Behind the Lies (Montgomery Justice #2)(49)

She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Keep yelling, Sam. Don’t stop, baby.”

“Mommmy…Mommmmmy…Moooommmmmmyyyy.”

Zach shifted to his right, Jenna trailed after him. Little by little they followed Sam’s oddly muffled voice. His calls grew louder and more distinct, and more scared.

“Pleeeaassseee. Save me, Mommy.”

Jenna could barely keep a whimper from escaping.

Zach squeezed her hand tight, and she drew from his strength and his certainty. “This way.” He pushed past a throng of pine trees and stopped.

A narrow ravine sliced through the landscape. Jenna swallowed down the bile rising in her gut. “Mommmyyyy!” Sam’s voice rose from the chasm in the earth.

She lurched forward, but Zach shoved her back. “The ground has eroded,” he said, pointing to the upturned dirt. “The earth just gave way, and Sam slid down. We can’t get caught in the same trap.”

With one hand clutching a long tree limb, Zach stretched out and peered into the crevice. “Sam?”

“I’m here!” he said, his voice cracking. “Where’s my mommy?”

“I’m with Zach, baby. Don’t worry. We’ll get you.”

Zach stepped away from the edge and slipped off his backpack. “Sam’s down about twenty feet, but it doesn’t look too bad. Some trees broke his fall. He’s sitting on a ledge.” Zach raised his gaze to the barely lit sky. “I’m going down.”

He unzipped his pack and pulled out a long length of climbing rope and a rappelling device.

“What can I do?” she asked.

“Be ready to pull him up.”

Jenna watched as Zach used an elaborate tie to secure the rope around a large tree with no hesitation whatsoever.

“You’ve done this before.”

“I’ve climbed these mountains more than once.” He tugged at the two lines. “Ready. Don’t go past this point, Jenna,” he said, indicating a boulder. “The ground’s unstable.”

She nodded.

“I’ll yell when I have Sam secured. You pull him up.”

“What about you?”

“Untie the rope from around him and toss it down to me. I’ll climb up. Piece of cake.”

He quirked a smile, but the clenching of his jaw and the intensity in his gaze spoke the truth.

Jenna clenched her fists and straightened her back. “I’ll be ready.”

He touched her cheek. “I know.”

With a quick clip on his belt, he secured the line and eased toward the edge. Dirt sifted into the ravine. Oh God, now she understood the extent of the danger. The rim could give way at any time. He shifted his weight off the crumbling soil and planted his foot on solid rock. Picking his way, he maneuvered over the side, his silhouette framed in the reddening sunset.

“Red at night, sailor’s delight,” she whispered. She prayed the old saying would be true.

One last time Zach’s gaze met hers. He winked, then disappeared over the side.




The climb was going to be a bitch. Zach couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about the wide ravine. He avoided it on his hikes. He planted his foot on the crumbling side of the gorge. The dusky conditions made it difficult to see every nuance of the rock face. The soft sandstone crumbled under his touch. Hell. He balanced his weight between the rope and his feet and eased down.

With a quick glance over his shoulder he gauged the distance. Another fifteen feet.

Sam lay on a ledge, sitting up, staring wide-eyed at Zach. The boy’s face was scratched, but he shifted his legs. At least he could move.

A tree growing straight out of the side of the ravine canopied Sam. The limbs must have broken his fall. Otherwise…Zach wouldn’t let the thoughts go further. Sam was alive. That’s all that mattered.

He tested the next foothold. His boot sent a wall of rock crumbling down.

“Cover your head, Sam!” he yelled.

The boy hunkered, and dirt sprinkled him, the biggest chunks missing the ledge altogether.

“What’s wrong?” Jenna yelled from above.

“We’re fine. Almost there,” he yelled back. He hoped he wasn’t lying.

A few more precarious feet and Zach hovered above the ledge. He studied the outgrowth. Granite, and not crumbling, thank God.

Zach lowered himself, giving enough slack to kneel beside Sam. “How are you doing, buddy?”

“I hurt my ankle,” Sam said quietly, refusing to meet Zach’s gaze.

Streaks of dirt and tears marked the little boy’s cheeks.

The kid didn’t need a lecture. He’d learned his lesson, all too well. “I’m going to get you back to your mom.”

The boy nodded. Zach unhooked the rope and created a cradle for Sam to stick his feet through.

With a quick tug he secured the double figure-eight fisherman’s knot. “OK, Junior Avenger, your mom’s going to pull you up. Just hold on tight. We won’t let you fall again.”

Sam nodded his head, then lifted his gaze to Zach. “I’m sorry I ran.”

“You were mad, huh?” Zach said.

“I didn’t want to leave, then I saw you kiss her.” Sam bit his lip. “You shouldn’t have kissed her. She belongs to me and my daddy.”