Tremors

CHAPTER THREE

LISA CURLED into the smallest ball possible and wrapped her arms over her head as she hunkered in the cargo compartment of the SUV.

The whole world seemed to tremble with fear.

Was this it?

The end?

Dear God, what about Joe?

She unfurled herself even before the vehicle stopped groaning beneath the weight of more rubble.

She had to know if he was all right.

Had to see.

To get out.

She couldn’t help him from in here.

“Joe!”

The silence that reverberated across the airwaves and into her ear sent her heart plummeting to her feet.

“Joe! Please, answer me! Joe, are you all right?”

“Lisa!”

Shannon’s voice.

“Lisa, where’s Joe?” Her voice warbled slightly.

Lisa’s pulse throbbed in her brain. It had to be bad if Shannon was worried. She was always so strong. Please, please, God, don’t let Joe be dying out there.

“Lisa, we’ve lost contact with Joe. Are you all right?”

“I can’t see him,” she murmured, her own voice stumbling. “I can’t—”

“Lisa, listen to me,” Shannon commanded. “Are you all right?”

She tried to calm down, forcing herself to look around the car and size up the situation. Okay. She was okay.

Just then a vicious creak split the air and the roof buckled in, pressing down on her.

Glass shattered.

“The roof is caving in,” Lisa cried. She edged closer to the rear hatch. The middle of the SUV was crushed so far down that the interior ceiling light was now flattened against the console.

She couldn’t move.

Couldn’t breathe.

She was going to die.

“Lisa, I heard glass shattering. Are you still with me?”

She nodded mutely, then struggled to respond audibly. “Yes.” She couldn’t move…could scarcely breathe.

Joe. God, where was Joe?

“Can you climb out? Maybe through one of the windows?”

Lisa started shaking her head before her friend completed the question. All the windows were shattered, flattened into triangular slits only a few inches high.

No way could she get out.

“I can’t…”

She tried to see behind her. Where was Joe?

“Joe!” she shouted. Please, please, don’t let him be dead. “Joe! Can you hear me?”

“Lisa, stay with me,” Shannon urged. “Is the window in the rear hatch still intact?”

Lisa turned her head as best she could. “Yes.”

“Can you maneuver around and kick it out?”

“I tried that already.” Her heart had leaped into her throat. “I couldn’t do it. I…I can’t turn around. I’m stuck.”

“Try, Lisa! You’ve got to try. You might be able to kick out the glass now with the added pressure.”

“Where’s Joe?” Lisa repeated, tears stinging her eyes. She tried to see but the car seemed buried in rubble. There was still some dim light coming through the hatch, which gave her hope, but what about Joe? She stretched, tried to move.

Turn around. She had to turn around. Something sharp jabbed her shoulder. She winced but kept working at freeing herself.

“Bull’s trying to get him now. Let’s concentrate on getting you out of that vehicle.”

Shannon said something to one of the others…

“No!” Lisa shouted. “Don’t you try to come in here, Shannon. It’s too late. Just…” There was no way anyone could get to her. Defeat twisted like barbwire in her stomach. She was certain of it now. Joe was likely dead and soon she would be, too.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to hold back the tears. Damn it. Who would take care of her animals? What about her family? They would be devastated.

And what about Joe?

The tears flowed now as she remembered the last time she’d seen him. He’d dropped by the clinic to break a date with her. She had to give him that. He had been man enough to let her down in person.

She had pretended indifference. As if it didn’t matter either way. But she’d known what had sent him running.

Where do you see our relationship going?

She’d asked the impossible of him.

Joe Ripani just wasn’t the marrying kind.

It certainly didn’t matter now.

Nothing mattered now…

“Lisa?”

Her breath caught.

“I’m here, babe.”

Joe.

The sound of his voice sent her heart into a frantic rhythm.

He was alive.

“Joe!” She bit down on her lower lip to stem the new rush of tears. “You scared the hell out of me, Ripani.”

“Scared myself,” he admitted with a chuckle. “Had to dig my way back to the surface.”

Fear stabbed deep into her chest. “Are you all right?” She could imagine broken bones and hemorrhaging. Men never liked to admit when they were injured. He probably needed medical attention. The dead last thing he should do was crawl deeper into this hellhole.

“’Course I’m all right. You think a little something like a few thousand pounds of concrete is going to stop me?”

This wasn’t the time for jokes. He could save that iceman persona for someone who didn’t know him better.

“Joe, I—”

The whole structure shook again. The metal SUV screeched beneath the weight bearing down on it.

Dear God, this whole place was going to collapse.

“You should get out of here, Joe,” she said. Her voice had gone flat, emotionless. It was over. No point in both of them ending up dead. “Don’t come any closer. You’ll never be able to get me out.”

“I’m almost there.”

She shook her head. “No. Don’t do this.” She managed to squeeze to one side as the hatch was compressed even further. She was trapped completely now. Couldn’t even turn her head.

“Just go,” she urged him. “The whole place is going to fall in. You can’t get me out of here. The car is squashed down around me.”

Defeat sucked the oxygen right out of her lungs.

Shannon. “Shannon said she was coming in, too,” Lisa blurted. “You have to stop her, Joe. Go back. Don’t let anyone else come in here. Please don’t play the hero. It’s…” She took stock of the situation again and surrendered to the inevitable. “It’s too late.”

Something bumped against the glass behind her. She couldn’t turn around.

“It’s me,” he said, only this time his voice came through the glass instead of over her cell phone.

She wanted to turn around…to see him one last time and tell him how sorry she was that things hadn’t worked out between them…but she couldn’t move.

“Can you slide down just a little? Get beneath the glass.”

The urgency in his voice prodded at her. It was too late. Why didn’t he just go? Why risk his life, as well? Because that’s what he did, she answered herself. That’s who he was.

Joe Ripani was a real hero. He liked the part, no matter the risk. It was who he was.

“I’ll try.” She slid downward, forcing her body against the damaged metal and tattered headliner that had once been the roof of her SUV. Sharp edges snagged her blouse, scraping at her skin, but she kept squirming to do as Joe asked.

“Close your eyes and protect your face if you can.”

She released her cell phone and shielded her face with the one hand she could move.

He pried at the window…she could hear him grunting with the effort.

The glass shattered.

Suddenly his hands were pulling at her.

With the glass gone, she squeezed out through the opening as he tucked the crowbar he’d been using into his gear belt.

And then she was in his arms.

The tears flowed like a river. She couldn’t have stopped them if she’d bothered trying.

He was okay.

He was really okay.

His arms felt so strong around her.

“We have to get out of here,” he murmured softly against her ear. “The whole place is going to cave in.”

She nodded and reluctantly drew back from his embrace.

Damn, he looked good.

She wanted to stare at him, to take in every last detail of that handsome face. But they had to move.

He clambered over and around the heaps of rubble, dragging her behind him.

Barely recognizable parts of vehicles pierced through the mounds of fallen concrete and steel but Lisa kept her gaze steady on Joe. If she stopped to look—to think—she’d lose it. She had to keep moving. For both their sakes.

Another rumble…another vibration.

“Aftershocks?” she asked.

“Probably the underlying structure…it’s going to give way completely,” he said.

She remembered thinking that only moments ago. Her heart hammered viciously. What if they couldn’t get out after all?

Joe swore. The heat of it seared through her.

They were trapped.

The path they’d followed was now fully blocked by the collapse of the level above.

“We’ll have to try another egress route,” he suggested as he started in a different direction.

Joe spoke quietly via his communications link to his team, who were standing by to assist in any way possible. But there was nothing they could do.

It was all up to him now.

An odd kind of calm settled over Lisa. Joe knew what he was doing. If anyone could get them out of here, he could.

He pulled her after him, weaving over and between slabs of concrete. The place looked like a war zone. The destruction was unbelievable…overwhelming. She prayed again that no one had died in what must be dozens of crushed automobiles.

“Things are going to get a little tricky here,” he said as he came to a stop.

Lisa tried to focus, but her cognitive processes were pretty much on automatic now.

“We’ve got to snake our way through here to get to the other side.”

She considered the mountain of broken construction material before them. No way over it or around it. That much was true. Then she stared at the narrow, tunnel-like hole he indicated.

This void went down…under the debris.

That could be a death sentence.

“I can’t…” She shook her head to emphasize her words. No way could she crawl into that hole.

He took her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “It’s the only way, babe. It might be nothing but a dead end, but we can’t just stand here and wait for the inevitable. I’ll go first.”

For three beats she could only stare into those dark eyes. His face was dusty and grimy, as were his clothes. He looked nothing like the spit-and-polish, suave guy who had a reputation with the ladies. She had a sudden, nearly overwhelming urge to laugh. Hysteria. She knew the symptoms. As funny and out of character as he looked, he was dead serious.

She forced her head in an up-and-down motion. “Okay.”

He knew what he was doing. This wasn’t her area of expertise. If he thought they needed to crawl under the rocks, then by God, she’d follow him into that hole.

He was, after all, that kind of hero.

Again, she had to stifle the urge to laugh. Hysteria had taken root. Focus, she ordered her dizzy brain. She had to do just what he told her…she had to keep it together. Had to listen carefully to his instructions.

JOE SQUEEZED through the opening to the tunnel, tilting his shoulders at odd angles to manage the feat. Lisa stayed right behind him. She was scared. The fear in those blue eyes had been palpable. He’d wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be all right, but there was no time for that. Every second they stayed in this garage pushed them closer to the edge of no return.

If this passage turned out to be a dead end…well, he’d just deal with it.

He stalled at the next turn. Damn, the pathway narrowed here. Maybe he should have let Lisa go first. She was tiny enough to slip through without much effort. He still couldn’t be sure that this would take them where they needed to go. But he was banking on the light. The tunnel would be pitch-dark if the other end was closed.

The dim light gave him hope. He prayed it would be enough.

Grunting with the brutal effort it took, Joe twisted sideways and forced his big body through the passage-way. Thankfully, the end of the tunnel seemed just beyond this turn. The light was much brighter there. Good sign.

They’d almost made it.

Thank God.

He almost shouted with relief when he reached the narrow exit. A short scramble over the rocks and they’d be out of this hole.

“Give me your hand.” He reached for Lisa, and the two of them climbed up and out of the makeshift passage. “You okay?”

She nodded stiffly. Her clothes were covered in dust, but he saw no sign of injury. No blood.

They were close now.

The location of the stairwell and elevator shaft was only a few feet away. They wouldn’t be able to use either of those routes, of course, but he’d figure out something. The knots of tension in his gut tightened, ratcheting up his anxiety. They had to get out of here. Right now. Every instinct was screaming a warning at him.

Joe zigzagged his way through the fallen rubble until he reached the far half wall on the outside of the garage. Relief surged through him as he stared down into a narrow opening next to where the stairwell had once stood. He could actually see all the way to the ground below.

He reached over his shoulder and retrieved his rappelling line. “Spike, O’Shea, you still with me?”

O’Shea’s relieved voice came across the communications link. He quickly related their approximate location and the intended egress. The team would assemble on the ground below in case he needed assistance. Getting Lisa out of here was top priority.

He eased back from the wall and turned to her. She looked terrified. “I’m going to lower you down to Shannon.” Maybe it would comfort Lisa to know her friend waited below. He glanced back outside and saw that O’Shea, along with four others, were ready and waiting to assist.

“What about you?”

The uncertainty that glittered in her eyes almost undid him. Why did she care? He knew he’d hurt her when he’d backed off their…relationship. And yet she still cared what happened to him.

Basic human compassion, he told himself.

Nothing more. She’d likely gotten over him already. She took in stray dogs and cats all the time with every bit as much compassion. Her concern for him was nothing outside the norm for Lisa Malloy. Nothing he wouldn’t expect…and yet it touched him somehow.

“I’ll climb down as soon as you’re on the ground,” he explained.

She blinked rapidly, a frown drawing her sweet face into a scowl. “But how will you—”

He snaked the line around her waist. “Don’t worry about me, babe. I know what I’m doing.” He gave her a few quick instructions on how to pull the line down around her hips and then how to hold on so she didn’t slip. She paid close attention though he sensed that his every touch disturbed her almost as much as their current predicament. He imagined that she didn’t feel comfortable being touched by him since he’d walked away so easily from what they’d shared.

If she only knew.

Easy had not been the way of it.

She stepped into the narrow opening that would take her to freedom as he tugged on his gloves.

“Now, swing your legs over the edge of the wall and I’ll lower you down,” he said as casually as if she did this sort of thing every day.

Her gaze locked with his. “You…you won’t drop me?”

It took all his strength not to kiss the hell out of her. That pouty bottom lip trembled, tempting him almost beyond endurance.

“Not a chance.”

She nodded, then did as he’d instructed.

He heard her gasp as she dropped free of the shelf the remaining wall formed, but he had her. Slowly, but surely, he lowered her through the narrow crevasse to safety. Cheers went up as O’Shea tugged the line free from Lisa and gave Joe a nod. As he hoisted up the line, he watched the two women embrace and couldn’t help feeling a little jealous that it wasn’t him holding Lisa like that.

“Idiot,” he muttered. He’d had his chance. He’d walked away. He couldn’t go down that road with her or anyone else. Staying single was the right thing to do. No matter how wrong it felt at the moment.

LISA WATCHED as Joe rappelled downward as easily as he would walk across a room. When his feet touched the ground, the whole squad flocked to him, thankful their leader had survived.

As she stared up at the collapsed parking garage that she had used so many times, Lisa swallowed hard. It just didn’t seem possible that a building could crumble like that. As if it were made of sand and fragile sticks rather than concrete and steel. But it had.

She closed her eyes and thanked God yet again that she and Joe had made it out safely. It was an absolute miracle that neither of them had been killed.

A wave of dizziness washed over her and she swayed on her feet.

Strong arms went immediately around her. “Whoa.” Joe’s deep, husky voice rumbled in her ear.

“I’m okay,” she assured him as she pulled free of his embrace. “Really.”

He didn’t look convinced.

Shannon started to say something and Joe cut her a look. “Take it from here, O’Shea, I need to run Ms. Malloy by the hospital to be checked out.”

Lisa looked from Joe to Shannon and back. “I’m fine.”

Shannon seemed a little taken aback but didn’t buck her captain’s orders. “Yes, sir, Captain Ripani,” she said sharply, and did an about-face without a word to Lisa.

Joe glared after her.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Lisa said, drawing his attention back to her. “I’m fine. Really, Joe.”

He studied her face and she suddenly felt embarrassed about how she must look. A mess, she felt certain.

What was wrong with her? She’d just survived an earthquake. Her car was a crushed metal pancake on what used to be the third level of that parking garage. She wasn’t supposed to look good. And she owed her life to the guy who’d recently broken her heart.

“You’re pretty shaken up, Lisa,” he said in that soft, pleading tone that likely got him laid anytime he wanted.

Lisa tamped down a rush of jealousy. Her fling with Joe was over. She wasn’t supposed to be jealous. Besides, he’d just saved her life. She should be grateful. She was! She just couldn’t get past that other thing. The hurt.

“A little shocky, I’d guess,” he went on, clearly oblivious to her mental tirade. “You need to be checked out and the paramedics here have their hands full.” He shrugged those massive shoulders that would no doubt be bruised tomorrow from squeezing through that narrow passage. “Besides, you need a ride home anyway. We’d have to go right by the hospital to get to your place. Might as well stop by emergency just to be sure.”

He had an answer for everything. And she was completely at his mercy.

That was the way with men like Joe Ripani. Women were putty in their hands.

Maybe he was right. Maybe she was a little shocky.

It might take her a few minutes, but one way or another, she promised herself, she would get her anti-Ripani defenses back into place. And when she did, he could just take his sweet-talking ways somewhere else. As much as she appreciated what he’d done for her, she couldn’t risk letting herself fall into that trap again. Not if she hoped to survive.

She had his number and it added up to only one thing…heartbreak.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE UNEASY SILENCE in his truck unsettled Joe even more as he turned from Fifth Street onto Washington to head toward Courage Bay Hospital. He’d insisted that Lisa ride with him back to the firehouse where he could pick up his own truck. The search-and-rescue canines and heavy equipment had arrived at the parking garage just as Joe was leaving.

In an emergency like this, local jurisdiction resources would be somewhat overwhelmed with rescue and treatment. Assistance would be called in from surrounding communities. Joe and his squad had done the same many times. Just as soon as he was sure Lisa was good to go, he had every intention of getting back out in the field. This wasn’t the sort of situation that would be resolved in a few hours. He let go a heavy breath. It would be a while before Courage Bay was back to normal. But the city was no stranger to disaster, and its emergency-services personnel had earned a reputation for excellence.

Lisa hadn’t argued when he’d urged her toward his own vehicle. In fact, she hadn’t said a word since they left the parking garage. At first he’d worried about shock, but he now had a feeling that she was simply annoyed at him.

She wasn’t the kind of woman who cared for heroic tactics, and she would see his rescue of her as exactly that.

His fingers clenched the steering wheel. Funny thing, if he’d been trapped in that SUV, he would have been damn happy to have someone help him out. But not Lisa. No, she would consider any rescue attempt as the foolish act of an adrenaline junkie. She would rather have sacrificed herself than risk anyone else. That was something else they had in common, he realized abruptly.

Besides, he had to admit he’d been called far worse than an adrenaline junkie. The thing was, it usually didn’t bother him. Somehow her rebuff did. He thought he’d gotten over his inability to impress a particular woman. Obviously that wasn’t the case.

What was it about quiet, sensitive and highly intelligent Lisa Malloy that made him want to revert to adolescent tendencies?

He flicked a glance in her direction. Sure, she was pretty. Long, chestnut-colored hair that she wore up more often than not. Blue eyes the color of the Pacific when the sun hit the water just right. Her compact frame carried more visual punch than most petite women could possibly hope for. Lush curves and yet an athleticism that spoke of strength.

Damn. His entire body hardened. What was wrong with him? He didn’t usually go gaga over any dame. Not this kind of gaga anyway. He didn’t mind a serious case of lust—hell, he appreciated the hot, tingly feelings. The searing release that good, hot sex brought could only be called incredible. But this case of lust had stuck with him far longer than it should have. Lust was supposed to wear off after a few thorough sessions in the sack.

What the hell was the problem here?

He refused to consider the other four-letter word that tried to pop into his mind. The only L word he liked being acquainted with was l-u-s-t. Fast and furious and red-hot. That’s the way he liked his short-term relationships, if he could call them relationships.

It was best for all concerned.

Plenty of physical pleasure without the emotional entanglements.

Lisa should be glad. He’d done her a favor.

Joe pulled into the emergency entrance of the hospital. As he’d anticipated, the place was buzzing with activity. He parked in the only remaining slot, which thankfully put them within a few feet of the entrance.

“This isn’t necessary,” Lisa insisted, breaking her long silence. “The doctors and nurses will be busy with real emergencies.” She turned to him with a plea in those baby blues that twisted his gut all over again. “Just take me to the clinic. I need to check on the animals.”

“I’m sure your pal Greg has everything under control.” He made the statement with a little more sarcasm than he’d intended. There was something about Greg Seaborn that irked the hell out of Joe.

Climbing out of the truck, he hurried to the passenger side. Lisa didn’t waste time arguing further. The man was completely hardheaded. She slid out when he opened her door, noting achy muscles for the first time. The little wave of dizziness had also set off a throbbing in her skull.

Maybe Joe was right. As he led the way through the chaos of the waiting area, she gently kneaded the right side of her head. She had herself a dandy lump. Made sense, now that she thought about it. She’d obviously been unconscious for a time after the earthquake hit. Considering the dizziness and the downright awful feeling in her stomach, a concussion was quite possible.