Chapter 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

"Hilly?" Cisco whispered, staggering on his feet. Mason's hands supported him, keeping him from collapsing again after he heard his name.

Cisco didn't know what to think. He was either delusional with grief and was hearing voices, or Hilly had just called to him.

"Is that…? Did you…?" He couldn't get the words out.

Nel was whining by his side, then spinning abruptly on her back legs, she made a run for the overhang. Mike made a dive and caught the determined pup at the last minute before she threw herself over the edge.

Mason held up a hand. "Everybody quiet," he demanded. "Hilly?" he called out. "Where are you?"

"On a ledge," came the raw reply from somewhere down below them.

Cisco threw off Mason's grasp, and dropped to his belly, his head hanging over the side of the precipice. "Flashlight," he barked frantically.

Someone handed him a light, and he flashed it down; first into the depths of the gorge, then quickly refocusing his aim back toward the cliff wall, and…

"There!"

Hilly's small form lay huddled on a five-foot-wide shelf of rock, at least a dozen feet below.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Cisco called out, his voice breaking. Dammit. He'd been undone, thinking she was…

Nel whined from somewhere behind him.

"I'm…hurting," she answered in a tiny, strained voice. "I…don't think I can stand."

"Stay still. We're coming to get you," Cisco promised.

Mason was already on his mic, alerting the team members they'd left behind to bring climbing gear, a Stokes litter, and to call for an ambulance. They'd learned from Doug—who knew this section of forest well—that there was an old logging/fire road only a few hundred yards to the north that would give the emergency crews access. It must have been how Cottins had made it onto the property, and where he'd stashed his truck.

"Cold," Hilly called up the one word.

Even though the temperature was in the low seventies, Cisco knew Hilly was probably in shock.

"We'll get you a blanket," he promised. Still on his belly, he turned his head to Mason and Alvi, both of whom had squatted next to him. Alvi was already digging in his ever-present medic's pack.

"I'm going down," Cisco told his boss.

Nel let out a pained howl as Mike continued to hold her back.

"No," Mason barked. "You'll wait for our gear. I'm not having two rescues here. And if you miss the ledge and fall into the ravine, you won't be doing Hilly any favors."

Fuck. Mason made sense, but Cisco couldn't just lay there and do nothing…

Alvi thrust a small bundle at Cisco. It was a lightweight, thermal rescue blanket. "Throw this down," he said. "It'll keep her warm while we wait."

Cisco took it and leaned as far over the edge as he could. "I'm sending down a blanket, Hilly. Wrap yourself up in it until our climbing stuff gets here and we can make it down to you."

"Okay," she agreed shakily. Her voice was losing what little strength it had.

Cisco didn't want the blanket dropping into the void, or even out of her reach. He needed to get closer, and the thermal covering would be his excuse

"Hold my ankles and lower me down," he told his team members who were standing over him.

"Fuck, Cisco," Welker huffed. "What if we drop you?"

"You won't," he answered with certainty. He trusted his team with every molecule in his body.

Mason must have agreed. "Let's get some light over here, people," he ordered.

Almost immediately, eight or ten flashlights were illuminating the area. "Welk, you and Moira get on his right leg," Mason clipped, thankfully not trying to dissuade Cisco. "Talia, you're with me on the left."

Cisco felt hands gripping his calves and thighs, and wiggled his center of gravity forward until he reached his tipping point, then…

He almost free-fell for a foot or so before they had him under control, then they lowered him slowly. Stretched out as far as he could go, Cisco's arm length of approximately two and a half feet, added to his height of six-two, brought him down to nearly nine feet. Which left only three between him and Hilly.

"Hi, sweetheart," he choked out.

God, from what he could make out, she was a wreck. Her face was battered and bleeding, her top lip swollen, and there was a nasty looking bruise on the side of her neck. And that was just the damage that Cisco could see. Who knew what other injuries she'd sustained to her body before she'd gone over the edge and when she'd landed?

"Here," Cisco managed as she looked up at him with one good eye. "Take this blanket." He let it drop from his fingers, and it landed only inches from her head.

She dragged it close, grappled with the protective sleeve that held it for a moment, then managed to extract the blanket and cover herself.

"Better?" he asked.

She made a small sound, and he could see her attempting to grin. "Better…would have been…following our original plans for tonight," she managed.

"Original…?" Cisco barked out an anguished laugh. She was talking about sex, and her amusement was either because she was the world's best actor, or she was fucking good at ignoring her pain. "Oh, Hill," he lamented. "I promise a whole lot of those nights after we get you out of here and well again."

"Are you sure?" she asked, her tone low and heart-breakingly tentative.

"I'm so sure," Cisco answered without hesitation. There was a lot more he wanted to say, but there were…

Why the fuck not?

Screw the audience .

Cisco wasn't going to hold back any longer. His worry over Hilly's fate had reminded him just how short life could be.

He cleared his throat. "I know this is really stupid timing on my part, Hilly, but I… Something's been festering inside me for weeks, and I have to say it." He took a deep breath. "Hilly Duncan, I love you. I've been in love with you since you showed up at my house one night, all sassy, to take care of my injuries." He knew he should stop there, but nerves had him rambling on, blurting out all his doubts. "I know it's too soon; I know you're scared, but I'll do everything I can to make you?—"

"Cisco," Hilly interrupted him with a quiet, but bold groan of his name.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" He swallowed hard. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.

"I love you, too," she rasped.

There were whistles from above and one very loud, "Well shit. Another one bites the dust."

"Shut up, Welker." Moira, their sheriffs' department teammate chastised him grumpily. "You wouldn't know love if it bit you in the ass."

"Ahh, you want to sink your teeth into my fine glutes, Bliss?" came the instant reply.

Yup. That was Welker. All bluster and no commitments. Cisco would deal with him, later. Right now, he focused on what Hilly had just revealed.

"You do? You love me?" he addressed her almost giddily, growing dizzy at her words. Or maybe his head was swimming because he'd been hanging upside-down for too long, but his heart was certainly soaring.

"Uh, huh," she managed.

That was enough for Cisco.

"Hilly, you've made me the happiest man in Maine," he replied, moisture threatening to spill from his eyes. "Now just stay quiet and I'll be back before you know it."

Hilly grunted her compliance, and hunkered deeper under the blanket.

"Up," he told his teammates.

He didn't want to leave Hilly, but passing out wouldn't do either of them any good, and he needed to be one-hundred percent in his right mind so he could be one of the team who rappelled down and helped secure her in the litter once it arrived.

He was hauled up, slowly.

Once on solid ground, it took Cisco a minute to clear his head and get to his feet.

Welker—once Cisco was upright—was right there by his side to cuff him in the shoulder while Alvi looked at the damaged wrists he'd forgotten about, tsked, and started treating him.

"Smooth, pal," Welker snorted. "Telling the girl you love her while she's half-unconscious. And bro, what am I going to do for wingmen now that you and all the rest of our wuss friends have gotten shackled?" he complained, not quite tongue-in-cheek.

"Maybe get a real life," Moira grumbled under her breath from next to them before turning and striding away.

Huh. That was interesting, and it wasn't the first time Cisco had seen tension between the two. There was definitely something more there than met the eye, linking his buddy and the taciturn sheriff.

Cisco focused in on his friend. "Enjoy your delusions while you can, Welk. There'll come a day when you meet a woman who'll bowl you over, and you'll finally understand how it is," he schooled.

The man grimaced, glanced after the sheriff, then blanched.

Cisco gave an internal laugh. Welker was interested in Moira Bliss, but attempting to convince himself otherwise. It was a fascinating development. Cisco would have to keep an eye on his friend to make sure he didn't blow it.

Moira was one hell of a teammate, and even if she was all business; didn't do warm and fuzzy, she was smart, loyal, and pretty damned stunning to look at. Welk couldn't do better than Ms. Bliss.

Hops, JD, Sandrine, and Briar brought him out of his thoughts as they broke through the trees from the north, humping in the equipment they needed.

"Emergency services are right behind us," Sandrine told them, dropping some of the rope gear and her end of the litter on the ground at Mason's feet. "EMTs as well, and the police to take this kidnapper and arsonist into custody." She eyed the trussed-up form of Cottins, sneering at the asshole where he sniveled.

"Right. The fire," Cisco recalled.

He'd been so focused on getting to Hilly, he hadn't given another thought to the shack that had to have gone up in flames by now. He considered himself damned lucky not to have been caught in the conflagration. He'd managed, thanks to Hilly, to divest himself of his restraints, but once that had been accomplished, Cisco had been a little disoriented from the encroaching smoke. Crash—backed up by Cisco's SWAT team—had braved the small building's precarious safety to run inside and yank Cisco out in the nick of time. Cisco had never been more relieved to have a firefighter by his side.

"Is it raging out of control?" he asked.

Hilly would be devastated if the blaze spread to her camp.

Mason laughed. "Nope. Crash has it all under control. He stayed back and called an old colleague of his who works for the Maine Forest Service as part of a local helitack crew. The guy had a chopper in the air and was onsite within minutes. Crash told me over the mic that the helitack crew had already rappelled down, are using a fire retardant, and that they had the flames almost out."

Cisco breathed a sigh of relief. Hilly would be very relieved to hear that. But right now, he needed to focus and gear up. Welker was right beside him, sorting through his tackle, but Alvi was already harnessed up and clipped in, ready to go.

"Come on, you slouches," Alvero tossed out. "Let's go get Cisco's woman."

In another few seconds Cisco and Welker were also suited up to roll. Securing the lines—as they'd practiced ad infinitum—they went over the lip and down onto the ledge before another word was spoken.

Cisco immediately leaned down over Hilly on one side, and Alvi crouched on the other while Welker took charge of the descending litter.

"We've got you now, Hill." Cisco wasn't sure where to touch her, for fear of causing her pain, but she solved his dilemma by slipping her small, cold hand into his.

"I'm glad you're here," she strangled out.

"Hey boss," Alvi teased, taking charge as he lowered the blanket to assess Hilly's injuries. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a truck hit me," she grunted, her voice sounded rough and gravely when she answered.

"Okay. You just stay put and try not to talk too much. It looks like Cottins might have done some damage to your larynx."

"And my ribs," Hilly gutted out. "I also can't use my arm. I think it's dislocated."

Alvi didn't hesitate. "Deep breath." He positioned himself and Hilly, expertly and quickly popping it back in.

Hilly yelped. "Damn." Tears filled her eyes, then she gave it an experimental roll. "It's…better now."

"I know. And sorry for the pain," Alvi apologized. "It's how it had to go."

Alvi's hands then gently palpated Hilly from head to foot as Cisco held her hand. She winced repeatedly, and he wished he could pummel Cottins all over again.

"Well," Alvero leaned back, "it looks like you might have some broken ribs, a nice black eye, a split lip, and a bruised face." He held out a cold-pack he'd activated for her, and laid it carefully on her face. "But it's your throat I'm most worried about. There's some damage there, and we need to get you to the hospital ASAP." He eased a cervical collar around her neck and fastened the Velcro closings.

Cisco knew Alvi was afraid that swelling would block Hilly's airway, and she needed to be checked out by a doctor as quickly as possible.

"Mase," he called up, nerves hitting him hard over what could happen if Hilly couldn't catch a breath. "Can we get a medivac chopper in here?"

There was silence up above for a few seconds.

"On it, Cisco. The EMT's will load her into their ambulance, then drive to the parking lot at the camp. The hospital's helo will land there to bring her in."

Cisco wished there were someplace closer for them to get her, but he knew Hilly would be in good hands with the experienced EMT's for the duration, so he'd have to be okay with that.

He turned his attention back to Hilly.

"Cottins?" she asked, daring to speak one more time, even though Alvi grunted disapprovingly at her.

"He's still breathing, thanks only to Mason," Cisco admitted. "I was ready to pound him into the ground before the chief stepped in. He's in cuffs now, and he won't be seeing the light of day for a long time. I promise."

Hilly's face smoothed out, but he could see she was readying to speak again.

Cisco placed a feather-like finger over her lips. "Shh. I'll tell you everything else you want to know as soon as we get you secure and in the ambulance."

Because, hell, yes. He was going with her.

Hilly nodded.

With Alvi's approval, Cisco was the one to lift his injured woman carefully onto the litter.