The Woman Left Behind: A Novel Read online

  He got in front with Boom, and she boosted herself into the backseat. Boom’s truck wasn’t as high as Levi’s, maybe because he had a wife and two kids who also rode in the truck, but these days she wouldn’t have had any problem, anyway. Legs of steel, she thought triumphantly, and although that was an exaggeration, she was in the best shape of her life. Maybe the legs of steel had enough coil and strength to them to keep her from breaking her neck when she landed. Or maybe she could use them to kick Levi out of the plane.

  “I like your truck,” she chirped to Boom, knowing her tone would irritate the shit out of Levi, and maybe Boom, too, but Levi was her target and Boom would have to be collateral damage. “It doesn’t look like a pouty Darth Vader owns it.”

  Pouty. Boom coughed to disguise what was likely a laugh, and Levi slowly swiveled his head to give her a basilisk stare. She gave him a sweet, very insincere smile. This was fun. For a few seconds she could forget that her knees were knocking together.

  The landing strip Boom drove to was in rural Virginia, surrounded by farmland. The strip wasn’t busy, not this early, though a few planes were tied down beside a large, rusty Quonset hut with a rough but serviceable wooden addition jutting out to the left. Two other vehicles were there, but no one was in sight. A Twin Otter sat on the strip, and a fit-looking guy in jeans and a leather jacket was slowly going around the plane, examining every exterior detail.

  Just a few months ago she’d have thought a Twin Otter was a pair of cute critters, but now she not only recognized it, she knew it was considered one of the best planes for jumping. Yay for her. If only her test was on paper instead of practical experience, she’d ace the damn thing.

  “I rigged the chutes myself,” Boom said to Levi. “Most I’ve ever done at one time.”

  “We’ll probably need them all,” Levi replied.

  Meaning they were going to keep at it until she either made a jump or died? Probably. Surely they wouldn’t have time for more than two or three jumps . . . would they? She was the only trainee, though, and they were the only jumpers on the plane. They’d be limited by the time it would take the plane to take off, climb to altitude, then land again, plus however much time it took to pick them up from the landing zone. Her heartbeat kicked into another gear, hard and fast. They were really going to do this.

  “Where’s the landing zone?” she asked, hoping it was miles away because that would slow everything down.

  “Next field over,” Levi said, jerking a thumb to the right. “I would’ve made it here, but there’ll be other planes landing and taking off. I’ve arranged for us to be picked up.”

  Of course he had. Why couldn’t they just wait in the field until the plane landed and Boom could pick them up? That would have killed some time. But no, Levi had to be efficient, so they could get in more torture sessions.

  Frantically she pulled up the memory of zip lining. Her stomach had been in her throat then, too; stepping off into nothing and trusting the line to hold her had required all her nerve and gumption, but once she’d taken that first step everything had been okay. Maybe this would be like that. The guys had said it was, though they could have been lying. Maybe she’d automatically focus on what she was doing rather than what was happening. Maybe it would be okay.

  The sky was a big blue bowl, completely cloudless, as if trying to make up for the days of rain. Too bad, because she had really prayed hard for that rain to continue for the next year or so. There was a chilly breeze, but nothing that would interfere so there was no help on that front. The weather was not cooperating. Jina forced herself to take slow, steady breaths, trying to slow her heartbeat. The air smelled fresh and crisp, tinged with the smell of fuel. A few birds were calling back and forth, not the mad singing they did in spring but a kind of desultory “we’re here” notice.

  Boom got the harnesses from the back of his truck and Jina began gearing up. She was concentrating on getting the straps straight and in the right place, so it took her a minute to realize Levi, not Boom, was putting on the other harness. She stopped. “I thought Boom was jumping with me.”

  “I’m not certified for tandem jumps,” Boom replied. “Ace is.”

  “Oh, shit,” she said, so dismayed that she said it aloud.

  “Got a problem with it?” Levi asked, his tone hard.

  “Well, I do trust Boom not to cut me loose in midair if I vomit on him.” Oh Lord, she was going to be harnessed to Levi. She didn’t want to be even this close to him, much less strapped so closely to him they’d essentially be spooning.

  Boom snorted a laugh, and even Levi gave a quick grin. “You won’t vomit,” he said, and it was as much of a command as it was a reassurance.

  She pulled on her knit hat and Boom said, “That won’t stay on.” Sighing, she tucked it back into her pocket and instead stuffed the thick braid of her hair down the back of her sweatshirt.

  “Why won’t it stay on?”

  “Because we’ll be going a hundred and twenty miles an hour when we leave the plane,” Levi said.

  She blanched and tried not to think about it. Her heart started that pounding again. Was it possible to die from fright? She might not have to go splat; Levi might flare his parachute for a perfect landing with a corpse strapped to his chest.

  The idea was ghoulish enough that she felt a bit comforted, and the panic subsided. With luck, the experience would scar Levi so much he’d never be able to jump again. Would that be justice, or what?

  She was kind of in a daze as they boarded the plane and the two engines coughed to life. The Twin Otter was roomier on the inside than she’d expected: benches lined each side, and she slid onto one of them, buckled herself in. Boom closed the door, and he and Levi took their seats. Levi was right beside her, so close his left leg was touching hers. Silently she shifted her legs away from him.

  The pilot, who Boom had introduced as Air Bud because his nickname really was Bud, released the brakes, the engine noise changed, and the plane began moving. The copilot was Bud’s wife, a jumpsuit-wearing redhead with a broad grin and a lot of freckles. Jina wanted to go forward and commiserate with her about what jerks men were, but Boom wasn’t a jerk and she didn’t know about Bud so she clenched her hands on the edge of the bench and stayed where she was.

  The plane lifted away from the earth and began a steady climb. Levi got to his feet and he and Boom began making preparations that Jina didn’t watch. She was too busy trying to catch regular breaths and talk her stomach down out of her throat. Her mouth was dry, her legs trembling. She didn’t have to watch to know when the door was opened, because cold air rushed through the cabin.

  She had dreaded a lot about all the training stuff, but she hadn’t been actively frightened. Now she was. No, frightened was too mild a word; she was terrified, and it wasn’t something she could talk herself out of.

  Then Levi sat down beside her again, tapped her on top of the head, and said, “Time.”

  Mutely she looked up at him, the details of what she was supposed to do lost somewhere in the fog of silent panic. He waited, but no matter how frantically she searched her brain, no details surfaced. She was here. She was about to be forced out of the plane. Nothing else came to mind.

  An unreadable expression flickered across his face. Silently he scooped her up and sat her on his lap, her back to him, her legs straddling his.

  Whoa!

  Jina jerked, as shocked as if he’d thrown water in her face. Physical sensations rushed in—the heat and hardness of his body against her back and under her butt and thighs, his breath on her hair—all of it tangling with fear and numbness and throwing everything off-kilter because no one component fit with any of the others. What the hell was he doing? And right in front of Boom!

  Clumsily, none of her muscles working in coordination, she tried to shove herself off his lap. He grunted and clamped his right arm around her hips and hauled her back down. “Be still,” he growled. “This is the easiest way to get us harnessed together.”