Slayers (Jake Hawkins Book 1) (35 page)

“
Jesus, Zoe, can it see you?
”

A pause that felt like it lasted years.
“
I don
’
t think so.
”
Another.
“
Okay, it
’
s gone. You need to get me out of here. Please. I know you know what these things are. I know that
’
s why you were being secretive. And I don
’
t care.
”

“
Look, Zoe, I can
’
t. If you stay
…”

“
Jake!
”
she shouted.
“
I flew you here. I helped you. You need to help me. Please. And I
’
m not some damsel in distress. A broken nail isn
’
t going to kill me. These things are going to kill me. I
’
m not exaggerating.
”

“
I know you
’
re not.
”

Jake banged his fist against the wall in frustration. He couldn
’
t let this go. He knew what he had to do. It wasn
’
t going to be easy.

“
Okay, Zoe, stay there,
”
he said, thinking.
“
You told me you have a satellite phone. Does it have co-ordinates on it? GPS?
”

“
Yeah, it does.
”

“
Read them to me.
”

Zoe told him the latitude and longitude of her location. Jake relayed the details to Irene, who in turn scribbled them down on a piece of paper. He became acutely aware that a rescue might not be too far-fetched after all.

“
Don
’
t make a noise, Zoe,
”
he said.
“
I
’
m coming to get you.
”

He snapped the phone shut.

Wolfe looked up.
“
Who was that?
”

“
Zoe,
”
he said.
“
She
’
s the girl who flew us here.
”

Wolfe cocked an eyebrow. He turned to Felix and Thorn.
“
You got Dan McCloud
’
s daughter wrapped in all this?
”

“
We didn
’
t have much of a choice,
”
Thorn said half-heartedly, preoccupied with tending to Crank
’
s wound.

“
She
’
s down there in Iquitos,
”
Jake said.
“
It
’
s our responsibility to get her out.
”

“
We
’
re not doing anything,
”
Wolfe said.
“
Doesn
’
t matter who she is, I can
’
t put her safety over the safety of an entire city. I
’
m sorry, Jake.
”

“
Then I
’
ll do it myself.
”

“
Don
’
t be an idiot. You want to risk your life for the girl? Let me guess, you two have a thing.
”

Jake ignored the prodding.
“
I promised I would get her. I won
’
t be able to live with myself if I let her die.
”

“
I won
’
t let you.
”

“
You want to just leave her there to die? I thought Dan was your friend.
”

Anger flashed in Wolfe
’
s eyes.
“
Don
’
t lecture me about leaving people to die. There
’
s tens of thousands of people in danger down in Iquitos, not just your girlfriend. Even if you manage to get Zoe, I can just give you the same charade about leaving everyone else to die. But it
’
s not even about that, Jake. If we had time, I
’
d storm in there and get her myself. There
’
s millions of people at risk if Archfiend unleashes the horde in Washington.
”

“
She
’
s important to me, Wolfe,
”
Jake said.
“
What if it was your wife down there?
”

Wolfe hesitated just a fraction too long. Jake remembered the framed photograph back at the house. His initial guess had been correct.

“
Look, Jake, I can
’
t stop you from doing whatever it is you want to do,
”
he said.
“
But I can at least advise against it.
”

“
I don
’
t care.
”

“
Then go for your life. But you
’
ll have to be quick, and you
’
ll need a plan. We can
’
t drop you off. A chopper this big will attract way too much attention. There
’
ll be hundreds of slayers on our location in the blink of an eye.
”

No-one spoke.

“
Any bright ideas?
”
Wolfe said, his tone laced with sarcasm.

Jake eyed the backpacks underneath each seat.
“
These are parachutes, right? I can skydive in. That
’
ll be quiet. That won
’
t attract attention. There
’
s empty cars all over the place down there. I
’
ll get Zoe, and you pick us up. We
’
ll be in and out before the slayers know what hit them.
”

Wolfe raised an eyebrow. Jake could see sudden worry on his face, as he realised Jake was serious and the plan was just about feasible.
“
Ever jumped out of a plane before?
”

“
Once. It was a tandem. My old friend Liam bought it for me as a birthday present.
”

“
Having an instructor do all the work is immensely different to the real thing, Jake. You
’
re in for a rude awakening.
”

“
That
’
s alright. The guy let me steer and everything.
”

Wolfe smiled.
“
I
’
ve got to say, you
’
re a changed man. This time a few months ago, you would have been a nervous wreck.
”

“
I
’
ve been through so much,
”
Jake said.
“
It
’
s going to take something pretty extraordinary to scare me.
”

“
Well,
”
Wolfe said,
“
it
’
s your call. If you want, you can skydive in. You
’
re your own man now. You can make your own decisions.
”

“
I
’
ll do it,
”
Jake said.

“
Let
’
s get you geared up.
”

“
You don
’
t want to come?
”

“
You need to attract the least amount of attention possible. You know what you
’
re doing. I trust you to get the job done.
”

“
Scared of jumping out with me?
”
Jake teased.

“
Kid, I
’
ve done more skydives than you could imagine. It was part of life in the Delta Force.
”

“
Well, you
’
d better give me a crash course.
”

Wolfe smiled.
“
I
’
ll let Irene know you
’
re leaving shortly.
”

Jake reversed the Snowdog
’
s holster so that instead of resting against his back, it was strapped to his chest. He slotted the huge gun in and secured it, then grabbed the parachute out from under his seat and stepped delicately into the harness.

It was heavy. Two straps went around his upper legs, which he tightened, and then another strap clicked into place across his chest. Wolfe adjusted them until they were just tight enough not to constrict movement. A new kind of fear began to creep into his stomach. The air grew cold. Suddenly, he realised how far off the ground the chopper was. Was this a rational plan?

How hard can it be?
he asked himself. Compared to going toe to toe with a slayer, pulling a cord was child
’
s play. He felt back for the orange pulley and clasped it between white knuckles.

“
Alright, Jake, this is going to be scary,
”
Wolfe said.
“
I mean, really scary. I take it you haven
’
t done an AFF course?
”

“
What the hell is that?
”

“
Wonderful. This is what I want you to remember. When you jump out, the wind is going to hit you.
Arch your back.
It
’
s critical, no matter what position you
’
re in. That
’
ll straighten you out in the air. I want arms and legs splayed, like this.
”
He spread himself out like a starfish.
“
Legs slightly bent, but not at ninety degrees. Usually, when people learn to do this, they have instructors holding onto them, to keep them stable. You might be shaky. Just breathe. You need to relax as much as possible.
”

“
Okay.
”

“
Don
’
t hang around in freefall. You
’
ve never done this before. As soon as you
’
re even remotely stable, reach back, get a grip on the pilot chute and pull it out. Don
’
t panic if the chute doesn
’
t come out straight away. Count to five. If it
’
s not out after five seconds, throw one shoulder over. The pilot chute might be hanging around in the dead air on top of you. You want it clear, so it can rip your main parachute out. Got it?
”

“
I think so.
”

“
Once you
’
re under canopy, steer with the toggles. There
’
ll be one on each side. Pretty simple stuff. When you come into land, pull down on both toggles. It
’
ll flare the canopy. You
’
ll slow down.
”

“
Okay.
”

Irene yelled from the cockpit.
“
We
’
re almost above the location Jake gave me! One minute till I open up!
”

They were the longest sixty seconds of Jake
’
s life. He spent the time pacing up and down nervously, attempting to quash his twisted gut.

“
Thirty seconds!
”

“
Good luck, kid,
”
Wolfe said.
“
You
’
ve got this.
”

Jake breathed in deep and stared at the rear ramp. The dark, hulking wall loomed ominously over his head. He started to count the scratches and dents that covered its surface. Anything to take his mind off what was about to happen.

The ramp lowered with a hiss of escaping air. As soon as there was a sliver of a gap, the wind came howling in, drowning out all noise. Instinctively, he was terrified. His brain was screaming for him to back out.