For the next few hours Ricky, Tom and the others worked with tedious patience to reach Allie. When they finally had a clear view of her through a tunnel that seemed safe enough, Ricky was the one who inched forward on his belly, clearing more debris bit by bit until he could reach out and touch her hand. Again those huge, luminous blue eyes latched on to him and held him captive.
He passed a water bottle to her, but she couldn’t seem to negotiate it to her mouth. She stared at her immobile hand with evident frustration.
“It’s okay,” he soothed. “I’ll get it to you. Hang in there.”
He eased forward an inch at a time, waiting between movements to make sure that the precarious arrangement of debris wouldn’t shift. Finally he was close enough to touch the plastic straw to her lips. She drank greedily, her gaze never leaving his face.
“Is Jane okay?” she asked the minute she’d satisfied her thirst.
“Jane?”
“Next door. Mrs. Baker.”
He thought of the woman who’d guided them to Allie. “About seventy-five? Five-two? Feisty?”
“Yes, yes, that’s her. She’s okay, isn’t she?”
“A cut on her forehead and possibly a sprained ankle, but you’re the only thing that seems to concern her,” he said. “She hasn’t budged since we started trying to reach you. She found a lawn chair down the block and planted it right out front so she can keep an eye on us.”
Allie grinned. “That sounds just like her. And the rest of the neighbors? How are they?”
“We’re checking on all of them now,” he said, unwilling to mention that so far there was one dead and several unaccounted for. Fortunately, she seemed to take his response at face value.
“How long have I been down here?” she asked.
“Not so long. A few hours. We got the call shortly before six a.m. It’s just about noon now,” he told her. “Must seem like an eternity to you, though.”
She nodded.
“Well, it’s almost over. You stay perfectly still, querida. I’ll have you free in no time,” he promised.
“Couldn’t move if I wanted to,” she said as a tear slipped down her cheek. “I—” her voice faltered “—I think I might be paralyzed.”
“Now, don’t go getting any crazy ideas. Looks to me as if it’s just because of the way you’re wedged in here,” he reassured her. “No need to panic. Once you’re out, I’ll take you dancing.”
The teasing drew a watery smile. “You’ll regret it. Even before this I had two left feet. On top of that I can’t exactly hear the music.”
“I’ll take you someplace where it only matters if you can swivel your hips.”
“Ah, salsa,” she said knowingly.
“With a little tango mixed in,” he said. “You’ll just have to hang on and follow my lead.”
She gave a decisive little nod. “I can do that.”
“Then it’s a date.”
All the while he talked, chattering nonsense mostly just to keep her attention focused on his face, he cleared debris from on and around her. When he saw the bloody gashes in a long shapely leg, he had to fight to keep his expression neutral.
That was the worst of it, though. If he could free her leg, he thought he could get her to safety. He just had to keep his mind on what he was doing and off the fact that she was all but naked. The T-shirt she’d presumably worn to bed was shredded indecently. She apparently hadn’t noticed that yet or else she was more brazen than he’d imagined.
“Make sure there’s a blanket ready and waiting when we come out,” he murmured into the radio tucked in his pocket, his head turned so she couldn’t read his lips. She tapped his shoulder, her expression frustrated. He smiled. “Sorry. I was talking to my partner. I just wanted to be sure he’d be ready for us when we blow this cozy little cave under here.”
It took another hour of careful excavation around her leg before he felt confident enough to move her.
“You ready?”
“Oh, yes,” she breathed softly.
“I’m not guaranteeing there won’t be some pain.”
“What else is new?” she said bravely.
“You want something for it?”
“Just get me out,” she pleaded.
He cradled her as best he could, aware of every bare inch of skin he was touching, then slowly worked his way back the same way he’d come. It seemed to take forever, but at last he saw Tom’s face peering at them intently.
“You have that blanket?”
“Right here.”
Ricky reached for it, then wrapped it around Allie as best he could in the confined space, before shimmying the rest of the way out.
Allie blinked against the brilliant glare of sunlight and continued to cling to Ricky as if he were all that stood between her and an unfamiliar world.
And, of course, the neighborhood must seem strange—nothing like what it had been the last time she’d seen it before the storm. Ricky could only imagine how it must feel to emerge and find everything changed. He’d seen that same sense of shocked dismay on the faces of other victims of other tragedies as they realized the extent of the damage around them and the likelihood of casualties among their friends and family.
As for the way Allie was looking at him and holding on, it wasn’t the first time he’d seen that reaction, either. The bond between victim and rescuer could be intense, but in most instances it wasn’t long before familiar faces arrived and the bond was broken.
This time, though, only the elderly neighbor stepped forward to give Allie a fierce hug, even as the paramedics moved in to begin their work. Allie was on a stretcher and headed for an ambulance in no time, Jane right beside her, giving instructions. Ricky grinned at the bemused expressions of the paramedics at taking their orders from a pint-size senior citizen in a flowered housecoat and bright-pink sneakers.
“Wait,” Allie commanded as they were about to lift her into the ambulance. Her gaze searched the crowd.
Ricky felt a quick rush of heat at the precise moment when she spotted him. Her gaze locked on his.
“Thank you,” she mouthed, too far away for him to actually hear the words.
“You’re welcome,” he said, then deliberately turned away from the emotion shining in her eyes to move on to another complicated search taking place a few houses away.
“You going to see her again?” Tom asked as they began work on the recovery of a victim who had been less fortunate than Allie.
“I wasn’t down there making a date,” Ricky retorted.
“I was asking about your intentions.”
Those blue, blue eyes came back to haunt him. He wondered if he might not have to see her again before he could get them out of his head.
“I promised to take her dancing,” he admitted, earning a punch from Tom.
“Next time there’s a pretty woman involved, I get first dibs,” Tom said. “There’s nothing