Page 62 of Emma's Element

“Marcus,” she called his name again. “Wake up.” She looked around. The snow was quickly piling up, the wind furious, blowing the snow and limiting her visibility. They couldn’t stay here. Especially not with him soaking wet and no coat. She needed to get Marcus to Graham’s cabin immediately, but she wasn’t exactly sure if she could find it. Especially not in this weather. Forgoing her cell phone, knowing the thing would be useless out here, she rummaged in her pack for the satellite phone she always carried with her on her climbs. She texted Graham.

Emma:Need coords. to cabin.

He texted back almost instantly the coordinates she needed.

Graham:What’s wrong.

Emma:Trouble. Had to run from bad guys. Snowing hard. M hurt.

Graham:Calling the team.

Of course, he was. They would stop at nothing to help them.

Emma:Can’t fly. Bad weather.

Graham:Be there ASAP. Get to cabin. Guns in safe.

He finished the text with the code to the safe.

She plugged the coordinates he’d given her into an app on the sat phone. It wasn’t too far from their location. But she couldn’t carry Marcus. She needed him to wake up. She grabbed a spare t-shirt out of her pack and pressed it to the cut on his forehead to stop the blood. He moaned.

“Marcus, wake up. We need to keep moving. Wake up!” she called louder.

His eyes popped open. “Emma,” he groaned. She helped him sit up.

“Can you stand?” she asked.

“I think so,” he murmured groggily. She helped him get to his feet and held him steady until the worst of his dizziness passed. “Okay, I’m good. Let’s go.”

Emma held the sat phone up for the bearing and headed off to the left. “What’s that?” he asked.

“Graham texted me the coordinates. The team is coming as soon as the weather clears.”

“G . . . good,” he shivered, and Emma noticed he was limping. She moved closer and wrapped her arm around his waist.

“Lean on me,” she insisted. He didn’t argue with her, which meant he was hurt worse than she initially assumed. Instead, he placed an arm across her shoulders and leaned into her. It was slow going. The temperature was dropping by the second, and he was at risk of hypothermia. He shook so badly she could hardly keep them upright. He’d stopped talking long ago, focusing solely on putting one foot in front of the other. Please, God. Let them reach the cabin soon. After an hour when she feared he was near collapse, their refuge finally came into view. She sighed in relief.

She found the key in the light fixture just where Graham always said it would be and let them in. Then she helped get Marcus to the fireplace. As he sat on the floor, she flipped the switch for the gas fire, and blessed heat soon radiated from it. Next order of business, get Marcus out of the wet clothes. He was lying on his side now, barely conscious. She pulled him up to a sitting position and removed his pack, then his t-shirt. Gently laying him back down, she started on his boots and pants. Once he was naked, she raced into the bedroom and pulled as many blankets and bedspreads off the bed as she could. She threw the pile on top of him then took her clothes off, body heat was the best way to stave off hypothermia. She crawled under the blankets and wrapped herself around him. He was so cold; goosebumps broke out all over her skin. She ignored the cold and willed the heat from her body into his.

It was then the reality of their situation hit her. Marcus’s brother was hunting them. What kind of person turned on family like that? The brothers didn’t have much of a relationship, but this, whatever plan they were intending, was pure madness.

But maybe they’d been mistaken. Maybe it wasn’t Charlie. She reached outside the blankets for Marcus’s pants. Finding his phone, she pulled it out, thankful it wasn’t waterlogged when it turned on. She typed in his password?her name?and opened his video app to watch it again. She paused it at a spot where she could see more of the tall man’s face instead of just the side. She zoomed in as much as she could before the image became distorted. Having no idea what she was looking for, she stared at the image of the man, looking for some resemblance. She’d never seen a picture of Charlie, but she studied the man anyway. He was blond, like Marcus. And tall as well. But she had no idea if it was truly Charlie or not.

Emma put the phone aside and wrapped herself around Marcus again. He was warming slowly, which was good. She laid her head on his shoulder, her heart hurting for him. She worried about how he would react when the reality of their situation had more time to truly sink in. It was yet another betrayal. How many could one person endure before losing all faith in humanity?

She worried he would leave again, thinking to isolate himself from the constant treacheries. Emma was bound and determined not to let that happen. She would fight for him, and she would enlist her fellow Nighthawks to help. She would stand by him, shield him from heartache and cut through anyone who dared to hurt him. She fell asleep with that vow settling deep in her heart.

Marcuswokeslowly,disoriented,his head pounding. He pried his eyes open one at a time and tried to remember where he was. He didn’t recognize the room. He was lying on the floor, a fireplace on his left emitted a welcomed heat. So was the body that was lying half on top of him. Emma. Thank God she was okay.

Then it hit him. The magnitude of what he’d witnessed last night. His fucking brother and his fucking extortion plot. The blackmail didn’t bother him nearly as much as the threat to Emma. And he’d captured every disgusting statement on video.

This whole situation was like something out of a movie. Marcus had witnessed a brutal plot being planned out. And no amount of movie magic was going to change that. The characters he’d portrayed over the years had to take out the bad guys, he was used to the movie violence. But it was a whole different experience when someone he cared about was threatened. And Marcus had made them a bigger target by recording the whole thing. He was pretty sure Shorty had spotted him. And because of him, Emma was a target as well. His blood chilled at that thought.

He had to get her as far away from here as he could. Get protection for her. He’d hire as many personal security guards as was needed to keep her safe. She’d hate it. But it would be necessary until Charlie and his minions were dealt with. Because if the unthinkable happened, if he lost her . . . it would surely kill him. He never wanted to think about a time when she wasn’t in his life. She mattered more to him than anything. More than his career. More than his charities. More even than his own life. He knew he’d willingly sacrifice his own life to save hers because he loved her that much. He hoped it never came to that.

It suddenly occurred to him to wonder how Charlie knew where to find him. He’d taken a helicopter from the Nighthawk complex. There was no way anyone could have followed. So how had he’d known? The constant betrayals had him questioning everything. He wanted to believe none of the Nighthawks or the people associated with them would sell him out, but he couldn’t be sure. But then he remembered a conversation he’d had with Graham after his accident. The man had been dedicated to saving lives. And the deeds he and his team had employed for him that day proved the kind of men they were.

Hours after he’d been plucked from his perch on the side of the cliff, Marcus lay in a hospital bed in a private room. He’d had surgery to fix his broken leg and was now the proud owner of a few metal rods. He also had months of physical therapy to look forward to. As he mourned his loss of mobility, there was a knock on the door before the man who’d rescued him walked in. Marcus was surprised to see him. He thought they would have left hours ago, their job accomplished.

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