The Tortured Rebel by Alison Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

comparison to having to leave her behind moments ago, with that look in her eyes.
    She had wanted him to stay with her.
    She
needed
him.
    Jet didn’t try and climb directly into the cockpit. Eyeing the hole they had escaped through gave him a moment of satisfaction at the achievement. Would he have even attempted that without the incentive of getting Becca out as fast as possible?
    Probably not.
    This time, he went around to the back of the aircraft. Cautiously. Allowing a wave to break high on his legs and then ebb before going for the tail hatch. Another wave broke before he managed to get it open and thewhole chassis rocked so that he barely kept his grip on the handle. He’d have to be quick about this but that was a good thing. It left no room for fear. Or the distraction of that image of Becca on the beach, looking to him to keep her safe.
    His pack was easy enough to find and drag out from where it had wedged itself under the stretcher. He shoved it through the hole in the front with enough force to get it far enough up on the rocks to stay dry. The action made the hole even bigger, which would be good if he had to dive for safety but it was letting a lot more water in at the same time. He was sloshing around almost up to his knees as it was but he took the time to do a swift search in the dim light of the cabin. He grabbed a drug kit and an IV roll and bags of fluids, unzipping the jacket of his suit to tuck them against his body. A whole box of masks. He was adding a handful of extra bandages when the slide of the wreckage on rock tipped him off balance and he barely got himself upright before it moved again.
    Without thinking, he snapped the clip holding the life pack in place and clutched it in his arms as he stepped forward and then turned to roll backwards through the same hole through which he’d lifted Becca to safety. His ankle caught and he felt a nasty wrench that wasn’t coming simply from his own momentum. The chopper was really moving this time. Far and fast enough to break the rotor blade that had been caught between rocks.
    Jet sucked in a breath as he realised that that relatively tiny piece of metal had been all that had kept the chopper where it was. It rolled away now, giving itself up to the sea.
    He still had the life pack in his arms and lumpy supplies tucked into his jacket. His pack was safe. Carefully, Jet got to his feet, testing his ankle. It hurt like hell but it could take his weight, thank goodness. He could see that Becca was standing, as well. Staring in his direction. He couldn’t see her expression but he could imagine what it was, having just watched her helicopter slide into the sea and probably not aware that he’d rolled to safety. He raised his hand, thumb up, to signal her.
    Mission accomplished.
    This time, the deep breath he sucked in was a satisfied one. He’d done what he’d set out to do. Showing Becca how capable he was, even in a dangerous situation, felt damn good.
    He’d said it wouldn’t take long and that he would be back. She would know she could trust him to honour his word.
    He would do what he’d promised her he would.
    He would look after her.

CHAPTER FOUR
    T HE sea was the same colour as the sky.
    The colour of blood.
    The dark silhouette of the man was only recognisable because it moved and the surrounding rocks didn’t. When he stood still, having risen and raised his hand in a triumphant fist, he looked like another shape carved in stone.
    A human rock.
    Becca didn’t bother reminding herself that she never cried. That her tears had all been spent on Matt. A choked sob escaped as she realised that, in no small part, this was still about Matt.
    Her brother had been her human rock in a fluid, lonely world and Jet had been there beside him for as far back as she could remember clearly. Too real and too powerful to be considered a shadow but he’d still been in the background. Like a guardian angel. A flesh-and-blood angel with a loyalty that was so