Carlise nodded and tried to calm down. Of course JJ wasn’t going to perform surgery in the middle of the woods. She’d simply panicked.
“Can you carry her?” Cal asked. “We can take turns to get her out of here.”
“I’ve got her, but thanks,” Riggs said.
Before Carlise could protest and try to be brave, tell them that she could walk—even though she wasn’t at all sure she could—Riggs had carefully lifted her into his arms. She rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped her good arm around his neck. The other lay limp in her lap as she tried not to move it much. Every jostle sent pain shooting down her back.
JJ draped his jacket over her, and Cal and Bob stood on either side of Riggs, clutching his arms and helping him climb down the steep mountain of snow from the avalanche.
Baxter barked, and Carlise jerked. “Was that Baxter? Is he here?”
“Yeah, it’s him. He led me straight to you,” Riggs told her.
“I had to put him in the bathroom because he was acting really aggressively toward Susie. I didn’t understand then, but I guess he was trying to warn me. I didn’t listen,” Carlise said sadly.
“Don’t blame yourself,” a man Carlise didn’t know said from behind them. She lifted her head to look over Riggs’s shoulder.
“I’m Alfred Rutkey, chief of police. Chappy came by today and explained your situation. I was going to look into it, but obviously didn’t get a chance.”
Carlise nodded and put her head back on Riggs’s shoulder.
“How’d you get shot?” JJ asked.
Carlise sighed. “When I was running from Susie. She was shooting kind of wildly from behind me. One of her shots got lucky, I guess. She tripped, and I was able to get into the bunker right as we heard the avalanche. I locked it before she could get in.” Her voice lowered, and she sobbed as she said, “I wouldn’t let her in. She was banging on the door. Begging. Telling me she could see the snow coming toward her. But I ignored her. I killed her!”
“No!” all five men exclaimed at once.
Carlise might’ve found that funny if the situation wasn’t so solemn.
“She was going to kill you. She shot you,” Cal said fiercely.
“She deserved what she got,” Bob growled.
“If you’d let her in, you’d be dead right now,” JJ agreed.
“Guess I need to arrange for a search for her body,” the police chief mumbled.
But the only opinion that mattered was that of the man who was holding her in his arms. “Riggs?” she whispered. “Do you think about me differently now?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation.
Carlise winced.
Then he went on. “I admit I’d thought you were a bit of a fish out of water out here. You’re a city girl. I wasn’t sure you could hack living in a small town in Maine, even if you were willing to try. But I underestimated you. You’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. You kept your head in what had to be a terrifying situation, and you did what you had to do in order to survive. You could’ve gotten in that car with her. But you didn’t. You protected Baxter. You got away from her. Outsmarted her. Remembered the bunker and got yourself inside.”
“I think the shots triggered the avalanche,” Carlise admitted. “They were so loud, and they echoed all around us.”
“That’s a real possibility,” Alfred said. “The conditions were definitely right, and all it can take is the right stimulus to get it started.”
“Do I think about you differently now?” Riggs continued. “Yes. You aren’t a fish out of water. You were born to be mine. To be here, in Maine, with me. You’ll be a fierce protector of our kids, of our future pets, of our friends, of our mountain retreat. You proved that you can take care of yourself when the shit hits the fan . . . and while I never want you to have to go through anything like that again—ever—knowing that you’ll fight the grim reaper himself to stay alive makes me love you even more.”
“Riggs,” she whispered, overwhelmed.
“Your only job right now is to get well. I’ll get the footage from my cameras to Chief Rutkey, so he’ll have the evidence he needs against Susie, in case she somehow survived the avalanche. There will be absolutely no doubt as to who was harassing you. You’re free, honey. You can go anywhere you want, do anything, be anything.”
“You want me to go back to Cleveland?”