Secrets Never Die (Morgan Dane #5)(80)

While Tina held Rylee’s leg still, Lance scooped the girl into his arms, being careful not to jostle her. He carried her across the walkway and down the short flight of steps to the parking area.

Tina went to a vehicle parked a few spaces away from the Jeep and opened the trunk.

Morgan slid her hand into Lance’s pocket, took his keys, and opened the cargo hatch. She removed Lance’s Go Bag.

Lance set Rylee in the cargo area of the Jeep. Morgan kept Rylee’s leg as stable as possible, elevated on the back of the rear seat.

Leaving the girl in Tina’s care, Lance grabbed his Go Bag. He and Morgan ran back toward the river.

“What’s your plan?” she asked as thunder shook the ravine.

“I don’t have many options.” Lance opened his bag and removed a skein of yellow paracord. He tied one end of the rope to a tree trunk and the other around his waist. “I don’t know how helpless Evan is going to be, but we have to get him out of that cave fast.” He glanced at the water, then back toward the Jeep.

Morgan nodded and turned toward the river. Water lapped at the cave’s entrance.

It was now or never.





Chapter Thirty-Four

Lance had a rough plan in mind, rough being the operative word. But he had no choice.

A branch careened over the falls and crashed to the turbulent pool at the bottom in a spectacular splash. Getting Evan out alone was going to be treacherous. But if he waited any longer, the boy was sure to drown. The water was rising too quickly. He couldn’t wait for help to arrive. He took his body armor from his bag and put it on for some protection against blunt impact with rocks. He held up Morgan’s vest but decided it wouldn’t fit around Evan’s muscular chest. She was tall, but Lance had had the armor specially made to fit her slender body. He stuffed a few carabiners, D-shaped metal clips, in his pocket.

He turned to Morgan and gave her a quick kiss. “I’m going across.”

She grabbed his arm and kissed him back. “I love you.”

“Love you back.”

Looping the excess rope over his shoulder, Lance walked into the water. The first half of the trip would be the hardest because the water was deeper. It rose to his knees, then to midthigh. He let out the line as he walked, keeping some tension in the connection to help stabilize him. But the current pulled at his feet and legs. He dodged debris, mostly tree branches, as it swept by him.

Instead of fighting the current, he crossed on a diagonal, going with the flow as much as possible. Rain continued to pour from the sky, obscuring his vision. In the middle of the river, he clambered onto the top of a boulder to catch his breath. A wave crashed over the rock, sweeping him off. He went down. A large branch struck him across the ribs. His vest dispersed some of the impact, and he was damned glad he’d worn it.

Lance fought his way back onto the rock, then waded into a shallower section. The water pushed and pulled and threatened to sweep him off his feet, but he pressed forward. By the time he made it across, he was fifty feet downriver from where he’d started. He climbed onto the narrow, rocky ledge on the other side. Pressing his belly against the rock wall, he sidled along the ledge until he reached the cave’s plateau.

Lance saw a tan nylon rope anchored to a tree trunk and extending to the top of the ravine. Evan must have used it to climb down from the top. Unfortunately, pulling Evan out from above was a two-or three-man job. Lance couldn’t do it alone.

He untied the rope from around his waist and tied it to the trunk, pulling it as taut as possible. This would serve as their guide across the river. Then he used hand-and footholds to scale the rock wall and retrieve the second rope.

Water splashed over his ankles. The water level had risen several inches since he’d started across. It flowed into the cave. Lance wasted no time. Ignoring his heaving lungs, he crouched and ducked into the opening.

Evan lay at the back, curled on his side, facing Lance, but the boy’s eyes were closed. The bottom of the cave dipped slightly, and the gully was filled with water.

“Evan?” Lance called as he splashed across.

The boy stirred and opened his eyes. “Lance?”

Rylee hadn’t been exaggerating. The boy looked like death. Except for an unnatural, spotty flush, his skin was pale and pasty. His eyes appeared sunken, like Sophie’s had when she’d been dehydrated and running a high fever. Lance placed a hand on the teen’s forehead. He was burning hot. An ACE bandage was tied around his upper arm.

“Is my mom OK?” Evan asked. “I saw a guy pointing a gun at her. I couldn’t do anything about it.”

How like the boy to be worried about his mom when his own life was in danger.

“Your mom is all right.” Lance didn’t take the time to assess Evan’s wound. “We need to get you out of here right now. Can you walk?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I can crawl, though.”

“I’ll take that for now.” Lance removed his vest. “You need this more than I do. It won’t help you swim, but it will protect you against rocks and debris.” Lance worked it onto the boy’s injured arm first. Sweat poured from the teen’s brow, and his jaw tightened as he fought the obvious agony generated by the movement. Then Lance fashioned a harness with the second rope and secured it around Evan’s body. Lance coiled up the extra thirty feet of leftover rope and slung it over his shoulder. He could toss it to Morgan at the halfway point. She and Tina could help Lance get Evan across the deeper half of the river.