“My brother lived on a houseboat in Corpus Christi before he died. I stayed with him for a year. He taught me how to tie really good knots. I have knotted this around your belt. And I need to find a way to get it around your waist and away from your ribs, and through your legs. We’re going to make a harness of sorts. Just in case. I am going to stay with you while they pull us both up a little. But then…they will have to pull me up separately, so we aren’t putting both of our weight together on the ledge. It’s a little crumbly up there, so you need to not move too much when we get topside. Just let Miguel and Lake and your man be all heroic, okay? We’re going to distribute your weight as evenly as we can with the rope and this paracord the miraculously handy Miguel had in his truck, so that we don’t put too much strain on your ribs. Just…hold on, Mads. We aren’t leaving you behind. No matter what.”
“Never…leave a sister behind. Sister by blood, sister…by choice…”
“What?”
“What Hope said that night…out there, with Wilson…Coleson family motto: Never leave your sister behind. No matter what, basically.”
“I can understand that. I am not leaving you, Mads. I promise. I am not going very far until we get to the top, then a minute or two max. After that, your man will be there. We are going to do this.”
K.J. kept working. Until the rope was around Madison as best as they could get it. “I’m ready…I really…want that man up there. Get me there.”
“It’s a deal.”
“Okay, let’s do this.” K.J. patted her on the shoulder gently. Then yelled. For the boys to lift. “Gently! Six inches!”
Six inches weren’t enough. Mads fought frustration. And ithurt.Her foot was jammed tight. Her arms…she was being scraped every inch. She tucked her chin into her chest as best she could. K.J. yelled again. Another four inches.
K.J. had slipped her hands beneath Madison enough to grab Madison’s belt tight.
She pulled.
Another two.
Then…
Madison was able to straighten her knee and straighten her ankle. She kicked with her other foot. Then her leg was free. She yelled out, as best she could with her ribs compressed. “Keep going, Kay. Keep going. I’m getting loose!”
Then…she was up, out of the water. And she could put her good foot against the wall to help guide herself. The slime helped herslideright out.
Then…she just…dangled there.
While the boys of Major Crimes pulled their new bestie K.J. free of the hole. And out of Madison’s way.
Madison could pull in a breath, but…wow. Her ribs hurt.
Then…then Madisonfollowed.
She closed her eyes and just did her best to get the measly ten feet out of the hole.
Ten feet were keeping her from the man she loved.
Well, hell no. That just wasn’t going to happen.
Her arms…she was able to get her arm free once the shaft widened again. And that helped. Her arm that had been jammed above her head for a while there, was on fire. It was scraped raw all the way up to her arm pit. And…maybe her other arm was broken. It sure felt like it. But…she could move her arm now.
Her right arm was free. She put her back against the shaft and just sort of limp-climbed as the boys pulled her up. Strong, steady, and sure—the boys of Major Crimes were there. Right when they were needed.
She adored those major pains and always would.
Those boys had come in handy tonight. She was crying. Not panicking.
Madison was not going to panic.
She just wasn’t.
Good thing her Major Crimes boys were super-human strong. Otherwise, this could have taken all night.
Then she was lying flat on a nasty mine floor. She really hoped it wasn’t as bug-infested as that Slater Davis movie. That would be really bad. Then again…movies used a lot of creative license. It probably wasn’t.
