They drove the mile and a half of fire road they had, and then had to hike the other three miles to the location.
It was a long-ass walk, hauling all their rope and gear in the wind. By this time the Zodiac had reported in with more details on their victim. The stuck climber was in a sweatshirt, hoodie up, and leggings, so no age or sex could be determined. It could be anyone out there.
But not Lily, he told himself. And yet a small doubt remained, messing with Aidan’s head. He locked that shit down and kept moving as the Zodiac made contact with the stuck climber. Sign language communication only, since they couldn’t hear each other over the roar of the wind barreling through the canyon and the water rushing along the canyon.
The climber was stuck. They couldn’t—or wouldn’t—go back up, and down wasn’t an option.
With each step Aidan’s fear grew that it was going to be Lily and he wouldn’t be able to get to her before the storm swept her off the ledge.
Chapter 28
Lily got back home frozen and desperate for a hot shower. She was shocked to find Gray coming out of her place with a grim set to his jaw.
“Lily,” he said, looking shocked as hell to see her.
Who else was he expecting?
But before she could ask, he had his cell phone to his ear. A few seconds later he said, “Fuck!” and stared at her. “You’re not up at Dead Man’s Cliff.”
“No,” she said slowly. “I never planned to be. I got to the three-quarter mark and turned around. The storm—”
“Fuck,” he said again, and hit the stairs, running down them toward his truck.
“Wait!” she yelled after him. He didn’t, so she took the stairs at a dead run as well but didn’t catch up to him until he was just about to peel out of the lot.
“I don’t have time for this, Lily,” he warned when she stood at his driver’s window. “Aidan’s on a rescue up there and he’s distracted, thinking it could be you. I’ve got to at least get to Incident Command and radio him, let him know you’re safe so he gets his head in the game.”
She stared at him for a single beat and then rounded his truck—in the front, so he couldn’t leave without running her over. She climbed into his passenger seat.
“No,” Gray said.
“You’re wasting time.” She hooked up her seat belt. “Go.”
“I’m not bringing you up there.”
“Save your breath and hit it.”
Gray gritted his teeth and hit it.
“Tell me everything,” she said. “Including why either of you could think I’d be stupid enough to climb Dead Man’s Cliff alone, ever.”
He drove fast through the driving rain but utterly in control as he laughed low under his breath.
“What?” she demanded. “What’s so damn funny?”
“You’re as stubborn as he is,” Gray said. “You two deserve each other.” He spared her a quick glance. “I hope you stick this time.”
She met his gaze, though it was difficult.
He went brows up. A silent but demanding Well? if she’d ever heard one. Pretending not to read Eyebrow Speak, she turned to the passenger window, watching as they flew through the storm. “What is going on, why were you at my place, and why were you surprised to find me there?”
He didn’t answer.
“I swear to God, Gray—”
“I saw you on the monitors,” he said. “And per protocol, I called Aidan—”
“Per protocol?”
He grimaced. “Shit. You’re going to get pissed.”
“Already there,” she said tightly.
Another grimace. “Okay, you’re not supposed to know this, none of you are supposed to know this. We’ve had a Penny Protocol in place since the beginning. And now we have a Lily Protocol.”
“Which means?” she asked in a deceptively quiet voice that sounded way calmer than she might have imagined she could come up with.
He didn’t answer.
“Gray,” she said.
That muscle ticked in his jaw again. “Look, it’s about keeping our people safe, okay? He watches out for Penny when I can’t, and I …”
“You what?” she asked, eyes narrowed.
“I watch out for you when he can’t. Hudson does too.”
She stared at him, stunned. “I watch out for myself,” she said.
“Yes and you usually do a damn fine job of it. Except I saw you presumably heading toward DMC and that’s code red.”
“Code red,” she repeated.
“You might’ve been in trouble.”
“I’ve been out here hiking for weeks and I’m still not mental enough to attempt free-climbing that damn, cursed mountain,” she said. Maybe even yelled.
He winced. “Not physically in trouble.”
“So you thought, what, that I might fling myself off the edge and you called Aidan to run in and save the day?”
“Better to be safe and apologize later,” he said. “Except a rescue call came in. A climber was reportedly stuck on a ledge above the river. Aidan’s S&R team caught the call, and everyone thought it might be you.”
“Except that I’m not actually climbing anymore,” she said again, this time through her teeth.” A thought occurred to her, and she narrowed her eyes. “So if you thought I was out there being stupid, why were you at my place?”