Behind the Lies (Montgomery Justice #2)(51)

Sam gripped her hand tight, sniffling.

Rolling to his side with most of his weight resting on his right arm, Zach crept from the cliff’s edge. He looked like he’d been to war with the mountain. She shone the light on the ground to show him the way, trying to keep it out of his eyes. Finally he reached the large boulder. He stopped and collapsed onto his back, flinging his right hand over his eyes.

Jenna let go of Sam, lunged to Zach, and knelt at his side. “You’re hurt. Let me see,” she said softly, reaching into Zach’s pack for the first aid kit.

Sam handed her the case.

“How you doing, buddy?” Zach asked, his breathing slowing.

Her son hid his face into Jenna’s jacket. She propped the flashlight between two rocks so she could see what she was doing and dabbed at his cut with a bandage. “A twisted ankle and a new appreciation for the mountains.” She couldn’t stop the intense gratitude from rising into her throat. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and thank him, but there were no words, nothing she could ever do to repay him. “You saved his life. How can I even—?”

“Don’t.” Zach clasped the hand tending to him. “Anyone would have done the same.”

“But not everyone could have.” She turned his palms over, wincing at the scrapes and scratches on his hands. “You should see a doctor.”

Zach sat up. “It’s nearly dark. We have to find shelter. No way we’re walking at night. Even with my imager.”

He rose, groaning as he stood. In the eerie reflection of the flashlight, his left arm hung oddly at his side.

She reached out to him. “What have you done?”

“Banged myself up a bit.”

She touched him. He winced and shut his eyes. His knees gave way and he collapsed onto the ground. “Damn.”

“Dark Avenger,” Sam cried out.

“Stay back, baby. Why don’t you hold the flashlight for me?” Anything to distract him.

Sam nodded and clutched the plastic yellow tube in his hands, shining the beam on Zach.

“Not in his eyes.”

Quickly Sam lowered the beam.

“You dislocated your shoulder.” She should’ve seen it immediately. When she was about ten, one of the kids on her block had run to her house crying, his arm dangling at his side just like Zach’s. Her dad had taken him to the hospital, then slugged the boy’s father.

“We have to get you to the clinic in Hidden Springs,” Jenna said, packing up the first aid kit.

“That’s partly how we ended up on the side of this mountain,” Zach muttered, sucking in a few deep breaths.

He didn’t have to add if they hadn’t been delayed, she and Sam would already be on the road to their new life, away from Zach.

“Just give me a second,” he breathed. He rolled over onto his back. “I need you,” he said softly, “to help me set the shoulder back into place.”

Jenna swallowed. He had to have heard the gulp, but he didn’t give her away.

“You’re not going to run into a tree or something to shove your shoulder back into place?” she asked.

He quirked a grin. “Nah. That’s in the movies. They aren’t real, honey.”

“The last two days feel like fiction.”

“Ever hear that truth is stranger? Well, they were right.” He let out a slow stream of air. “Raise my arm up to ninety degrees.”

The beam of light dropped.

“Sam, keep the flashlight pointed this way, baby.”

“OK, Mommy.”

The illumination spread across Zach’s torso, lighting his face. Jenna clutched his warm hand in hers and slowly moved him into position.

“Good. Now, turn my arm so my palm is facing toward my head.”

She watched every facial expression as she turned the limb, but couldn’t read a thing. He set his jaw and looked straight ahead, completely still.

He blinked once and bent his knee. “Now, I want you to put your foot where my collarbone is.”

She shook her head. “I could hurt you.”

“Right now it hurts. I need you to do this for me. Take hold of my hand and pull.”

“Zach—”

“Brace yourself. Be firm, but do it slow and easy. You’ll feel my shoulder slip back into place.”

She followed his instructions. She couldn’t help but wince when she practically stood on the bone. “Are you sure?”

“Do it,” he ordered through gritted teeth.

She grabbed his arm. Slowly, she pulled. His arm moved. Nothing shifted. She eased her grip.

“More,” he ground out. “Again.”

She closed her eyes and heaved harder. Suddenly, the bone shifted against her.

“That’s it. You did it.”

His eyes cleared a bit.

“Position my arm as if I were wearing a sling,” he said.

She removed her foot. With the greatest care she knelt next to him and placed his hand against his belly. He didn’t move it. She let her hands linger on his arm and raised her gaze to his, gnawing her lip with worry.

He nodded with approval. “Not bad for the first time.”

Her entire body sagged with relief. She bowed her head and sank closer. He caressed the back of her neck with his left hand. “Thank you,” he whispered.