Tailspin

The next few hours would be telling, especially if she didn’t get help. But first things first. Right now she simply needed to make it to that room for some privacy. “Will, can you assist me to the room so I can change?”

“Sure thing. Um... Sylvie... I need to doctor that gash across your shoulder and back, too.”

“You don’t think that can wait?”

His grin from moments ago quickly faded. “No.”

“I need to doctor your head,” she said. Fair play.

“Snake has a mirror. I can take care of it.”

But Sylvie couldn’t reach her shoulder and back, even with a mirror, so that was that. She let the compassion and concern in Will’s warm brown eyes calm her nerves. He was good in that way, even addicting if she wasn’t careful.

“While you guys take care of business,” Snake said, “I’ll dish up the stew. Got strong coffee going, too. When you’re ready, we’ll eat.”

“Sounds good.” Will assisted Sylvie into what was obviously Snake’s bedroom and set her on the bed. He frowned down at her.

All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep forever. This close to a bed, the warmth of the cabin and the aroma of the stew, she could sense the adrenaline crash coming.

Hold it together. Just a little longer.

“You okay to get out of that suit without any help?” His tone and the look in his eyes said his only concern was for her. He wasn’t going to take advantage of her. She didn’t trust easily, but he’d brought her this far. She wanted to trust him.

“Thanks, Will, but I can handle it.”

“Good. Call me when you’re ready.”

“Okay.” His words held tenderness that pricked her heart. She was definitely vulnerable. Somehow she had to get her guard back up. She’d been through too much already.

Her stepfather had been a wonderful father during her childhood. Someone she could trust, someone she had been proud to call Dad, until she’d become older and wiser. When she was a teenager, she discovered he was having an affair. The betrayal devastated Sylvie. She didn’t know where to turn. She didn’t want to hurt her mother, but finally shared his duplicity, only to learn that her mother already knew. How could her mother let him treat her like that? At first Sylvie thought her mother hadn’t left because she loved him—which just proved how dangerous love could be. Sylvie built a wall around her heart that day. She could never trust anyone again. And from that moment on, she called him Damon.

But then, behind closed doors, she heard the arguments. Raised voices. Her mother crying. And then Sylvie began to suspect that her mother hadn’t left Damon because she was afraid of him. Afraid to leave. Damon was a powerful man.

None of that mattered now, except to remind her to keep her guard up around Will. She needed to keep herself together until she was back home. Or at least in that decompression chamber.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, her ankle throbbing, every joint in her body aching badly enough to make her completely forget the open gash in her back, she drew in a breath and prepared to peel out of the dry suit and layers of clothing beneath. All she wanted was a hot shower, but she supposed the best she could get at an off-grid cabin was a sponge bath. She looked down to see the ripped, practically shredded suit. She hadn’t wanted to look too closely. Seeing it now, a replay of the last few hours flashed through her mind, reel after reel.

All the way to her soul, Sylvie was torn and ripped like the dry suit she wore.

She pressed her face into her hands and let everything she’d held back come flooding out.

* * *

Will had changed quickly so he’d be ready to dress Sylvie’s wound. Behind the door he could hear her quiet sobs. She’d been strong, held it together in front of him. He wasn’t sure why the sound rocked through him, knocking against the hidden parts of his heart. He pressed a hand on the door as though he could comfort her. He didn’t know this woman at all, but he didn’t have to know her to feel the pain with her.

He let his hand drop. He wouldn’t go rushing in. He wasn’t a knight and she didn’t want to be saved. If he knew anything at all about the woman shut away in the room, it was that she didn’t want him to see her vulnerable. Sucking in a breath, he glanced up and caught Snake watching him from where he hovered over the fire, dishing up the stew that he cooked in a cast-iron pot hanging over the flames, old school.

Will had another situation he’d been avoiding. He needed to face off with Snake about using the radio to call for help. He knew the other man wouldn’t be pleased. The harsh environment along with fifty-plus years had made the man hard and lean. He kept his long silver hair in a ponytail hanging down his back, and time spent away from civilization kept his expression harsh, especially when faced with having to make conversation. But he’d still saved them. Will would give him that. He hadn’t been anything but helpful—so far.

Snake’s bushy eyebrows creased together as he stood from the fire and held out a bowl. “You hungry?”

Will took the bowl, but set it on the table. “Thanks, but I’ll wait for Sylvie.”

“Suit yourself.” Snake remained standing and wolfed up a few spoonfuls of his stew then paused, the spoon halfway to his mouth. “Something on your mind?”

Here comes the moment of truth. “I told you we had some trouble. That trouble includes men who tried to kill her, kill us. They shot at my plane. Caused some damage and we went down. I hope I haven’t brought the trouble to your door.”

Snake’s eyes narrowed. He set his bowl on the home-crafted table and crossed his arms. “What do you need?”

“I need to use your comm to call for help.”

Snake shook his head. “You’re not bringing them here.”

“You can see she’s injured.”

“Call them and make arrangements to meet them elsewhere. I’ll help you get there.”

Will scraped a hand over his face, exhaustion creeping into his bones. “She has the bends, and with her other injuries she needs treatment right away.”

Snake’s eyes lit up, surprising Will. “Why didn’t you say something before?”

“Would it have made a difference?”

“I’m a diver. Got the equipment. Worst case, she could recompress in the water.”

Will shook his head. “That is the worst case. It’s too risky. Better to wait for a hyperbaric chamber, which is why I need to use your radio.”

“Well, you know the option is available. Why don’t you tell her and let her make the decision? She isn’t afraid of diving.”

Had Will been that readable?

Snake disappeared through a door, reappearing a minute later to set his scuba equipment out in full view. Was that because he didn’t trust Will to bring it up?

Will frowned.

“Make your call. Pick a meeting time and place. Early morning’s best. Give us time to rest up and gather the gear we’ll need.”

“I can’t ask for more than that.”

Will hated to put it off that long, considering Sylvie needed assistance sooner rather than later, but Snake was right. If they were forced to travel to make contact, they couldn’t do it in inclement weather in the middle of the night. He had to persuade Snake to shorten the distance they needed to travel.

“Just how far do you want us to go?”

“I don’t want anyone coming within five miles of my cabin. That might sound harsh, Will, but let me remind you that if it was someone else I’d seen tromping through the woods, I wouldn’t have shown my face. I wouldn’t have offered an invitation into my home. I wouldn’t even have opened my door.”

“I know.” Will was grateful to Snake. The man had chosen this lifestyle for reasons unknown to Will. He wouldn’t pry.

“About those men who tried to kill you? You sure they didn’t follow you here?”

“I don’t see how they could have, but neither can I be sure. I don’t know who they are or why they tried to kill her.” He had his suspicions. Some things were trying to fall into place, but mostly it was still a mystery.

“What do you know about her?”

“Nothing. I just happened to be flying overhead in time to see her running for her life.” Will struggled with whether or not to share the full of it with Snake, considering he didn’t particularly seem the kind of person who would want to know the details about others’ lives, nor would he reciprocate. Best to keep things simple and not share that Will and Sylvie had both lost their mothers on the same MIA airplane. For now.

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