“Rico? Rico,” she cried. Were there special code words she needed to get his attention? She looked at Theo’s stern face. “He’s not answering. What do I do?”
“He will. Just say his name again. He could be in the middle of using the chainsaw.”
Before she could press the button, the device squawked at her.
“This is Montenegro. Who is this?”
“Rico, it’s Chelsea. We need help. A tree came down, and Theo’s pinned beneath it.”
“Where are you?” His voice was gruff but calm.
“I don’t know.” What kind of help was she?
“Tell him we’re at the third marked tree,” Theo called out. She didn’t like his breathless tone.
She relayed the information and waited. Theo’s face had paled. His eyes were closed tight, his jaw clenched.
“Crap. It’ll take me a half hour to get there from my position. Is he conscious?”
“Yes.”
“Bring the radio closer to me.” Theo lifted his hand slightly to wave her over.
Holding it to his mouth, she pressed the button to talk.
“Rico, I’m okay for now, but the pressure on my leg is increasing. I think the branch that’s keeping the tree from totally crushing me is sinking into the dirt with the weight of the pine. Quicker would be better.”
“On my way and double timing it.”
Chelsea’s gaze moved to the branch that was giving Theo a few added inches. It didn’t look all that sturdy.
“Pixie, you need to help me.”
“What can I do?” Her eyes stung. How could she get so close to having Theo again only to lose him?
“See if you can find a thick stick or something to use as a lever. If we can buy me a few extra inches, maybe I can slide out from under here.”
A stick. Lever. Okay. Glancing around, all of the sticks she saw were still attached to the tree.
“You might need to check farther away from here.”
“No, I can’t leave you,” she whimpered. “This is all my fault.”
“Chelsea, listen to me. It’s not your fault, but you do need to see if you can find something to keep this tree from turning me into one of those pancakes that Jordan likes so much.”
“Pancakes, okay.” Getting up, she ran a few yards in one direction, then pivoted and went the other way. Stick. Stick. Too small. Too thick. Rotten and would fall apart in a second. Finally, she found one that might work.
Theo lay too still as she returned, his face tight and his hands pushing against the trunk.
“Where do I put this? I’m so sorry. I didn’t get outside much as a kid so never played with sticks.”
“Right here next to my hip. See if you can get it under the tree a little and then push that rock under it. You should be able to press it down, and it might lift the trunk off and relieve some of the pressure.”
“I’ll try.”
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Chelsea chuckled. God, he was quoting Yoda when he had a huge pine tree crushing him. She set up the stick and rock and started leaning on it, remembering the summer they’d met. When he’d discovered she’d never seen the original science fiction saga, he’d insisted on watching them. All three in a row.
