Calamity Jena (Invertary Book 4) (37 page)

“Tell me you love me again,” she said.
Please don’t be the last time I hear it. Please.

“You’re trying to embarrass me, aren’t you?” He didn’t sound like he minded.

Jena smiled through a sudden sharp pain. “No, I just want to hear it.”

“I love you, Jena. And I’m keeping you.”

She laughed, but it sounded strained. “You had to add that last bit, didn’t you?”

“Because it’s true. I can’t wait to get you out of there, princess. I’m never going to let you out of my sight again.”

For once, Jena wanted nothing more. All she wanted was Matt. The man she needed. The man she loved. A sigh left her at the acknowledgment of something she’d known for weeks.

“Now, can we stop talking about personal stuff in the middle of a crowded field?” Matt said. “Or is this payback for Magenta’s turn in the mine with Harry? It wasn’t my fault the whole town turned out to listen to them make out.”

Jena had no idea what he was talking about, but made a mental note to ask Magenta when she got out of the mine.
If
she got out of the mine. She wiped her damp forehead. She couldn’t decide if she was hot or cold. Weird.

“I need to tell you something else.” She took a deep breath, forgetting that her ribs were damaged. The pain robbed her of breath, making her action pointless. “I love you, Matt,” she said.

There was a whoop. Then a growl.

“You say that
now
? Princess, your timing stinks.”

She swallowed hard. “You’re not wrong there. I wanted you to know now. In case…” Her eyes welled up. The tears fell. She hiccupped back a sob.

“Don’t you dare say anything else. We’re getting you out of there. You’re going to be fine and you’re damn well going to say those words to my face.” He sounded angry and desperate.

“They destroyed my house, Matt.” She wiped her tears away.

“I saw. You can stay with me. I want you to stay with me.”

“Your house is butt ugly, Matt.”

There was laughter.

“Well, you can fix it up and we’ll look for a new house together.”

Together. She liked that, but it made her wonder. Why did he want her? She had absolutely nothing to offer. She was homeless. Penniless. Now she couldn’t even work. Being a dance teacher with a broken leg was tricky.

“I can’t contribute anything right away, Matt, I can’t even teach dancing for a while.”

“That’s okay, princess. I don’t care. I only want you. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll contact immigration and get you an extension on your visa. They’ll understand under the circumstances that you can’t work straight away.”

Jena’s head was woozy. She wasn’t sure what Matt was talking about. “What visa?”

“Jena.” Matt sounded like he was trying really hard to be patient. “What kind of visa do you have?”

She shrugged, then groaned when her ribs protested. “I don’t know. They stamped my passport at the airport when I arrived.”

“You’re here on a visitor’s visa?” His voice was unattractively high-pitched. “The standard visa only lasts twelve weeks. You’ve been living here illegally since it ran out, Jena.”

“Oh. I assumed it would be fine. After all, I bought a house. Doesn’t that make me a resident?”

“No. Crap, it really doesn’t. We need to fix this or you’ll get deported. I’m going to have to marry you.”

There was howling laughter and cheers. Jena was dizzy. The pain was making her see double. She’d never been good with pain. Some people had really high tolerance for it. She wasn’t one of them.

“Did you just propose?” Jena found it hard to focus.

“No. I told you we’re getting married. Probably this week. Otherwise you’ll get kicked out of the country.”

“I think that’s a bit extreme,” Jena told him. The noise above her head was getting louder. “Nobody knows I don’t have a visa, so who’s going to kick me out?”

“Jena, try to remember for five bloody minutes that I’m a cop.”

“Oh, yeah.” Were the earth walls spinning, or was it in her head? “What if I don’t want to marry you?”

“I didn’t ask. We’re doing it.”

Part of her knew she should be mad at him. Instead she just felt strange. “Matt, I don’t feel so good.”

“What is it? What do you feel? Are you bleeding from anywhere?”

“No, I just feel weird. Is the ground moving?”

“Jena, take deep breaths. You’re going to be okay.” He sounded panicked and very far away. Jena swayed in place. Her ribs made her groan. Her ankle jerked and she whined with pain.

“Jena, listen to me, hold on. We’re nearly there.”

“Love you, Matt,” Jena said softly.

And then she lost consciousness.

“Jena? Jena?” Matt looked at the men around him in panic. “She’s not answering.”

“She’s probably passed out,” the doc said.

“What if there’s gas down there? Lack of air? Magenta, what do you know?”

Magenta tossed her bobbed black hair and peered at him, her eyes rimmed with thick black eyeliner. “There’s air. There’s no gas. Trust me. I know. This mine isn’t anywhere near a gas seam. Especially this close to the surface. They didn’t use gas of any sort in the mine.”

“Right, okay.”

Harry patted him on the back. It didn’t help. Punching Frank a time or twenty might have eased him a little, but right now the only thing that could make a dent in his stress level was getting Jena out of that hole.

“We’re through,” Grunt shouted.

There was a cheer. Matt made a move to rush across the beams to the grassy island. Magenta put her hand on his arm. “We’ve got this. You’ll get in the way.”

Matt wanted to roar. Instead he nodded. He put his hands on his hips and bowed his head. It was the worst feeling in the world to stand back and do nothing when others were saving the woman he loved. He took a deep breath as he watched his friends work.

The digger had been removed. The drill-bit attachment they’d been using to get deeper was gone. The two large wooden beams stayed in place. A frame rested across them. Attached to the frame was a swing-like construction, with a harness. It hung over the newly drilled hole. The idea was for Jena to sit on the swing and be strapped into it. Then the men would winch her up. Gordon had put most of the contraption together while they waited for the hole to be dug. Magenta was the one to source the harnesses and safety rigging from her caving business.

Magenta strapped on a safety harness and a hard hat. “Okay, I’m going in.” She winked at Harry and jumped into the hole, abseiling down to Jena.

“She’s an expert,” Harry reminded him. “She’s also the smallest here. None of those ex-forces guys would get through the hole.”

“Magenta wouldn’t let them anyway,” Matt said.

“True.” Harry chuckled. It sounded tense.

The wait was endless. At last the signal was given. Grunt and Lake hoisted Jena up. Matt held his breath until he saw her honey-coloured hair appear in daylight. There was a cheer. Matt ran across the beam to get to her. No one and nothing would have stopped him. The men were laying her on the grass beside the doctor.

“Is she…” Matt fell to his knees beside her.

“She’s passed out. Probably too much pain.”

As the doc examined her, Matt did the same. Magenta had immobilised her ankle with an inflatable boot. She’d placed a brace around her neck for the ride out of the mine, to stop her head lolling and to prevent any neck injury. Her arms were strapped to her waist to reinforce her ribs. It was a good job. As Magenta climbed out of the mine, he gave her a grateful smile.

“She did good, Matt,” Magenta said as she unstrapped her safety hat. “She was in the right spot. The room was pretty stable too. There was plenty of air down there. She would have been fine for a while yet. I think her ankle got to her. It looks bad.”

Matt clenched one of Jena’s hands in his while stroking her hair with his other hand. “Will she be able to dance?” he asked the doc.

“I hope so,” he said. “Let’s get her to hospital and find out.”

Matt leaned forward and kissed her grubby, tear-stained cheek. “It’s going to be okay, princess. I promise.”

He stood aside to let the paramedics load her onto a stretcher. Matt followed them over the makeshift bridge to find his family waiting.

“We’ll go to the hospital with her,” his mum said.

The twins nodded.

“Grunt will take us,” Claire said.

Grunt wrapped an arm around Claire’s shoulders and she leaned into him. “I’ll make sure they’re safe. I’ll check in with you every half an hour.”

“Every fifteen minutes,” Matt said.

Grunt grunted. Matt ran a hand through his hair. He wanted to be the one to go with her.

“You can’t,” his mum said, as though reading his mind. “You need to arrest the bastard who did this.”

His eyes shot open as the twins told his mum off for swearing. His mum gave him a quick hug. “Don’t worry, son—we’ll take good care of her. After all, she’s about to become family.” And with the first smile he’d seen on her face since her husband died, she followed Grunt to his car.

Matt watched the ambulance until it disappeared. When he looked away from it, it was to find half the men in Invertary watching him, waiting for orders. He nodded his thanks.

“There’s been a sighting,” Harry said. “The domino boys saw Frank near the loch. They’re keeping an eye out.”

Matt took a deep breath. “Jason, Rusty, you follow the Glasgow boys to the hospital and hand them over to the local cops.”

The men nodded and left.

“Pete, Dougal, you two rope this area off. I don’t want anyone near it.”

“No problem,” Dougal said as he rolled up the sleeves of his surprisingly white shirt. Although he had teamed it with bright red tartan trousers, so he was still Dougal.

“The rest of you are with me,” Matt said. “Time for this to end.”

Grimly, the men climbed into their vehicles.

40

The men of Invertary and the women of Knit or Die, who weren’t ones to be left out, lined up along the shore of the loch. They watched in stunned bemusement as the most stupid visitor ever to come to the Highlands tried to escape by boat.

“Does he know this is a loch?” Josh watched Frank power away on the tiny motorboat.

Frank flashed a one-fingered salute to the watching crowd.

“There isn’t even a road over the other side,” Harry said. “There are only bushes, badass cows and old Gilbert’s hunting lodge.”

“He said he’s going to Glasgow.” Archie, one of the domino boys, took off his cap and scratched his head in wonder.

“Did anyone tell him a loch is basically a big puddle?” Harry said. “There is no exit. The idiot is landlocked. If he’s trying to get to Glasgow, it’s going to take him a while.”

Archie shrugged. “Might as well go get a bite to eat, then.”

The ancient domino boys headed for the pub.

“This is disappointing,” Matt said. “I really wanted to hit him.”

“You can still hit him,” Lake said. “You just need to wait until he figures out he can’t do anything but go round in circles. He’ll come back to town when he gets hungry.”

“Do you think the idiot will come back or try to walk through the gorse on the other side of the loch?” Josh said.

“Frank isn’t known for his brain, but he likes his shoes,” Joe said. “Kept telling me they cost more than my life was worth. He won’t damage his shoes.”

The men stood watching the boat in awe.

“I feel a bit lost now,” Matt said. “I was all worked up to hit the guy. It’s a bit of a letdown.”

Mitch patted him on the back. “If it helps, I’ll lend you Josh later on. He can wind you up until you’re ready to strike out again.”

“Happy to oblige,” Josh said.

Matt sighed and looked at Lake. “I’m going to the hospital. Can you deal with this?” He pointed in the direction of the idiot on the water.

“I’ll call when he runs out of petrol for the motor.” Lake’s lip twitched.

“The bomb site is under control,” Matt said. “The fire crew are there, but I’ll tell them to call you if they need anything.”

Lake nodded.

“I need more cops,” Matt said. “Ever since you foreigners came to town, I’ve been run off my feet.”

“You would be in a boredom coma without us,” Josh said.

“Good point.” Matt turned to his SUV. “Call if anything turns up.”

The men nodded then went back to watching Frank drive his stolen boat.

“What we need,” Josh said, “is some fries and a beer. Mitch, run over to the pub and get some takeaway.”

“Get it yourself,” Mitch said.

Matt shook his head with a grin as he climbed into his car. It was time to see his woman. As he drove, a plan began to form in his mind. He smiled wickedly as he flicked on the hands-free set for his phone. A couple of calls and it would all be in place.