Chapter 70
The rope tied at Liz’s waist bit into her lower ribs. Panic roiled through her body as she descended. She could feel saliva slick in her throat.
The fog stole the view below, so it was as if she were going down into nothingness.
Her fingers were working hard, gripping on to nooks and edges to keep herself steady. She lowered her left foot, finding a strong hold for it, then her right. The tendons in her hands fired and strained, lactic acid building in her muscles.
Finding a secure spot to pause, she glanced up. My God! She couldn’t even see Leif through the fog!
She felt as if she’d entered a terrifying, other realm—only connected to reality by the lifeline of a rope. She wanted to feel level ground beneath her. Panic was building hotly in her body. She fought to hold back its rising tide.
Her breath was coming too fast.
“Keep moving!” Leif shouted from somewhere above.
His instruction made her rush, and she was too hurried searching for the next place to put her feet; the spot she found wasn’t secure enough.
Standing only on the tips of her toes, she was taking too much weight in her hands.
They were curled tight around a good hold, but she could feel them beginning to seize. She couldn’t keep her grip!
She cried out as her fingers unpeeled from the rock.
The rope swung her sideways. Momentum propelled her into a steep section and she didn’t have time to put out her hands fully—and her knee smashed into rock. She cried out at the burst of pain that bloomed, hot and instant.
The rock had caught her on the side of the knee, slicing into the soft part of the kneecap. Warm blood trailed down her shin, sliding into her hiking socks.
“What’s happening?” Leif yelled.
She was clinging to the rope, dangling above her death. “Pull me up!”
“Reach for the rock!” Leif yelled.
This is how I die, she thought. This is it.
Her mind was blank with terror.
“Reach for it, Liz!” he bellowed.
Both hands were clinging to the rope, but she was too terrified to let it go and trust in the knot at her waist.
“Do it! The rope is secure. You are safe,” he yelled, tugging at the rope, which jerked a little, shocking her out of her frozen fear.
She stretched out a hand and reached for the rocky wall, finding a solid nook to grip with her right hand. Then she reached with her left. There was a shallow step in the rock face, and she managed to place both boots on it. Her legs were trembling wildly, and her body was cloaked in cold sweat.
“Okay?” he called.
She flattened herself to the rock face, her breathing ragged, mind racing.
“Can you see it yet?”
He wouldn’t let her up until she had the cocaine; she knew that. She took a breath and forced herself to look down.
The bag of cocaine was caught on a prominent ledge just below where she was now standing. All she needed to do was take a side step, then somehow crouch down and pick it up.
“I can see it!” She dragged in a deep breath. “Hold me steady.”
She waited for the swaying of the rope to settle. Her palms were sweating, muscles trembling. She set her toes against the rock face, then she stretched to her right. She could feel the side of her body elongating, ribs expanding, fingertips outstretched. Shit! She couldn’t reach!
She tried again, grimacing as she stretched, the pain in her knee hot and throbbing.
“Got it?”
“Almost!”
She kept her feet against the rock face as she lowered another few centimeters. This time, when she stretched for it, her fingers met the bag.
There! As she lifted it, the weight in her already exhausted fingertips was too much. She could feel the bag beginning to slip.
She tightened her grip, making a fist of her hand around the top portion of the plastic, but her fingers were damp, the purchase too weak.
There was nothing she could do: the bag slid out of her grasp.
No . . . She watched as the cocaine fell, disappearing into the fog.
There was no sound of it landing. Just emptiness.
She clung on to the ledge.
Her breath fizzed in her chest.
From up above came Leif’s voice. “Got it?”
Her mouth turned dry. She looked at her empty hands.
What would Leif do now?
Would he let her back up? Or untie her rope?
Panic built again, tightening her throat.
Stay calm. Think.
“Liz?” he yelled. “What’s going on down there?”
Her hands moved frantically across the rock face, searching. She needed something large. Sharp.
Wedged into the wall, she found a hand-sized piece of rock, one of its edges sharpened into a point. With a surge of effort, she pulled it free.
“Got the cocaine?” he called again.
She pushed the rock deep into her jacket pocket.
“Yes!” she shouted.
Then she felt the tug of the rope, and Liz began the climb up.