CHAPTER FIVE
For a brief moment Hank wasn’t sure he’d actually heard a scream. It had been a faint sound swallowed immediately in a burst of laughter from the group around the campfire. Still, his adrenaline soared in response and he left the fireside seeking Colette.
She wasn’t beneath the tree where he had kissed her, nor was she anywhere around the immediate area. He narrowed his eyes, trying to pierce the dark shadows that lingered beneath the trees.
Where had she gone? As he rounded the far side of the butte, he thought he heard another cry for help. Energy pumped through him as he raced up the side of the butte, stopping at the edge that dropped into apparent nothingness.
“Colette?” he yelled, his heart pounding a rhythm of panic.
“Help me, please.” The sobbed request came from beyond the edge, a disembodied cry from the dark. Hank stretched out on his stomach and eased himself forward to peer over the brink.
Just below him, on a narrow jutting shelf, stoodColette, her back pressed against the weathered wall of rock.
“Colette, it’s all right. I’m right here.” He kept his voice soft, hoping to ease some of her panic.
“Help me. I’m going to fall. I’m going to fall.” Her voice rose in hysteria.
“No, you’re not. I’m not going to let you fall.” Hank maneuvered himself closer, close enough that his head and arms dangled over the edge. “Raise your arms, Colette.”
“I can’t. I can’t move.”
Hank could see her hands at her sides, fingers splayed against the side of the butte at her back. There was no way he could reach her without her raising her hands to him. “Colette, honey, you have to raise your hands for me. I can’t help you if you don’t help yourself.”
He could hear her breathing, ragged breaths of sheer terror, knew she felt a paralyzing fear, but he had to break through that fear, get her to cooperate. “Colette, I know you’re afraid, but you’ve got to do what I tell you.” This time his tone was harsh, a no-nonsense command. “Now, raise your arms and reach for mine.”
He heard her draw in a deep breath, watched with his heart pounding as she slowly inched her arms toward his. From the distance he could hear the noise of the people around the campfire, their laughter an ironic sound effect to the life-and-death drama playing out before him.
“Come on, Colette…stretch…” He groaned as her fingertips barely grazed his. Scooting farther over theedge, he exclaimed triumphantly as his hands closed around her wrists.
“Hold me,” she cried. “For God’s sake, hold on.”
“Don’t worry,” Hank said, hoping…praying he could summon the strength to pull her up and over the ledge. He knew if she slipped from his grip, if he accidently let go or his strength didn’t hold, she would plummet to her death.
Digging his feet into the ground, wishing for better leverage, he pulled with all his might. Within seconds his shoulders burned and his muscles shook with the effort. But inch by agonizing inch, Colette approached closer and closer to safety.
With a final burst of exertion, she cleared the edge of the cliff and fell sobbing into Hank’s arms. He rolled them away from the precipice, then held her tight, too exhausted to attempt to verbally console her, but welcoming the physical contact that let him know she was safe and sound.
The burst of adrenaline that had afforded him the strength to lift her had left him and he knew he’d pay hell trying to get out of bed the next morning. Now that the danger was over, questions filled his mind. What in the hell had she done? Walked off the cliff?
It wasn’t until she rolled off him and sat up, her tears momentarily subsided, that he thought she could handle his questions. “What happened?”
She pulled her legs up to her chest, then wrapped her arms around her legs. “I—I’m not sure.” Her gaze went to the edge of the cliff and a violent shiver overtook her. “I think…I think somebody pushed me from behind. I was standing there, looking over the valley, and somebody shoved me.”
Hank stiffened. “Are you sure?”
She frowned, closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “I…no, I’m not positive. It all happened so fast. One minute I was standing there and the next minute I was falling.” A tremulous sigh escaped her and she looked at him once again. “Maybe I just stumbled, or maybe it was the wind. I really don’t know.”
As she shivered again, Hank stood and held out his hand to her. “Come on, let’s get you down by the fire.”
She nodded and placed her hand in his, allowing him to help her up. Together they descended the butte. “Hank.” She placed a hand on his arm to stop him before they joined the people around the fire. “I—I don’t know how to thank you. If you hadn’t pulled me up…if you hadn’t heard me call for help…” Her voice drifted off as another shiver shuddered through her.
“Shh.” He pulled her to his chest. “I did hear you, and you’re safe now.” As Colette relaxed against him, Hank’s mind whirled with suppositions. Had she been pushed? Or had she stumbled? If she’d merely stumbled, it had been an accident that easily could have been tragic. If she had been pushed, it had been attempted murder.
Hank tightened his arms around her. His blood ran cold. If she’d been pushed, that meant somebody other than him had managed to track her here to the ranch.
After several long moments she pulled out of his arms. As they walked back to the fire where everyone was now toasting marshmallows, Hank considered themen present. He didn’t know any of his co-workers well, had consciously kept distance between himself and them.
It would have been easy for one of them to slip away from the fire’s edge and follow Colette up the butte. Although the guests had remained around the campfire, the ranch workers had drifted from wagon to wagon and from the fire to the outer reaches of the campsite. Any one of them could have disappeared for a few minutes without arousing suspicion.
