Free Fall

Inheriting the resort had been a shock, and she was grateful to her grandma for giving her the experience, the chance to learn the ropes inside and out and to deal with the responsibility, but…and this was a big but…she knew now it wasn't for her.

This was for her.

Impossibly, the snow fell harder, in huge, silent flakes, and the urgency doubled. They had to hurry before there were no tracks to follow at all. Maintaining control took everything Lily had, and she kept glancing at Logan to make sure he was okay, which he definitely was. She supposed years in a helicopter in all sorts of dangerous situations had taught him to be prepared for anything.

Still, if they found Matt here, injured, she had no idea how they would be able to extricate him, not in this weather on this sharp precipice. They were nearly at a crawl now, and then they stopped altogether.

Though Logan was only a few feet from her, the blinding snow made him invisible to her. Then his hand reached through the driving snow and grabbed hers. 'Lily.'

She knew what he was going to say and shook her head. 'No.'

'The tracks go over.'

It was true. The tracks went right over the rise, a slope so steep that it should have been impossible to ride. They got off their snowmobiles, Lily's terror a huge lump in her throat. Logan took her hand, squeezed it as they made their way as close to the edge as possible. When they saw the tracks, heading straight down, disappearing into a grove of snow-covered trees, she nearly sank to her knees. 'Oh, my God.' She reached for her walkie-talkie and called base, giving them their location, then together they slid down the slope, her worst fears coming true when they found a crumpled snowmobile at the base of a wide pine.

With no sign of Matt.

Lily's stomach plummeted, and they immediately started combing the area, calling for him. 'Matt!' Her voice bounced off the trees and came back at her. 'Matt!'

'Here.'

At the weak return cry, she and Logan whipped around. Ahead about ten yards farther down, a white lump leaned back against a tree.

Matt, covered in the fresh snow.

Lily slid down the hill toward him, with Logan right with her. As she got closer, she could see an alarming amount of red mixed in with the snow. Blood. Hers ran cold. 'Logan.'

'I see him. Come on, Lily, let's do what we do.'

Let's do what we do.

His words brought her calm. Strength. And because of him, she had skilled hands and a cool head when she reached for a bleeding and broken Matt.

Chapter 16

'Breathing's shallow,' Logan said quietly to Lily. They were on either side of Matt, boots braced against the tree so as not to slip down the vertical slope. Lily was carefully trying to free Matt of the snow covering him to see his injuries.

Logan had no idea how long Matt had been down, but given the amount accumulated on him, it'd been at least an hour.

'Oh, Matt.' Lily tugged off her gloves and put a bare hand to his frozen face.

'Don't move me.'

Shocky but at least coherent, Logan thought, meeting Lily's gaze over his, fear and worry in her eyes. He ran his hands over Mart's limbs, but his dread only increased as he discovered why Matt didn't want to be moved. Looked like a possible fractured femur, some cracked ribs and a nice gash above his eyebrow, which was where the blood had come from.

Lily took in the injuries for herself and had to visibly harden herself. 'We won't move you until we have to.'

'Just fly me out of here,' Matt said.

Again she looked at Logan. They both knew there was no way they'd get a helicopter in here with all these trees, and even if they could, the weather was too far gone for that.

They had no choice but to get him down the hill first. 'Matt,' Lily said.

Matt closed his eyes. 'I really screwed this up.'

Logan had already taken off his jacket and wrapped it around Matt's torso, and Lily removed hers, as well, setting it over his legs, trying to keep him safe from hypothermia. 'Look at it this way,' she said. 'You're already injured so Sara can't do much worse to you for vanishing on her. Where the hell is your radio?'

'Lost it.'

Logan slid his fingers against Matt's wrist to take his pulse. Weak and thready. He shook his head at Lily.

She removed her helmet and reached for her radio with a shaking hand. It wasn't the first time Logan had seen her remain cool and calm under incredible pressure, but it was the first time he'd seen it cost her. He wanted to make this okay for her, but he couldn't, and knowing she was strong enough to deal with it, knowing in fact that he could count on her to be just as strong as he was, was an amazing thing.

She was amazing. He'd never been with a woman like her before, one just as capable and resilient as anyone on his SAR team. What would it be like to be with her day in and day out, knowing his back was covered through thick and thin?

'I'm going to make it?' Matt's voice shook as his body trembled violently. 'Right?'

'Well, I'm sure as hell not dealing with a pregnant Sara alone,' Lily said, trying to be tough and failing.

Matt didn't notice. 'The baby,' he said softly, and a dreamy smile covered his face. 'I almost forgot…'

'Don't tell Sara that.'

He frowned. 'Head hurts.'

'Yeah, you cracked it good.' She eyed the line of blood that had oozed from the wound, drying now.

'Stay awake,' Logan said when Mart's lids dropped.

'Don't want to.'

'Too bad.' Lily leaned in so she was nose to nose with him. 'Don't you go to sleep. Don't you dare.'

'Hm-mmm.'

'Matthew Edward Wallace.' Her voice shook now as she grabbed his jacket. 'Don't you leave me. Don't you leave Sara. Or that baby Matt!'

'Yeah. Here.' Matt winced, 'just…resting my damn eyes.' He licked his dry lips. 'Don't you guys have chocolate or something? Aren't you rescue people supposed to offer me chocolate?'

Lily sat back and let out a low laugh, squeezing Logan's hand when he reached for hers. He looked into her eyes and saw her fear for Matt, her uncertainly that they could actually get him down without doing more harm. He squeezed her hand again and for one brief moment, she clung.