Men of Courage (10 page)

Her expression was one of pure, unadulterated joy. “Digger! My little baby!”

Digger yipped soundlessly and banged around inside his crate.

“Whoa, whoa,” Brett said, trying to hold the suddenly quaking cage. “Let’s get back, away from the house.” It was the safe thing to do, but he also didn’t need her dealing with the destruction inside just yet. Let her enjoy her reunion with Digger.

“What’s wrong with him?” She was reaching for the crate.

“He’s barked himself hoarse. I imagine the quake shook him up quite a bit. Some animals are hypersensitive to seismic movement, sensing it even before we do.” He kept talking as he eased them off the porch and away from the house. “Let me carry him until we’re clear of the house. His leash is in my pack. You can take him out and hook him up as soon as we get clear.”

Haley literally dogged his heels all the way down the drive to the road. It wasn’t until she’d knelt and let an amazingly wiggled-up dog out of his crate, caught him to her chest and hugged him tightly, nose buried in his wiry fur, that she looked at him again. Eyes shining as brightly as Digger’s, mouth stretched wide, teeth flashing, she was amazingly beautiful. Even with scratches on her face, hair sticking out at every angle and dog hair plastered all over her, she took his breath away.

“Thank you,” she said, then impulsively reached up on tiptoes and kissed him right on the mouth. He wasn’t sure who was more shocked.

Her lips were warm, sweet, and had she not been standing in front of her partially demolished house, rescued dog clutched to her chest, he’d
have likely reached for her and found out just where this friendly thank-you kiss might lead. Damn, but he’d waited a long time to taste Haley Brubaker. And it had been well worth it. Quake and all.

When she pulled back, her eyes were bright with more than gratitude, her skin flushed with more than relief. She held his gaze for what seemed like an eternity. But just when he was going to lower his head again, to find out if the fireworks between them were as real as he suspected they were, Digger reached up and licked his cheek, making them both laugh.

“He thanks you, too,” Haley said, hugging the dog again.

“Thank you for doing this, Brett. I know I had no right, compromising things, but I can’t say I’m sorry. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Seeing Digger’s tongue lolling happily and the bright light shining from her eyes gave him a pretty clear idea. “Not a problem. I’m just glad he’s okay. You’ll probably want the medics down below to check him out. There will probably be at least one vet on scene. Either one could probably recommend something for his throat.” He tugged out the leash and smiled. “As
much as I know both of you would rather you carry him out of here, it would be better if he were on lead.”

The “just in case” was implied. The slightest frown creased her forehead and for the first time she looked back at her house. “I hadn’t even thought about what comes next. Is it—is everything really okay in there?” The color that had come back to her cheeks when she’d been reunited with Digger had brightened to a flush with their kiss. Brett knew it wouldn’t be long before true emotional and physical toll began to set in. And it would be best if she was down at the base, with help at the ready, when that happened.

“Do you have family, friends, in the area?” He motioned back down the road. “That road is impassable and will be for some time.”

“But my house? It’s really okay?”

Brett sighed. He hated to say anything, but he refused to lie to her. “Things got shaken up a bit. Some of your dishes are broken, your furniture got jumbled up pretty good. I’m not sure how serious the damage is. I’m sure a lot of it just needs to be put to rights. But they’ll have to send inspectors up here, engineers and whatnot, to check everything out before they’ll give you the okay to go back in.”
If they do at all,
he
added silently, but saw she understood that anyway.

She opened her mouth, then looked at her house and closed it, sighing. “I’m just happy you’re okay,” she murmured, pressing her face once again into Digger’s now more settled body. “That’s all that matters.”

There had been fear on her face, worry, maybe a moment of yearning, before resignation had taken over. Brett thought of the books he’d seen on her bookcase. “You said something down at base, when we first hooked up, about your livelihood.”

She nodded. “I make jewelry. I—I was just coming back from a business trip, setting up some new accounts in other cities.”

“So most of your stock is already in stores?” He felt a little better then. She’d have insurance. Surely they’d replace her supplies, tools.

Then she shook her head. “No. Several boutiques around the Bay Area handle a few pieces, but I’d been stocking up, preparing for this trip. I have one case of some of my best pieces, packed with my luggage.” Her mouth dropped open. “Oh, my God, I never got my luggage! I was so worried, I—”

“It will be there,” he told her. “We can get it later.”

“We?” She shook her head. “You’ve already gone way above and beyond—”

“Do you have someplace to stay? Where you can take Digger?”

She simply stared at him, then down at Digger, nonplussed for a moment, before finally marshaling her control once again. “We’ll get a room. I’m sure they’ll make exceptions, all things considered.”

“I’ve got tons of room.” He raised his hand. “My family would never forgive me if I didn’t help out.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, but she only said, “How are they? Everyone still in Baton Rouge?”

“All but me and Sean.” He dug his hands into his pockets. Mostly to keep from reaching for her again. It was the damnedest thing, but he had this feeling that all this had happened for a reason. Maybe not the quake, he didn’t need anything so literally earthshaking as a sign. But…he couldn’t ignore the feeling that this—meeting her again—was somehow, some way, meant to be. “Your work. It’s in there?” He nodded to the house.

Surprisingly, she shook her head and motioned
instead to the small, detached garage. “I turned that into a workspace. I have a small safe in there to keep finished work I haven’t sent on consignment. Four contracts’ worth of work is in there.” She said the latter more to herself than to him.

Brett had no idea what had happened between her and her wealthy family, but it was clear she wasn’t living off any kind of trust fund. Her furniture had been nice, but basic and functional. There were no fancy gadgets, no high-end stereo system, no pricey appliances, much less any objets d’art, at least none that he had seen. As far as he could tell, her jewelry business was her sole source of income.

He studied the garage. “Is it a key safe, or a combination safe?”

Understanding dawned immediately on her face. “No, I can’t let you do that. It’s all in there and safe. I’ve seen that with my own eyes. I’ll—It’ll be all right. I’m sure my clients will be more than understanding, given the circumstances.”

Brett had been in and around enough disaster situations to know that while insurance companies did the best they could to help their customers out, and the state did what it could to help, restitution took time. And, in some cases, insurance money simply wasn’t enough. Acts of God,
as quakes were termed, didn’t always come under the heading of benefits. And he doubted, given her circumstances, she’d taken out any pricey earthquake coverage.

He shot her a grin, his cockiest. “Wouldn’t hurt any to at least get the pieces out of there, where they could be earning you some commissions, right? You’ll have enough on your hands, dealing with the rest of this. Knowing you at least fulfilled your initial obligation would go a long way toward—”

“Brett, thank you, but I can’t ask you to do that.” She looked at the garage then away again. Her future, everything she’d worked hard for, was right inside that little building.

Even if things did move swiftly, with the road the way it was, she wouldn’t be let back up here on any kind of permanent basis for a long time. And he wasn’t sure what kind of means the state would provide for the families up here to get their belongings down off the mountain in the meantime.

She was looking at the garage again and he pressed his advantage. “Just give me the combination.”

“I wouldn’t know where to begin. And it’s not
something you can haul down the mountain in your backpack. None of it is wrapped and—”

“Just what kind of jewelry are we talking about?”

She smiled finally. “Unique. Wire, beads, jewels. Most of it somewhat fragile. At least, in terms of hiking and backpacks.” She finally knelt and put Digger down, snapping on his body harness and lead. She ruffed his ears, scratched his rear haunches, then finally stood. Recon and Digger set about getting to know one another and she smiled. “I have everything I need.” She looked at him again. “But thank you.” She nodded toward the garage. “It will be okay, don’t you think? I’ve got clothes and stuff in my luggage. Enough to handle things for a while, anyway. We’ll be fine. Or as fine as we can be.”

It was ridiculous, really. Here he was, the trained professional, and he was the one wanting to take stupid risks—for the civilian who was being rational about the whole thing.

But she wasn’t any civilian. And he knew she hadn’t a clue what she had yet to face. “Let me at least look inside and check on things. I don’t know when you’ll be let up here again.”

She smiled. “Or your family will never forgive you?”

He smiled, too. “Not in this case. I take full responsibility for this act of idiocy.”

She put her hand out as he turned. “Brett, really—”

He just grinned over his shoulder. “I’m a big boy. And I’m well trained.”

Recon chose that moment to bark, as if in total agreement, making them both laugh.

“Okay,” Haley said. “But only if I at least get to come to the door and tell you what to take.” She held up her hand when he went to protest. “Those are my conditions. Take ’em or leave ’em.”

He tried to stare her down. It didn’t work. He sort of liked that. Not that he’d tell her. Let a woman know something like that and she’d be running roughshod over you in a heartbeat. Not that he thought he’d mind a whole lot, he found himself thinking. If the woman was Haley Brubaker.

“Just to the door,” he said, wagging a finger. “And hold on to Digger.” He put Recon in a sit/stay as Haley slapped her chest and her little dog literally sprung off its haunches, all the way into her arms.

“Nice trick.”

“You’re not the only one who’s well trained,”
she said smugly, then motioned for him to lead on.

Rather than lift up either of the roll-top doors, Brett opted for the small, windowed door around the side. The footing wasn’t as good there, as the hill sloped down directly behind him. But the bay doors would shake the building too much. There was a small railing and stoop, both of which he made use of. He motioned her to stand back. “Let me take a look, then I’ll go in and roll up the doors if I think it’s okay. I don’t want you this close to the edge.”

She nodded.

He stepped inside, but even with the door open, it was too dark to really see anything. He felt around the door frame until he hit the switch. Nothing. No power. No real surprise there.

“I have a generator,” she called. “We lose power up here all the time.”

“I’ll use my flashlight.” He’d just pulled it out of his pack, stepped inside as he turned it on, when Recon began to bark. It was one he didn’t recognize. He stepped back out, saw his dog still in her sit/stay, but barking in what, for her, was almost a high-pitched frenzy. “Recon,” he called, then gave a signal for her to come. She bulleted toward him.

Digger started squirming in Haley’s arms, too, and she was looking around, trying to discover the source.

Brett had a really bad feeling, but before he could do anything, the ground began to roll like water beneath his feet. “Move! Move!” he shouted, wanting Haley away from the structure. As he stepped back out onto the stoop, it gave way, sending him back into the building. The ground rocked more violently and Recon danced outside, barking.

Brett tried to make a leap past the stoop that was no longer there, to the ground just a few feet away, but he couldn’t get a grip with his feet.

“Brett!”

Haley was screaming his name. He didn’t know what to tell her, other than to get away from the buildings. But it didn’t mean the earth wouldn’t split wide open and swallow her whole anyway. Goddammit, what had he been thinking to waste time up here as he had! Flirting, for all intents and purposes. Not that it would have made much difference. They wouldn’t have made it far anyway. For all he knew, they could have ended up in a landslide of trees.

He reached out for anything to hold on to, then the ground heaved him up in the air as though
he weighed less than a Popsicle stick. He landed hard. On what, he had no idea. He could hear Recon barking, Haley screaming.

Then nothing.

I
T WAS LIKE WATCHING
something out of a movie, only it was all horrifically real. The ground rolled like a giant wave beneath Haley’s feet. She clutched Digger close to her body, struggling just to remain upright, but the ground literally was pulled out from under her, sending her sprawling to the road. Digger popped loose, but Haley managed to snag the leash and wound it around her arm, clinging to it like a lifeline. Only she was very much afraid there was no such thing anymore. For any of them.

She managed to get to her knees. Recon was beside her, barking wildly at the garage. Haley watched in an oddly detached way as the surreal happened right in front of her. Her garage actually began to tilt, then list to one side, as if drunk. Her mouth opened in soundless horror as it literally shuffled right off its foundation…and moved closer to the edge. Her little stoop was already gone.

“Brett!” she screamed. Recon suddenly leaped beside her and she turned enough to see that the road was beginning to split and buckle behind her, right where the dog had been standing. She looked wildly around her, wondering which way she should go. One step in the wrong direction could mean—

And then it all stopped, just as suddenly as it had begun. It seemed as if the ground had been shifting beneath her for hours, and yet the whole episode had likely lasted less than several seconds.

Recon was standing just a foot away, no longer barking, but so agitated she was almost vibrating. Digger had burrowed himself beneath Haley, who was still on her hands and knees. Unaware of the scrapes to her knees and bloody cuts on her hands, she finally managed to stand. “Get a grip. Be calm,” she murmured, needing the sound of her own voice. “Think.”

She took a breath, then another one, then did a slow and complete turn, steeling herself to whatever she might see. She’d made it this far, she wasn’t about to lose it now.

The road behind her was split from side to side, with giant snaking cracks leading from either side. It wasn’t passable. The only way down
was over the edge behind her. And that wasn’t climbable. “Don’t think about that yet,” she schooled herself. Digger jumped against her leg and she slapped her chest. She caught him tightly to her as she finished her turn.

The garage.

And then she remembered, and realized she wasn’t as together as she thought. “Brett? Brett!” she screamed. He was inside the garage. What was left of it. “Oh, my God, oh, my God. Brett!” She carefully picked her way closer. There were no cracks between the ground where she stood and the garage. The back corner of which had collapsed and disappeared over the edge beyond. “Stay calm, stay calm.” Digger must have sensed the gravity of the situation, because for once he remained still and compliant in her arms.

She got within five yards of the two rolling doors. The side door was no longer there. She blanked her mind against the image of Brett standing in that doorway only moments ago, refusing to think the worst. “Brett?”

She waited, straining to hear any sounds from inside the garage.

I take full responsibility for this act of idiocy.

She tried to get Brett’s words out of her mind,
tried just as unsuccessfully to squelch the wave of guilt that threatened to drown her. There would be plenty of time for that later. Right now she had to figure out how to check the garage. Brett could be lying in there, trapped, hurt…or worse.

Then she felt Recon’s nose press against her thigh and turned to find the dog staring up at her expectantly. She had no idea how to command the dog to search, and wasn’t willing to send her inside that tottering building anyway. “He needs help,” she told the dog, rubbing her head, stroking her velvety ears.

Recon barked, tail wagging, eyes alert, focused, as if waiting for her orders.

Haley tried to stem the defeating sense of helplessness creeping in on her. Damn it, she wasn’t helpless. She’d carved a whole new life for herself, hadn’t she? A life free of the demands and controls of her family, a life free of lying, stealing lovers, a life free of any commitments save the ones she decided to commit to. Which, right now, was her dog and her business. They were the only partners she needed, the only ones she could handle. As for a warm body in bed at night, well, Digger fulfilled that role as best as he could.
He wasn’t exactly a strong pair of arms, but at least he was dependable.

She thought about Brett’s strong arms, his warm mouth on hers. Okay, so maybe she wanted more. And if she’d allowed herself to think about it, she’d have admitted she didn’t want to live alone forever, that she would want to be with someone again. Someday. And Brett was definitely the first man to even make her think about that day. But this was hardly the time or place to consider—

Recon barked again, panting heavily as her gaze flipped from garage to Haley, back and forth, as she waited. Waited for Haley to
do
something. And Haley realized that the time of being only accountable for herself and her dog had ended the moment she’d made the mad dash up the side of this mountain.

She turned to Recon and commanded, “Sit. Stay.” She didn’t remember the hand signals Brett had used with the command, but apparently she didn’t need them as Recon planted her butt obediently on the ground. Haley carefully avoided looking past her, to the snaking cracks and crevices that snaked through what had been her road. All she could do was pray there were no more aftershocks until she got them all off
this godforsaken mountain. What the hell had she been thinking coming up here?

Just then Digger licked her chin, as if reminding her that at least one creature was thankful for her rash decision. She sighed, hugging him close, suddenly feeling very near to tears. Which would help no one at the moment.

She sniffled once, pasted a determined look on her face and told Digger in no uncertain terms, “Keep still.”

The dog observed her solemnly, which for a Jack Russell was akin to a miracle. It was only a shame he wouldn’t sit and stay like Recon. She wanted her arms free, her hands free, but there was nothing to tie him to. The trees were across the road, on the other side of the giant cracks.

“All right,” she announced, hoping a confident bearing would instill trust in her ragged troops. And herself. “I’m going to try to get around the other side. There’s a small, high window. I’m going to see if I can look inside, figure out if I can roll up the doors without sending the whole thing sliding.”

Both dogs merely blinked at her.
So trusting,
she thought. She only hoped she didn’t let them, or Brett, down. After all, they hadn’t let her down when she needed them.

The left side of the garage was farthest away from the edge. She gingerly, carefully, walked around to that side, testing the ground with each step for stability. Not so much as a piece of gravel shifted. She clung to that hopeful bit of news.

“Brett?” she called again, now only several feet from the window. “Can you hear me? Are you okay?”

Slowly, she made her way to the window, almost tiptoeing the last few steps. The building actually leaned away from her now, listing toward the edge. The tiny window had been high on this side to begin with. Now it was just beyond her height, even on tiptoe. She’d have to jump up and look in. Any other time she wouldn’t have hesitated, but she had no idea what even the impact of her body weight on the earth around the building would do. It was already shifting off its foundations. That couldn’t be good news.

“Brett?” she shouted again, as loud as she could. Then the air was filled with the sudden thwap-thwap of helicopter blades. She looked up, but between the house and garage, and the tree line beyond the house, her view in the direction of the sound was limited. She debated leaving the
garage, moving back out on the driveway, closer to the cracks and crevices, and waving to get their attention, but the sound grew more distant and the chopper was gone without ever coming directly overhead.

“They’ll be back,” she told Digger. And herself. “And we’ll all be ready for them.” She studied the ground just next to the foundation, then looked up at the window, then at Digger. “I’m going to have to put you down for a moment. Behave.”

Digger shocked her by actually plopping down on his butt right next to her feet. Apparently he’d had a good enough scare being left in that house during the quake, he wasn’t going anywhere without her. She smiled, her heart filling with the love she had for her little furry companion. “I’m not going anywhere without you either, don’t worry.”

He tilted his head to the side, as he often did when she spoke to him. It was adorable and endearing and gave her the moment she needed to gather her confidence. “Thanks,” she told him, but firmly looped the leash on her arm nonetheless. Then turned to the window. “Okay, here goes nothing.” She counted to three in her head, then jumped. If the situation had been any less
threatening, she’d have laughed at herself for the wimpy, scaredy-cat little hop she took. That wasn’t going to get the job done. And the fewer times she had to jump, the better. But just as she was gearing up for another leap, she heard a sound. From inside the garage. A groan.

“Brett! Do you hear me?” She jumped then, without having to think twice. She’d only had a split second, but she’d seen him easily. With the power out, she’d expected to have to strain her eyes to see. She hadn’t counted on the fact that the entire other side of the garage was now gone, making lighting a moot issue.

Brett was sprawled dangerously close to the edge. It was hard to see all of him as one of her large workbenches had toppled over in front of him.

“Don’t move,” she shouted, unsure of how groggy he was. Apparently something had come flying at him, or he’d fallen and hit his head. Whatever, it looked as if he’d been knocked out. “Stay very still. Help will come soon.” She hoped. She wanted to jump up and look in again, but didn’t want to pound the ground any more than necessary. “Can you hear me? Are you hurt?”

There was a grumble, followed by a few
choice swearwords that had her smiling even as she worried about him. “I’m—I’m okay.”

He didn’t sound okay. She’d only been reunited with him for a matter of hours, but the Brett Gannon she knew hadn’t changed that much. His voice was strained, tense, not the usual calm, smooth, full-of-confidence tone she easily associated with him. Of course, under the circumstances, that was to be expected, but she still sensed something more was wrong.
What more wrong does he need? Trapped in a building half-gone, the rest ready to slide away at a moment’s notice?

She ignored her little voice and concentrated on his. “Can you move or are you trapped?”

A few seconds passed and she worried that maybe he’d blacked out again. Then she heard, “I’m not trapped.” She breathed a sigh of relief, then he added, “But I can’t move all that well. My ankle is—not right.”

Not right.
“Broken not right or sprained not right?”

There was a pause, then another string of swearwords. “Sprained,” he called.

My ass,
she thought, but hoped he was telling the truth, for his sake. “Do you think either of
the roll doors would move up enough for you to slide yourself out?”

“Not worth the risk,” he called back.

She bit back the hopelessness that rose in her again. He sounded steadier, which was a good thing. Better to stay focused on the positive things. Now she just had to figure out how to get him the hell out of there before another aftershock hit. She tried not to think about the fact that standing where she was at the moment was no great guarantee of safety, either.

“Are you okay?” he called. “Recon? Digger?”

“Yeah, we’re all fine. Your dog is worried about you.”

“Just don’t let her in here after me.”

“I won’t. She’s a good dog, well trained, like you said. Brett, listen, I’m so—”

“Don’t. I chose to come in here. I knew an aftershock could happen. It’s my fault for not getting us off this mountain the moment we had Digger in hand.”

“We’d have only been a few yards down the road and it’s split all to hell now,” she said. “I’m sorry I got you into this.”

“I’ve gotten into worse. It was my decision.”

There was no point in arguing about it, she
decided. They both needed to focus on a solution. “What do you want me to do?” she called.

“Keep me company,” he said. “That helicopter will be back here soon enough.”

So, he’d heard the chopper. It was probably what had roused him. “What happened?” she called. “Did you get knocked out?”

“Yeah, I guess. I have a lump on my head that says I did. But I’ll live.”

She heard the grin in his voice and wondered how he could joke at a time like this. But, then again, maybe this was the best time to keep spirits up.

“My folks have always said I was hardheaded. I guess they were right.”

She heard a rustling sound inside the garage. “Be careful,” she called.

“Yep,” he responded, then whistled. “Boy, now this is what I call living on the edge.”

“Ha, ha, very funny. We should be figuring out how to get you out of there.”

“There is no getting me out of here. The only way I’m going is by chopper. If I could just find my damn radio—”

“Do you want me to try to make some kind of signal?” She heard more rustling. “What are you doing?”

“Strapping my ankle. I have some stuff in my bag. I hope you don’t mind if I help myself to some of your supplies in here to shore it up with. What do you do with rebar anyway?”

She couldn’t help it. She found herself smiling. “Please. Take what you need. I use the rebar for support structures.”

“I thought you made jewelry. What kind of jewelry requires support structures?” She heard several grunts, then a few more swearwords. Then, “Ah, there it is. Figures.”

“What?”

“My radio. It must have flipped out of its holder when I got tossed around like a rag doll. It’s…well, let’s just say it’s beyond reach.”

Haley could only hope he meant beyond reach inside the garage somewhere. She didn’t want to think that he was dangling out over the edge, looking down the mountainside. Although she wouldn’t put it past him.