Jenna climbed into Kane’s truck. “Let’s go.”
“Where is Julie now?” Kane set off along Stanton at breakneck speed.
“Moving at about three miles per hour toward the Whispering Caves.” Jo gave Jenna an anxious look. “He must have been using them all along. How did Rowley miss the signs?”
Jenna turned in her seat to look at her. “It’s a huge area of catacombs, there are other ways in and out but not many of them are known.” Her phone chimed—it was Wolfe.
“I’m on Stanton, next to the ski-resort turnoff, I have my flashers on. I can hear a chopper. There’s room for him to land on the road but I need you here now.” Wolfe sounded amazingly calm. “We must board fast before a vehicle comes down the highway.”
Jenna could see his lights ahead. “We’re two minutes away.”
They screeched to a stop behind him, Kane took the Beast off road and parked on the edge of the forest. They jumped out, and grabbed Duke and their backpacks. Wolfe was standing beside his SUV, dressed in his Kevlar vest, helmet and carrying a backpack and medical kit. A chopper appeared from above the
trees, its light searching the road. Kane ran out waving his arms. Wolfe leaned inside his SUV, turned off his flashers and slammed the door. As the chopper landed the bright lights of an eighteen-wheeler appeared on the highway coming fast. Air horns screamed in the distance as they rushed to get on board. Deafened by the whoop, whoop, of the chopper’s blades and engine, Jenna could see Kane’s lips moving but his instructions carried away on the wind. Without warning, her feet left the floor as he lifted her and hurled her inside the chopper. Duke slid past her and rolled into the seats followed by backpacks and a medical kit. Jenna scrambled deeper into the cabin as Jo landed sprawling behind her. Terror gripped her as the oncoming eighteen-wheeler’s lights illuminated the cabin, it was right on top of them. Frantic, she stared at the open door for Kane and Wolfe. The chopper shot straight up and then banked to one side sending her sliding toward the open door on her knees. She hooked one arm around a seat and grabbed Duke’s harness. On her other side, Jo was hauling herself into a seat and strapping in.
The next moment Kane’s head popped into sight. Without effort, he grasped a loop suspended from inside the door of the cab and slid inside. The chopper’s engine roared as they lifted high above the trees. An instant later, Wolfe’s head appeared. He was riding on the skids, his gaze on the eighteen-wheeler passing below them. When Carter hovered above the forest, Kane braced himself legs apart and hauled Wolfe inside. The door slid shut behind them and both men looked at her with raised eyebrows as if surprised to see her hanging on for dear life spread-eagled on the floor, with one hand white knuckled on Duke’s harness. She quickly realized that being in mortal danger in a chopper hundreds of feet in the air was just another day for them. Shaken, Jenna released Duke and crawled to a seat. She stowed her backpack, strapped in, and then attached her headphones. The entire heart stopping pickup had taken less than two minutes.
Jenna looked at the others. Jo appeared to be fine, Kane was securing Duke, and Wolfe was checking his supplies.
“Where to and what’s the game plan?” Carter’s voice came through the headphones. He glanced over his shoulder to Jenna.
Jenna gripped the seat as they banked sharply to the left. “No plan yet. Head toward the mountains, Wolfe will have a bearing for you in a second.”
Wolfe had sat in the seat beside Carter and rattled off coordinates from his phone. “We’ll need to drop into the forest and follow them by foot.” He made a feral noise deep in his throat. “The signal just vanished. The last coordinates are close to the mountain.”
“He’s taken her inside the caves.” Kane frowned. “If we propel down, he’ll hear the chopper and might do something stupid plus we don’t know how to find our way to the Whispering Caves in the dark. It’s not on any GPS maps. We’ll need to use the mountain trail.”
Jenna looked at him. The urgent need to get to Julie burning inside her. “It will be too late. If he has her in the cave we need to be down there now.”
“Wait.” Kane was texting. He looked at Jenna and then back down at his phone. “Atohi and his grandfather are descending the trail from the plateau, they have flashlights and will send up light beams, when they hear the chopper, we’ll propel down to them. It’s faster than negotiating the forest at night.”
“The harnesses, ropes, and gloves are stowed behind you on the left.” Carter rose higher. “Get ready, coming up to coordinates in three minutes.”
“Copy that.” Kane grabbed the harnesses and handed them around. “What about Duke?”
“I’ll take him with me.” Carter was concentrating on the instruments. “He’ll be able to guide me down the trail. Get ready, I see lights.”
“Okay. Kane first and then Jenna, Jo next, and I’ll follow last.” Wolfe stood and checked Jo and then Jenna’s harness. He looked at Jenna. “No arguments.”
“I’ll be right beside you, Jenna.” Kane gave her a nod as if sensing her apprehension. “You remember how to do this right?” He attached his bag to the rope and leaned out watching it drop toward the target.
Trying to stop her bottom lip trembling, Jenna pulled on her gloves. “Yeah, it’s been a while but I’m good to go.”
Fear made her legs tremble as she removed her headset and said a silent prayer. Kane had set up two ropes but she hadn’t repelled from a chopper since training and never in the dead of night onto the side of a mountain. It was dangerous for them and even more so for Carter. The drop would be a long one because if Carter took the chopper closer to the mountain and hit a rocky outcrop, they’d all be dead. Her heart was in her mouth as she attached her backpack to the clip on the rope. On Wolfe’s hand signal, she lowered it out the door being careful not to tangle her rope in the skids. Kane moved without hesitation, and watching him brought back the confidence she needed. He sat with his legs hanging out the door and on Wolfe’s command, turned one-eighty degrees and dropped effortlessly onto the skids facing the door. He looked at her and jumped backward into darkness. The rope moved swiftly through the rappel ring and then Wolfe tapped her on the shoulder.
Fear had her by the throat as she eased her way to the door. The wind buffeted her and the mountain loomed out of the night caught in the chopper’s lights. Paralyzed with fear, she stared into the darkness and then Julie’s face flashed into her mind. She turned and dropped, her feet slipping on the skids. She took a deep breath, tensed her leg muscles, and propelled herself away from the chopper. The next instant the rope was moving through her hands, a latent memory rekindled as she dropped and braked a few times until lights came into view. She heard Kane’s voice yelling at her to slow down. A few feet later and someone had her legs and she fell into Atohi’s strong arms. With her legs threatening to collapse under her, she grabbed his arm to steady herself. “Thanks.” She nodded at his grandfather, Nootau.
In seconds, the ropes were flying back up to the chopper and then Jo arrived as cool as a cucumber and Wolfe dropped down beside them. The ropes went back up and the chopper vanished from sight above the trees. Jenna watched him go. “How will he know where to land?”
“We had friends with us, they’ll be flashing their headlights.” Atohi smiled at her. “Don’t worry. Mingan will lead your friend down the trail and then return to guard the chopper. There is no time to waste. Come this way.” He led the way down a narrow trail.
They’d not walked for more than a few minutes when an explosion rocked the mountain. The ground beneath Jenna’s feet trembled as if the mountain was shaking itself awake. She grasped at branches to steady herself as pebbles rained down on them and rushed past them bouncing up and striking her legs. “Oh, Jesus, I hope that wasn’t the chopper.”
“That came from below and to the right.” Kane used his flashlight to scan the area. “See over there, it’s a dust cloud.”
“That is the main entrance to the Whispering Caves.” Nootau shook his head. “The man heard the chopper. He’s aware we’re after him and must know his way around the caves. Only the elders know the safe ways out of the catacombs.” He frowned. “And not one of them would kidnap a young woman and bring them here.” He shook his head. “Although explorers from the early days made maps. They believed they’d find gold, the fools.”
“How far is the next entrance?” Kane turned to look at him.