Page 74 of A Very Titan Christmas
“We’re getting you out of here.” He realized he’d zoned out of the back-and-forth conversation in his earpiece. They had contingencies based on what they’d found. “What’s the plan?”
Cash leaned closer. “Faster and safer to get her out by snowmobile.”
With teeth chattering, she barely shook her head. “I can’t ride one of those right now.”
“You’ll ride behind one of them,” Bryce said. “Think ski patrol medical transport.”
“Rescue toboggan,” Cash confirmed.
She groaned. “Made it my whole life up here without getting on one of those.”
Bryce quietly laughed. If she was complaining, she was stronger than he realized. He kissed her cheek again and kept rubbing her arms.
Time crawled by. Cash waited for the rescue group by the door.
She sat up a little. “Are my parents okay?”
“Everyone’s safe.” He gripped her hand in the oversized gardening gloves. “They’re worried. Scared. But okay.”
“They said—” She licked her lips. Her eyelashes fluttered. She looked panicked, as though the warmer she became, the more her mind kicked into gear. “The men who took me… They work for my dad. They’re on his detail.”
Cash crouched by her side. “You’re sure?”
She nodded.
Bryce stroked the side of her head. “That lines up with the direction the FBI is leaning.”
She swallowed hard. “So they’re—my parents—okay?”
“Yeah, you worry about you. They’re okay.”
“The guy who took me… Two of them. They work for someone who doesn’t want the summit to happen.”
Cash stepped away from them to relay what she had said over his comm.
Bryce held her close. “I promise you, Rach. You don’t have to worry about them. I just want to get you home safe.” Safe with him. Safe in his arms. In his bed. In his world. He didn’t know how that would happen. That he’d almost lost her was too much.How could he change their lives to ensure something like that wouldn’t happen again?
Her body shook as if she were trying to stop a sob. The more awake and aware she became, the more the trauma would hit.
He tried to soothe her. “Not much longer.”
Rachel sniffed. “I went with the guy. I didn’t think—”
“Not your fault.” Bryce repositioned himself to look her straight in the eyes. “You had no reason not to trust him.” He cupped her face. “I”—love you,he thought—“need you to know that.” His breath shook. “You did nothing wrong. You believe me?”
She bit her lip.
He tried a different question. “Do you trust me?”
Rachel nodded.
Good. Trust, he could work with. Trust would keep them together. He almost laughed. Since when had he trusted the future? Apparently, since now. There was a lot more to talk about, to think about, but now wasn’t the time.
“They’re here,” Cash announced.
Bryce helped Rachel to her feet. Cash kicked away the pile of burlap sacks and the tarp she’d covered herself with. Bryce tucked the warming blanket around her back. Slowly, they moved outside.
She groaned at the toboggan.
