Page 29 of A Cowboy's Claim
“Yeah.”
“In a minute, when I say now, it might feel like somebody really big knocks you over. Just so you’re expecting it. And if you want, you get to say a really bad word, just this once. You want to know what it is?”
Sniffles followed. A few more whimpers. “Yeah.”
A hushed whisper rose, then a childish shout of pain.
“Don’t worry up there, that’s me putting the belt on him.” Sydney spoke over Tyler’s continued crying. “You’re okay, Tyler. Your daddy is going to lift you the tiniest bit. Slowly, Caleb. More, more.There. You’ve got his whole weight. Lift him up. Go ahead and say the magic word, Tyler.”
“Ro-o-o-to-ba-gaaaaaa.”
While Tyler sobbed and shouted nonsense, Sydney controlled his ascent with calmly given orders.
As Tyler’s dark head popped into view, Sydney called from below. “Tamara. Possible dislocation of the left glenohumeral joint. He’s guarding the limb and in significant pain. Noninvasive abrasions to his legs.”
“Got it. I’ll stabilize until the EMTs get here and we can head to the hospital.” Tamara’s voice trembled just enough to betray the mother beneath the nurse as she swooped in and lifted Tyler out of the way. She and Caleb hurried to the side where she put their son on a hay bale to examine him.
What had been the distant sound of a siren was distinctly closer now, and Aiden headed off to meet and guide the paramedics to the loft.
“Ready to come up, Syd?” Declan asked.
“Slower than Tyler, please. I’m not as small as him, and there are some interesting nails to avoid.”
Shit. “Tell me to stop anytime.”
Declan lifted hand over hand, the journey seeming to take forever. But then her head appeared, and she held out a hand.
Caleb was waiting. He caught her wrist and lifted her the rest of the way out before enveloping her in a bear hug. “Thank God you were here.”
She patted his back, meeting Declan’s eye over his shoulder. “Glad I could help. Now you’ve got an interesting mystery to deal with.”
Caleb let her go, and she held out a hand for the flashlight. She shone it downward into the hole.
Stepping to her side, Declan wrapped an arm around her waist even as he peered into the shaft at what seemed to be shimmering diamonds. “What is that?”
“Glass. Whatever this was before, someone tossed a ton of rubble down the shaft before they sealed it. Including windows in their metal frames. Most of them broke at least a couple times. That’s not the worst part, though, nor the nails that go straight through the walls into the space.” She clicked off the light and the area below them continued to glow, small bright lights flashing every now and then.
Caleb’s face went white. “Are thoseelectricalshorts?”
“Think so,” Sydney confirmed. “Between the metal frames on the windows, and the electricity with an unknown source, taking down the wall was a game of Russian roulette. You need to turn off the power in this part of the building and be prepared before you break down the wall. Tyler was lucky he got caught on a small ledge on the way down instead of hitting the bottom of the shaft.”
And Sydney was lucky she hadn’t gone down to rescue the boy and ended up dead.
Declan caught her by the wrist, forcing calm into his words. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Still, he examined her hands and arms, checking she hadn’t been hurt and was ignoring an injury to be brave. Only once he was satisfied did he pull her to his body, holding her close as his heart raced a million miles an hour.
The conversation at the dinner table drifted in his mind unbidden. What hadhebeen holding back on? Making them a reality.
Screw being patient, it was time for this to happen. The idea of losing another person he cared about still scared the hell out of him, but not being with her?
It was like being dead when he didn’t have to be.
Between one breath and the next, everyone moved. The paramedics arrived and prepped Tyler to head to the hospital. Sydney volunteered to go with Tamara and Caleb. Petra and Aiden guided Jinx and Sasha out, and suddenly only Luke remained, eyeing Declan closely, the hired hand at his side swaying uneasily as if he’d rather be anywhere else.
“Everything okay? Want help taking care of the wall situation?” Declan asked.
