Page 36 of High Seduction
Devon had joined Tim, and he spoke off radio. “Wait for Alisha and Tripp to return.”
Tim nodded. “Let’s see what Erin finds. No use crawling into dark places without a reason.”
A solid hand clasped his shoulder in agreement as they turned to wait while Alisha and Tripp made the descent and rejoined them on relatively stable ground.
“Getting off this piece of rock is going to be a pain in the ass,” Devon muttered, pulling his coat closer around his face.
Tim eyed the cliffs. “We could hang glide.”
A burst of laughter escaped his partner. “We can go off Mount Rundle in the spring. Other than that, I’m not into free fall.”
“So BASE jumping is out? Damn, you’re a lousy date.”
Devon winked in response. Normal, everyday chatter between the moments of dealing with life and death—it was what they used to combat the stress. Tim glanced up as the chopper volume increased.
Anders came online. “Oh joy, oh bliss, what we’ve got is a sightseeing tour. Pilot registered two for the flight, but had room for more. So either he was pocketing the extra fares, or he booked them on for some special low rate fare as a favour.”
“Some favour,” Tim muttered, looking around the crash site.
“There’s no crash evidence on the far side, Tim.”
Erin’s smooth tones stroked him, a subtle brush against nerve endings that were set on high when it came to anything about her. Even in the middle of the tense situation he was always aware of her, and not only because the sound of the chopper followed them everywhere.
“They have to be somewhere,” Alisha complained.
“Unfortunately, I think I know where.” Tim gestured to the ravine.
A whirl of activity followed as ropes and anchors were set, and Alisha made the first descent over the edge.
Devon waited impatiently, Tim holding his safety rope. “Tell us what’s happening, Alisha,” Devon ordered.
“Come on down. You’re not going to believe this. It’s like the entire belly of the plane surfed down here and—ohshit. Devon, haul ass, I need you. Set lines and descend. All hands.”
The radio cut out and if they’d moved quickly before, they were now in high gear, blurs of motion.
“I’ll belay you, Devon. Fast trip, call out when you need to slow down,” Tim offered.
Alisha was talking steadily again, information regarding the other passengers coming in over the radio as Tripp locked down ropes and tossed lines. Tim focused on the weight in his hands as Devon vanished out of sight below him, the rope skipping out at what would be an alarming rate for most people.
All he got from Devon was a calm, “Ready to slow. Slow down and stop in three, two, one...”
Tim braced himself and gripped the rope tighter to bring his teammate to a standstill.
“Nicely done. I’m down. Tie off and descend.”
Tim was in midair, dropping toward the others, before he got to see what had caught their attention. The crazed dragon that he’d imagined had clawed apart the plane had taken the middle section and spit it out here. The nearly perfect oval had slid, or rolled, but had jammed to a stop half on a rock lip, half off.
The reason for Alisha’s call for speed was clear. There were moving shapes in the wreckage, but the entire mass was close to tipping the final distance. There would be no way anyone would survive that kind of a fall to the watery rocks below.
Alisha had already reached the edge of the plane. “Everyone stay put. We’re going to place some anchors, and then we can get you out.
A mass of raised voices greeted her announcement, but she swore, raising her hands in a full stop position. “Guys, anyone speak Japanese?”
“Shit, really?” Devon was up against the rocks, slamming climbers’ cams into the cracks as rapidly as his fingers would move. “Head count. We need them out of there.”
He gestured at the two passengers who had crawled from their seats earlier and sat huddled together to the side of the wreckage, attempting sign language to make them stay put.
“I see seven, and five are still in the cabin.” Alisha dug in the gear bag and began looping chest harnesses to her body ropes. “Do you have a good anchor for me yet, Devon? I’m going in.”
