Page 19 of The Fragile Ones
Katie silently prepared herself to get to the scene. A large predatory bird glided over the area as she looked overhead. It was like an omen to Katie, but she kept her wits and followed John.
At least she wasn’t alone.
At the edge of the precipice, the crevice turned into a deep cavern that appeared to go on forever—and reminded her of the sink hole she had located in her first case as she searched for Chelsea Compton. But this was no time for thinking about the past.
Katie made herself look about fifty feet into the ravine they would rappel down. She could see what looked like two rag dolls facing one another, one seemed stuck to one side and the other tiny body wedged into a crevice in the rocks below. Both girls were wearing what looked to be matching jean shorts and T-shirts—yellow and pink.
She gasped as a deep sadness overwhelmed her—weighing down her soul for the lives of the two little girls that had been brutally ended too soon.
“Okay, I’ll go first and you follow,” said John. “You know how to attach safety anchors to secure the ropes as you go?”
Katie nodded. She knew how to climb and rappel, but wished she didn’t. She thought of Dr. Carver.
Take a deep breath…
Without another word, John effortlessly swung out over the edge and caught himself with his feet against the rock. He held to the ropes, pushed backward with his feet with the right pressure, and rappelled about three and half feet downward. Then he stopped and looked up at Katie. “Your turn,” he said.
It’s now or never…
Katie’s pulse was at an all-time high, throbbing in her head, making her vision blurry. The rock looked as if it were moving—undulating —like it was breathing and alive. Concentrating and remembering all her skills for the task at hand, she readied herself.
She stood at the precipice of the cliff, before bracing her body and swinging outward, making her descent. The flat part of her shoes made contact with the rock in front of her. It was solid and for a brief moment gave her some comfort as she exhaled. Sitting back in her harness with her legs slightly bent she kept her eyes forward, not wanting to look down. But the memories flooded back at warp speed.
The chopper blades circled above with a loud whooshing noise and blasts of a wind like a category three hurricane. First she felt weightless and free, but then it was like being a doll dangling with nothing to cling to and nothing to save her. With one hand in front holding onto a rope and the other behind, there was a delicate balance that kept her body upright and sent it downward. Jerking and moving in disharmony, Katie made several attempts to keep herself steady and to get to the ground as quickly as possible. She also made a fatal, rookie mistake—she looked down. Even though it was a training area, it looked like she was atop a city skyscraper and would soon be crushed at the bottom…
Hearing the pace of her own breathing, she tried to conceal the sound, anxious that everyone above would hear her distress. She needed to focus. Those two sweet girls below needed her right now, and she was the only one that could help them. All her military training rushed back and gave her a punch of strength she desperately needed. She felt the ropes in her gloved hands, settled into her harness, and rappelled, descending until she caught up with John.
As she neared the area where the bodies were located, a strong gust blew around both of them, pushing them against the rock. She kept her mind focused on the assignment that awaited her and let her body go into autopilot.
“You okay?” asked John, having to yell over the sudden burst of wind.
Katie nodded.
“We’re almost there. Be careful. There’s some loose rocks,” he said. “Once we’re there, I’ll make sure that we’re tied in securely. Okay?”
Katie gave a thumbs up.
She looked slightly from left to right before rappelling again. Her footing felt loose and slippery in contrast to where they had started. She tried to gain a better foothold, keeping her balance in check by moving slightly to the side, but it didn’t rectify the problem. Instead, she began to slide, slowly at first, then unable to stop. Her shoes didn’t have enough traction to hold the position.
Feeling a strong tug on her harness and without securing her feet, she was soon in a free-hanging dive. She spun around in a complete circle twice—as her back bumped the rocky mountain terrain several times.
Stopping abruptly about twenty feet past the crime scene area, Katie tried to straighten her posture and position her body to get ready to climb but instead slammed into the mountain, knocking the wind from her lungs. Refusing to give in to the fear that was racing inside her, she focused on steadying her breath—as everything slowly went dark around her.
Chapter Eight
Thursday 1715 hours
A strange incessant droning overcame Katie’s ears, resembling a large crowd yelling and clapping in unison. Through it, she heard her name, softly at first, like someone calling out in the wind, but then it became louder and more insistent.
“Katie! Katie!”
The roaring sounds began to fade as her name sharpened. Her eyes fluttered open and her body jerked in a sudden startle as she realized where she was; hanging from a rope in a ravine in the dying light.
“Katie, are you okay? You blacked out.” John held her body against his, checking her ropes and carabiners.
“Yeah,” she managed to whisper. Her throat felt dry and constricted. “I’m okay,” she whispered. “Lost my footing.”
“You want to continue?”
