‘‘He’s bleeding.’’
‘‘Take off your shirt and apply pressure to his wound. Do it.’’
‘‘Will you hurry up?’’ said LaSalle.
Diane didn’t say anything, but pulled a tough, al most new nylon rope from her backpack. She uncoiled it and began tying foot slings on one end using a bow line on a bight, creating two nooses. She dressed and set the knot so the parts were properly aligned and very tight. Neva was about five feet six, and she needed several more feet for a harness. Diane tied handhold loops higher up on the rope.
‘‘My patience is wearing thin.’’
‘‘I’m hurrying as fast as I can. Your diamonds aren’t going anywhere. You didn’t call the Canadians, did you? Just didn’t want me to call and alert them.’’
Diane fished candy out of her pack. ‘‘I’m throwing you a candy bar. Snack on that while you wait.’’ She threw it toward his feet.
He actually said thanks.
Diane secured the other end of the rope around a boulder with a figure eight bend, tying it off with an overhand knot to keep the rope from slipping.
‘‘I see you’re good with knots,’’ said LaSalle. ‘‘Ever ett Littleton was good with knots. His knots never got loose. He was one pissed-off son of a bitch. I told him I didn’t have anything to do with his sister Alice’s death. That was all Ashlyn and Justin trying their to bacco scam on the wrong people.’’
Diane didn’t say anything. She remained focused on what she was doing. If the knots were tied incorrectly, they would reduce the strength of the rope or slip loose. With the rope anchored to the boulder, she went back to Neva, who was literally hanging on by her fingernails.
Neva was stuck at hip level. So far there was room around her chest for her to breathe. Diane had wanted to make a harness around Neva’s chest, but she was too far down for Diane to reach safely without help, and LaSalle wasn’t willing to help. Damn. She untied the handhold loop she had made and tied another one lower on the rope.
‘‘Okay, Neva. I’m lowering the rope beside you, down through the opening. I want you to find the loops with your feet. There are two of them. If you can, put a foot in each loop. If not, put at least one foot in.’’
‘‘I think maybe I broke my right leg.’’ Neva’s voice was very high-pitched and soft. ‘‘Please don’t leave me hanging by my hands again.’’
‘‘I’m going to get you out of this. The rope is going to support you.’’
Diane dropped the end of the rope down through the crevice in the rocks, stopping it with the end loop near Neva’s left foot. Diane took off her flannel shirt and used it as a pad to protect the rope from being cut by the edge of the rock.
‘‘Okay, Neva, find the loop. You need to raise your foot slightly.’’
Neva tried and missed the loop. She whimpered. ‘‘I don’t want to die here.’’
‘‘You’re not going to. Concentrate on putting your foot in the loop.’’
Neva tried again. On the third try her foot found the loop.
‘‘Now you can put your weight on the rope. Hold on to the handholds on the rope.’’
Neva pushed against the rope. ‘‘That’s better. Maybe I can climb out.’’
She strained, pulling on the rope. Diane pulled as hard as she could on her end.
‘‘I’m stuck.’’ Neva started to cry. ‘‘It hurts.’’
‘‘Okay, Neva, I want you to listen to me. Right now you are a cave creature and your only purpose in life is to hang on to this rope. No matter what happens, no matter how tired you get, no matter how much you hurt, the only thing you have to do is to hang on to this rope. You understand?’’
‘‘Yes.’’ Her voice was barely a squeak.
‘‘I will come back with help for you and for Mike and Dick. Trust me. I will.’’
Diane took a space blanket from her pack and tucked it around Neva as best she could without going over the edge herself.
‘‘Okay, now let’s go.’’ LaSalle was insistent.
‘‘I’m going to see about Mike, and then we’ll go get your damn diamonds. I’ll even give you some extra from the museum if you’ll be a little patient. We have some fine gems.’’
‘‘Well, a woman who knows how to bargain. I like that. Look at him, then. After that, we go.’’
Diane rushed to Mike. He was conscious and pale. His skin was cool to the touch, but the cave was cool. She looked at his side. MacGregor started to lift his shirt from the wound.
‘‘No. Keep it there. If you move it, you’ll pull the clotted blood loose and start the bleeding again. It looks like it’s slowed.’’
Diane folded parts of the shirt over the area to soak up more blood. She put a hand on Mike’s back. He was bleeding from the exit wound. Damn. She fished out her first aid kit and tore open the gauze pads, stacked them up and pressed them against the wound. ‘‘Hold this,’’ she told MacGregor. ‘‘When I finish, I’ll look at your arm.’’
‘‘Dammit, this isn’t a hospital,’’ LaSalle said angrily.
‘‘You’re the one shooting people. Just one of our stones at the museum is worth ten thousand dollars and we have lots of them. That’s a lot of money when all you have to do is stand there and wait a minute or two.’’
Diane wrapped an Ace bandage tight around Mike’s midsection. He had been silent so far. Now he looked at
