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“You okay?” he asked.
“Just saying a prayer,” she whispered.
“Same.”
So Christian was a Christian.
“You’ve got this,” he said.
She nodded and slid her now tattered skirt up over her knees. Heat pulsed through her quivering leg, but her foot settled on the crag. She pushed up, perspiration sliding down her face as she stretched her hand out.Come on!Finally, her hand caught the crag and closed around it. She pulled at the same time she pushed up off her foot. With blissful relief she lifted over the edge and onto solid ground.
A man and a woman rushed forward. “Oh, my goodness. Are you okay?” The man knelt by her side, and the woman stood, coveringher mouth. “We were higher up the road but saw that SUV push you over. Gail called the police,” the man said, indicating the woman, whose eyes were wide, her jaw slack now that she’d moved her hand away.
Andi looked over to see Christian, but he wasn’t over the edge yet.
Her heart thudding, she looked back down, ignoring the swirling of the world below, and spotted him dangling on a handhold ten inches down.
“What’s wrong?”
“The foothold cracked. I’ll get it. I just need a little momentum.”
Please,Lord.
The crazy man shifted his weight, swinging his body to the side and then up in a swoop, his leg landing on the ridge. A breath of a moment later, he rolled over the ledge and lowered his head on a swift puff of air.
The man scooted back as sirens blared in the distance.
Christian locked his gaze on her, his eyes and smile soft ... tender. “You did good.”
“Thanks.” It’d been his help. Otherwise ... she hated to think what would have happened otherwise.
Sirens rent the air. Christian got to his feet, and Andi fixed her gaze on the blue and red swirling lights rounding the bend, then up the switchback at a flash of movement. She frowned and zeroed in.
“What is it?” Christian asked.
She stilled. A man moved on an upper ridge, headed for a white SUV.
Christian bolted forward.
“What are you doing?” she called after him, watching his hand shift to rest on the grip of his gun in his holster. Unfortunately, her gun was still in the Bronco, along with her purse.
“Going for him,” Christian hollered back as he raced for the switchback.
“Are you serious? You can’t catch him.”
“I’ve gotta try.”
TEN
HIS LUNGS BURNING,Christian rounded the bend as the white SUV disappeared into the distance. He bent at the waist, planting his hands on his knees while he settled his breath, frustration pulsating through him.
If only he’d been faster, had seen the SUV’s plate. Something to go on other than the nondescript vehicle.
He glanced back at the scene, the twisted guardrail. So close to death. If the Bronco hadn’t landed just right on the ledge...
Thank you,Lord,for saving us.
God had protected them, preserved them. He knew it in his bones. Sirens blared, soon followed by red and blue lights swirling below. The emergency vehicles pooled at the side of the drop-off.
