Behind me, Darrel slips the parachute onto my back. “Here, put your arm through this loop.”
“Is Elise secured?”
“Yes, she is.”
I look around to check how she’s holding up. She looks on the qui vive, hugging her purse to her chest. Good. I prefer that to seeing her paralyzed with fear.
“Transfer your valuables to your inside pockets!” I shout to her.
She perks up at having a task to focus on.
After Darrel is done with me, he moves on to Jordan, working fast. “Boss, this is a dangerously low opening. We need to deploy the parachutes two seconds after jumping to avoid the crosswinds of the helicopter.”
I look down. The white mountaintops are too close. Kurt’s plane is an even bigger worry. Glancing at Jordan, I realize why Darrel is having a difficult time getting him into the harness. Jordan’s body is limp. If he’s still alive, he’s unconscious.
I turn to Darrel. “Leave him and put on your own chute!”
“I’m almost—”
“It’s an order!” I bark at Darrel. “Do it now.”
Darrel nods. “I’ll jump out with him.”
“These aren’t tandem parachutes.”
“But they’re solid models—”
“Designed to carry one hundred kilograms,” I cut in. “The two of you together will be over one sixty. Not to mention that he won’t be able to hold on to you during the free fall.”
It’s hard what I’m saying, and Darrel doesn’t like to hear it. I can see that. Elise is no doubt thinking I’m a heartless SOB. But I don’t want Darrel to die trying to save a doomed man.
Am I giving up on Jordan too easily?
He doesn’t seem to be breathing. I slap his face to no avail. There’s no time to try more.
The helicopter quivers as I grip the stick again, and pull it hard to steer it upward, away from the ground and out of the shooter’s range. The horizon twitches. The terrain beneath us shifts away. We climb, lifting over the ragged peaks.
“See you on the ground,” I say to Darrel and make my way to Elise’s side.
“Two seconds, then pull this cord, hard,” I repeat Darrel’s instruction to her. “Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
With one final glance at Darrel who’s now fastening his harness, I seize hold of Elise and jump into the open air. I want to stay close to her, but if I’m too close, our parachutes will tangle. We can’t have that. I dive away.
That’s two seconds. I reach for my cord. Ground coming in fast. The cord resists before it comes out.Phew.The advent of the ground beneath me slows down just enough to allow hope. I look around until I spot a deployed chute, Elise’s.Well done, girl!
I steer toward her.
It’s a hard, cold landing.
I detach the parachute just as the wind blows it away. Something draws my gaze upward. The helicopter’s blades flash against the heavy clouds. They beat the air like angry whips, while the craft itself speeds toward the ground, spinning wildly. And then an explosion in the distance, ringing in my ears. The tail rotor hurtles across the sky.
Did Darrel have time to jump out? Did he take Jordan with him?
As if to remove any lingering doubts about the crash, the wind carries an odor of oil. White and black smoke rises high, mingling, billowing.
Best to start moving. I have to find the others.
