Freefall Read Online Free Page B

one hand and touched the wall with the other. The tip of her shoe found an overhang, and her fingertips gripped a small fissure. She flattened her belly against the sun-drenched surface and paused there, as if soaking up its spirit.
    After a moment of communing with the climbing gods, she made her way up. The final push went by in a blur. Before he knew it, they were at the summit. With Sam’s help, she scrambled over the edge.
    He studied their surroundings, breathing hard. The top of Angel Wings was jagged, with dips and crags, like the surface of a tooth. He couldn’t see the remains of a plane, but there were hints of its trajectory. Burned-up bits of fuselage marred the landscape.
    Sam pulled up their haul bag while she rested, her shoulders trembling from fatigue. The elation he usually felt after a climb was tempered by worry. They had a new obstacle to meet: searching for survivors.
    “That was close,” he said.
    “I’m sorry.”
    “My fault.”
    “You’re a difficult partner.”
    “Does that surprise you?”
    “Yes.”
    He searched her face, wondering why she’d overestimated him. Then he realized that she was judging him by his performance in bed, which had been a hell of a lot more generous. Until he threw her out.
    A flush crept up his neck at the backhanded compliment. He drank water from his pack, flattered and confused. The fact that he’d given her pleasure didn’t excuse his behavior, but she seemed determined not to demonize him. Maybe she saw the good in everyone. Or maybe she just expected poor treatment from men.
    The thought depressed him. He didn’t like the idea of being one of a long string of jerks. He wanted better for her—and himself.
    Hope took her gun out of her pack.
    “What are you doing?” he asked, startled.
    She shoved the weapon into her waistband, against the small of her back. “I have to check out the crash site. Stay here.”
    “No way.”
    “You can’t come.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because you’re a civilian, and this is a potential crime scene. It’s risky to fly at night without GPS or a flight plan. The plane might have been carrying illegal cargo.”
    “Not every risk-taker is a criminal.”
    “True,” she said. “Some are just idiots.”
    He winced, knowing which category she placed him in.
    “The crash victims could be smugglers, protecting their stash.”
    “Don’t you need backup?”
    “I won’t try to arrest a group of thugs by myself. I’ll just survey the scene and collect information.”
    “I’m coming with you.”
    She deliberated for a moment, her mouth pursed. “You have to take my lead, be quiet and stay back when I tell you to.”
    “Okay,” he said, swallowing hard. He might be an adrenaline junkie, crazy as fuck, but the situation scared him. He didn’t like guns and he wasn’t keen on getting shot. There was a difference between free-solo climbing, in which he trusted his abilities, and assisting an armed park ranger he hardly knew.
    He also worried that they’d find a dead body. His aversion to corpses was stronger than his fear of guns or drug smugglers.
    But he had to accompany her. Had to. Because his biggest fear was that Hope would be hurt or killed on his watch. The last woman he’d climbed with was dead. He couldn’t handle another blow like that.
    Sam was already broken, hanging on to sanity by a thread. At the slightest provocation, he’d fall apart.
    As Hope walked across the uneven, pebble-strewn surface of the crag, he followed close behind, his heart racing. It was ten degrees cooler at this altitude. Wind rippled through his microfiber shirt, evaporating the sweat from his body. Although he’d just slaked his thirst, his throat was dry.
    When the wreckage came into view, she paused. It appeared that the plane had clipped the southwest corner of the mountain and broken up across the surface. The majority of the fuselage was still intact, perched very close to the edge of the opposite cliff. A figure was