Page 13 of High Seduction
An ominous creak sounded from above as the cables ground through the metal clasp supporting the cabin. “If we can do it fast, yes. Tell her to drop you far to the side. If the gondola falls, you don’t want to be under the path—you or the civilians.”
Alisha reached out the door and pulled the cable in, hooking it rapidly to the other two people. She stepped back to back with them. “Ready in three, two, one.”
Tim nudged them off the platform, and everyone still around him stiffened with worry as the cabin swung hard. “Next set, get ready. Alisha will be helping you down like riding an elevator. All you have to do is hold on to the rope by your chest.”
Anders already had a new line outside the open doors, and Tim grabbed it, slipping the hooks into place, double-checking buckles. He placed the woman’s hands on the cable and covered them briefly with his own. “Like that. Perfect. You’re ready to go.”
Her eyes were wide with fear.
“Not a worry, love,” he insisted. “That’s my lady on the other end of the rope. She’s the best there is. Just give me your hand and I’ll help you step out.”
“You can do it,” the gentleman on the floor whispered, barely audible over the noise of the props.
“Take care of my dad,” the woman said, staring at Tim.
“As soon as you’re gone, he’s the next one I’m taking flying.”
He eased her out the door, the cable from above stretching taut as she swung away from them, and once again the gondola rocked.
In his ear Anders spoke rapidly. “Tim, how many more?”
“Two and my case. I’m getting them in position right now.”
“Roger. Work fast, man, you’re running of time.”
The world fell three feet, and the man across from him shouted in surprise. His arms stayed steady around his father, though, and Tim nodded encouragingly.
“We’ll be out of here in less than two minutes.”
Another horrid noise, and another jerk.
“Tim, rush it. I can see the tower up the hill and it’s swaying.”
Dammit. “Toss me all the lines you can,” he ordered. “Now.”
He’d put a harness on his patient, and the other two had slipped on the ones they’d been handed. Tim gestured them forward, hands flying over the buckles to lock them in place.
“Keep sitting on the floor. Your ride is here. One second and I’ll get you out the door. You’ll be bunched together, but hold on tight and let the team get you to safety. There’s no time to hesitate, understand?”
They nodded, and Tim hooked a carabiner to the harness on the older man then pushed the others into the clear.
Ignoring the shuddering metal around them, he twirled, grabbed the line, and yanked the man out the door with him, trusting that Anders had control of the other end.
They’d barely hit free air when a screech of metal fatiguing screamed out. Up the hillside above them, the tower that had been leaning ominously folded with a sudden jerk. The bottom leaned toward them while the top third bent, and the cabin fell away, dropping toward the snow-covered rocks too many feet below them.
Tim breathed a sigh of relief to be out of what would have been a death trap. Or at least he was relieved until he glanced over his shoulder to check Alisha and the other passengers. A thick strand of the support cable had snapped apart, the loose end writhing upward like a cobra about to strike.
The deadly projectile was being pulled down the hill by the runaway cabin, and the loose end reared again, now headed straight in his direction.
CHAPTER5
The shouting in her ears was hard to sort out—all of the team were going at it at once. With multiple cables dangling under the carriage of the chopper, the last thing Erin wanted was to make any sudden moves.
But having Alisha, Anders, and Tim all making noise was a clue something huge was off. And the only clear word in the midst of the chaos was a deep-toned order to “lift” repeated again and again.
The urge to respond instantly to Tim’s command shouldn’t have hit so hard. There was no better reaction anyway, not with the trees close on either side and the deep drop under them. She hated to take the civilians any higher but figured there was a good reason for the order. She adjusted height instantly, rising straight up. “Everyone, quiet. Anders—give me the all clear.”
She eyed the screen showing the undercarriage camera view, shocked to see a thick line reaching toward them like an octopus tentacle. It snapped to a halt only a few feet away from Tim and his group as she pulled them skyward.
