by Debra Webb
Adrenaline burned through him as his boot sent pebbles clattering down the slope. Nope, this was definitely not the kind of job for a man with a family. He was better off staying unattached.
No matter how much he would love to make Lisa a permanent part of his off-duty routine, it would never work. No-strings-attached sex was not her style. She would never be satisfied with an uncommitted relationship. He knew it. She knew it. Enough said.
The moment she’d asked that dreaded question, he’d known it was over. Those seven seemingly innocuous words had filled his usually brave heart with dread.
Where do you see our relationship going?
Wedding bells had clanged in his head, and dread had pooled in his gut. He’d had to break it off then and there. She’d been hurt, but it was far less painful than it would have been had they pursued the kind of relationship she wanted.
He’d done the right thing.
He hoped again that she was safe at home or at the clinic. Though he might not want to make anything permanent with her, he still cared…a lot.
“Cap’n.”
O’Shea. Joe hesitated, something in the tone of her voice giving him pause. “I’m here. Got that patch for me?” He needed to be speaking directly with the victim—needed any details she could give him to direct him to her position.
“I got it, Cap’n, but there’s something you should know before I put her through.” O’Shea’s voice trembled on the last words.
“Time’s wasting, O’Shea.”
A beat of silence passed before she said two words that would impact Joe as nothing else could. “It’s Lisa.”
A moment of pure panic slammed into his brain. “Lisa Malloy?” he demanded, as if there was any other Lisa in his life or O’Shea’s.
“She says it’s bad, Cap’n. Real bad. I’m patching her through now.”
“Joe?”
Joe’s heart stumbled at the sound of Lisa’s voice. He blinked rapidly. At the dust, he told himself. “Yeah, I’m here,” he said with as much nonchalance as he could muster. “Tell me where you’re at so I can come rescue you.”
“I’m…I’m on the side of the garage opposite the Welton Building.”
At least he was headed in the right direction. The Welton Building, which housed a number of offices, was at his back.
“Be a little more specific if you can,” he prodded gently. He’d heard the fear in her voice. Fear, hell. She had to be scared to death. His gaze searched frantically for any sign of her car. He should have known when he’d heard gray SUV. Lisa drove an SUV and it was what he’d call silver. Somewhere in the back of his mind he’d acknowledged the possibility. But denial was a strong ally at times.
“I parked in the middle…you know, not all the way at the end, but not very close to the stairwell, either. I…I don’t know. Is that specific enough?”
“Sure…I’ll be right there,” he lied for her benefit. He couldn’t see a damn thing. Nothing but monochromatic heaps of rubble.
“It’s bad, Joe,” she murmured so softly he scarcely heard her.
“I’ve seen worse.” Another flat-out lie, he thought, moving as quickly as he dared. “Tell me what you see out your windows.”
His heart pounded so hard during the silence that followed that his head filled with the roar of blood rushing there, pushing against his eardrums.
“Piles of broken concrete,” she said, her voice not shaking quite so badly now. “There’s a support pillar lying against the hood of my car. Maybe another one on top, since the roof over the front seat is bashed in.”
A new surge of fear hit like a fist to his already tense gut. “You got plenty of room to move around in there?” he asked carefully, not wanting to give away how much that part concerned him.
“Yes…sort of. I moved to the cargo area in hopes of getting out through the rear hatch, but I didn’t have any luck kicking out the glass.”
“Is the hatch clear of debris?” That would be a stroke of fiercely needed luck.
“Partially.”
“Good. That’s the way we’ll get you out then.” He made the statement as if it were a given, but the farther he moved into this level, the dimmer that prospect looked.
The structure still moaned, and Joe knew there was a real risk of total collapse. Time was running out.
“Lisa, do me a favor, would you?” He had to pinpoint her location. Now.
“Be careful, Ripani,” she said softly, almost laughingly. “The last time I did you a favor, it turned out badly.”
She was remembering Salvage’s injuries…the way she’d healed the animal that was now part of the firehouse team. No, it wasn’t Salvage or his injuries on her mind. She was likely recalling his callousness, his ability to walk away as if nothing had happened between them. She didn’t have to say it; he understood. And he had walked away, just like that. The decision had been mutual once he’d made his position clear. He’d had his reasons. But he knew she hadn’t understood, though she’d claimed to. He wasn’t even sure he could explain it. Now definitely wasn’t the time to try.
“No strings attached, babe,” he teased, infusing the words with a chuckle. “Try the horn or radio.” He doubted the radio worked since the power windows didn’t, but it was worth a shot. And though it could be dangerous to sound a horn in such an unstable structure, Joe had to take the risk. “I need to know exactly where you are.”
“Okay.”
He held his position while he waited for her to attempt to signal him. He sweated out every single second before the sound of the horn cut through the silence. “Once more,” he told her. He homed in on the direction of the sound. “Gotcha.”
“Hurry, Joe,” she urged, the fear back in her voice now. “I don’t know how much longer the roof is going to hold out.”
Did that mean the weight of the rubble was pressing in on her? Joe swore under his breath and moved faster. He had to get her out of there. Every instinct warned him that total collapse was imminent.
“Give us a status, Cap’n.”
O’Shea’s voice cut into his thoughts. Her connection would override the patch with Lisa.
“Stay off the link,” he growled. He wanted nothing between him and Lisa.
“We need a status on your situation,” she repeated. “I’ve got a canine standing by. Do you need backup?”
O’Shea was prepared to come in. Joe imagined it had more to do with saving her best friend than with supporting her captain, but he’d give her that. He wanted to save Lisa, as well. Though Shannon O’Shea was professional to the bone, even the best-trained rescue workers couldn’t completely set aside emotion when someone close was in danger.
“Stand down, O’Shea,” he ordered. “I’ve got the situation under control. Now clear the link.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Joe, are you still there?”
Lisa’s voice. He wondered now why he’d never noticed how pleasant it was. It touched him as gently as a butterfly’s wing and with a sweetness that took his breath. How could any man have known this woman intimately and not be affected, even if he had walked away?
How could a guy walk away from a woman like Lisa?
What was wrong with him? What idiot would pass on a future with a woman like her? O’Shea had pointed that out to him the day after he’d split with Lisa. Up until then, Shannon had never once given him any grief on the job. And then only that one time. She’d said her piece and hadn’t spoken of it since. Still, he knew she was disappointed in him where Lisa was concerned. O’Shea carefully kept her feelings out of their professional relationship, but Joe knew where she stood on the issue of Lisa. And like Lisa, O’Shea just didn’t understand that he’d done the only thing he could.
He had those old reliable reasons for the decision he’d made. The ones that had kept him single when his friends, as well as his squad members, had gotten married one by one. But he knew what was right for him. A permanent relationship had no place in his life.
Any
fool could see that.
He just couldn’t figure why it felt so damn wrong right now.
Truth be told, it had felt wrong way before now. He’d missed Lisa. Thought about her more than he would admit even to himself. Wanted her desperately.
But having her would be…a mistake.
He’d told himself that three weeks ago.
Jesus, he prayed, don’t let this be the Almighty’s way of showing him what a mistake he’d made.
“Joe?”
The desperate plea in her voice tugged hard on Joe’s heartstrings. Strings he hadn’t realized he possessed. But then, he’d realized a lot of things in the past four or five minutes.
“I’m almost there,” he assured her.
“Joe, I want you to know that—”
“You don’t have to say anything,” he said, cutting her off. He wasn’t sure he could deal with true confessions right now. Good, bad or indifferent.
“You always were a stubborn male chauvinist pig,” she snapped.
His eyebrows shot upward. “I guess I can’t deny that,” he allowed humbly. At least if she was pissed at him she wouldn’t have time to focus on her fear.
“Deny it?” she said hotly. “Please. The only person you ever think of in a relationship is you. You just pretend no one counts except you, then when you walk away, it doesn’t ping your conscience because you’ve convinced yourself you didn’t do anything wrong or hurt anyone.”
“Okay,” he relented. “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have slept with you then walked away.”
He could almost see her stewing on the other end of the communications link. Without a word, she telegraphed her fury with a quiet that thickened between them.
“That’s all it was to you, wasn’t it?” she said. “Plain old physical gratification. Not making love, just sex.”
His frown deepened. Maybe he did deserve a good tongue-lashing, but she’d enjoyed the sex just as much as he had. To pretend otherwise was a flat-out denial of the truth.
“We were both over twenty-one, honey,” he retorted, his own irritation surfacing now. “It’s not like I talked you into anything you didn’t want to do.”
The silence was different this time, and he muttered a self-deprecating curse. Talk about inserting foot in mouth. Good thing they were on this line alone.
“Look, I shouldn’t have said that. Let’s just focus here.” He glanced around at the destruction and then shook himself. What the hell was he doing, letting his attention stray? Only Lisa had ever been able to do that to him.
She sighed. “Sorry. You’re right. Just get me out of here, please.”
“Almost there.” He zeroed in on the spot where he’d determined her SUV to be. A grin slid across his face. He could see the rear hatch. “Gotcha in my sights, babe.”
“Thank God.”
Ditto, he mused.
They would talk about this later. When they were both safe. And when the city was back to normal again. When he finished up here, chances were there would be other missions related to Mother Nature’s handiwork waiting for him.
Getting Lisa to safety was about all he and his squad could accomplish at this site. The canines and heavy equipment would have to take it from here.
Lisa gasped. “I see you!”
He smiled for her benefit, though he couldn’t quite make her out just yet. The lightly tinted rear window prevented him from seeing inside the vehicle, but he was almost there.
The entire structure suddenly shook.
Not just a slight shift.
Not a mere reaction to mounting stress on the compromised support beams.
Aftershock.
Joe bit back a heated curse and pushed forward.
He had to get to Lisa.
The rubble beneath him shifted.
A loud boom thundered above him. Debris fell around him, the low-pitched roar sounding like the enthusiastic clapping of hands.
Joe curled into a ball and shielded his head.
Chunks of glass and concrete rained down on him, followed by clouds of dust.
The shaking stopped as suddenly as it had started, and an eerie quiet fell.
Lisa.
Freeing himself from the rubble, he strained to see her car.
A distant rumble drew his gaze upward in time to see another section of the upper level falling.
He scrambled for cover but he couldn’t get a footing.
Then it was silent again…
…and dark.
CHAPTER THREE
LISA CURLED into the smallest ball possible and wrapped her arms over her head as she hunkered in the cargo compartment of the SUV.
The whole world seemed to tremble with fear.
Was this it?
The end?
Dear God, what about Joe?
She unfurled herself even before the vehicle stopped groaning beneath the weight of more rubble.
She had to know if he was all right.
Had to see.
To get out.
She couldn’t help him from in here.
“Joe!”
The silence that reverberated across the airwaves and into her ear sent her heart plummeting to her feet.
“Joe! Please, answer me! Joe, are you all right?”
“Lisa!”
Shannon’s voice.
“Lisa, where’s Joe?” Her voice warbled slightly.
Lisa’s pulse throbbed in her brain. It had to be bad if Shannon was worried. She was always so strong. Please, please, God, don’t let Joe be dying out there.
“Lisa, we’ve lost contact with Joe. Are you all right?”
“I can’t see him,” she murmured, her own voice stumbling. “I can’t—”
“Lisa, listen to me,” Shannon commanded. “Are you all right?”
She tried to calm down, forcing herself to look around the car and size up the situation. Okay. She was okay.
Just then a vicious creak split the air and the roof buckled in, pressing down on her.
Glass shattered.
“The roof is caving in,” Lisa cried. She edged closer to the rear hatch. The middle of the SUV was crushed so far down that the interior ceiling light was now flattened against the console.
She couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe.
She was going to die.
“Lisa, I heard glass shattering. Are you still with me?”
She nodded mutely, then struggled to respond audibly. “Yes.” She couldn’t move…could scarcely breathe.
Joe. God, where was Joe?
“Can you climb out? Maybe through one of the windows?”
Lisa started shaking her head before her friend completed the question. All the windows were shattered, flattened into triangular slits only a few inches high.
No way could she get out.
“I can’t…”
She tried to see behind her. Where was Joe?
“Joe!” she shouted. Please, please, don’t let him be dead. “Joe! Can you hear me?”
“Lisa, stay with me,” Shannon urged. “Is the window in the rear hatch still intact?”
Lisa turned her head as best she could. “Yes.”
“Can you maneuver around and kick it out?”
“I tried that already.” Her heart had leaped into her throat. “I couldn’t do it. I…I can’t turn around. I’m stuck.”
“Try, Lisa! You’ve got to try. You might be able to kick out the glass now with the added pressure.”
“Where’s Joe?” Lisa repeated, tears stinging her eyes. She tried to see but the car seemed buried in rubble. There was still some dim light coming through the hatch, which gave her hope, but what about Joe? She stretched, tried to move.
Turn around. She had to turn around. Something sharp jabbed her shoulder. She winced but kept working at freeing herself.
“Bull’s trying to get him now. Let’s concentrate on getting you out of that vehicle.”
Shannon said something to one of the others…
“No!” Lisa shouted. “Don’t you try to come in here, Shannon. It’s too late. Just…” There was no way anyone could get to her. Defeat twisted like barbwire in her stomach. She was certain of it now. Joe was likely dead and soon she would be, too.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to hold back the tears. Damn it. Who would take care of her animals? What about her family? They would be devastated.
And what about Joe?
The tears flowed now as she remembered the last time she’d seen him. He’d dropped by the clinic to break a date with her. She had to give him that. He had been man enough to let her down in person.
She had pretended indifference. As if it didn’t matter either way. But she’d known what had sent him running.
Where do you see our relationship going?
She’d asked the impossible of him.
Joe Ripani just wasn’t the marrying kind.
It certainly didn’t matter now.
Nothing mattered now…
“Lisa?”
Her breath caught.
“I’m here, babe.”
Joe.
The sound of his voice sent her heart into a frantic rhythm.
He was alive.
“Joe!” She bit down on her lower lip to stem the new rush of tears. “You scared the hell out of me, Ripani.”
“Scared myself,” he admitted with a chuckle. “Had to dig my way back to the surface.”
Fear stabbed deep into her chest. “Are you all right?” She could imagine broken bones and hemorrhaging. Men never liked to admit when they were injured. He probably needed medical attention. The dead last thing he should do was crawl deeper into this hellhole.
“’Course I’m all right. You think a little something like a few thousand pounds of concrete is going to stop me?”
This wasn’t the time for jokes. He could save that iceman persona for someone who didn’t know him better.
“Joe, I—”
The whole structure shook again. The metal SUV screeched beneath the weight bearing down on it.
Dear God, this whole place was going to collapse.
“You should get out of here, Joe,” she said. Her voice had gone flat, emotionless. It was over. No point in both of them ending up dead. “Don’t come any closer. You’ll never be able to get me out.”
