“Aiy-aaa-naaaa.” He pitched his voice to travel as far as possible.
He thought he heard something and crouched down on the edge of the path.
“Aiyana,” he shouted again.
“Down here.”
The voice was faint, feminine. Thank God! She was here and conscious.
He slipped and slid down the wall of rocks, trees and dirt until he got to the bottom. She was lying half in, half out of a fast-moving creek. His heart lurched into his throat.
“Aiyana!”
“Who’s there?” She picked up a stick and held it across her chest, the gesture both defensive and aggressive.
Cody wondered about the fear in her voice, but maybe it made sense. She’d been in the woods all night alone. “Aiyana, it’s me. Cody Jordan.”
He bent down beside her and removed the hood of his poncho so she could see his face.
“C-C-Cody?” Her face registered her surprise. If he were she, he would be shocked, too. She must be wondering where he’d come from. He hadn’t been home in six months and she hadn’t been here at that time.
A sigh of relief whooshed out of him.
He touched her icy cheek, her normally golden skin currently gray, and her thick dark hair soaking wet and plastered against her scalp. She looked like hell...and he drank in the sight of her like a parched man in the desert. She was found, maybe not in a great situation, but alive. He could handle whatever needed to be done to get her out of here.
He breathed out, his relief so great he only now realized how deep his worry had been. He’d half expected to find her dead. Sure, he hadn’t seen her in years, but he knew that Aiyana would have fought tooth and nail to get out of whatever predicament she was in to save her dad and Emily from worry last night.
This was a girl who cared more about others than herself.
He studied her. She was no longer a girl. Even with straggly hair and pale skin, she was a sight to behold, imperfect but lovely and all herself. No Botox or pouty lips or unnaturally taut skin.
Aiyana was still Aiyana.
“Why are you staring at me?”
He shook himself out of his musings. “Sorry.”
She shivered and rubbed her hands.
Protective instincts on high alert, he soothed, “Hey, hey, I’m here now. I’ll take care of you. First let’s warm you up.”
He wrapped her in his arms, but there was no chance of warming her properly without building a fire, or getting her out of this ravine.
Thank God she was safe.
He pulled back.
When he pushed wet hair from her forehead, his hand shook.
She looked bewildered by his presence. “I’ve been praying for someone to find me, but you, Cody? Where’d you come from?”
“I got in late last night. Drove in from LA. Your dad came to the house at first light to enlist our help. He’s worried sick.”
“Oh, p-p-poor Dad.”
See? Here she was, obviously feeling like hell, and her sympathy was for her father.
“There’s an entire search party out looking for you.”
She groaned.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
“My f-f-foot is jammed between a couple of boulders. I c-c-can’t get it out.” She sounded exhausted. “There was no water here when I fell down last night, just a little stream nearby, but it’s been raining hard. Look at it now. My foot’s been underwater for a couple of hours.”
Her teeth chattered and her words came out jerky, her sentences in bits and pieces. He silently cursed long and fluently. He could tell she was putting on a brave face, but she had to be freaking out on the inside—had to have had a miserable night out here alone, freezing in the dark. And in pain.
He didn’t like the way she kept glancing around and the fear that lingered in her eyes. She should be relieved that she’d been located.
“What is it, Aiyana? What are you afraid of?”
Her frightened gaze shot to him. “N-n-nothing. Get m-m-me out of the water and then we’ll t-t-talk.”
The tops of the two boulders crested the fast-moving stream. He sat down and took off his hiking boots—the rain had soaked the outer layer, but at least they were still dry inside. He removed his socks.
“What are you doing?” Aiyana asked, clearly flagging.
“I’m getting into the water to assess the situation. I need this stuff to stay dry.”
“Your feet will freeze.”
“How are your feet?”
“I can’t feel them anymore.”
“Then this needs to be done. We need to get you out of here and warmed up.”
“Oh, God, I s-s-so want to be w-w-warm.” She sounded this side of tears, but held them back.
He rolled up the legs of his pants to his knees and stepped into the water. “Frig, that’s cold! How have you stood it all morning?”
“L-l-last of October hit with a vengeance last night. It was so n-n-nice y-y-y-est—” Talking was too hard for her and she gave up, laying an arm across her eyes to keep out the rain.
Cody felt around under the water, his hand smoothing down her jean-clad calf until he reached her foot. It was jammed, all right.
“Okay, listen, I can get you out, but the second I release your foot, blood is going to rush into it. It’ll hurt like a son of a b—” He cut himself off.
“Cody, it’s okay. I know how to s-s-swear. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve been saying all n-night.” She tried to laugh. “Anyway, you c-c-can’t move those boulders by yourself.”
He grinned at her. “I can.”
“Must be n-n-nice to be strong.”
“I’m gonna push the boulder to the left. The second I do, you need to pull out your leg.”
“D-d-don’t know if I c-can. I can’t feel much down there.”
“Put your hands behind your knee now. Use them to pull your leg. Okay?”
“I’m having trouble sitting up. S-sorry.”
“Here.” He adjusted his knapsack on top of hers underneath her back, pushing her a little higher, then helped her grasp her leg behind her knee.
“Ready?”
She nodded.
“On the count of three. One. Two. Three!” Cody put his back into moving the boulder. He heaved and felt it give.
“Now!”
Aiyana pulled her leg and her foot popped out of the water. She screamed. Cody dropped the rock, spraying both of them. He knelt beside her and hauled her into his arms. Jeez, poor Aiyana. She turned the air blue with an inventive onslaught of swearwords.
“Yeah, you can curse, all right, and not just in English. I’m impressed.”
She grimaced. He wasn’t sure, but it might have been her attempt at a smile.
Grasping her under the arms, he dragged her uphill under a tree, where he settled her back against the trunk. He crouched in front of her.
The tears she’d been holding back overflowed.
“I didn’t