Molly howled fiercely from the ground. Don’t fall! Don’t fall! Don’t fall!
Lily clung to the rocks. The muscles in her arms screamed out as her legs swung free beneath her. She scraped her shoes along the rocks, hunting for something to stand on. She found a pencil-wide ledge and a small fissure to jam her painfully tiny shoe into.
“Lily!” Ethan called out. “Remember to push through your legs. Let them do most of the work.”
It took her a moment to remember how to use her leg muscles—or her body, for that matter. She focused on her quads and glutes, relying on their strength as she leaned against the rock face like it was the third date and it had just bought her a lobster dinner.
The strain in her arms eased. Her cramped fingers found a better purchase on the rock, but they felt slick with sweat. “I don’t know how long I can hold on!”
“Just hang tight. I’m coming.” He sounded close.
She turned until her cheek scraped the rough stone. He was climbing next to her so quickly and smoothly it was like water running over rocks.
Josh’s voice drifted up. “I’m on belay, Ethan.”
She peered down. Josh stood below, tied into Ethan’s rope since hers was kind of useless now.
Her legs began to shake. “Ethan?” She couldn’t keep the panic from her voice.
“It’s okay.” He spoke in an even tone as he drew closer. “When I get there, you’re going to wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my torso from the side so the rope isn’t between us, like you’re sitting on my hip.”
Her frightened brain couldn’t seem to follow. “Like you’d hold a toddler?”
“Exactly, but you’re still a big girl.”
A surprised laugh escaped her, despite her treacherous situation. It sounded more like a moan. “Are you seriously trying to make me laugh?”
He was right next to her now, his intense gaze in line with hers. “Once you let go, we’ll end up swinging the other way together. We just need to keep ourselves away from the wall until we slow to a stop.”
She clamped her eyes shut, breaking the trance. “I’m not sure I can let go.”
“One way or another, you’re eventually going to. You might as well be the one to choose when that happens.”
He braced himself beside her like he was carved into the rock. His arm wrapped around her, hugging her to him. “Ready?”
“Not really.” But she released one hand from her death grip on the rock and snaked her arm around his neck.
“Lean on me and try to move your feet closer,” he said.
She tapped her foot along the wall until she found a ledge big enough to step on.
“The next part is quick,” he said. “Imagine you’re giving me the biggest bear hug you can.”
But when she turned, she didn’t have to imagine because all she wanted to do right then was hug him.
Too late, she realized she was too far away. She tried to launch herself at him. Her foot slipped, and instead of ending up in his arms, she slid down his body.
Ethan let go of the wall to brace her against him. Face pressed against his stomach, she held on to his harness. As they flew back in a wide arc, they both yelled like they’d gotten on the worst fair ride ever.
They connected with the taut rope that ran to the top of the cliff, and it sent them spinning back toward the wall. Lily braced for impact and pressed her face into his abs. It’s not such a bad way to go, she thought faintly.
A second later, they came to an abrupt halt. Ethan grunted. He’d taken the hit.
They swung back and forth, scraping against the rocks as though they were receiving the world’s most painful exfoliation until, finally, they hung like a pair of sausages in a butcher shop.
Josh called up from below. “I’m letting you down now.”
The rope lengthened, and inch by inch, they descended to the earth. The moment her feet touched down, Lily collapsed. Ethan sank next to her, and they both stared up at the sky.
Josh dropped to one knee and leaned over her. “Where are you hurt?”
“Just start pointing,” she panted. “I’ll speak up when you find something that doesn’t.”
With a finger under her chin, he moved her face to the side. “You scratched your cheek pretty good.”
She brought a hand up and touched it. She hissed as it stung. “It happened so fast. I think it was the rope or a rock.” Or Ethan’s hard six-pack, she thought, a little lightheaded.
He checked over the rest of her. “It’s definitely not your only injury. Nor yours,” he told Ethan after a quick glance in his direction. “I don’t have a first aid kit. Do you?”
“Not on me,” he said. “It was in my car.”
Lily waved Josh away. “I’m sure it will be fine.” Actually, she felt surprisingly okay.
“I’ll go ask one of the other groups here. I’ll be back.”
His face disappeared, and she was left with the view of the sky again. Hasty footfalls pounded the dirt path as Josh ran back down the trail.
Removing her helmet, she closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air, the pine trees, and the rich soil beneath her. It smelled like Ethan. Her body slowly relaxed until she thought she might never move again. That is, until she felt a snout poke her in the ear.
Covering her face, she rolled away. “I’m alive. I don’t need CPR, Molly.”
A second later, Ethan made a strangled noise. The pup must have moved on to her next patient.
She turned to find him propped on his side, staring at her while he petted Molly. His features hid in shadow, but she didn’t see worry or pity in them.
Well, she thought, I can’t look that bad.
He got to his feet and held out a hand. “Come on. Let’s get a better view.” He tilted his head up to the top of the cliff.
“I’m not sure if you remember, but I just came from up there. I’m happy to be down here. It’s much less … fall-y.”
This guy wouldn’t let her get away with anything. Sure, she was a big girl, but couldn’t he baby her for a second? Then again, that’s what she liked most about being around him. He gave her more credit than she gave herself sometimes. Maybe she needed to trust his instincts.
“I wouldn’t want you getting scared of heights.” He wiggled his fingers, waiting for her to take his outstretched hand. “Come on. Let’s get back on that horse.”
“As long as it won’t buck me off.” She let him pull her to her feet.
He untied Molly’s leash from the tree before they all took the much more horizontal path that led them to where they’d set up the ropes in the permanent anchors. Lily slowed as they neared the rocky outcrop, but Ethan sat near the edge and patted the ground next to him.
She joined him, a little farther back. He scooted over to sit next to her and clipped Molly’s leash onto his harness. However, the puppy seemed less interested in exploring up there and climbed onto his lap.
Reclining against a boulder, they took in the view. Far below, the forest swept beyond them like rolling green carpet, and in the distance, the land rose in a triangle tipped with bright snow. It felt strange to see, even as the afternoon sun beat down on them.
“That’s Mount McLoughlin.” He pointed as though reading her mind.
“It’s pretty,” Lily said distractedly. There were other things on her mind. “Thank you for saving me.”
“You saved me first. I’m only returning the favor.”
She waited for the emotions to roll in, for the regret to hit her, and a montage of her life to play in her mind. But all she could feel was gratitude. Gratitude for that moment, for being alive, for Ethan.
Eventually, he broke the silence. “Are you ready to head back down?”
“Do we have to? It’s kind of nice up here.” Which was true, but she also needed another minute for her legs to stop shaking from the adrenaline.
“It is, isn’t it?” he said, but he wasn’t looking at the view. He was staring at her. “This is my favorite part about being outdoors, these moments when you realize how insignificant you are. It puts things into perspective.”
“Insignificant? Speak for yourself.”
“There were times I would get so caught up in my work that I would lose myself. There were always things that needed to be done, do-or-die deadlines to make, high-stake cases to win, my over-inflated ego to stroke.” He waved at the view. “Then I would come to places like this and realize none of it mattered. I mean, anything could happen. I can fall off a cliff like this one and my body could get eaten by wolves, and no one would know what happened.”
“Okay, I’m ready to get down now,” she joked. Well, half-joked while eyeing the brush for wolves. Did they make wolf spray?
“And the world would go on,” he continued. “Someone else would meet those deadlines and win those cases. Well, lose them without me, but you get my drift.”
“Is this your ego shrinking or …”
“My point is that I was just a tiny cog in an enormous machine that kept working without me. I didn’t matter to my clients, my firm, or to the media who sang my praises one moment, and the next …” He shrugged. “So why was I trying to impress them for so long?”
She wondered about the “next.” He’d already shared so much with her, so what couldn’t he share with her? “You matter, Ethan.”
“The only people I matter to, the only people who would come out here looking for me, were the people I wasn’t there for. Whether or not I meant to, I chose my job, some ideal life I’d envisioned, over my family.”
His words hit a little too close to home. “Am I being selfish by being here right now?” She wasn’t really asking him so much as herself, but she hadn’t found the answers yet, so it didn’t hurt to get a second opinion.
Instead of laying his views on her, he asked, “Do you feel selfish? Do you honestly think you don’t deserve this time to yourself?”
No, I deserve this and more. But it was the more she worried about. “What if … I don’t want this to end? What if I don’t want to go back to the way things were?”
“What are you worried about?”
“I guess I’m worried I’d be letting my family down. I just want to see them happy.”
“Wouldn’t they want to see you happy?”
“Sure. They love me. They’d do anything for me.” Not that she ever asked—or ever would, for that matter. And they probably knew it too.
When she really thought about it, she couldn’t remember her brothers ever giving her a ride or doing her laundry—not that she trusted them to know permanent press from delicate. Even so, they could offer. And after she’d finally found the courage to take a two-week holiday, her mother couldn’t even say “Have a great time!”
“It sounds like you do a lot for your family, but if you didn’t go home, they would get on with their lives, just the same as if you’d fallen today and been eaten by wolves.”
“So you reckon I should pretend I got eaten by wolves so I don’t have to go back?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” He cracked a smile. “Look, there’s nothing wrong with helping the people you love, but you’re allowed to have other goals. Those two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive of each other.”
Thinking of his situation, she widened her eyes at him. “And how has that worked out for you?”
He smile-grimaced. “Touché. I guess I’m still working on that myself.”
“Maybe we should both work on that.”
A rhythmic beat echoed up from the path below them. Ethan unhooked Molly from his harness and handed her to Lily.
Standing up, he shuffled closer to the edge and peered over it. “Your friend is back.”
“He’s more of an acquaintance.” She threw him a softer, more familiar look.
His cheek wrinkled as he held back a grin. Stooping over the anchor he’d fastened his rope to earlier, he unhooked the setup. Peeking over the edge again, he yelled, “Rope!” and let it fall so they could pick it up on their way out.
Moving over to the next one, he fed the rest of the snapped rope through and held the frayed end up, twisting it in the light.
Curious, Lily joined him. He held the rope up between them. Molly sniffed at it like a regular Sherlock Holmes before sneezing at it. I didn’t do it.
“There’s absolutely no way this rope would have just come apart like this. Especially not with you hanging on it. You hardly weigh a thing.”
“I’m not dignifying that with a response.”
“It’s made to handle this kind of use. It would slowly fray and unbraid itself. You’d notice it long before it gave out. But this …” He squeezed the frayed ends together, back into shape. “What does that look like to you?”
She studied it closer. Some strands were stretched and frayed, but she could see what he meant. “It’s … straight.”
“Like it was cut.”
She gasped as an icy chill shot through her. Clearly, wolves were the least of her worries now.
Something scuffed the ground nearby. She wheeled toward the sound. It was Josh, carrying a red fabric bag.
He held up the first aid kit. “Who’s first?”
Instead of answering, Ethan held up the sliced rope, a cool composure settling over his features as though he were facing an opponent in court. “Do you know what happened to this?”
Lily didn’t miss the subtle tone of accusation. He doesn’t think …
Josh closed the distance, frowning at the rope. His eyes widened as he obviously came to the same conclusion they had. “I swear I inspected everything this morning at the rental shop.”
Ethan watched him closely. “I had a look too. But you went to the ‘loo,’ remember? And you were gone for a while.”
Josh’s nostrils flared, and he crossed his arms. “What are you saying, mate?”
Lily stepped between them. “We’re not pointing fingers. No one here did this. It could have let go when any one of us were on it.”
“She’s right,” Ethan told him. “Sorry.”
“Besides,” she said. “It looks like this cliff edge goes on for quite a way. Anyone could have climbed up here and done it.”
They glanced around like they’d see the real culprit lurking in the shadows, knife in hand, laughing like a proper villain. But the only laugh she heard was from a child somewhere close by.
Josh zipped up his hooded sweatshirt like he was suddenly cold. “Whoever it was, I don’t think I fancy waiting around to see if they’ll try anything else.”
She stepped back from the ledge. “Yeah, let’s just count ourselves lucky and get out of here.”
Once they’d checked themselves over and bandaged up the worst of their injuries, they packed up. While Josh returned the first aid kit to its owner, Ethan took multiple photos of the sliced rope with his phone in case the authorities needed it. Finally, they headed back to the parking lot for the next shuttle run.
When they got there, a few other people lounged on the grass, waiting for a ride. Lily couldn’t help but scan the vehicles parked in the dirt lot: a couple of camper vans, cars loaded to the roof with suitcases and tents, a truck.
Her survey halted as she sensed familiarity. It couldn’t be …
She elbowed Ethan and pointed at the green truck with her chin, as though to speak out loud would summon the poachers from the trees surrounding them.
She raised her eyebrows in question. Is it them?
He nodded. It’s them.
She scanned the lot again. There were no signs of the two men, but that didn’t mean they weren’t hanging around. It couldn’t be a coincidence they were there. Maybe they’d cut the rope and took a longer route to get back to the truck. They might be back at any moment, but she couldn’t just walk away. She had to do something. She dashed over to the truck.
Heart racing, she peered into the cab, but there was no one in there. With one last glance over her shoulder, she dropped to the ground in front of the driver-side tire. With shaking fingers, she began unscrewing the cap on the valve stem.
A shadow fell across her. “What are you doing?”
She jumped to her feet, knocking her head on the side mirror. She spun to find Josh standing there in the open, staring at her. Why didn’t he just make a sign to announce she was there?
She rubbed the top of her head. “What does it look like? Letting the air out of their tires.”
Ethan’s eyes widened. “Great idea.”
He set Molly down and worked on the back tire. The pup licked his fingers helpfully as he unscrewed the cap.
Josh gaped at them. “What? Do you even know these guys?”
“Do we ever.” Lily nudged the valve stem with her foot until the air hissed out. “We had a run in with them before.”
“Are you sure it’s even the same truck?”
“It looks exactly the same. What are the chances we’d run into another one that looks just like it? They’re probably the ones who cut the rope.”
“Probably?” Ethan glanced around to make sure they weren’t being watched. “Who else could it be?” He made for the other rear tire.
Josh grabbed her arm as she made for the final one. “And what if they weren’t? It might be really hard to get tires filled around here.”
“Not that hard,” Ethan grumbled. “It’s not marionberry pie night.”
Josh’s face screwed up. “What?”
Lily brushed him off. “I’m tired of these guys tailing us. Coincidence or not, these guys are trouble. This time, I want to make sure they don’t get away before the authorities get here.”
Gravel crunched nearby, and Josh looked across the lot. “The shuttle is here.”
She waved a hand. “Why don’t you go stall it for us before you give us away.”
“Fine by me.” He held up his hands and backed off. “I don’t want to be an accessory to whatever this is.”
She wrinkled her nose as she watched him stalk across the lot. While she unscrewed the last cap, she glanced up to find Ethan watching her from the back tire.
“You’re a lawyer,” she said. “I thought you’d lecture me about this.”
“Nope. Just call me your partner in crime. Besides, all we’re doing is helping the authorities catch up with these guys.”
“We’re practically heroes.”
“Right?” Brushing the dirt off his knees, he pulled out his phone and took a photo of the license plate. “Josh is right about one thing—not that I’ll admit that in front of him. We don’t know that this is the same truck. I mean, why would they continue to follow us instead of lying low?”
She studied the color, the canopy, the push bar. “It has to be the same one.”
“If they’re trying to kill us, why park in such an obvious spot where we might see them?”
“Could it be that they want us to know they’re following us? Like it’s a game to them?” She shivered. “All I know is this has to be them.”
He stood back and snapped off one more photo of the whole truck. “Okay. Come on. Let’s go before they come back.”
Lily grabbed Molly, who was trying to bite the stream of air leaking out of the tire, gnashing her sharp teeth at it. They made it to the shuttle just as the driver started to close the door. Climbing aboard, she and Ethan plopped into a pair of free seats, sharing a mischievous look.
Some of that earlier fear whooshed out of Lily like the air in those tires, replaced by a giddy sense of triumph. A few flat tires were minor, though, compared to what the poachers had done to them. She could have died climbing that rock face. But now, she didn’t feel completely at their mercy. She wasn’t going down without a fight.