Blood and Fire (McClouds & Friends #8)(83)

Bruno’s big, warm hand fastened around her wrist and pulled.

She yelped, she couldn’t help it, but followed where his hand pulled her, supporting herself with her feet whenever she could.

And when she couldn’t, his strong grip never wavered.

Then they were crawling, on a slope, no longer a sheer cliff face. He pulled her up next to him on a narrow, almost flat ledge where they could both perch and yanked her jeans up over her hips with a jerk. “You have a tough time keeping your clothes on,” he complained.

“Your own fault.” Her voice was a ragged thread.

His teeth flashed. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, babe.”

“That’s not what I meant, you oversexed doofus. I meant, it’s your own fault for buying my jeans too big. I told you I was a six.”

He jerked her close and gave her a long, hard, breath-stealing kiss. She leaned into it like he was the fountain of life itself.

He drew away. “Speaking of oversexed doofuses,” he said. “You gotta love those panties. That red lace is so dramatic against the wintery landscape. And your ass, wow. It glows. Like a full moon.”

She stifled the giggles. They hurt too much. “Shut up about my ass, dog. Now is not the time.”

He kissed her again. “You’re really special, Lily.”

“Oh, really? Gee. I’m touched.”

“Most of the women I date, iiv>

She shrugged, and holy God, it hurt. “You should have put me on the bus to Anywhere, USA, while you had the chance.”

He tilted up her chin. “Too late. You’re under my skin.”

“Hello?” McCloud’s voice punched in from above, sharp with disapproval. “Get a f*cking room, would you? Move it, people!”

Bruno dragged her up the hill. She didn’t really understand the words he said. It was the tone, a comforting, low-pitched hum that tingled in her ears, pulling her as firmly and gently as his hands did. Put this hand here. This foot there. Stretch to the right, just a little farther, there you go. Good job . . . It wasn’t that far in terms of distance, but it took a shaking eternity to creep sideways along the gorge wall.

Finally, they got to ground even enough for him to scoop her up like a sack of potatoes. She wrapped her arms around his neck. So glad he was still alive. All of them were. How incredibly improbable to have survived that.

He set her down on a stump near the bridge. McCloud held a big, scary-looking rifle in his arms. He looked her over, appraisingly.

“Not shot?” he asked. “Nothing broken?”

She shook her head. Torn, swollen, sprained, maybe, and bruised to a flipping pulp, but not shot or broken. “You guys?”

“Fine,” Bruno said. “Both lucky.”

She rubbed at the dirt and grit in her eyes. “Thanks for the sharpshooting,” she offered. “Saved my butt.”

Bruno jerked his thumb toward Sean. “That was all him,” he said brusquely. “I don’t have that kind of aim.”

“Oh. Um.” She blinked at McCloud. “Well. Thanks.”

He nodded gravely. “At your service.”

“And, ah . . .” She gestured toward the SUV. “Them?”

“Three are dead,” Bruno said. “Two of them had cell phones that blew up. I assume your guy is still alive down there, or we would have heard a kaboom from the creek. Assuming they all carry those f*cking things. The driver didn’t.”

“Not a guy,” Lily said. “It was the nurse.”

Bruno looked baffled. “What nurse?”

“Miriam. My father’s nurse,” she explained. “At the mental hospital. She must have been the one who murdered him.”

McCloud grunted. “This is so f*cked up. Let’s get out of here.”

“They’re probably watching us from a satellite,” Lily said. “We can’t run from them.”

Bruno lifted his hand and gave the sky the finger. “Up your ass,” he said, mouthing the words with exaggerated care. “Let ’em watch.”

“We can’t leave unless we move their rig,” McCloud observed. “I can’t off-road here.”

“So we roll it off the road,” Bruno said.

Sean looked dubious. “They could blow us up.”

Bruno stared up at the sky. He held up a blackened, bloodied hand, felt the snowflakes swirling down. He looked at Lily.

“It’s nine miles to the nearest big highway,” he said. “They’d have all the time in the world to come and finish us off if we were on foot.”

McCloud nodded. He glanced at the SUV. “Flip a coin for it?”

“No,” Bruno said. “I’ll do it. You take Lily. Move back.”

Lily shot up off the stump, panicked. “No! Bruno, don’t, please—”

“Let’s get this done.” Bruno headed toward the SUV.

She burst into tears as McCloud led her away.

Bruno leaned over the dead driver, put the vehicle into reverse, and took off the emergency brake. He came around to the hood and pushed, shoving it off the edge and over. It slid, rolled, bounced, crashing through trees until it finally came to rest. Far, far down.

Sean and Lily walked to the edge of the road and looked down.

“Wow.” Sean sounded impressed. “That was stern.”