Justice for Corrie (Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Book 3) (17 page)

He didn’t get ten feet before he opened his eyes. He couldn’t do it. He had no idea how Corrie had found the strength and courage to walk, literally blind into the forest. He couldn’t make it past ten steps.

Hayden had been completely right in chastising him for underestimating Corrie. She wasn’t fragile, not in the way he’d been thinking. He had no doubt everything that had happened today would traumatize her, but he’d be damned if he ever disparaged her again by thinking she was weak.

He continued walking forward, alternating between looking down and looking up. He’d be the first person to tell her how proud he was of her…as soon as he found her.

C
orrie shivered
. She didn’t think it was cold outside, but she couldn’t really tell. She couldn’t feel her feet; the thin branch she was standing on had cut off her circulation. Climbing a tree in flip-flops wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done, but it wasn’t as if she’d had a choice.

Her head and knee hurt where Isaac and Dimitri had hit her. She felt dizzy, but wasn’t sure if it was because of the swaying of the tree she was in, or something else. She shivered and hugged the tree tighter. The last thing she needed was to fall out before Quint found her. She just wished he’d hurry up.

She dozed off for a bit, but she woke up with a start and convulsively grabbed at the tree. She sighed in relief when she didn’t fall. She leaned her forehead against the scratchy bark and tried not to cry.

“Cooooooorrie!”

Corrie lifted her head and tilted it in the hopes of hearing better.

“Cooooooorrie. Where are you?”

Her heart started beating like a jackrabbit again. Was Isaac back already? Darn it, she hoped maybe they’d give up the idea of looking for her when they got back to their car. Maybe the batteries in the flashlights would be dead or something. She kept her mouth shut and tried to slow her breathing.

“Corrie? Are you out here?”

The voice was female. Corrie didn’t understand what was going on. Had Dimitri and Isaac come back with reinforcements? Did they kidnap another woman? She was so confused.

She could hear more voices now. They were muted so she couldn’t catch their words.

“Corrie, sweetheart…can you hear me? It’s Quint. You’re safe.”

Quint? Quint was finally here! His voice echoed around the trees and blew into the wind.

Corrie looked toward the ground. It was silly; it wasn’t as if she could see anything. She waited. The voices got closer and closer.

What if it was a trap? What if Dimitri had a gun to Quint’s head or something? He could be using Quint to flush her out.

For the first time in a really long time, Corrie wished she could see. She used to pray to God to give her sight when she was little, but now she really
really
wished she could see what was going on because if she got Quint killed, she would hate herself for all eternity.

She had to take a chance. Would all those people be with him if Isaac had him? She hoped not. “Quint?” Her voice came out as a croak. She tried again, stronger this time. “Quint? I’m here.”

“Corrie? Thank fucking God!”

Corrie almost laughed at the relief in his voice.

“Again, talk to me again so I can find you.”

Corrie swallowed down the tears clogging her throat. “Here. I’m up in a tree.”

“Keep talking, sweetheart. We’ll find you.”

We? She didn’t care who was with him. She couldn’t wait for him to hold her. “I’m up here. I climbed as high as I could so they couldn’t see me. I have no idea how high I am though. Can you see me yet?” The last part came out way too pathetic-sounding for her peace of mind.

Quint stopped beneath the tall tree and stared up. He could barely see Corrie. Good God. He had no idea how she’d even gotten up that high. How in the hell was he going to get her down? “I see you, sweetheart. You just keep hanging on, okay?”

“Quint? Are you okay? They’re not with you?”

He immediately understood. Figured she’d be worried about him and not herself. “No, Corrie. They’re not here. I’m here with Cruz and some of my other friends. You’re safe.”

“Did you get them? Their names are Isaac and Dimitri, they killed Shaun. They were going to kill me too, but I got away. Did you get my message?”

Quint’s heart hurt. Corrie sounded so sad and lost. He wanted nothing more than to grab hold of her and never let go. “We got them, sweetheart. They won’t hurt you or anyone else again. They were shot and killed back at the cabin. And yes, I got your message.” He tried to interject some humor into their conversation, even though he wasn’t really feeling it. “And so you know, your U looks like a V.”

“It does not,” she protested weakly. “You just need more practice.”

Quint snorted and started undoing his shirt. He’d need to take off his vest and belt in order to be able to get through the thick network of branches to get to her.

“I got this.”

He turned to see Hayden had already taken off her gear and was reading to shimmy up the tree. He put a hand on her arm. “No, she’s my responsibility, I’ll go up.”

“There’s no way you’ll fit, Quint, think about it. I grew up climbing trees like this. Besides, you weigh more than me or Corrie. You’ll possibly break the branches and she’ll be stuck up there. Trust me. I’ll bring her to you safely.”

Quint hated it with every fiber of his being, but Hayden was right, dammit. “Okay, but,” he didn’t take his eyes off of Hayden’s, “be careful. She means the world to me.”

Hayden simply nodded and demanded, “Give me a boost.”

Quint put his hands together and held them down for her to step into. She did and he hoisted her easily up to the first branch. Looking at it, Quint had no idea how Corrie had managed to haul herself up there with no help. “Help’s coming, Corrie. Hang on.”

“You’re coming up to get me?”

Quint could hear the hope in her voice and hated to disappoint her. “No, not me. I’m too big. But Hayden’s coming. Remember me telling you about her? She’s a sheriff’s deputy and can outshoot and outrun most of the guys in my department. And whatever you do, don’t challenge her to one-on-one combat. She’s the only woman I know who can manage to flip me.” Quint kept his words calm and soothing. He could tell Corrie was on the verge of freaking out. “Corrie?”

“Yeah, okay. I’m scared. I’ve been waiting for you, why’d you take so long?” Corrie hated the wobble in her voice, but she’d been brave for as long as she could be, and now that Quint was there, she allowed herself to fall apart…just a little. She’d added the last to try to keep herself from freaking out more.

“I know you are, but I’m so fucking proud of you. You have no idea.” Quint kept his eye on Hayden as she shimmied up the tree as if she’d been born in one. “I set off to find you and closed my eyes for about two-point-three seconds before I had to open them again. I couldn’t do it. But you did, sweetheart. You did it. You outsmarted those assholes and saved yourself. You didn’t need me to do it.”

“I—” Her voice cut off. Quint could see that Hayden had made her way to Corrie and was talking to her.

C
orrie jerked away
from the touch on her calf, then relaxed when she heard the female voice.

“Easy, Corrie. It’s me, Hayden Yates. I’m going to help you down. All right?”

Corrie nodded. “Okay, thank you. I had no idea how in the heck I was gonna get out of here. How high am I?”

“You did a good job, and you don’t want to know how far you climbed, but it was high enough that we almost couldn’t see you from the ground. Even if those assholes stood right under you, they probably wouldn’t have seen you.”

“I think they
did
stand right under me.”

“Ha, well fuck them then. Come on. I’m going to take hold of your sweats and guide your foot to a branch. Your shoes aren’t going to make this easy, but we’ll take this slow and steady. Take your time, there’s absolutely no rush. No bad guys are waiting, only Quint, and he can just cool his jets down there…right?”

Corrie smiled, realizing Hayden was trying to relax her. She nodded again.

“Okay, this first step is easy. The branch is about six inches below your right foot. Just shift your hold on the trunk and ease your foot down. That’s it.”

Corrie followed Hayden’s gentle pressure on her sweats and moved her foot carefully. The branch was exactly where she said it’d be.

“Good, now move your left foot the same way. It’ll fit right next to your other one on the same branch.”

Corrie did as directed and took a deep breath. Okay, she could do this.

They continued their slow and steady pace down the tree until they got to a tricky part. Corrie remembered this particular gap in the branches as she’d climbed up.

“Okay, this is the last of the hard parts, Corrie. It’s about a four-foot gap between where you’re standing now and where the next branch is below you. You’re going to need to crouch down, leaving one foot on the branch and reaching down with your other one. It’ll be a stretch, but your legs are long enough to reach. Promise. I’ll help guide you so your foot will go right where it’s supposed to.”

Corrie nodded. She’d come this far. She circled the trunk of the tree with her arms and bent her legs. She moved her left foot until it dangled down. She felt Hayden’s grip on her ankle.

“Just a bit more, that’s it. Almost there…”

Just as Corrie thought she felt the branch under her foot, her right foot slipped off the branch it was on.

She screeched and knocked her forehead on a branch at her head level as she felt herself falling. Her shin whacked against the limb she’d been standing on and she gripped the broad trunk of the tree for dear life. “Shit!”

“Corrie!” Quint’s voice was frantic.

Hayden’s voice came below her. It was calm and even, as if she hadn’t just watched her almost fall out of the stupid tree. Corrie could feel the strong and secure grip the other woman had on her ankle. Hayden held her steady as she knelt on the limb like an idiot.

“No problem, Corrie. Just a small slip. You’re okay.”

“That’s the second time I’ve sworn today, darn it. That’s not cool.”

Hayden chuckled. “You’re crackin’ me up. I think you have a right to say a swear word or two.”

Corrie shook her head. “No, I promised myself when Ethan, my friend’s kid, was born that I’d stop. I was a complete potty mouth before. I had to go cold turkey or his first word was bound to be a swearword he learned from his Aunt Corrie.”

“Come on, you’re almost there. Trust me. Give me some of your weight and I’ll guide your foot to the next branch.”

Corrie took a deep breath and did as Hayden asked. She wanted out of this darn tree and the only way to do that was to get past this section. She eased off her shin and felt Hayden guide her foot, exactly as she’d promised. Corrie felt the sturdy limb under her foot and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay, I’ve got you, slide your other leg off and grab hold of the branch it was just resting on with your hands.”

Corrie felt one of Hayden’s hands on her lower back and the other on her calf. She shifted and Hayden moved the hand that was on her right calf to her hip. “There you go. Good. Piece of cake. We’re only about eight feet from the ground, and Quint is waiting for you. Only about two more steps and he’ll have his hands on you. Ready?”

Corrie nodded eagerly, more than ready.

They moved quickly past the next couple of branches and just as Hayden had said, Corrie felt large hands grasp her around her waist. She hadn’t felt anything as wonderful as Quint’s arms coming around her.

“Thank God,” Corrie heard Quint mutter as he lifted her out of the tree and into his arms. She heard a thud as Harley jumped out of the tree herself. She knew she should thank the deputy, but being in Quint’s arms, smelling his unique smell, was more than she could take after everything that had happened.

Corrie burst into tears and buried her face in Quint’s neck. She felt his hand cradle the back of her head as he held her against him.

Quint dipped his head and breathed into Corrie’s hair as he hugged her. “You’re okay, sweetheart. I’ve got you. You’re good.” He continued to whisper nonsense as he followed his friends back through the woods to their vehicles. Corrie vaguely realized she probably should’ve at least said hello to the other men who were with Quint, but she couldn’t seem to stop crying long enough to manage it. She heard them talking as they walked, but couldn’t concentrate on their words.

Their little group quickly reached the clearing and Quint didn’t even pause to look at the dead bodies lying near the black SUV. Someone had collected the police and fire vehicles from down the road and they were lined up and waiting.

Quint kept Corrie’s head against his neck and headed straight for Hayden’s SUV. He leaned down and managed to open the door without letting go of Corrie. He sat on the seat sideways and propped his feet on the running board. His heart hurt as Corrie cried in his arms. After a few minutes, she hiccuped and he could tell she was trying to bring herself under control.

He looked down at her and grimaced in sympathy. She had a scrape on her forehead, probably from when she’d almost fallen out of the tree on her way down. There were bruises forming on her jaw and cheekbone. Her hair was a mess and she had dirt smeared from her nose to her ears.

She’d never looked more beautiful to him.

“I love you, Corrie Madison.” Quint couldn’t have kept the words back if his life depended on it. “I’ve never been so scared in all my life than when I realized you were gone. I don’t want to go through this crazy life without you. I don’t care how long it takes, I’m going to show you day in and day out how much you mean to me in the hopes that you’ll eventually love me back. I…”

He paused. Corrie had lifted her hand to his neck and was tapping against him. Two diagonal taps, then three vertical taps, then five taps in a backward C shape. She did it again. Then again.

He smiled, and it was his turn to bury his nose in her neck. “You love me?” he mumbled against her.

“Yeah.” Corrie sniffed. She knew she probably looked like death warmed over, but Quint didn’t seem to care. “When I was stumbling blindly through the woods looking for a tree to climb, all I could think of was how much I loved you and how sad I was that I hadn’t told you. But you know what else?”

She felt Quint raise his head. “What?”

“I knew you’d come for me. No matter what. I was going to hang on to the top of that darn tree forever if it took that long, because I knew you’d figure it out and find me.”

“Lord, Corrie.”

She thought about something suddenly. “Oh no! Bethany…is she okay? What about Emily and Ethan? I don’t remember what happened.”

Quint ran his hand over her hair again, soothing her. “They’re fine. I’ll tell you everything later, but they’re fine.”