Flashpoint – Chapter 1
Leo Evans dangled over the side of a cliff. The wind kicked up and the light rain made the rock slippery, forcing him to grip tightly and pray.
He’d wedged his fingers into the small gap in the rock. It had to be enough, as his feet slid from their tenuous perch and he fell until his grip caught him and yanked at his arm. He took a deep breath and reminded himself not to look down.
He did, however, look up.
“You got me?” he asked the two firefighters hanging out over the cliff top peering at him.
“We’ve got you!” Sebastian Kane called out, but the new guy—new woman, actually—just stared down at him. She nodded once. She was the one Leo was most concerned about.
He told himself it was because he’d worked with Kane before, he trusted the man. He simply didn’t know her. There might be more to it, but he wasn’t willing to admit it to himself. Not yet.
The harness around him felt secure, thank goodness. The firefighters had tightened the line and he was able to breathe easier. Still, too much of his weight was hanging on it. Leo knew he should be supporting himself—the harness should only be a backup—but, with his feet dangling below him, the team above was doing most of the work.
Taking another deep breath, he opened his mouth to call up to them when the two people below him began yelling again. As the light patter of rain cranked up to a good cold smack, the man cried out, “Help us! I’m going to fall!”
It sounded more like a threat to Leo’s ears, but he couldn’t say so. The woman was pleading with them all to get the rescue going faster. Maybe to get away from him? He was nonstop making noise.
“Mark? Lindy? I need you both to be quiet so you can hear the instructions we are about to give you.” He tipped his head back over his shoulder, hoping that using their names and speaking clearly would work.
It did—for about thirty seconds. And he wondered if the two below could see him heave a big sigh.
They were going to be the worst part of this rescue. Not the fact that he couldn’t find a hold for his feet, not the way the webbing harness was cutting into his thighs, not even Jo Huston, standing above him holding on to his lines. Right now, the harness felt secure. He had to trust the people above him, or he wasn’t going to be able to save the people below him.
“Help!” the man yelled up again, clearly not too happy with the speed at which the entire team had come to rescue him. Leo fought the uncharitable thought that he’d marched right by clearly marked signs that he wasn’t supposed to be hiking in this area in the first place. He wanted to tell the man he could wait another ten minutes for Leo to get down there and that he should do so quietly. But none of that was allowed.
Looking over his shoulder, he called down, “I’m coming as quickly as I can, but I need to do it safely or no one gets rescued. What I need you to do is to stay still and stay quiet, hold on to each other and hold on to that tree that’s sticking out near you. It should be very well anchored.”
With his foot out in front of him, now firmly braced against the rocks, he lifted a hand for a thumbs-up to Jo and Sebastian above him. Putting his hand back onto the rock, he felt the tension return to his limbs, the harness no longer holding him up. Now, he was supported by only his toeholds and his grip.
Leo lifted his right hand first, slowly moving it to a lower position, banking on the harness if it didn’t work. Though he got his fingers wedged into the perfect spot, the toe of his left hiking shoe slipped out from under him again. The rock was slippery and wet.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath as he slid several feet farther than he should have. A scream split the air and his heart stalled as he scrambled for a hold. The harness should have stopped him. His brain flashed images in slow motion and he was certain he was going to die.
As his hands fumbled for purchase in a mad effort to save himself, he reached for anything, but at last, the harness gave a good hard yank and he heard a grunt from above him as Kade and Huston finally managed to do their jobs.
Leo stopped moving for a moment, trying to catch his breath and close enough now to the fallen hikers to wonder if he’d accidentally kicked Lindy in the head. “You okay down there?”
“Yes,” Lindy replied.
Leo was pretty certain that Mark’s screams were still echoing off the cliff walls. They were certainly echoing in his skull. He stopped to regroup and found that one of his fingernails had been bent backwards. Now that he’d seen it, it hurt. Leo muttered another swear under his breath.
His breath soughed in and out of his lungs as he clung to the rock like a monkey. When at last he had himself together, he looked up to find Sebastian Kane looking down to check on him.
“Sorry man,” the firefighter called to him. “That was me.”
Leo narrowed his eyes. He’d never seen Kane make that kind of error before. Was the firefighter taking the blame for his new buddy? Didn’t matter though. Leo had to get down the rock and he had to get the two people up.
It took another ten minutes until he had his foot firmly on the ledge where the hikers had managed to stop themselves. The two were clinging to each other, wet, cold, teeth chattering, and muscles shivering with wide contractions that he hadn’t been able to see from above.
“I’ve got you.” He reached into the pack at his waist and felt around for a moment until he found the small plastic bag. He ripped it open hastily using his teeth and watched as the plastic fluttered away.
Son of a bitch, he thought. But littering the pristine wilderness was the least of his concerns right now. The man reached out for the blanket that was unfurling beneath Leo’s rig, but Leo quickly yanked it back and ground his teeth. “No, wait for instructions. I’m harnessed. You’re not yet.”
He snapped the blanket open, the sound of raindrops hitting the foil reminded him that they didn’t have much time. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
He was finally able to look them in the eye, sinking his weight a little too deeply into the harness. Rather than holding on for himself, he was once again trusting those above him. For a moment, Leo took another look down. Tall tree tops rose to extreme height but were still well below him, reminding him how far up they were; they would snap bones and die before they even hit bottom. He was reminded why the hikers were so petrified.
“I’ve got you,” he told them. But even as he said it, he felt the line on his harness go slack.
He was no longer tethered, and his fingers dug into the edge of the rock trying to hold on.
