Firestorm

Chapter Fifteen

“Listen up,” Mallory called down to the group assembled around the wooden scaffold. “On my mark, you’ll step to the edge, pivot with your back to the ground, tuck your chin, and drop.”

Jac squinted at the six-foot-high platform and the hard-packed ground beneath. She was supposed to step off into nothing and land on the ground wearing a full pack and all her gear as if landing with a parachute. She glanced at Ray. “Is your head okay for this?”

“There’s nothing wrong with my head, but I’m not sure about my sanity,” he muttered.

Jac grinned. “Yeah. I’m feeling a little bit crazy myself right now.”

Mallory glanced in their direction and raised an eyebrow. “Problems over there?”

“No ma’am,” Ray said briskly.

“Not a thing,” Jac said.

“Okay.” Mallory stepped to the edge. “Don’t hold your breath unless you want to lose it all when you hit.” She grinned down at them. “And remember your chin.”

She pushed off, seemed to turn in midair like a diver at the pinnacle of her leap, then fell gracefully, landed soundlessly, and rolled to her feet.

“Questions?” Mallory asked, unsnapping her helmet as she walked over.

When she shook her hair out in an unconsciously sensual move, Jac’s heart went into free fall. God, she was every kind of beautiful.

No one had any questions, but a couple of the guys looked a little green.

“Hooker,” Mallory said. “Why don’t you go first and demonstrate. You at least know what the ground feels like coming up at you from your skydiving experience.”

“Sure. No problem,” Hooker said.

Mallory climbed back up to the platform and Hooker followed.

Jac didn’t think she’d ever get used to seeing Mallory with the clouds at her back, sunlight glinting in her hair. Her face was flushed with exertion and pure exhilaration. She looked happy. Mallory hadn’t looked happy in the loft that morning. She’d looked confused and uncertain and reluctant. Making Mallory unhappy was the last thing Jac wanted to do. Hell, she hadn’t even gotten close to Mallory yet, and she was already screwing things up. What she needed to do was back off. Give Mallory space. That ought to be easy enough to do, if she could only figure out how to stop thinking about her. And keep her heart from stuttering to a standstill every time she unexpectedly caught a glimpse of Mallory out of the corner of her eye. If she could only manage not to tighten up inside at the mere sound of her voice. Then it ought to be easy to maintain some distance.

“You ready for this?” Ray said.

“Huh?” Jac said.

“This exercise.” Ray gave her a look. “Where’s your head at, Jac? You need to score some points with the boss.”

“You can say that again.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

Above them, Mallory said, “Hooker, take your place. On my mar—”

Hooker dropped off the edge, tucked, landed, and rolled.

“What the fuck was that?” Ray whispered. “Wasn’t he supposed to—”

“Yeah,” Jac muttered. “He was.”

Hooker was testing Mallory, subtly ignoring her authority in front of everyone. Jac just couldn’t figure out why. The guy must’ve known who was in charge of the station when he signed up, so if he had problems with Mallory, why didn’t he opt out of the placement? What did he think he was going to gain by antagonizing her? She’d wash him out at this rate.

Hooker sauntered over, a satisfied smirk on his face. “Piece-a-cake, ladies. You all will be fine.”

Mallory climbed down the ladder and walked over. “Too much wind up there, Hooker?”

He pulled off his helmet and shrugged his shoulders. “Nope. Felt great.”

“So you weren’t having a problem hearing me?”

He looked at her innocently. “Nope.”

“Want to explain why you took off early?”

“Hey,” he said nonchalantly. “You said you wanted me to demonstrate, I demonstrated. Any problems with my…technique?”

“The exercise isn’t just about technique,” Mallory said steadily, her gaze never wavering from Hooker’s. “It’s about performance. And part of performance out here is following protocol. Protocol keeps us all alive.”

Hooker’s jaw tightened. “Does it? That’s real good to know. Considering.”

Something hard stole into Mallory’s eyes, and a wave of heat surged in Jac’s chest. She clamped her jaws so hard, her ears ached. She wanted to challenge Hooker, hell—she wanted to kick his ass.

“Russo,” Mallory said softly. “You’re up.”

“Roger that.”

Jac waited for Mallory to lead the way up the ladder, watching the rigid line of her back as she ascended, knowing Hooker had drawn blood and wanting to filet him for it. Up on the platform, the wind blew Mallory’s hair around her face, and Jac ached to catch some of those strands on her fingers and tuck them behind Mallory’s ear. Any excuse to touch her. Maybe a futile gesture to ease her pain. Words, sympathy, even having been there herself, couldn’t touch the private wound, and she knew it. Still, the helplessness ate at her.

“Questions?” Mallory asked.

“No.”

“Repeat the sequence for me, please.”

Mallory’s tone was mechanical, remote, distant. She’d gone someplace inside, behind the barriers that helped deflect but never blocked the pain.

Jac did the only thing she could. Her job, just like Mallory. “Step to the edge. On your mark, step off, turn in the air, tuck my chin, land and roll.”

“Good.” Mallory rapped Jac on the back of her hardhat. “Don’t forget your chin, Rookie.”

The slight reverberation of Mallory’s knuckles against the protective headgear shot through Jac like a hot caress. Her breath caught in her chest.

“Right.” Jac stepped to the edge.

“Ready,” Mallory said, her voice the only sound. “Go.”

Jac pushed off and pivoted, searching for Mallory. She found Mallory’s eyes fixed on her, steady and intent, and calm suffused her. The next second, she hit hard, harder than she’d expected, and the breath rushed from her chest. Coughing, trying to suck air back in, she immediately rolled onto her side, and some of the shock dissipated. Thankfully, she managed a breath and got to her feet. Her legs were still a little wobbly. She chalked that unsteadiness up to the hard landing. She wanted to pretend her moment of disorientation hadn’t been all Mallory. But it was. Pretty pathetic that a casual rap on the head would turn her upside down. She hustled out of the landing area and made her way to the back of the line.

“Not bad,” Hooker said.

“Thanks,” Jac said, working hard to keep her voice steady. Her lungs didn’t feel fully expanded yet, and she was still air hungry. Her right shoulder was a little sore, but she’d remembered to tuck her chin, and Mallory hadn’t come down to criticize her drop. She’d take it for the first time out.

Hooker leaned too close to her, his big body crowding her. “Probably scored some points with James.”

“That wasn’t high on my list,” Jac said, standing her ground. “I’d just rather not break both my legs the first time I jump from the plane.”

“All the same,” he said, “I get the feeling muffins aren’t gonna get you where you want to go with her.”

Jac tensed. She hadn’t seen him on her coffee and muffin run, but he’d obviously seen her. Careless of her not to be on alert. “Hooker—”

“Hey, babe, good luck thawing that out.” Hooker grinned suggestively. “Whoever named her Ice wasn’t kidding. I don’t think you can get through with a blowtorch.”

She wanted to take him on and she couldn’t, for so many reasons. She’d get booted from the program. She’d probably make the news, and her family would have one more “humiliating escapade,” as her father termed it, to suffer through. Mallory wouldn’t want her to cause problems for the team. Mallory didn’t need her to defend her. “Hooker, are you always such a moron, or am I just the lucky recipient of your idiocy?”

He chuckled. “You really think you’re gonna get over on that one?”

“I don’t think anything at all. What is your problem?”

“Not a thing.” He turned so his back was partially to the platform, and his friendly expression went feral. “If you get a piece of her, congratulations. Maybe you’d even like to share. I’ve got plenty to go around.”

Jac actually drew her fist back, and his gaze flickered to the movement.

“You really do have a hard-on for her.” He laughed. “What are you going to do, hit me?”

Jac turned and walked away.

“Russo?” Mallory called. “Russo. Problem?”

“Just winded. Fell wrong,” Jac yelled back without slowing. She kept going until she reached the shack. She hung her pack on the peg, put her gear away, and pulled off her jump suit. She jogged out of the building, across the yard, and into the woods. The cold mountain air dried the sweat on her skin, but didn’t cool her fury. She had no destination. She only wished she had an IED waiting for her, anything to defuse her frustration and helplessness.

*

Mallory finished writing her evaluations, stacked the forms neatly on the upper right-hand corner of her desk, and stared at the small brass wind-up clock that had adorned her father’s desk until his death. Five o’clock. The sun would set in less than an hour, and the mountains would become a dense, dark labyrinth. No one ventured into the wilderness after dark unless life and limb depended on it. Jac hadn’t returned to the loft to catnap or change clothes or unwind. She was probably in the gym or grabbing an early dinner in the canteen. Maybe playing cards or comparing war stories with the other rookies. Somewhere doing what smokejumpers did while waiting for the action, somewhere safe and sound.

The back of Mallory’s neck burned, probably a bit of windburn from standing up on the tower most of the afternoon. She rubbed at the sore spot, but the niggling irritation didn’t go away. Her warning antennae quivered, and she never ignored her gut.

“Damn it,” she muttered, jumping to her feet. She pulled her sweatshirt off the back of her chair and shrugged it on, jammed her hands into the pockets, and stalked out of the hangar to the ready shack. She checked the equipment room first. Jac’s gear was there, stowed neatly. She cut through to the hallway that led to the gym. The room was crowded, but a quick look was all she needed to know Jac wasn’t there. Okay, so she was having dinner. But the canteen was nearly empty. Ray and Sarah sat with dinner trays in front of them, talking at a far table. Mallory walked over.

“Have you seen Russo?” she said to Ray.

He straightened in his seat. “No…ah. No.”

The itch at the back of her neck spread like a rash, and she wanted to shake, twitching off the irritation like a horse shedding flies in the summer sun. “Sarah? Did you talk to her after the exercise today?”

“No,” Sarah said in surprise. “I didn’t see her. Sorry.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Something wrong?” Sarah asked.

“No,” Mallory said quickly, too quickly, because Sarah’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Sorry to bother your dinner.” Mallory spun around and beat a quick retreat. She didn’t want to discuss Jac or why she was looking for her. Back in the equipment room, she grabbed her field jacket and flashlight and headed for the woods. As soon as she ducked into the trees, the chill seeped into her extremities. Even in summer the sunlight rarely touched the ground under the canopy of evergreens, and in winter, the bone-deep cold hovered above the ice and snow like a malignant being, sapping body heat and distorting concentration. The snow was mostly gone now, but the soil temperature was still below fifty degrees. It was damn cold. Anyone caught out overnight would be at severe risk for hypothermia. But she wasn’t leaving Jac out overnight—she’d find her before then.

Mallory set off down the main trail, moving fast over familiar terrain, looking for signs of Jac, but not really expecting to find any. Jac was no inexperienced hiker. She wouldn’t leave litter to mark her passing. What the hell was she doing out here, if she was even out here at all? Too late, Mallory considered that Jac might have left base camp altogether. Maybe she’d gone to town. Maybe she wanted to get away—or wanted company.

Except Jac wouldn’t walk out in the middle of a training session without a damn good reason. A trip to town for a little recreation and company just didn’t seem to be her style. Not that Mallory really knew what Jac’s style was, but irresponsibility and flouting authority didn’t seem to be her. Which meant something was wrong.

As soon as she let the thought in, her stomach churned. Not another rookie in trouble. Not Jac. By the time she reached the midpoint of the trail it was getting too dark to see, and she switched on her flashlight. She couldn’t continue to search at night, alone. She’d be at risk herself, and if Jac was out here, possibly injured, then she needed to organize a full-out search and rescue mission. She ought to turn back. She stood in the center of the trail, searching the woods on either side. She couldn’t leave her out here.

A branch snapped off to her right.

“Jac? Jac!”

She waited, heart pounding, and then heard a faint call. Maybe an owl, even a coyote, but she needed the sound to be Jac.

“Jac? It’s Mallory.”

“Hey.”

Mallory spun around. Jac stood a few feet away. Mallory’s heart leapt into her throat. “God Almighty. What in the hell are you doing out here?”

“Sorry,” Jac said somewhat breathlessly. “I was on my way back and my flashlight batteries died. I was headed for the upper trail—better visibility. What are you doing out here?”

“What am I doing out here? What am I doing here.” Mallory’s anxiety morphed into anger. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I was about to pull together an SAR team to come after you.”

“Why?” Jac frowned at her watch. “I’ve only been gone a few hours. I didn’t realize that would be a problem.”

“What the hell, Russo. You walked out of the session this afternoon, didn’t leave word with anyone where you were going, and then didn’t return with dark coming on. What did you think I would think about that?” Mallory was furious with herself for losing her composure, and even more angry at Jac, who stared at her with a confused frown. God damn it, she’d been scared Jac was hurt. She didn’t need that.

“Hell, Mallory. I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”

“You know, that seems to be a habit with you. You don’t think.”

Jac stiffened. “You don’t know me well enough to say that.”

“You put yourself at risk, Russo. Probably in the desert, that kind of behavior was necessary. I get that. I respect you for what you did over there. It takes incredible bravery to put yourself in front of one of those insane devices to save others. But you are not in the desert now. This isn’t war. I can’t have you going off like a loose cannon whenever the mood strikes you.”

“Look, I’m sorry. I—” Jac clenched her jaw, biting off the rest of her sentence.

“You want to explain it to me, then? Why did you leave early today, and don’t tell me it’s because you were winded. You’re in great shape. You took that fall fine. You weren’t winded when you got up. You lost a little air, sure, but you would have been fine in a couple of minutes.”

“You saw that?”

Mallory shook her head. “Don’t change the subject.”

“I was shaky after the drop,” Jac insisted. “I needed to walk it off.”

“For four hours?”

Jac looked away and Mallory’s heart sank. Jac was hiding something. And that was another problem. “Jac,” Mallory said, trying to be reasonable while frustration eroded what remained of her patience. “I need to know what’s going on. If there’s a problem with you, if there’s something that’s not working in the training, I need to know. I need to know that you’re going to trust me to make the right decisions.”

“I do,” Jac said.

“Then what’s your explanation?”

Jac looked away.

“All right. Let’s get back.” Mallory fished around in her pocket and pulled out another flashlight. She tossed it to Jac. “And don’t wander away this time.”

“Mallory.”

Something in Jac’s voice brought Mallory up short. Sadness, or resignation maybe. “What?”

“I know you don’t have any reason to, but if I tell you the reason I left this afternoon has nothing to do with the training or the job, will you believe me? Will you trust me on that?”

Mallory considered. If it wasn’t work, it was something personal. Something Jac didn’t want to reveal. The options were few out here. “If there’s a problem inside the team, that’s just as critical for me to know as if one of the team members is having trouble with the training. It all comes down to the team, Jac. Not you, not me, not any one of us. Only the team matters.”

“I know. I know I don’t have any right to ask you, but I’m going to.” Jac wanted to curse, but only a reasoned argument would win Mallory over. She couldn’t tell Mallory about Hooker—she was not going to dump his bile on Mallory. The guy was a jerk, and she shouldn’t have let him get to her. She sure wasn’t dragging Mallory into it. “If you could just give me a little time to work things out, I promise I’ll tell you if there’s any problem.”

Mallory drew a breath. Oddly, that nagging irritating sensation was gone. Her gut settled. Jac was right in front of her. Jac was fine. “There can’t be a repeat of this, Jac.”

“All right.”

“And know this, Russo,” Mallory said. “If you give me cause to question your judgment or your ability to function as part of the team again, I’m going to let you go. No questions asked.”

“Fair enough,” Jac said quietly.

“Let’s get back. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Mallory turned and walked away. Fairness had nothing to do with it. She was breaking her own rules, and she never did that. She wanted to believe in Jac, and that scared her. Jac Russo scared her to death.

*

“What the fuck, Jac,” Ray muttered while they stood in line at 0530 to board the jump plane. “You keep pissing James off like last night and you’re gonna be screwed.”

“Everything is cool,” Jac said, lying her ass off. Mallory hadn’t come up to the loft until late the night before, and hadn’t said anything other than “Tomorrow is your first practice jump. Get some sleep.”

“If you say so.” Ray looked over his shoulder, then dipped his head. “You nervous?”

“Nah.” She grinned. “It’ll be just like jumping off the platform. And if it isn’t, we probably won’t even know when we land.”

“Wonderful,” he muttered.

“Hey,” she said, laughing. “You’ll have Cooper with you. He won’t let anything happen up there.”

“I know, I know.” Ray glanced at the open cargo doors and the dark interior of the plane’s belly. “I know.”

Mallory slowed beside them. “All set, rookies?”

“Fine,” Jac said, wishing Mallory would actually look at her.

“Totally,” Ray echoed.

“Good. Have fun. Remember to count.”

Mallory walked on and Jac swallowed acid disappointment. She’d fucked up and didn’t know how to make it right, so she did what she knew how to do. Focused on the mission. She ran the jump sequence again in her head. At least she could show Mallory she deserved her spot on the crew.

“Let’s check you out, rook,” Sarah said, coming up with Cooper, who joined Ray. The two veterans checked them over to see that their chutes and harnesses were in order, the steering handles clear, and reserve chest chutes in place.

“All set,” Sarah said. “Questions?”

“I’m good,” Jac said.

They loaded and sat in rows on either side of the cargo bay. When Benny reached two thousand feet, he circled and Mallory pulled open the doors. Frigid wind strafed the interior and Jac’s eyes watered. Sarah gripped her arm.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

“Roger,” Jac said, glad they were jumping first. Now that they were about to do it, she wanted to go.

Mallory dropped a pair of streamers to judge the wind speed and direction, watched for a few seconds, then signaled for Jac to come ahead. Jac moved forward in a crouch until she could sit on the edge of the rail, her legs dangling in the slipstream.

“See the landing zone?” Mallory yelled. “About fifty yards of drift.”

“Roger,” Jac called.

“Ready?”

Jac’s pulse kicked once, hard, then settled. Excitement raced through her. “Yes!”

Mallory’s hand slapped down on her shoulder and Jac pushed out with all her strength.

Jump-thousand—air whipped around her head and her feet jerked up over her head.

Look-thousand—sky and plane passed over her in a swirling flash and the land disappeared.

Sarah dropped out of the plane, a dark blur against the tilting horizon.

Reach-thousand—Jac grabbed the ripcord. Wait-thousand…wait, wait…

Pull-thousand—her body jerked upright and the chute unfurled. She checked her chute—open, no knots, no twists. Sarah drifted down beside her and her chute popped. Jac grabbed the steering toggles and searched for the landing zone.

Time disappeared. The world became a dizzying dance of lush greens, brilliant blues, and blazing sunlight. She was flying, she was free.

Jac yelled, triumphant.