Having been on a spinning rope on a chopper, Kane raised one eyebrow at Wolfe. “Sounds like every ride at the fairground. Count me in.”
“Get the phone, Dave. Jenna can hear you.” Carter chuckled. “Don’t worry, Jenna, I’ll take care of them.”
Climbing over jagged rocks, Kane tried to anticipate the trajectory of the phone if it was dropped from the point where Jan fell. He had tracked the trajectory of bullets many times and added the wind gusts to his mental calculations. The phone would likely have fallen almost straight down, whereas the body would have moved in an arc. He led the way closer to the edge of the ravine and they spread out and searched.
“I see a reflection over there.” Wolfe jumped down from a boulder and headed to the location. He held up a phone. “Got it. The glass is only cracked.” He pressed the button on the side and the phone lit up. “It requires facial recognition. I believe that will work as her face is untouched. I’ll open it the moment we get back to the morgue.” He slid it into a bag and added it to his pocket. “Let’s get out of here.”
Kane activated his com. “Carter, swing back this way and pick us up.”
“Copy.” The chopper came closer but hovered twenty yards or so away.
As they made their way across the landscape to the chopper, the wind dropped and everything went suddenly quiet, apart from the whoop, whoop, whoop of the chopper blades. The sun vanished and darkness descended across the ravine in a straight line. It reminded Kane of an eclipse, and he looked as a line of purple-blue clouds rolled toward them. He hurried to clip his harness to the rope and then attached his clips to Wolfe so Raven could raise them into the chopper together. The long rope had only just started to climb when Carter took them higher. Above them the chopper turned and swung erratically as Carter fought to keep it under control. The gusts of wind blew them closer to the edge of the ravine, and the rocks were getting closer by the second. Above, thunder growled and lightning crackled seconds before hail pelted them like buckshot.
They swung and twisted on the end of the rope like flies caught in a spider’s web. Above them, Carter continued to climb higher and higher until only the tops of the trees were under their feet. They swung back and forth in ever widening arcs, making it impossible for the winch to get them higher. Lightning crackled through his earpiece and he couldn’t make out what Carter was saying to him. The chopper swung over the tops of the trees and headed toward Bear Peak. The direction confused Kane as the town was in the opposite direction. The next moment a lookout came into view and he made out the Beast in the parking lot. He pointed toward it and smiled at Wolfe. He raised his voice to be heard above the noise. “He’s dropping us at the parking lot.”
Hail pinged off the top of his helmet and bit deep into his cheeks. In front of him, a trickle of blood ran down Wolfe’s face and hail piled up around the neck of his jacket. A bolt of lightning came close and hit a tree, sending a puff of smoke into the air. The tree ignited. Flames danced for a few minutes before the torrential rain extinguished them.
“That was way too close.” Wolfe’s eyes narrowed and he pressed his com. “Hey, y’all up there, didn’t you know water and electricity don’t mix.”
“Hang on, old man.” Carter’s voice crackled through the earpiece. “Two minutes.”
“Old man, huh?” Wolfe grunted. “I could run circles around y’all.”
As lightning flashed and they spun in a spiral toward the ground, Kane grinned at him. “I’m sure you could.”
Moments later, they dropped into the parking lot. Kane quickly released them from the rope and waved Carter away. The chopper rose high in the air and headed back to town, the rope trailing behind it as Raven slowly wound it into the chopper. They dashed across the parking lot as hail pelted their backs. Kane didn’t bother to remove his harness but threw himself into the back seat of the Beast with Wolfe close behind. In the driver’s seat Jenna’s pale face and wide eyes told him everything he needed to know. Watching them come close to being toast had terrified her. He squeezed her shoulder and smiled. “That ride back was crazy good.”
“Well, I hope Carter gets the bird back safely.” Jenna stared into the distance before turning her gaze back to him. “How bad was it?”
“Massive head trauma.” Wolfe wiped a hand down his face. “Dave looked at the trajectory. She didn’t slip and fall straight down. She was well away from the bottom of the cliff face. Add the scuffle marks on the trail and I’d say someone pushed her.”
Horrified, Jenna stared at him. “I had my suspicions.” Thunder rolled overhead. “We’ll talk about it later.” She looked at Kane. “Why don’t you remove the harness and dry yourself? I figure you should drive. It will be faster.” She narrowed her gaze at Wolfe. “You have a cut on your cheek.”
“Do you want me to fix it?” Jo frowned. “How did you get cut?”
“Now don’t y’all go worrying about me.” Wolfe shook his head. “We need to get off this mountain.” He looked at Jenna. “You drive. I’ve seen you behind the wheel of your Mustang. You’re more than capable of driving this truck in a storm. It’s practically indestructible. Just point and drive before all the roads wash out.”
Tossing Wolfe a towel, Kane grinned at her. “You heard the man.”
Seven
Trying not to show fear in front of Kane had exhausted Jenna. She couldn’t allow him to be worried about her during any type of life-threatening mission. She staggered into Wolfe’s office and made straight for the coffee machine. The drive down the mountain in practically zero visibility had been a nightmare, although it had made her face her fears of driving in a storm in Kane’s pride and joy. As Kane showered and dressed in his normal clothes, she pushed pods into Wolfe’s coffee machine and allowed it to do its magic. Soon the aroma of fresh coffee filled the room and she handed Jo a cup. “Zorro knows you and yet he completely ignored us when we came into the room. Is he always like that?”
“Yeah. When Carter isn’t around, he is.” Jo added cream and sugar to her cup. “He’s been given an order to stay, so he goes into statue mode until Carter comes back and then he turns back into a dog. He’s very friendly when you get to know him. He likes you and Dave. He doesn’t wag his tail for many people. He usually ignores them or growls and shows his teeth.”
The door opened and Raven and Carter came in. Ben, Raven’s dog, went to him and leaned on his leg, his tail banging against the wall like a kettle drum.
Jenna smiled at them. “Coffee?”
“Sure.” Carter wiggled his fingers at Zorro and the dog came to him with his backside wagging and very pleased to see him. “Good boy.” He gave him a treat from his pocket and rubbed his ears before dropping into a chair. “Man, that was a flight I don’t want to repeat anytime soon.” He held up his hand, his finger and thumb an inch apart. “The lightning missed us by this much.” He shook his head. “I figured Wolfe and Dave were goners when that tree exploded.” He wiped a hand down his face.
“I’m sure glad you were in the pilot’s seat.” Raven took a cup from Jenna and smiled. “I’ve never flown in conditions like that before. It was a crazy ride. That’s for darn sure.”
Shaking her head, Jenna looked from one to the other. “I would be trembling in my boots if I’d been up in that chopper. How come you guys just take it on the chin as if it’s nothing to worry about? Don’t you feel any fear whatsoever?”
“If I didn’t feel fear, I wouldn’t have the adrenaline pumping through my veins that keeps me edgy.” Carter took a cup of coffee from Jo with a smile. “I figure we use the fear to make us better. It’s like the flee-or-fight response, I guess. Some use the fear to stand and fight; others use the fear to get the hell outta Dodge.”
“Weren’t you just a little bit scared when you stood up to those roughnecks in town?” Raven perched on the edge of the desk with one large hand curled around a cup. He turned to Carter. “She had a bunch of guys who wanted to start something in the middle of town. They were college students and ranch hands. She just stood in the middle of them and spoke quietly for a time and they all looked shamed-faced and walked away.”
