“We’ll need all of it.”Cole leans forward, his tone turning serious.“BASE jumping is nothing like jumping from a plane. There’s no backup parachute and not enough altitude to deploy one even if we used them. You pull the cord, it opens clean, or you’re street art with a heavy dose of crimson. Remember, it won’t be open ground on the job. Drift too far, you crash into a building. Flare too late, you land in the middle of a road.”He meets everyone’s eyes except Renner’s, who still has his closed.“Now that we’re all clear on what happens when we get it wrong, let’s focus on getting it right.”
That speech sets the mood, and though the group keeps up the banter, every jump is taken with the respect it deserves. I’ve forgotten how much I don’t like jumping. The wind whistling past, making my cheeks flap and ripple no matter how much I try to tighten them; the lurch when I pull the cord; thedeeply uncomfortable sensation of sudden deceleration, my entire weight focused on two straps that run either side of my groin.
And the landing. On most of the jumps, I flare the ’chute, stalling the canopy and touching down gently with a little run. But fatigue takes its toll and I can’t get it right every time. When I don’t, the impact drives through my legs, and by day three, my thigh is on fire.
Cole watches me limping as I bundle up my ’chute, and strolls over to intercept me. “How are you holding up?”
“Fine.” There’s no other answer to give.
He nods. “You were three seconds to stabilize. Let’s aim for two.”
“Right.” I’ve been playing down my skills a little. I can’t betoogood when I’m not supposed to have jumped for years.
Cole’s a hard taskmaster, but it’s not just me he’s riding, and the more experienced the jumper, the pickier he becomes. I think I’m doing okay; better than Dario, not as good as Renner. Raven, of course, is as natural at this as she is at everything, and she seems to be loving every minute of it.
She’s still not overlooked for Cole’s critique. “You’re bleeding altitude with unnecessary toggle input.”
“I was playing,” she says, tossing her bundle of silk over one shoulder.
Cole crosses his arms. “Every unnecessaryturn costs you fifty feet. You only start with nine hundred.”
“Yes sir, Mister British Army, sir.”
But her next jump is even better, and she touches down lightly in the center of the circle, then turns to watch me come in, right behind her.
“Isn’t this fun?” she calls, as she collects her chute.
She’s missing some of the equipment that makes parachuting so uncomfortable for men, and after three days of it, my mood isn’t the best.
“Delightful,” I say, wincing as I gather billows of silk while it tries to catch any breeze.
“How’s your leg holding up?”
“Aching, but fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“We all worry, Declan. We’re a crew.”
“I’m holding my own,” I reply, perhaps a little defensive.
She leans in close. “Do the next two jumps into the center of the circle, and tonight I’ll hold it for you.”
On reflection, she’s way better at motivating than Cole is.
My next two jumps are perfect, and Raven grins as I land right next to her. “Are you just good at everything?”
“Funny, I was thinking that about you.”
“Pfft, as if,” she says, walking off. I’m certain her hips sway more than is strictly necessary.
Then I notice Renner watching me checking her ass. He’s standing there with his arms folded, face impassive, sunglasses hiding his eyes. Impossible to know what he’s thinking.
It kills my mood, too. I’ve managed to lose myself in three days of focus and Raven’s presence, and I haven’t given any thought to the bigger problem.
The heist is five days away. I have to find whatever it is he wants, and leave the vault with it inmybag.
If I somehow make that work, what will happen then?
Every evening, the helicopter drops us back to Whiteman. Riding home is what I look forward to the most. Not just because it’s good to be on my bike, but because it’s a relief not to be jumping anymore. And it means time with Raven.
