“She doesn’t have gear,” Calder argued.
“I’ll be fine.” I was already moving. “Get me a harness.”
One of the probationary officers tossed me one. “Here.”
I worked as quickly as possible, slipping the harness in place and checking each buckle. Then I hooked a carabiner to it. I looked up and met Calder’s stormy expression. “Trust me.” It was a plea. I needed him on my team. Would’ve given anything to feel that again.
His eyes flashed. “It’s not about trusting you. It’s about the possibility of that car going over.”
“I can do this.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m your belay.”
“Good.” I’d feel better knowing that Calder was the one tethering me to the earth.
He hooked up his harness, and Mac moved in as his secondary. Then, I headed to the most stable side of the vehicle.
“Just get it unlocked,” Cap called. “I don’t want you throwing the vehicle off-balance.”
“Okay.” I eased over the side of the ravine. “Tension.”
The rope pulled taut, and I leaned against it. Calder and I had done this dance dozens of times, only it was typically on a rock face for fun, not to rescue someone from a car.
I curved myself in through the window, doing my best not to touch anything. The vehicle groaned, and I froze.
“Hads, you need to get out of there.”
I reached out, fingers stretching. “Almost got it.”
Calder let a stream of curses fly.
My fingers stretched, and I hit the unlock button. “Done.” I arced back out of the car, but as I did, my rope caught on a twisted branch on the side of the ravine. “Shit.”
“What is it?” Calder barked.
“Give me a second.” As I surveyed the root snagging my rope, two other firefighters pulled open the driver’s side door and cut the man free.
“We got him,” one of them called. “Pull us up.”
The vehicle tottered on its balancing point.
“Hadley…” Calder gritted out.
“I’m stuck on an old tree root or something.” It had me pinned down good, too. They could give me more slack, but I didn’t think they could pull me up. “Try bringing me up.”
The rope strained, and the root made a snapping sound but didn’t quite break free.
“We need more hands,” Calder shouted.
The vehicle slid down a foot, the back end crashing into my left side. My ribs screamed in protest, and my heart ricocheted around in my chest.
McNally leaned over the side of the ravine. “Hads, you okay?”
“Yeah,” I wheezed. “But they can’t get me up like this.”
The car made another groaning sound as metal bent and creaked.
Calder appeared next to McNally. He was still holding my belay, but I knew he had countless guys behind him, backing him up. His face had gone completely white. “Climb over and get out of the line of fire of the car.”