At least we’re together.She reached for Ryder’s hand and struggled back to her feet.
Thump-thump-thump.
Faint through the wind.
A noise that didn’t belong to the storm.
“Is that?—”
Ryder froze, head cocked, listening. “Jayhawk.”
A searchlight sliced through the sleet, a blistering-white cone cutting across the collapsing Vega. The helicopter came in low and fast, rotors beating the air into submission.
Ryder’s radio crackled to life. “Rescue Two inbound. Visual on three survivors.”
Ivy’s laugh came out half-sob as she clamped a hand to her mouth. “Oh my God.”
Her legs crumbled. She slid to her knees on the deck, head bowed, everything inside her finally letting go.
They’d come.
We’re going to live.
Ryder lifted the radio to his mouth. “Copy that, Rescue two. This is Ryder. Are we glad to see you. Three souls on deck. One with broken ribs and possible concussion, one hypothermic, one with shoulder trauma.”
The Jayhawk banked overhead, its downdraft turning the sleet into horizontal needles that stung Ivy’s face.
The response came through distorted but clear. “Copy that, Meyer. Henley’s on the hoist. Bishop’s got visual. Wyatt said you might need some help out here.”
Ryder’s throat worked and his head dropped for one heartbeat.
His crew.
The one that had brought her out to the rig when she first arrived.
The winch cable dropped, whipping in the wind. Ryder moved to intercept it, skilled despite his useless arm. He secured Jack first, showing her how to clip her harness where his injured arm was useless.
Secured, Jack grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him hard on the mouth. “Thank you.”
Then the cable lifted her, spinning away into the dark and the rotor wash until the helicopter swallowed her up.
The gantry lurched beneath Ivy’s feet.
Ryder grabbed her and keyed the radio. “Leg’s collapsing!Hurry.”
The cable spiraled down again, jolting in the wind. Ryder caught it and helped her clip the harness on, double-checking the connections.
“Hold on to me.” His voice was gruff in her ear as he clipped himself to her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed herself against his chest. “Not letting go.”
His good arm locked around her waist.
He signaled the hoist.
The cable snapped taut, yanking them into the air. They swung wildly and spun over open ocean, nothing below but the crash of hungry water.
Explosions boomed below, flames reflected off the dark water.
