The Espionage Effect(99)

The plane settled a bit as he climbed back into the cabin. “Gotta make it believable. The temperatures after that ammunition explodes will obliterate any other evidence.”

As the plane began to bank then climb on its own, and sensing that we had limited time, I punched my seatbelt release and lunged back to the rear cabinet.

With a hard yank, the unruly strap finally released its hold on the parachute, and I stumbled back, clutching it to my chest.

“Here, let me help with that,” he offered.

Mind going blessedly numb, focusing on the task and nothing more, I handed him the parachute. He secured the harness across my chest, then more gingerly around my legs to protect my injury.

With a quick glance toward the front of the aircraft, he spun around and worked quickly to get his own chute on. We approached the northern tip of Cozumel and made our final course adjustment as the plane began to descend, rapidly.

“We have only a few more seconds. Ever done this before?” he asked.

I gave a firm headshake. “No.”

“Piece of cake.” He stared hard at me. “You got this.” Then he grabbed my hand, squeezed gently, and slid my fingers over a metal handle then closed my fist around it. “Only, at this low altitude, the instant you jump, count a steady ‘one one-thousand’ then pull hard on this ripcord. We’ll only have about ten seconds before impact. It could take half that for the chute to open. When you hit the water, release these buckles here and here, then swim away from the parachute.” He moved the fingers of my other hand over the plastic harness buckles as he spoke.

“Half that?” My mind got stuck on those two words as we moved to the bulkhead door. My heart began to race. I watched numbly as he pulled the lever on the door and gave me a quick glance. When I nodded and grabbed the back of the seat, he released the latch and pulled the door open.

“Takes two to five seconds for chute to open, typically.”

“Let’s hope for two.” I envisioned smacking down onto the ocean with an injured hip. Not cool.

“You’ll be fine.” His stone-cold expression made me wonder if he was trying to convince himself or me. Before I had more time to question the plan, he gripped my shoulders, stared down at me, and kissed me.

Hard at first, then softer, as if he wanted to convey everything into the small action. My body melted instantly, molding to his. But just as fast as it came on, the kiss ended, cold air rushing across my lips.

Wind whipped around us, battering our faces. The ends of my hair lashed my cheeks with tiny painful pinpricks as I stared into his eyes that glistened with unshed tears. Had to be from the gale-force wind. Right?

“Remember,” he said, dark brows drawing together. “Jump, count out one full second, then pull.”

“Got it.”

Then he shoved me out of the plane.





The next ten seconds unfolded in a slow-motion series of shocking events.

Unprepared to be cast into a wind tunnel at over a hundred twenty miles per hour, I gripped the nylon straps of the chute as my body flew horizontal with the plane for a fraction of a second before air turbulence knocked my body about, my stomach dropped, and my body followed.

“Remember…count one full second…”

I blinked hard. “One one-thousand…” I couldn’t hear the words with all the wind and the roar of the engine as the plane sailed toward the coastline. But I spoke the mantra Alec had asked of me aloud, all the same. I gripped the metal ripcord handle in my hand and yanked it hard right as Alec’s dark form jumped from the plane.

A hard jolt rattled every bone in my body as the chute caught full air, snapping me out of freefall. I groaned, gritting my teeth as my healing hip blazed anew with pain.

Four one-thousand…

Alec’s chute fired out above him, a neon orange splash of color unfurling against the blue sky as air billowed into every silken nook and cranny.

Five one-thousand…

I instinctively reached for the toggles hanging from the shoulder points of the harness and after a bit of trial and error, began steering my parachute in Alec’s direction, toward the distant shoreline.

Six one-thousand…

Dangling in a harness as the surface of the ocean rapidly approached, a sudden thought occurred to me. I abandoned steering for a precious few seconds, and reached down. With fingers numb from cold, I fumbled with the belt of my cargo pants.

Boots! Damn.

I lifted my good leg, quickly unfasted the laces, gripped the toe and heel, and pulled off the boot, dropping it to the ocean. Gritting my teeth, I did the same with my bad leg, grabbing my knee with one hand to help support the weight, then yanking the laces loose enough before dropping the second boot.

Eleven one-thousand…

The ocean was right there, less than fifty feet away.

Twelve one—

The impact hit me hard. Fiery pain flared in my hip as my body plunged down into cool water. Clenching my jaw, I focused beyond the pain to the tugging of the harness as the parachute dragged somewhere behind and above me, on the surface.

I followed Alec’s last advice and quickly pinched the hard plastic buckles, releasing the harness restraints. Grateful I’d had the foresight to rid myself of the heavy boots, I maneuvered out of the harness, then my heavy cargo pants.

A percussion boom resonated through my body, making my eardrums ache to pop.