Scott took the narrow path that required some climbing in parts. There were three paths that the two men could’ve taken, and he and Jake were on the least likely, but they could see up towards the edge that led to the summit. Aside from Alex and Zack, they were probably the best climbers currently there, and as Alex was concerned that they may try to hide out in one of the nooks in the cliff faces, they needed eyes up.
The thunder continued to rumble around the area, threatening rain, but none had yet arrived. Yet the tension in the air was not from the weather, but rather from the silence between him and Jake.
“I’m sorry, man,” Jake finally said. “I honestly didn’t think that you were into her. I thought you just wanted her as a fuck buddy.”
Scott looked up at the sheer rock face next to them. The path was narrow and they didn’t have climbing equipment with them, although another team were following them with it and first aid supplies. He wasn’t sure he wanted to have this conversation with Jake right here and now, just in case one of them lost their tempers.
“I would never had messed Keren about.” He didn’t look at his cousin as he spoke, instead concentrating on what was around them, for any signs of anything that had been dropped. A buzzard hovered nearby, eyeing its dinner, probably trying to catch something before the rain fell.
“I didn’t think straight about it. Can I tell you honestly why without you being pissed off with me – or taking the piss?” Jake’s tone lacked its usual bounce. He was down. Which wasn’t Jake.
“Make me understand.”
“I’m just going to start by saying I don’t feel the same way about her that I did then.”
Scott gripped onto the cliff face as he navigated across a section where the path disappeared, leaving a sheer drop of about ten feet. “Okay.” There wasn’t much more he could say at this moment in time.
“I spent two years wanting to ask her out because I really, really liked her, but Rayah told me she wasn’t interested. I told Rayah I wanted to go out with Keren, like properly, not just fuck her. Rayah told me that Keren saw me as a brother. I was gutted. I was fucking gutted, man.”
Scott heard the pain in his voice. He wasn’t sure Jake didn’t still have feelings for her.
“She liked me.” His words were quiet, direct and to the point. “She told me if I’d asked her out, she’d have said yes.”
“I know. She used to watch you and any chance of going off with you she took. I was so fucking jealous.”
The thunder was louder this time. Scott felt the first heavy spots of rain on his back.
“She’s having my baby, Jake. You need to make sure you let this go.”
“I know. And I have. I’m sorry…”
His words were cut short by the sound of a scream. Scott shifted to his left, giving Jake space to anchor and then looked up.
There were two people at the top, almost thirty or forty feet directly above them, one of which was almost definitely Lena’s sister. From what Scott could make out, the man behind her had his hands on her shoulders, as if he was either about to push her or pull her back from the edge.
Scott took out his radio and called in what he could see, unsure as to where the rest of the team were exactly. There was a good chance they were further ahead, as Scott and Jake’s walk would’ve taken longer, given the difficulty of the path.
There was a streak of lightning that lit the sky which had turned dark, a growl of thunder cracking almost immediately. The rain then started, hard and heavy and cold. Climbing up to the top would be lethal, the rain would make the face slippery and they had no equipment. To go up there would be suicidal.
To not go might make them witness a murder.
“What do we do?” Jake’s words were low.
Scott watched him look up and then back to him.
“What’s the easiest route up from here? And how can we stay hidden?” Scott looked about them.
“Are you sure they haven’t seen us already?”
“Pretty. I reckon we carry on for twenty feet and then we get to Smalling’s Wall. We can scale that without equipment.” It was almost like a set of stairs up the cliff face and an easy climb in good weather without full equipment. It was where a lot of climbers honed their skills when they were newbies and presented the safest way in worsening weather conditions
His radio buzzed, Alex’s voice coming overly clearly. “Scott, can you hear me? The ‘copter’s out. We’re about ten minutes away. What can you see? Over.”
Scott glanced up, the rain making visibility poor. “Not much. My concern is that if he hears the ‘copter he’s just going to push and jump. And we don’t know where the other guy is. Over.” His heart had started to thud. He had no idea what to do. Once they got to the top, there was no predicting what the man’s response would be and neither he nor Jake were trained in hostage situations or whatever you wanted to call this.
“Start to head up. From the position you’ve described there’s a ledge below where they’re standing. Over.” Alex’s voice was so different from when they were at home or socialising. He was in charge, completely authoritative. Later, Scott would take the piss out of him for it, but right now he was proud.
“That’s right. Over.”
