12. Over The Edge
Over The Edge
Hope
Forest steps off the terrace.
With me strapped to the front of him.
For one horrifying second, there’s nothing beneath us.
Nothing.
My scream tears out of me as the hotel disappears above and the lights of Las Vegas rush toward us below.
Oh my God.
Oh my God!
I’m falling off a building.
My hands grab Forest’s arms even though he specifically told me keep my arms tucked in.
“I’ve got you!” he shouts.
Easy for him to say.
He’s insane.
They’re all insane.
HAVEN is an organization staffed entirely by lunatics who rescue kidnapped women by throwing themselves out of airplanes and then off hotels.
Something snaps open above us.
The harness jerks.
Our fall changes.
I gasp and squeeze my eyes shut.
“Hope.”
I hear Forest through the rush of air.
“Open your eyes.”
Absolutely not.
“Hope, look.”
I make the mistake of trusting him.
Las Vegas spreads beneath my feet.
The Strip blazes behind us, towers covered in light, traffic threading through the streets, the whole city glittering against the black desert.
And we’re floating above it.
Flying.
A laugh escapes me before I can stop it.
Forest laughs behind me.
“Better?”
“No!”
But I’m laughing again.
Fontainebleau is already behind us. That room is behind us. The men who took me are behind us.
For the past day, my entire world was walls and locked doors and wondering whether anyone knew where I was.
Now there’s nothing around me but air.
I’m free.
The thought hits harder than the jump.
I’m free.
Forest steers us toward a dark open area several streets away. I can make out vehicles below and figures looking up.
One of them starts waving.
“Jax,” Forest says near my ear.
I laugh again.
Of course it is.
We drop lower.
“Legs up when I tell you.”
“Okay.”
“Now.”
I lift them.
We hit the ground harder than I’m expecting and slide, Forest taking most of it behind me.
Then we stop.
For half a second, I stay right where I’ve landed, sprawled in Forest’s lap with his arms still around me.
Alive.
Safe.
Free.
Forest releases something on the harness.
I push myself upright.
“WHOO!”
The sound explodes out of me.
Forest starts laughing.
I don’t care.
I just jumped off a freaking skyscraper.
I throw both arms into the air.
“That was AMAZING!”
“You screamed the whole way.”
“I did not.”
“You absolutely did.”
Someone runs toward me.
Jax.
He reaches me before I’m fully out of the harness and pulls me into a hug.
“Jesus, Hope.”
I wrap my arms around him.
“I’m okay.”
He holds me tighter.
“You’re okay.”
Another set of arms catches me when Jax finally lets go.
Matthias.
I barely know him, but right now I don’t care. I hug him back as hard as I can.
When he pulls away, his face is completely different from the man I saw earlier.
“I found my sister.”
I stare at him.
“What?”
“At your hotel. After ten and a half years.” His voice breaks. “I found her.”
Before I can ask anything else, there’s a shout from above.
We all look up.
Three parachutes are descending through the Vegas night. More of the people who came for me.
They land one after another, gathering their canopies before heading straight toward us.
The first one reaches me and opens his arms. I laugh and hug him before I even know his name.
Forest comes up beside us, still gathering his chute.
“Hope, Jasper.”
Jasper grins. “Hell of a first meeting.”
The next man steps in.
“Col.”
I hug him too. Then the third.
“Pete.”
By the time Forest finishes the introductions, I’ve somehow hugged all three of them like we’ve known each other for years.
Surviving kidnapping has temporarily turned me into someone who hugs enormous paratroopers on sight.
Fine by me.
I stand in the middle of all six men, laughing so hard there are tears on my face.
Yesterday I was walking across Stanford thinking about classes.
Today I’ve been kidnapped, held prisoner, rescued by a man dropping out of the sky, strapped to his body and jumped off a Las Vegas hotel.
And somehow, standing here surrounded by the people who came for me, I’ve never felt more alive.
Private airfield, Las Vegas. 2205 hours.
By the time we’re all in the vehicles, some of the wild exhilaration has finally started to settle.
Some.
I’m sitting beside Forest in the back with a blanket around my shoulders, staring at him.
He catches me doing it.
“What?”
“How did you get here?”
He looks confused. “You were there for that part.”
“Not the jumping-off-the-building part. Vegas.”
“Oh.”
Jax laughs from the front.
Forest gives him a look before turning back to me.
“Holiday with my mates.”
I blink. “You were already in Vegas?”
“Yeah.”
“Doing what?”
He grins. “Apparently rescuing you.”
I look toward the other vehicle carrying Jasper, Col and Pete.
“The three lunatics who jumped with you?”
“Those would be them.”
“You were on vacation.”
“Yep.”
“And then I got kidnapped.”
“Pretty much.”
“And somehow your vacation turned into jumping out of an airplane to rescue me.”
His mouth curves.
“Wasn’t on the itinerary.”
I start laughing. I can’t seem to stop doing that tonight.
The private airfield comes into view, and the Blackstone Learjet is already waiting. The sight of it does something strange to me.
An airplane means leaving. Leaving means this is actually over.
Forest’s expression changes when he looks at me.
“You okay?”
“I think so.”
Jax turns in his seat. “Mercy’s waiting for you in San Francisco.”
That decides it.
“I want to go home.”
“Then we’re taking you home,” Forest says.
I look at him. “You’re coming too?”
“Yeah.” His smile spreads. “Me and the boys can continue our holiday in San Francisco.”
“Your Vegas holiday that I ruined?”
“Wouldn’t say ruined.”
“Forest, you jumped out of an airplane.”
“Exactly. Holiday improved considerably.”
I laugh and shake my head.
The vehicles stop beside the jet.
Matthias climbs out of the other one and comes straight to me. Whatever joy was on his face at the drop zone is still there, but now there’s urgency underneath it.
“I need to go back.”
I know immediately what he means.
“Your sister.”
He nods. “I’ve waited ten and a half years. I can wait another hour while we work out how to get her out safely.”
Jax joins us.
“I’m staying with him.”
Forest looks between them. “Hotel?”
“The one we’re already using,” Jax says. “We know the layout, we’ve got rooms there, and nobody has connected us to Sandie.”
Matthias glances toward the city.
“We watch her tonight. We find out who controls her movements, where she goes after the performance and who stays with her. Then we make a plan.”
No rushing in. No grabbing her because Matthias desperately wants his sister back. I understand that kind of restraint now.
It’s smart.
Forest looks at Jax. “Learjet can come back tomorrow.”
“That works.”
“And you don’t move on Sandie without HQ knowing.”
Jax gives him a look. “Yes, boss.”
Forest grins. I get the feeling there’s something behind that exchange.
Matthias steps forward and hugs me again.
“Go home, Hope.”
I squeeze him tightly.
“You bring your sister home too.”
His eyes close briefly.
“I will.”
Jax hugs me next.
“Mercy’s going to flatten you.”
“I’m counting on it.”
He laughs and steps back.
Jasper, Col and Pete are coming with us. It’s a long way back to Canada, and after tonight I doubt another few days of gambling are going to top the thrill they’ve just had.
Besides, HAVEN might find something useful for four experienced paratroopers to do in San Francisco. It’ll keep them off the streets.
We board.
Forest sits beside me while the engines start, and I watch Jax and Matthias through the window until the jet begins to move.
They’re heading back into Las Vegas for Sandie. I’m heading home to my sister.
I reach for Forest’s hand. He looks down at our fingers, then at me.
“Thank you. For saving me.”
“Anytime.”
I narrow my eyes.
“Let’s not make this a regular thing.”
His laugh follows me as I settle back into the seat.
Since yesterday morning, every choice has been taken away from me.
Now I’m leaving because I choose to.
And every mile between Las Vegas and home belongs to me.
Blackstone Learjet. 2245 hours.
The second the seat belt light goes off, Forest touches his earpiece.
“Janice, we’re airborne.”
Her answer comes through his comms, but I can’t hear what she says.
“Yeah, Matthias checked her before we left. Alert, oriented, pupils normal, no dizziness or nausea. Nothing suggesting she’s currently impaired, but he wants her properly checked when we land.”
I lean toward him. “Tell her I’m fine.”
Forest looks at me.
“She says she’s fine.”
I narrow my eyes.
“And starving.”
His mouth twitches.
“And apparently starving.”
I hear laughter faintly through his earpiece.
“Copy. See you in about ninety minutes.”
He settles back into his seat.
“Janice says your sister is waiting.”
My eyes sting.
“And probably half of HAVEN by the time we land.”
That sounds about right.
I discover approximately six minutes later that Serenity Michaels may be my favorite person in the world.
The flight attendant appears from the galley with a cart loaded with food. I stare at it.
“Is that dinner?”
“Serenity arranged it before the aircraft left San Francisco,” she says with a smile. “She said there would be five hungry people coming home.”
I’m already staring at the food.
Chicken wraps. Sandwiches. Pasta salad. Fruit. Chips. Cookies. Enough food to make me realize just how long it’s been since I’ve eaten anything substantial.
Forest looks at me. “Hungry?”
My stomach answers with an embarrassingly loud growl.
Every man in the cabin hears it.
“Oh, shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were going to.”
The flight attendant hands me a plate, and I don’t even pretend to have manners.
The first bite nearly makes me groan.
“Oh my God.”
Forest laughs. “That good?”
“You have no idea.”
I eat another bite before I’ve properly swallowed the first.
Across the aisle, Jasper, Col and Pete attack their food with considerably less dignity than I am, which makes me feel better.
Forest takes a wrap and stretches his legs out. For several minutes, nobody talks much. We just eat.
And slowly, the impossible day starts catching up with me.
The kidnapping feels surreal like it happened to somebody else.
Stanford. The parking structure. Hands grabbing me. The SUV. The plane. Las Vegas. The penthouse. Then Forest.
I look at him. He’s halfway through his wrap when he notices.
“What?”
“You really jumped out of an airplane for me.”
“Technically, four of us did.”
“And then you jumped off a hotel with me.”
“That part was just me.”
I shake my head.
“You’re completely nuts.”
“So you keep telling me.”
I smile and take another bite. I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather be rescued by.
Serenity arranged this meal before she knew whether they would get me out.
Mercy is waiting at the other end of the flight.
Matthias found the sister he’s searched for for over a decade and went straight back to work trying to bring her home too.
And four men turned a vacation in Vegas into a rescue mission because somebody needed them.
I look around the cabin.
I’ve understood for a long time why my sister loves HAVEN.
Tonight, I understand what it feels like to be the person they come for.
San Francisco. 0025 hours.
Dimitry is waiting when we land.
Crew is in the passenger seat of the SUV, and somehow seeing two more familiar HAVEN faces makes the last of the tension ease out of me.
Crew turns around as Forest and I climb into the back.
“Welcome home, Hope.”
“Thanks.”
Dimitry catches my eye in the mirror. “You okay?”
“Ask me tomorrow.”
He smiles. “Fair.”
Forest settles beside me, close enough that our shoulders touch as Dimitry pulls away from the airfield.
Jasper, Col and Pete are following in another vehicle. HAVEN really is taking responsibility for keeping four Canadian paratroopers off the streets.
San Francisco slides past outside the window.
Home. Almost.
I’ve already been told I’m not going back to Stanford tonight. Whoever ordered my kidnapping knows where I live, knows my routine and knows enough about me to take me from a parking structure in broad daylight.
Until HAVEN knows exactly who was behind it, I’m still a target.
“Where am I staying?” I ask.
“Mercy and Jax’s,” Crew says. “Security’s already been checked. You won’t be alone.”
I smile.
“My sister decided that?”
“Your sister, Janice, Steve.” Crew pauses. “Probably everyone, actually.”
“Democracy in action.”
Forest chuckles beside me. I turn toward him.
He looks tired now. Maybe not enough that anyone else would notice, but I’ve spent the last few hours looking at him.
The man was on vacation this morning.
Then I got kidnapped and somehow his day ended with him falling thirty thousand feet through the Nevada sky, breaking into a penthouse and jumping off a building with me strapped to him.
There’s something I haven’t done properly yet.
“Forest.”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“You already thanked me.”
“Not properly.”
Before I can overthink it, I lean across and kiss him.
I mean it to be quick. A thank-you. Nothing complicated.
His lips meet mine, and complicated lasts approximately half a second.
The kiss deepens. My hand finds the side of his face, and his slides gently around my waist as I move closer. Heat rushes through me so quickly it catches me completely off guard.
This was not part of the rescue plan. Forest pulls back just enough to look at me.
His eyes are darker.
“Hope.”
I should probably move away. I kiss him again instead.
This time he knows it’s coming.
His hand moves into my hair and his mouth slants over mine, warm and hungry, and the entire insane day disappears for several wonderful seconds.
Somewhere in the front seat, Crew clears his throat.
Loudly.
I break away laughing.
Dimitry keeps his eyes firmly on the road.
“Don’t look at me,” he says. “I’m driving.”
Forest laughs against my forehead.
Crew looks out his window. “And I’ve suddenly become fascinated by San Francisco architecture.”
My face is burning. I’m also grinning.
Forest’s arm stays around me. No awkwardness. No pretending that didn’t just happen.
I rest my head against his shoulder.
“Still glad I ruined your vacation?”
He turns his head and kisses my hair.
“Best vacation I’ve had in years.”
The lights of Blackstone Ventures appear ahead.
Mercy is waiting there.
So are Janice, Steve and probably everyone else who refused to go home until they saw me walk through those doors.
Tomorrow we can work out exactly who took me and why.
Tomorrow Forest and I can work out what the hell that kiss was.
Tonight, I’m safe.
And I’m going home with my sister.