Page 72 of Carnal Risk

“Garrett, no,” Selby began.

“You can do this,” he told her. She has no choice.

“I can’t. No, I’m not going. There has to be something you can do.”

“Sorry, sweetheart but you’re jumping with me. Believe me, if there were any other way…”

“Please…oh dear God,” she said as their feet edged the door.

“It’s a beautiful day, baby. Look at those blue skies. You’re going to do this, understand?” he asked, his tone commanding. “All you have to do is relax.”

“Relax? Are you kidding me?”

“This harness, here. You’re connected to me. You aren’t going anywhere. You don’t need to do a thing, okay?”

“Oh my God, no.”

“You can do this,” he repeated.

Selby nodded, finally acquiescing to his demand.

“Trust me.” His lips pressed to her temple.

“I trust you,” she responded.

“That’s a girl. You ready? One. Two. Three.”

As if they were gymnasts Garrett gracefully rolled them out of the plane. He brought her arms outward until she’d spread them wide. Although he hated to have to force her to jump under duress, the joy of the flight never ceased to amaze him. He glanced upward, relieved to see Seth’s body fall out of the aircraft.

Garrett slowly released her fingers, testing her willingness to trust him. Her palms opened freely and he knew she’d be fine. The freefall lasted nearly sixty seconds. He wished he could talk to Selby but knew that with the rush of wind, she wouldn’t hear him. Garrett checked his altimeter and deployed the chute. The canopy released, jarring them into a slower descent.

As they drifted down, he caught sight of the plane crashing into the lake. A fire truck rushed toward the scene, but whatever had happened, it would take the NTSB several days to investigate. Despite the murders, he had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that someone could have tampered with the engine. Not only had the mechanic given the go ahead, Garrett had inspected it as well. If it was any other time in his life, he would have accepted the crash as unavoidable risk. But in his gut, he knew someone had just tried to murder them.

A clean landing target came into view and he guided them toward it. As their feet touched the ground, they slid onto their bottoms, and he quickly checked Selby. She rolled onto her back, her eyes blinking toward the sky.

“Selby, you okay?” he asked. He pulled off his gloves and palmed her cheek.

“Garrett,” she panted.

“Are you hurt?” Garrett scanned her body, checking for scrapes or burns. He inspected her ankles, moving them back and forth. When she didn’t wince, he crawled upward. Removing her helmet, he cradled her head in his lap. “Sweetheart. Say something.”

“I’m alive.” A shaken smile broke across her face as she continued. “It was so noisy. I think I screamed the whole time but I couldn’t even hear myself.”

“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me.” Garrett laughed and kissed her forehead.

“Mr. Emerson is not afraid of anything.” She blinked and giggled.

“You’re wrong.” He exhaled a loud sigh. “I would have given anything for you to do this with me, but not this way. Goddammit, this has to stop.”

“It was amazing. I see why you do this,” she continued as if she hadn’t heard a word he’d said.

“Maybe next time…”

“I’m not sure about a next time.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, aware that his little adrenaline junkie in training would most definitely want to jump again.

“Okay, maybe one more time. But I want a cool suit like you have.” She winked. “Maybe in pink. No wait…baby blue. That way I’ll blend in with the sky.”