Page 90 of The SEAL and the Sheriff

Walter was already kneeling at the opening above. “Ready.”

Hudson raised Nora carefully toward the hatch. Walter lay flat beside the opening and reached down, securing an arm around her shoulders while Hudson supported her from below. Together, they eased her onto the cabin floor.

Once Nora was safely above, Sarah came to stand in front of him.

Hudson stripped off his gloves. “Hands.”

She blinked at him, then held them out. He slid the gloves over her bare fingers, tugging each cuff snug.

“Hudson. You need these.”

“So do you.” He met her eyes. “I’m not the one recovering from a concussion.”

She looked at him for a long second, her cheeks flushed from the cold.

“You found her, Sarah.”

The smallest smile touched her mouth. “We found her.”

He laced his fingers into a stirrup. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

He boosted her up. She caught the edge of the opening, swung a knee onto the floor above, and pulled herself through.

Only then did Hudson haul himself out after her, a grunt escaping him as pain stabbed through his lungs.

The cabin looked exactly as it had five minutes ago. Except it wasn’t a prison anymore. Sarah was beside Nora, wrapping another blanket around her shoulders and resting a steady hand between her shoulder blades as she spoke in the same calm voice. “That’s it. Stay with me. You’re safe now. EMS is en route.”

Walter had his radio in his hand.

“Bring EMS in,” he said. “We’ve got her. Alive. Severe exposure.”

Static crackled. Then the answer came back. “Copy that. Moving now.”

Nora was small in a huddle of blankets on the floor. Hudson scooped her up again and carried her out. Sarah walked beside him, one hand resting lightly against Nora’s shoulder the entire way.

Cord’s face was pressed to the window glass before Hudson had covered half the distance. The muffled sounds of his shouts marked the last steps to the cruiser.

Sarah opened the cruiser’s rear door.

For a second, Cord couldn’t speak. His mouth opened and closed. His eyes filled, and he turned his face away as if that hid anything from anyone.

Hudson had imagined putting Cord on his knees a hundred times. None of those imaginings had looked like this. Hatred had been so much easier before Cord became a man again.

Statton took Cord by the arm and helped him out of the cruiser. Everything in Cord’s face came apart at once. He sagged. “Nora. Thank God.”

“Jake?” Nora reached for Cord from Hudson’s arms despite his cuffs.

Cord bent awkwardly around the cuffs and pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Sarah stepped away and gave them the few seconds they had before the EMTs came up the track. They wrapped Nora in heated blankets, transferred her carefully onto a stretcher and carried her toward the ambulance staged down the road. Cord turned as if every part of him wanted to follow.

The ambulance doors closed behind her.

Cord lowered his head as Statton eased him back into the cruiser. Before the door closed, he leaned forward. “Kane.” He motioned to Hudson. “My word is good. I’ll tell you everything, like I said. No more running.”

Hudson had imagined those words for a year. He’d imagined victory. Vindication. The moment the hunt finally ended. Standing there in the snow, he felt nothing like he’d expected. He shifted his gaze to Sarah. She was talking to Walter, one hand absently rubbing her bruised side.