Page 28 of Tangled up in You

"Holy…" Jake’s eardrum shattering exclamation nearly deafened him. "Stop the truck."

Just as Jonah was about to ask what the hell all the yelling was about, he saw it. Taillights flickering, then going dark. A car was somewhere in the trees at the deep S-curve.

Alyssa.

He camethisclose to slamming on his brakes, but instinct took over. If he hit the brakes too hard, he’d end up alongside the other car. Or, worse yet, hitting it and sending it crashing down into the deep ravine below.

It was the longest thirty seconds of his life as he brought his truck to a standstill. That didn’t mean his brothers had waited for him to stop. They were out as soon as the truck was going slow enough—or maybe a little before. Whenever it was, he watched helplessly as they sprinted the best they could through the snow toward Alyssa’s Volvo, before he threw his truck in park, reached for and opened his glovebox, and grabbed the flashlight inside.

"…to hold on." Jonah caught the last of what Jake yelled as he jumped from his truck and ran at a hopping lope toward the accident. "So, don’t move. We’re coming to get you."

Shit!

The closer he got, the more he realized the situation was more dire than he’d feared.

"I d…d…don’t…" Her tear-tinged, stuttered words, came just as the car slid a little. His heart nearly froze. "Don’t do it," herpanicked demand came at them from somewhere below. "You can’t risk… You can’t risk yourselves. Not… Not for me."

"We’ve got to get her. We’ve got to…" Josh’s own panic beat against Jonah as his brother ran his hands through his hair. His hazel eyes turned on him, the full moon showing the torment filling them visible through his glasses. "There’s not much holding her in place. What if we make it worse?"

"Worsewould be doing nothing."

Jonah nodded at Jake’s words, while turning on the flashlight and moving around the end of the vehicle. Alyssa, Josh, and Jake needed him to keep calm. So that’s what he did as he made a quick assessment. What he saw wasn’t good.

Jake had been right. Very little held the car in its current, precarious position. More pressing yet, every few seconds, the vehicle made a scraping, groaning sound as it moved. By the time they could get a wench set up using their truck, it might be too late.

They had to get her.

"Alyssa," he called out, maneuvering himself down and parallel with her vehicle, using any tree limbsnotholding the car in place as leverage.

"Jonah?"

"Yes, baby, it’s me."

"Don’t get near me. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if…" Her words trailed off, followed by a laugh that wasn’t in the least humorous. "What am I saying? I’m not going to live."

"Yes, you are." He hadn’t intended for that to come out so harsh, but she wasn’t dying. And she had to believe that.

Behind him, his brothers followed the same path—Jake directly behind him, with Josh bringing up the rear and pulling his belt from his jeans. They’d probably read his mind. They did that sometimes. The only solution he could see—and it seemedthat they could too—was for them to make themselves into a human rope, then pull her up together.

He glanced up to see Josh wrapping and fastening his belt around a sturdy tree, then twisting his wrist around the end. It was a good move. As always, his middle brother acted as their anchor.

The problem was the front car door. At the moment it was blocked by trees holding the car in place. That left?—

"The back door," Jake said as he grabbed hold of Josh’s free, outstretched hand.

"My thoughts exactly," Jonah answered, before calling out to Alyssa. "Listen to me, baby. I want you to slowly lay your seat back and undo your seatbelt."

"I don’t think I can."

"Yes, you can." He wasn’t about to let fear keep her from letting them save her. Another groan and metallic scraping wasn’t good. "Do what I say.Now."

Silence followed his barked command for a few seconds as he held his breath and shone the flashlight through the windows. If she didn’t do what he said he’d?—

"You’re really bossy." Her groused words accompanied her seat going back little by little.

"Baby, you don’t know the half of it."

"You really don’t," Jake called out.

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