Page 67 of Refuge for Ailsa

Tavish felt around until he found where she was hung up. “Okay. Just a second. Lift your arms.” When she did, he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Pull your elbows outward and drop your arms around my neck. There ya go. Now, I’m going to unhook your bra so I can push you up to the ledge. Here we go.” As soon as the hooks were undone, Ailsa dipped downward, but Tavish managed to hoist her with one hand on the ledge and set her down on it. “There we go. Turn loose of me so I can climb up there.”

“No. I don’t want to turn loose. I’m scared.”

“I know, baby, but I’ve got you now. No need to be scared.” Truth was, he was scared, but he sure didn’t want her to know that. Eventually, she grew a little bolder and lifted her arms. When she did, he spun and lifted himself up to sit on the ledge. “There we go. I’ve got you.” Tavish held his arm across her at an angle and let his hand clutch the ledge on the other side of her. She fell against him and began to cry, but by god, she was alive.

It seemed like an eternity before he saw light below them, and a guy in full frogman gear popped up out of the water. He lifted his mask and grinned. “Hey, Tav.”

“Hey, Gary.” GaryMathers was the commander of the BoyleCounty Search and Rescue team, and Tavish didn’t think he’d ever been as happy to see anyone as he was to see Gary in that moment. “Get her out of here, okay?”

“We’re going to get you both out.” Another frogman had joined him, and Gary barked out, “Chris, help me get a mask and tank on her.” When they’d managed to put it on her like a pair of suspenders with a belt, Gary held her head and looked into her eyes through the mask. “Do you know how to dive?”

“No,” she mumbled.

“Then what I want you to do is hold your breath. If the water doesn’t come into your mask, you can breathe, but if it does, just hold your breath. We’re not going to be under all that long?it really isn’t that far to the surface, but we have to go down and then back up.”

“I remember going down,” she whispered.

“Good girl. Okay. Here we go. Ailsa, right?” She nodded. “Just hang onto my belt and trust me. I’m gonna get you out of here safely.”

“Tavish?” she whined.

“Babe, go with Gary. I’ll be right behind you.”

“Ailsa, take a deep breath. That’s it. Deeper. Hold it. Here we go, one, two, three…” And they disappeared below the surface.

“You need gear?” Chris asked Tavish.

“No. I’ve got these goggles. I can get out with them and the light.”

“Okay, but take a couple of hits from that tank before you go. The air in here is kinda thin.”

Tavish took a long draw from the canister, then another and another. After the third one, he held up a thumb. “See you on the surface.”

“On the surface, bud. Let’s go.”

By the time Tavish broke through the surface of the water, Ailsa was on the bank, sitting on the gravel in nothing but her panties, but he saw Harley draw a blanket around her shoulders, and he was overwhelmed with thanks to his newfound friend. Harley had gone above and beyond to help Tavish, and the conservation officer would never forget it.

By the time he swam to shore, the EMTs were loading her into the ambulance and strapping her down. “I wanna go with her,” Tavish announced.

Harley shook his head decisively. “No. You’re coming with me. We’re going back to your apartment so you can shower and put on fresh clothes. I’ll call Mrs.MacDougal and ask her to bring Ailsa some clothes from the houseboat. She’ll be fine, Tav. She’s in really good shape for what she’s been through.”

It wasn’t until they were out on the road, watching the ambulance run in front of them, that white-hot rage poured over Tavish. “God damn fucking Bridget. If I find that bitch, I swear to god, I’m going to kill her with my bare hands.”

“I didn’t hear you say that. And I’ve already called dispatch. They’re sending a car for her. She knew her way around that operation, and the EMT said from the marks on Ailsa’s stomach, Bridget hit her with a stun gun. That’s how Bridget took her. We don’t have all the particulars on transporting and all of that, but we know it was Bridget.”

“Shit! Where’s Starlight?” Harley pointed over his shoulder, so Tavish turned and stared into the back seat of the cruiser.

On a blanket, curled up and sound asleep, was a filthy, matted, smelly dog who refused to leave her mistress. They hadn’t found Ailsa?Starlight had. “Her paws look like ground beef, and she’s miserable, but she’ll be fine. While you’re in the shower, Conor’s coming to pick her up and take her to the vet. They know she’s coming. They said they’ll clean her up there.”

“Harley, thank you. I mean… thank you. I don’t…” He could feel his voice cracking, but he didn’t care. Ailsa was safe. She was back. And he was pretty sure he’d never let her out of his sight again.

CHAPTER10

Before Conor got there,Starlight ate half of what she usually got at a feeding. Tavish didn’t want to make her sick by giving her too much, since she hadn’t eaten in two days. Harley hadn’t been kidding?her paw pads looked like raw meat, and Tavish almost cried as she made her way painfully from the door to the food and water, but she persevered. He was a lucky man to have that dog.

By the time he showered, dressed, and got to the hospital, the MacDougals were there, as were Donovan and Maureen. “Has the doctor been out yet?”

“No. Not yet. They’re still checking her over. We didn’t get to see her. How did she look?” Maeve asked, wringing her hands.

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