Close Proximity (20 page)

He scrambled down from the cab.

“Hold on, honey,” he said to her. “I'm getting you out of there.”

The hole was about four feet across. Straddling the well was awkward. Rafe placed his weight directly overtop Libby. He grabbed the rope and began hoisting her up.

She groaned.

There was no way for him to be gentle. All he could do was get her out.

When he raised her enough to grasp her arms, she let out another painful moan.

“Almost, honey. Almost.”

Something down below, deeper in the well, scraped the dirt sides of the hole.

“What was that?” he asked.

The bewilderment in her eyes told him she had no clue.

As gingerly as possible, Rafe pulled Libby to one side, laying her down beside the well. Immediately, she began to squirm her way farther from the gaping hole. Again, they heard a scraping.

“What the hell—”

Rafe heaved on the rope that had been secured to her ankles. What he saw on the end of it, raised the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck. He went still.

“Libby, don't move.”

She relaxed.

“I'm not sure, but it looks like some kind of detonation device.”

He wrestled with the cloth that was knotted over her mouth, till he removed it.

“B-b-bomb?” she croaked.

“Hold still. Looks homemade.” His tone was sharper than he'd intended. He worked to untie the rope from her ankles.

Several frustrating minutes passed as he worked.

Libby whispered, “G-g-g—” She swallowed, then tried again. “G-get out.”

“We will. We will.” He leveled his gaze on her. “It's here, Libby. The DMBE is here. Todd dumped it in the well. He didn't know the aquifer flows southward. He didn't know the contamination would be flowing away from Crooked Arrow. He tried to kill you. And he meant to destroy the well and the evidence along with it.”

Libby lay prone, her body battered from her ordeal. “H-he's c-c-crazy.”

“Or he's as sane as you and me,” Rafe said. “And he's trying to cover some very crazy behavior.” Then he felt a flicker inside. “So you saw him? It was Todd who brought you here?”

She could only shake her head. “F-face covered.”

“Don't talk. It's okay now.” Disappointment walloped him. Well, the police would catch him. They had to. All that really mattered was that Libby was alive and safe. Or she soon would be.

The rope came loose, and Rafe smoothly set the dangerous-looking contraption by the hole.

“Come on,” he told Libby, gathering her up in his arms. “We're leaving this one to the professionals. I'll tell the police to get the bomb squad out here to defuse that thing. I'm getting you out of here.”

The night wind carried the faint sound of sirens. Libby was free, sitting in the cab of Rafe's truck. He'd just tucked his jacket around her shoulders and viciously bruised upper arms when a long row of police cars and an ambulance turned onto the well road, their lights flashing red.

“Sweetheart,” he said softly, “things are going to get hectic in a minute. They're going to want to take you to
the medical center. But I need to know…did you hear any of what I said in there?”

“H-heard you c-calling me.”

He smoothed away a smudge of dirt high on her cheekbone. “I've been stubborn, honey. You were smarter than me all along. You recognized that this thing between us is special and that it's bigger than us. I was stupid to try to ignore it. I love you. And if you'll have me, I want to spend the rest of my life proving just how much.”

In the moonlight, her vivid eyes expressed a coyness he'd never before seen. It was cute. And sexy as hell.

“D-didn't you also say something about being w-w-willful?”

He inhaled sharply, a half grin cocking his mouth to one side. “You did hear me.”

She smiled and was evidently more relaxed now as her speech came smoother, easier.

Libby shrugged, pain causing her to flinch. “Well, yeah. B-but it might take a whole lifetime before I can g-get you to admit again that you've been both stubborn and willful. I just wanted to hear you say it now.” She curled up against his chest. “Now, r-repeat that last little bit.”

“What? That I was stupid to try—”

“No,” she whispered. “The very last bit.”

“The part where I said I love you?”

She smiled. And his heart took flight.

He covered her mouth with his, kissing her heatedly. His blood raged, his groin tightened. And Rafe knew the love he felt for Libby would burn bright through all eternity.

Life—and love—he'd discovered, were precious and beautiful gifts. Never again would he take either for granted. The woman in his arms was amazing. She'd suffered her own sorrow in the past, had been hurt and tossed
aside. And when she'd offered Rafe her heart, he, too, wounded her with rejection. Yet here she was, willing to forget the pain of yesterday and focus only on the future. She was a wonder, someone who could teach him much through her willingness to forgive and forget, through her willingness to trust, her willingness to love.

“I love you, Rafe,” she whispered against his mouth. “My love. My Dark Wind.” She pulled back. “Just like Alex Featherstone said, darkness is like a protective blanket that shields. You've been my protector. And like the wind, you've blown love and contentment and happiness into my life.”

When he'd first revealed his Mokee-kittuun name to her, she had expressed that she thought it depressing. And until this moment, he, too, had thought so. However, his soul was no longer empty. It was filled to overflowing with the love he felt for Libby.

“Remember how I told you I was waiting for the sun to rise?” he softly asked.

She nodded.

He combed his fingers through her glorious hair. “Well, it's daybreak. And I've never seen a more beautiful dawn. Quick,” he said in a rush, the sound of car doors slamming shut, men's shouts intruding in on them. “Before we're overrun with police and rescue workers…tell me you'll spend forever with me. Tell me you'll be my wife.”

Her eyes glittered with happy tears. “Oh, Rafe. Yes!” And then she kissed him soundly.