“Rest easy, Richard.” Trask tried to keep the man calm, whichwasthe right thing to do. If Richard stopped breathing, he’d also start CPR. “We’ll have you out of here in no time,” he assured him. Which was a lie, but what?—?
“I’m coming in,” Jett clipped over her mic.
“You…? What do you mean you’re coming in?” Trask snapped. “No. Not a good idea. We have no clue if the ice is thick enough to hold your plane, and even if it is, you can’t know what the surface conditions are like under the snow-cover.”
“He’s right, Jett,” Buck interjected. “That’s crazy talk.”
Good.Even Buck, who was known to take risks, was calling her out.
“I understand what you’re both saying,” she responded patiently.
Trask heard the whine of her plane circling above.
“But crazy or not, I have no choice. A life is hanging in the balance here.”
“And what?” Trask’s voice rose. “You’re willing to trade your life for a shot at saving his?” Everything inside of Trask was screaming for her to stop. “Do. Not. Land. I forbid it, Jett. Do you hear me? We’ll figure out something else.”
“Do you want to help, or hinder?” Jett returned snarkily, completely ignoring his words and his orders. “If you want to do something other than whine, tell me how thick the ice is while I do a go-around and check out the conditions for landing.”
“Jett. Please.” Trask wasn’t beyond begging. The foolish woman was risking life and limb before he’d even gotten a chance to admit…
Fuck.
That he loved her.
Thiswaslove he was feeling. He knew the instant he pictured her plane crashing into the lake. There was not a shadow of a doubt in his mind.
Briefly imagining his life without her, even asadversaries, was completely beyond his comprehension.
Never to see her smiling face again?
Never to hold her warm body next to his?
Never to hear her sass him for being a jerk?
Hell no. He couldn’t do this without her.
Trask tried again.
“Please Jett. Buck and Spence will be here soon.” His voice sounded broken.
“We will, Jett,” Buck chimed in, adding his weight to the conversation.
Trask kept on, even knowing it would do no good. “I promise I’ll keep Richard comfortable and?—”
“And what, Trask?” Jett interrupted sharply. “Carry the man miles through the woods to the parking area? Come on. Be real. You know that will be too late.” She dragged in a breath. “But if I land, we can fly him to the nearest hospital, and he’ll at least have a fighting chance.”
Trask bowed his head.
What she said was true.
It hurt like hell, but he swallowed the bile that had risen in his throat, then almost blindly found a yardstick leaning up against the side of a canvas chair.
He resolutely smashed the thin layer of ice that had reformed over the fishing hole, and blinking back tears, he lowered the instrument into the water.
“Fifteen inches,” he managed to rasp out after measuring the thickness of the ice.
“Excellent news,” Jett responded evenly. “Good enough for a large pick-up truck,” she chuckled, “so plenty good enough for me.”
