Chapter Twenty-One
TEN MINUTES EARLIER...
A mountain of guilt—or an entire mountain ridge—pressed on Zoey’s shoulders. She should be with her father and cousin now. But she squeezed her teeth and the steering wheel and pressed on, barely resisting honking at cars that moved too slow in front of her. She’d never been this terrified. Not for herself, but for Barrett and Austin.
Lord, please help.
She prayed for the first time in her life. Would her prayer be answered? She was new to faith, though she’d talked about it with Barrett and Kennedy and her father, and one probably shouldn’t start a relationship by asking for a favor. She didn’t know. She had a lot of questions right now and no answers.
One thing she knew for sure, though. She loved Barrett. Why did it take the risk of losing him to realize it?
On the hands-free phone, she called Laredo. Of Barrett’s brothers, she felt the closest to him. He didn’t answer, and she blinked fast to stop her tears from falling. As she’d headed out for the hospital, she’d told him she was going to go to the ER with Kennedy, so he could go back to the ranch. She didn’t want to be a burden.
Now she wished he was still nearby. She needed all the help she could get.
Her insides shaking, she checked the dashboard. Twenty minutes hadn’t passed yet. Only a few minutes. She called Kennedy on the hands-free phone. Zoey had to tread carefully. Kennedy was pregnant and already received stressful news about her uncle.
Zoey couldn’t let her cousin’s unborn baby suffer because of another impact, this one about Kennedy’s husband. “I’m not in the hospital. I’m sorry. Give Dad my love.”
“I figured you wouldn’t be here. Are you all right?”
All right? More like scared and worried spitless. Zoey flexed her grip on the steering wheel, stiffened her spine, and breathed out. “I’m all right.”
Kennedy might hate her now for leaving Dad’s side when he needed her, but the best Zoey could do was to bring Austin back. And Barrett. Of course, Barrett.
Would Dad disown her for leaving him in his crisis? Well, she was going to give away most of her inheritance, anyway. She just needed him to pull through. “Please let me know when you have more information about Dad.”
“I will. His condition is now stable. But I have difficulty imagining what could be more important than your father right now.” Kennedy’s voice became dry. Everyone knew how much she loved her uncle.
“It’s Barrett.” The traffic light further away changed to yellow, and the cars ahead slowed down. Oh no! Every second counted.
Kennedy deserved to know about her husband, and she’d come up with the ideas Zoey couldn’t. But an incoming call from Laredo put Zoey in a dilemma. She chose to make it easier for her cousin. Kennedy didn’t need to be choosing between being by the side of the man who raised her or walking into a dangerous situation and risking her life—risking her baby. Zoey would let her know soon enough.
“I have an incoming call. Sorry I’ve got to go.” Zoey disconnected their call and answered Laredo’s call. “Hello, Laredo.” Now, gnashing her teeth, she was stuck at a red light behind two cars.
“Sorry I missed your call,” he said. “I’m on the way to the hospital. I promised Barrett I’d stay by your side while he couldn’t. I should’ve kept my promise.”
She jerked forward as the light changed and she squeezed into an opening in the other lane. Thankfully, the other car slowed down, though the driver honked. She needed Laredo’s help. She was out of time, so she’d have him call the police and tell them what happened. She should’ve called the police already. No way would she wait twenty minutes. “Change of plans.”
She relayed the information in a succinct form.
“I’m on the way.” His voice dipped. “I’ll call the police. You’re not going to—”
“I’m already there.” She pulled the car as close as she could. Nobody was at the cliff, but maybe, just maybe...
“Zoey, no!”
“If you don’t hear back from me, please convey this information to Kennedy, but... but carefully. Very carefully. I don’t want anything to happen to her baby.” Zoey wouldn’t let herself imagine Kennedy might have to raise this baby by herself. Barrett and Zoey had to get Austin back alive. Somehow. She turned off the engine and clicked the safety off her gun. “I don’t have a choice. You’re far away. And who knows how long it will take the police to get here, even with sirens.”
“Zoey!”
“I don’t love shooting. But when I do shoot, I don’t miss. And you know it.” She disconnected and slipped out of the car, far enough that she hoped to remain unnoticed.
She needed to get there in time. Too bad, she hadn’t been running miles on the beach every day. With Barrett. Maybe something to put on her list if they survived.
She gritted her teeth as she ran. Her heart hammered. They had to survive! At least, Austin and Barrett did. Maybe she shouldn’t have come to Port Sunshine. She’d only brought danger to amazing people. And she couldn’t even be at Dad’s side when he was sick.
No. She lifted her chin as she forced herself to keep moving—fast. She was out of breath when she reached the cliff, and her heart rolled off the said cliff. The place was deserted. Barrett’s truck was here, even his jacket was on the grass, but he wasn’t. Another car was parked further away, but nobody was there, either. She got here too late.
Tears blurring her eyes, she dropped to her knees.
“Noooooo!” Her scream flew to the sky and over the ocean.
Then Zoey felt rather than heard some noise. Like a whisper of her name. She’d probably have heard it sooner if she’d stopped screaming.
Hope stirred like a bird wounded but alive and still breathing. “Barrett?”
A sound akin to a groan traveled to her from... from somewhere below the cliff. She stilled, listening. Was it Barrett? Or was it some seagull flying away? Was she so desperate to hear him, to believe he was still alive, that she mistook a seagull’s cry for his voice?
Because he couldn’t be hanging in the air somewhere between the edge of the cliff and the horrible rocks below the drop-off, right? Had he been pushed off the cliff? Was he lying on the stones wounded, a deadly distance away?
The slight chance that he’d been wounded and taken to a different, unknown location sent ice tingling in her veins. The police should be here soon, so they might be able to figure this out by some... some other things.
Something glistened in the grass, and more tears burned behind her eyes when she picked up the shiny bracelet she’d made for Barrett.
“Zoey.” Her name sounded like a whisper brought to her on the wings of the wind.
Her heart beat in staccato. She scrambled to her feet and hurried forward, then dropped her body onto the grass and crawled toward the edge. When she glanced down, her breath caught in her throat.
Barrett was hanging by a thread—or rather on a branch of a scraggly tree that in some miracle managed to grow out of the cliffside.
“Hang on! I’m going to get you. Somehow.” Her mind whirled.
“I’m trying my best, but the branch doesn’t agree.”
A frightening crackling—was that the branch?—sent her stomach plummeting all the way to the ocean.
What could she do? Her thoughts frantic, she looked around. Could she rip off the fabric of her skirt, tie it to his jacket, and use it like a rope? No, it wouldn’t work, wouldn’t go far enough.
“I have rope in the truck. We use it for cattle. Or when we need to tow someone.” Barrett grunted. “It’s inside the cab.”
“I could kiss you right now.” She shifted back, leaped to her feet, and dashed to his truck. And she was going to kiss him as soon as she got him on horizontal ground instead of hanging beside a vertical cliff.
Adrenaline spiked her blood, and wind whooshed in her ears. If anyone checked her speed, she’d probably make a new world record right now. She wouldn’t care, either.
She tried his truck’s door. Locked. Of course. And it wasn’t like he could throw her the keys without risking losing his precious grip on the branch.
Lord, please!
She found a stone she hoped was large enough and picked it up. This would have to do. Grateful for the crack already in the glass, she smashed the window. The alarm didn’t sound, to her surprise, though she didn’t care at this point. She smashed it again and again. Then she grabbed his jacket, wrapped it around her fisted hand, and moved her hand inside amid sharp-edged shattered fragments. She opened the door from the inside, then found the rope on the floor near the back seat.
Okay, okay.
While she’d do her best to drag him out, her muscles weren’t trained enough to do so. Most likely, she’d tumble with him into the ocean from this deadly height. While she was ready to die for him, she’d much rather they stay alive together. Laredo—or any of Barrett’s other brothers—probably had enough strength to pull him up, but they weren’t here yet.
And if he tried to climb holding onto the rope, she might slip, as well. While she’d take such a risk, she doubted he’d let her.
The sirens’ faint wail reached her, and hope jolted through her. But would there be enough time for them to arrive before the branch broke? Sadly, though one tree dared to grow on the cliffside, none of its family decided to root topside, so she couldn’t tie the rope around a tree.
Should she wrap it around his truck? She had a better idea.
She dashed to her car, probably making another world record. Out of breath, she opened it and drove fast back to the edge, but not close enough to risk it crumbling the edge. She wrapped the rope around the front door. Thankfully, from her beading and tapestry work—among other, um, endeavors—she knew how to tie a secure knot.
All she wanted right now was to get Barrett back on solid ground safely. Maybe he’d even know what happened to Austin. She threw him the rope. “Grab it, please.”
He grunted. “I changed my mind. I’m not going to put you at risk. I might pull you into the ocean with me.”
Yup, she was right. She may not have known him long, but she knew him well. “I tied the rope to my car. Please catch. The rope, not the car.”
“I figured as much.” A sound something between a grunt and a chuckle rose. Then he caught the rope one-handed. Yay! “Have I told you how awesome you are?”
“You can tell me all that when you’re on solid ground.” Her heart palpitated. “Let it go. Not the rope. The branch. I’ve got you.” She hoped she could keep her promise. “Hang in there.”
“I believe I already am. Well, hanging in there. Literally.” He didn’t have to let the branch go as it broke on its own. He clasped the rope with both hands.
“By the way, I love you, too. But that we can also discuss when you get on firm ground.” She sprinted back to her car, revved the engine, and drove in reverse slowly, carefully.
The rope wouldn’t break, would it? Then her heart would break together with it.
When Barrett slumped onto the grass, she nearly wept in relief.
The police sirens neared. Or was it an ambulance? Or both?
She put the car in park, jumped out, and hurried to him. She dragged him away from the edge, or maybe he dragged her away from it. Who could tell? Who cared?
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” She tasted salt when she kissed him. She must’ve been crying. Or was he?
He was saying something. What was he saying? “You’re really like Rapunzel. You pulled me up.”
What? Of all things, he remembered that?
“Well, I didn’t pull you up with my hair but with a rope.” She tugged at her hair. “And this was a cliff, not a tower.”
“Still counts. You saved my life. You’ve been pulling me up into something better and more joyful for a while. You’re my fairy tale.”
Sirens and motors deafened her when the patrol car drove up, followed by the ambulance, then Laredo’s truck, then more cars. People filed from the vehicles, and boots stomped onto the ground.
Even with all the chaos and crowd, Kennedy managed to get through. Her eyes were stormy as her gaze flicked from Zoey to Barrett and back. Her palm sheltered her stomach, her gesture protective. “Where’s my husband?”
Barrett hung his head. “I don’t know.”