Deadly Games - Cate Noble [71]
But what if Rocco was injured and needed help?
She pushed to her feet and surveyed the wreckage, then turned in a circle to get her bearings. Where had she come in? If Rocco and Clay had fallen from the plane after her, they had to be somewhere between here and where she’d landed.
“I’ll find you, Rocco!” she shouted. Then she trudged back toward the dark jungle.
Rocco had landed in a mud bog, his legs trapped beneath a tree. He didn’t think they were broken, thanks to the mud, but he was still pinned.
Gena! God, where was she? Was she alive?
In those last few seconds he had tried to grab her, to hold on, but she’d disappeared. And then he’d been falling, too.
And what about Clay and the pilot? Had they made it out alive?
He tried to shove his way free but lost traction. The rain fell in torrents now, the wind gusting as lightning flashed.
“Hello!”
Rocco heard someone yelling. A man, not Gena.
“Over here!” Rocco shouted. “Clay? Is that you?”
“Yeah! Keep hollering! I can’t see a damn thing!”
“I’m trapped under a tree! Have you see Gena?”
“Who? You mean your wife?”
His wife. The words gouged Rocco’s heart. Clay thought they were married.
How many times had Rocco dreamed a happier ending to their story? Gena as his wife, not Harry’s. Gena waiting at the door to greet him after a hard day’s work. Gena caring for their children. In his dreams, they’d had several. In his dreams, their love had multiplied with each one.
“Where are you, buddy?” Clay shouted.
“You’re getting closer!”
Lightning flashed. Rocco and Clay spotted each other at the same time.
Clay pushed closer, limping. “Mike! How bad you hurt?”
This time Rocco had to remember his own alias. “Don’t think anything’s broken, but I can’t get loose,” Rocco said. “Have you seen any sign of my wife?”
“No. But the plane—what’s left of it—is burning about a hundred yards from here.” Clay grabbed a branch of the tree and shoved it. “I think the three of us dropped out together. We were already pretty low.”
“The pilot?”
Clay shrugged. “Let’s concentrate on getting you out. This tree’s damn heavy.”
Rocco twisted. “I think I’ve worked one leg free from the mud.”
“If you can free the other one, maybe I can drag you out.”
Once again lightning cracked, illuminating the area. Clay ducked and moved around to Rocco’s head.
“I’m going to grab you under the arms and pull,” Clay said. “On three.”
Rocco dug in his heels as best he could and pushed. “Almost. Once more.”
Clay grunted, pulling Rocco again. This time Rocco slid far enough that he was able to turn and crawl free.
Rocco stood and held out a hand to Clay. “I owe you one.”
Clay shook his hand. “No problem.”
“Now let’s find my wife. Where’s the plane?”
“This way.” Clay skirted the fallen tree and pointed. “See the flames through the branches?”
Rocco nodded. Except for the lightning, the jungle was dark. But if Gena was out there, injured and scared, he had to find her.
“Jill”—Gena—“dropped a few seconds before I did,” Rocco said. “If the plane is there, she probably fell more to the south.”
Clay shook his head. “The plane was banking. We could have come in from any direction. If your wife is able to walk and spots the fire, would she go toward it?”
“Most likely. But what if she can’t walk?”
Thunder rumbled. “I say we check the plane first,” Clay said. “This rain will extinguish the flames fast. We’ve got to find the pilot, too. If he went down with the plane, he may be in more dire need than your wife.”
Rocco rubbed his chest. He hadn’t forgotten about the pilot, but Gena was definitely more on his mind.
“Let’s go. The thought of my wife out there alone— I’ve got to find her.”
Clay touched Rocco’s shoulder briefly. “Come on. We’ll find her. She knows you really love her, right? Try to think about the last time you were together, I mean before this mess. Focus on the good times.”
Rocco didn’t say anything as he trudged toward the glow of fire.
Try to think of the last time you were together—before this mess.