulder and rose at the same time as Jack tugged with all his strength.
The extra weight pressed into her shoulder, making the sheet tighten uncomfortably around Emily’s waist and pushing her downward several inches. Then the weight eased as Jack pulled the woman up to a point where she could grab the railing with her free hand.
Jack ducked his head lower. “Grab around my neck, and I’ll drag you over the rail.”
Emily reached up with her hands to give the lady something more to brace her legs on as she released Jack’s hand and grabbed around his neck.
Jack released the woman’s hand and hooked her beneath her armpits. In a rush of motion, he hauled her over the top of the rail, falling backward with her onto the balcony.
As Emily reached for a hold on the sheet, the knot she’d used to secure it at her waist slipped free. Her weight and gravity rolled her over, unwinding the sheet around her waist so fast, she flipped and would have continued to flip if she hadn’t tied and secured it another time. Her descent stopped abruptly with her facing the ground two and a half stories below, the fabric around her middle so tight she could barely breathe. She muttered a curse and tried to reach behind her to grab hold of the sheet. Though she waved her hand as far back as she could, she couldn’t quite wrap her fingers around the fabric and pull herself upright.
She was stuck and dangling.
“Emily!” Jack’s voice shouted above her. “Sweet Jesus,” he muttered, “Hang on.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, her voice strained. “I hope.” What else could she do?
Then, slowly and painfully, the sheet jerked upward, inch by agonizing inch.
Emily could do nothing to help but remain as still as possible.
Jack had to be using brute force to reel her in, and that, after straining to keep the stranger from crashing to her death.
Emily worried that the jerking motion would cause the sheet to further unwind. She braced her hands against the wrap around her belly, not that it would do any good if the fabric broke free. She had no way of turning around to hold on.
By the time he raised her to the base of the balcony, her midsection hurt, and she was getting lightheaded from shallow breathing.
“Can you reach anything to hold on?” Jack called out.
“Maybe.” Emily carefully swung around until she could see the balcony railing just above her head. When she reached out, her hand wrapped around the wrought iron, and she was able to maneuver around to grab another rail with her other hand.
Jack and the woman he’d pulled to safety held onto the sheet, leaning their combined weight back to keep Emily suspended where she was.
“I’ve got a good grip on the rail,” Emily said.
“Hang on tight while we secure the sheet,” Jack said.
Emily moved her feet around and got a toehold on the brick base of the balcony. “I’ve got my foot on something.” She pushed upward and wrapped her arm around the rail. When she felt confident she could hold herself up, she nodded. “Do it.”
Jack stood, quickly tied the sheet around another rail and secured the length before he bent over, hooked his hands beneath Emily’s arms and dragged her over the top of the rail and into his embrace.
It wasn’t until her feet were safely beneath her and she was wrapped in Jack’s strong arms that Emily gave in to the realization that she had almost died.
She started trembling, and soon she shook all over to the point her teeth rattled.
Jack leaned back and stared into her eyes, his forehead creased in a fierce frown, his face pale. “Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again,” he gritted between clamped teeth. Then he crushed her to him, holding her so tightly, she could barely breathe.
She didn’t care. His arms were strong, the muscles solid and she’d never felt safer.
But the breathing part was still difficult.
Then she remembered the sheet still wrapped too tightly around her middle.
Emily leaned back. “Must get out of...this,” she said, struggling to release the binding.
Jack helped her. Between the two of them, they worked the fabric free and let it fall to the floor.
Emily filled her lungs and looked around. “The girl. Where did she go?”
A door slammed closed in the flat behind her, making Emily spin toward the sound. “She’s getting away.”
Jack pushed past her and ran after the woman.
Still shaky, Emily raced after him.
Footsteps pounded on the staircase, heading downward.
Jack took the steps two at a time, leaping past the bottom four to each landing.
Emily followed a lot slower, still weak from oxygen deprivation.
By the time she reached ground level, Jack had already left the building.
As she stepped out, Emily spotted Jack running down the middle of the apartment building parking lot.
The woman he’d rescued had only a couple of yards lead on him. When she burst out into the street, tires squealed and a horn honked.
A speeding vehicle skidded toward her, too late to stop.
Jack flung himself at the woman. The two disappeared as the car blew past where they’d been.
Emily screamed and rushed forward, expecting the worst.
When she arrived at the point where the parking lot met the street, she stopped, her heart lodged in her throat, shocked that more cars passed on the street. How could they when two people had just been?—
Jack appeared on the other side of the street, helping the young woman up onto the sidewalk.
Emily let go of the breath that had lodged in her throat.
“Damn you, Jack,” she whispered and blinked back the tears welling in her eyes.
When there was a gap in the traffic, Emily ran across the street and into Jack’s arms.