Page 42 of On the Chase
The railing held. Grace sucked in a sobbing breath, opening eyes she hadn’t even realized she’d squeezed shut. Immediately, she wished she’d kept them closed. The cliff next to them dropped straight down, leaving only air beneath them. They were dangling above nothingness. If the railing broke, she’d plunge hundreds of feet until she hit the rocks so, so far below. Only then would her fall—and Grace herself—be broken.
The drag of nails against the railing supports yanked Grace’s attention away from the endless emptiness below and back to Lexi. Lunging toward the dog, Grace managed to grab her harness. Her fist closed around the nylon strap just as Lexi slipped over the edge of the railing.
With a yelp, Lexi fell. Her weight jerked Grace’s whole body down against the railing. Her shoulder screamed in pain, but she clung to the harness desperately.
“Hold on, Grace!” Hugh shouted from the door. He’d tied a rope around his waist, and he was rappelling down the almost vertical deck floor toward them. If Grace had been able to spare any oxygen to yell, she would’ve screamed at him to hurry, but the only thing she could manage was to suck air in quick, panicked gasps.
Lexi flailed her legs as she dangled in the air, jerking on Grace’s agonized shoulder. The railing slats pressed painfully against Grace’s front, and she prayed that they continued to hold. Her fingers were numb from the tight clench of her fist, but she managed to grip the harness even tighter. She couldn’t let Lexi go.
When Hugh was just a few feet away, the deck shuddered and dropped again. It only fell a few inches, but it was enough to jar Grace. For a fraction of a second, she was suspended, weightless, in the air, and then she connected with the railing—hard.
One of the supports under her hip gave a sharp crack and broke. The slat under her ribs splintered next. With a sobbing breath, she felt her body lurch against the too-few remaining supports. Her back stiffened as she tried to keep from dropping through the newly formed hole, and she wrapped her free arm around a post.
“I’m almost there, Grace. Just keep holding on.”
She wasn’t sure if Hugh was talking about holding on to Lexi or keeping her grip on the wooden post, but Grace was determined to do both. Just as the thought passed through her mind, the slat supporting her shoulders snapped, and she was plunging through the railing.
Vaguely, she heard Hugh’s panicked shout, but everything was a blur. Her body jerked once when her downward drop was halted by her grip on the post, and a second time when Lexi hit the end of her short free fall. Agony shot from Grace’s fingers all the way up her arm and through her shoulder, but still she didn’t let go.
“I’ve got you, Gracie.” Hugh’s hands were on her, and she’d never been so relieved. He pulled her back through the hole in the railing, Lexi’s weight a painful drag on her shrieking muscles. Grace welcomed the pain, though—it was so much better than numbness. If she couldn’t feel the nylon strap burning her palm and cutting into her fingers, she wouldn’t be sure that she still had the dog safe in her grasp.
As Hugh hauled her toward him, her feet struggled to find purchase, but the broken bits that remained of the railing supports cracked off like Popsicle sticks. Grace finally managed to stand on a post—the same one she’d been clinging to just a second earlier. As soon as she found her balance, Hugh reached down and grabbed Lexi’s harness. In one motion, he slung the dog over his shoulder.
“You can let go,” he said, but the words didn’t make any sense. She wasn’t about to release her grip on Hugh’s shirt. It was only when he gently worked her fingers free of Lexi’s harness that she realized she still clutched the strap. It almost hurt worse to release her grip than it had to hold the dog suspended in the air, but her fist finally unclenched. As soon as Hugh let go, her arm dropped to her side. It felt like the entire appendage was on fire, and Grace wasn’t sure if she could even lift her arm.
“Ready to get off this?” Hugh asked. Although he sounded steady, almost teasing, she could feel how tightly drawn he was, how he shook slightly under her clutching fingers.
There was no way she could speak, so she just gave a jerky bob of her head. He turned around, and she gasped as she was pulled with him by her one-handed death grip. Immediately, he stopped and looked at her.
“Get on my back,” he said, crouching slightly. The command was a relief. Her body moved to obey him even before her brain could start doubting if she could manage it. She climbed on piggyback style, wrapping her legs around his waist and hooking her good arm around his shoulders, careful not to strangle him accidentally. In that position, Lexi was right next to her, and Grace turned her face into her furry shoulder. Small, continuous shudders ran through the dog.
Step by laborious step, hand over hand on the rope hooked around his waist, Hugh climbed the steep slope of the broken deck. Grace clung to him, shaking harder than the dog. On Hugh’s fourth step, there was a low groaning sound and the deck listed to the right. His foot slipped, and he lurched sideways with a pained grunt, the rope holding all three of them going taut with the strain.
Swallowing a shriek, Grace tightened her grip on Hugh and focused on breathing.In and out. In and out.They would make it back into the house. Hugh wasn’t going to let them fall.
“I’ve got you,” he grunted, as if he could hear her panicked thoughts. She felt his chest expand as he took a deep breath, and then he was moving again. His breathing was rough, and Grace remembered that he’d been shot just weeks earlier. She could only imagine the agony he was in. Despite that, he held strong, hauling them closer and closer to the sliding glass door.
They were so close. If she hadn’t been clinging to Hugh for dear life with her one usable arm, she could’ve reached out and touched the doorframe. The muscles in his arms and shoulders were straining as he surged up and forward, finally landing one foot inside the house. As he pushed off with his other leg, there was a loud, splintering noise followed by several explosive cracks. The deck dropped, falling out from under them, and Hugh lunged through the doorway, throwing all three of them to the blessedly solid and horizontal floor.
For endless seconds, they lay there in a panting, shivering heap. Lexi was the first to shift, wriggling out from where she was half pinned by Hugh’s shoulder. Immediately, she pressed close to them, as if seeking comfort.
The dog’s movement brought Grace back to reality, and she realized that she was sprawled across Hugh’s back. A vague pang of guilt pricked her through the foggy haze of shock. He’d saved them, and she’d plopped her entire weight on him as thanks. She rolled off him—at least she tried. Before she could land on the floor next to him, Hugh had turned over and snaked out an arm, hooking it around her and pulling her back to him, on his chest this time.
Too dazed to fight and not really wanting to be away from him anyway, Grace relaxed, allowing him to hold her against his chest. Lexi burrowed in, pressing her head into Grace’s side.
“You okay?” Hugh’s voice was gravelly, sounding as if he’d been screaming for hours.
“Yes.” Her first try was soundless, and a sharp pain shot through her right shoulder, making the answer a lie. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. “Not really.” Although her voice didn’t even sound like her, at least it was audible.
Hugh pushed himself into a sitting position, letting Grace slide into his lap. With a whine of protest, Lexi shifted until she was plastered against both of them again. “What’s wrong?”
The question almost made her laugh. Tipping her head forward, she pressed her forehead against his collarbone. “Besides almost dying? Again?”
“Yeah. Besides that.”
“My arm doesn’t seem to want to move.”
His hands were instantly on her, running from her wrist to her shoulder. “Where does it hurt?”
