Don't Look Down

by Jennifer Crusie

  A long black metal case lay at the bottom of the locker and he stared at it for several moments, then pulled it out. He ran his fingers along the engraving on the top-his name, with the outline of the Special Forces patch below it. He thought of what Crawford had said about the two killed in the swamp. Sniper.

  He put the case into a specially designed slot on the right side of the backpack.

  He pulled out his keys to lock the Jeep and saw the Superman logo on the key chain Pepper had given him. It felt like a hole opened up in his chest and a cold wind blew through. He leaned forward and put his head on the support for the roll bar and heard Pepper saying, "Soon?"

  "Ah, fuck." He tried to regain control of his breathing, of his heart, of his feelings.

  It didn't work.

  Not right away.

  This is my fault, Wilder thought. My responsibility. I told Lucy they'd all be safe. His phone rang and he grabbed it. "Wilder."

  "Hey, bud," LaFavre said. "Got your message. I was in a briefing. What the hell is going on? We got two gunships locked and loaded. Two lift birds ready to go get some Navy SEALs and kick ass. Waiting on some CIA dickhead's decision."

  "Dickhead named Crawford?"

  "Yep. Standing about twenty feet away with his buddies, acting important. You know him?"

  "Yeah. Weaselly little bastard. Don't trust him. Where are the SEALs?"

  "Close, based on the radio traffic and on the fact the lift birds are to pick them up if called. Within twenty miles."

  SEALs, Wilder thought. Sea-Air-Land. Stud muffins whose brains sometimes turned to mush above the high-water mark, but no one better in the world on, or in, the water. He turned and looked down from the parking lot at the dark water of the Savannah River. Then he looked up from there toward the darkening horizon where the thousands of islands of the low country lay and beyond it the Atlantic. SEAL country. They'd even give Moot a run for the money in the swamp. He'd bet they taught alligator wrestling at Coronado.

  "You there?" LaFavre sounded worried.

  "Yeah."

  "And where is there?"

  "On the Talmadge Bridge getting ready to shoot our last scene with what I have a really bad feeling is live ammo."

  There was a moment of silence. "What is going on?"

  "You know that little girl you gave the sunglasses to?"

  "Pepper." LaFavre's voice slowed. "What happened?"

  "They took her to make sure we kept shooting the movie."

  "Fuck. They planning on giving her back?"

  "That's what they say."

  "What do you say?"

  "I say the bastard who has her just tortured a man and threw him to a gator."

  "What do you need?"

  "You remember that helicopter pilot you hit on?"

  "Karen?"

  "She's in on it. At the airfield now, probably right across the runway from you, getting ready to take the chopper to the bridge. They really need that chopper. Get it and we'll do a trade. Be careful. Karen has a black belt."

  "I got a Glock."

  "She has the coordinates for the pickup, or will shortly. We'll need those."

  "I'll get 'em." LaFavre's voice was grim in a way Wilder hadn't heard since Afghanistan. "Don't worry, bud. We'll get your kid back."

  "Yep." Wilder turned off the phone and nodded as he thought about having people you could count on. A SEAL platoon. LaFavre. Lucy.

  And Pepper. She was five, but she was smart. He thought of her alone with the ghost and shivered in spite of himself.

  Fucking ghost was gonna die for this one.

  Lucy was standing by the bridge rail, scanning every tall building in sight, her muscles tense with worry, when J.T. came to stand beside her.

  "How's it going?" he asked her.

  "Althea's insisting on filming. She won't leave the bridge." And Pepper's out there with a lunatic.

  "Great." J.T. took a deep breath. "Well, we'll set her up on a rope, too, then. Everything else okay?"

  "Pepper's not." Lucy gripped the rail. "She's out there in the dark. With that crazy person. And I can't do anything."

  "I don't think he's crazy out of control," J.I", said, patting her on the shoulder clumsily. "I think he's the one who shot out the skid on the helicopter when Bryce fell. You're not out of control if you can do that. Damn good sniper."

  "Oh, Christ." Lucy shrugged his hand away. "He's the bad guy."

  "Yeah, but he's really good at it," J.T. said. "You gotta respect that and factor it in."

  "You're crazier than Nash," Lucy said. "My next guy is going to be an accountant."

  "There is no next guy." J.T. moved his hand to her waist and pulled her close. "I'm it."

  Lucy leaned into him. "Oh, God, I hope so."

  "Relieve it. We're going to have some stuff to talk about when we get Pepper back."

  Lucy smiled in spite of herself at his "when." Confidence. That's what she needed right now. "What about LaFavre?"

  "I called him. He's in action." He straightened. "I'd rather stay here and pat you, but I have to go teach Bryce to be a hero now. I'll set up Althea's line, too."

  "You got about ten minutes," Lucy said.

  "That should do it." He grinned at her and walked off, and she watched him go and then looked back over the rail at the swamp, wondering if Moot was the gator who'd gotten Finnegan. Since Finnegan was dead at the time, it shouldn't matter, but hadn't Pepper said something about feeding alligators making them unafraid of humans? If you fed them humans, wouldn't that make them even less afraid? And Pepper was out there someplace…

  But someplace high, so no gators. One worry gone. Lucy squinted toward the grain elevators in the distance. I hey were high. But so was the hotel. So were the cranes in the port on the other side of the bridge. So were-

  Gloom came up beside Lucy.

  "We're good to go," he said, handing her a harness for Althea. "Depending on how loosely you define 'good.'"

  "Thanks." Lucy cook the rig and looked up at him, his long, cranky face trying to look sympathetic and just looking pained. Confidence, she thought. Time to stop thinking worst-case scenario, start planning for the future, for when Pepper was back. "Listen, when we get Pepper back, I'm staying down here with her and Daisy. Daisy and I are going to open a southern branch of the business, so you're going to have to run the New York office. From my loft."

  "You sure about this?" Gloom said after a moment.

  "I'm positive," Lucy said. "I need a new lire. And they must need commercials with dogs down here, too, so I should be set." She lifted her chin. "That okay with you?"

  "Under different circumstances, I'd be thrilled," Gloom said, looking depressed.

  "We'll talk when we get her back," Lucy said. "We're going to get her back-"

  "Lucy?" Althea said from behind her.

  Lucy turned and saw the little blond actress, her face drawn and tense.

  "J.T.'s talking to Bryce. He said you wanted to talk to me?"

  "Yep." Get to work, Armstrong. Lucy held up the cable harness that Gloom had given her. "You're going to learn how to rappel off a bridge, babe."

  "I'll go check on the camera," Gloom said and began to leave. Then he turned back. "Thanks. For the loft. And everything."

  "You deserve it." Lucy turned to see Althea looking at the harness with no enthusiasm. "You don't have to do this," Lucy told her. "You don't have to be here at all. You can stay down in base camp."

  "This is my big scene," Althea said, sounding very sure. "I'm going to be in it."

  "Okay. Well, things may go… differently tonight." Lucy pasted a smile on. "So, while I know the storyboards call for you to wear this only as a safety, you might actually have to use it in case you have to rappel over the side."

  Althea looked at her, eyes wide. "What's going on?"

  "We're shooting a scene that could go wrong," Lucy said. "But Bryce will be there to take care of you."

  Althea looked at her doubtfully.

  "And J.T."
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  Althea still looked doubtful.

  "You can trust them, Al. For tonight, there are two men you can trust." Lucy tapped her own chest. "See, even I'm wearing a harness. You and me in matching outfits. Except yours is a size two."

  Althea thought about it. "Okay," she said and stripped off her camisole.

  J.T. looked over and then looked away.

  Nothing to see here, Lucy thought. That he hadn't already seen. Oh, screw that. All that mattered was getting Pepper back.

  "Lucy?"

  "Right." Lucy helped her get the harness on. "Okay," she said when Althea was rigged and clothed again. "Go over and have Nash check it and then have J.T. double-check that."

  "What's wrong with Nash?" Althea asked.

  "Nash is a bad guy," Lucy said. "We don't trust him."

  "Oh." Althea blinked. "Is this the lying thing?"

  Lucy hesitated and then thought, Truth can't hurt. "He kidnapped Pepper and he's holding her hostage until we finish this stunt."

  Althea went white. "He what?"

  "He's doing something crooked, and he needs to make sure the stunt goes off, so he had someone take Pepper into the swamp. And now we have to make sure the shoot goes off as planned so we can get her back. If you don't want to film-"

  "That son of a bitch," Althea said, swinging around to stare at Nash, and Lucy drew back.

  "Yeah, we think so, too." She looked at Althea closely. "You okay?"

  "Yeah," Althea said, recovering. "I was just really happy because Bryce and I are getting married, and this is just ruining my mood."

  "Wonderful," Lucy said, not so sure. "Well, Bryce and J.T. are right over there, so if you want-"

  "I think Us is going to want the pictures," Althea said.

  "Good," Lucy said again, wondering at Althea's lousy pronoun use and then recognizing the name of the weekly. " Us is a great magazine." Did you just hear me say Pepper's been kidnapped'

  "Cutting edge," Althea said. "I was really happy. And now this." She looked furious.

  "The guys are over there," Lucy said, and thought, I'm worried about Pepper and she's upset because the news is a buzz kill.

  Althea headed for Nash, looking grim, and Lucy took a deep breath. Getting close to showtime. She looked back out at the grain towers and then the port cranes. Pepper could be there. Pepper could be anywhere.

  Hang in there, honey, she thought. We're coming for you.

  Wilder had looked over at Lucy helping Althea in time to see Althea strip to the waist. Oh, Christ, he thought, and turned to Bryce to finish explaining Rappelling 101. When he was done, he said, "So you got it?"

  Bryce swallowed hard and nodded, taking a quick glance over the edge of the bridge at the dark water below.

  Wilder continued. "I've already prepped two ropes on the outside of the railing, double-secured with snap links. My own ropes, not Nash's. This is only just in case. You most likely won't have to do it."

  "Right," Bryce said, trying to project confidence and failing miserably.

  "You always have to have an emergency escape plan," Wilder said. "Remember, we talked about that at Bragg when we trained together."

  "Right."

  "Althea's counting on you," Wilder said, trying not to feel guilty. It seemed like a thousand years since he'd gone back to his hotel room to find Althea in his bed. He looked over and saw her with Nash now, getting her harness checked and also evidently bitching him out. She looked furious, and he looked stone-faced. Well, anything that fucked up Nash's day was good by him. He looked back at Bryce. "I think she's tense. You know. She's going to depend on you."

  "Right," Bryce said soberly.

  "Okay, then." Wilder took out his cell phone. "I've got to make a call."

  "Right," Bryce said.

  Wilder peered at him. "You all right?"

  "I'm not a hero," Bryce said. "I'm an actor."

  "Tonight you're both," Wilder said.

  "Yeah?" Bryce began to look hopeful.

  "Yeah. Remember the bar fight? You were right in there, you were my wingman."

  "Right," Bryce said, hope fading. "Except I screwed up."

  "You won't screw this up. Althea is counting on you. Lucy is counting on you. I'm counting on you."

  Bryce nodded.

  "Anything else?"

  "It's okay about you and Althea," Bryce said.

  Fuck.

  "It was my fault, screwing around on her. You didn't know about us."

  Oh, crap. "Bryce-"

  "We're getting married," Bryce said.

  Wilder clapped him on the shoulder. "That's great." You poor son of a bitch.

  "People and InStyle are interested in the wedding."

  "Uh huh," Wilder said, not a clue what he was talking about. What people?

  "I thought you could be my best man," Bryce said. "I mean, if you wanted to be."

  Not really. "You bet, buddy. Now you remember the drill here, right?"

  "Right," Bryce said. "Maybe after the wedding, Althea and I could rappel off a bridge onto our honeymoon yacht."

  "Good idea," Wilder said. "Mention it to her." Before you shove her off the bridge when and if the shooting starts. "Now, I really have to make this call."

  "Not a girlfriend, is it?" Bryce said.

  "What?"

  "The last time, you said it was your girlfriend, but it wasn't. You're on a mission, aren't you?"

  "Yes," Wilder said, surprised Bryce was that acute.

  "Army stuff?"

  "No," Wilder said, and thought, What the hell. "CIA."

  "Whoa." Bryce nodded. "Is that who you're calling? The CIA?"

  "Yes," Wilder said. "Anything else you need before I go?"

  "No." Bryce squared his shoulders. "Anything I can do for you?"

  Wilder looked across the bridge to where Nash was punching numbers into his cell phone, his anger back under control. "Just follow orders and don't go near Nash."

  "Right." Bryce looked over the rail at the ropes again.

  "Hi, baby," Althea said, coming to stand beside him. She looked mad as hell.

  "I'm going to take care of you, Althea," Bryce said in his best leading-man voice.

  "I know, baby," Althea said and looked past him, fury in her eyes.

  Wilder turned and saw Nash talking to Lucy.

  "Could you check my harness, J.T.?" Althea asked.

  "Uh, yeah." Wilder did the fastest check he'd ever done, essentially making sure it was securely attached to her body and she wouldn't slide through it. Her breasts would help in that matter: good anchor points. "You guys are good to go, then," he said and headed for Lucy, phone in hand.

  "Lucy, you have to get Wilder off the damn bridge," Nash said, and Lucy turned around from watching Wilder talking to Bryce and Althea and said, "No."

  It was amazing how normal Nash looked standing there, a little tense, but he was always tense before a stunt, that's why his stunts always went well. He didn't look like a soulless, babynapping bastard at all. God, I hate you.

  "This is crazy, Lucy," he said, leaning in closer. "This guy, he's got you so paranoid, you're working with no crew. This is no way to make a movie, you can't possibly get-"

  "Don't tell me about making movies," Lucy snapped. "It's never been about making movies for you, it's always been about you, you showing off, you getting the girl, you being the fastest gun in the West. I'm sick of it and I'm sick of you." She leaned closer to him. "And I will do whatever is necessary to get Pepper back. If that includes sending you to hell, I will do it with a song in my heart."

  His eyes shifted left, and he said, "What are you talking about?"

  "I am never going to forgive you for taking Pepper. If you don't stop this stupid plan, and give her back, you're dead. I will see to it. Now get off my set."

  "Not a chance," he said, and then J.T. came up behind him and deliberately shoved him out of the way.

  Nash wheeled around, and J.T. said, "Back off."

  "Fuck you," Nash said and walked off.


  "That was immature," Lucy said. "I liked it. Next time knock him off the damn bridge."

  Wilder punched buttons on the phone, listened, and then said, "It's me. Did you get the coordinates?" He nodded. "She give you any trouble?" He nodded again. "Bring it on in close." He clicked off and then dialed another number.

  "What's going on?" Lucy said.

  "LaFavre got the coordinates from Karen. Someone text messaged them to her on his phone."

  "Karen just gave him her phone?"

  "No." He put his attention back on the phone. "This is Wilder." He held it out so Lucy could hear. Crawford, he mouthed.

  "What?" Crawford said.

  "We got a lot of shit going on here," Wilder said.

  "Just stay out of the way and-"

  "Got a five-year-old girl kidnapped."

  There was a long silence. "There's nothing that can be done about that right now."

  "Letsky is more important than the life of a five-year-old?" Wilder asked, but Lucy could tell he already knew the answer.

  "What did you call for?"

  "I know where the meet is. Got the coordinates. I'll give them to you, if you do something for me."

  "What?"

  "You're missing a Major LaFavre. Supposed to be there in one of your birds."

  "Yeah?"

  "He's not AWOL. You assigned him to me."

  "Hell, I don't care. The coordinates?"

  "You assigned him to me. If he gets any backlash from this, people are going to find out how bad you fucked this up."

  "Okay, hell, fine, I assigned him to you. Give me the coordinates."

  "Tango-Alpha, Six, Four, Four, Seven, One, Eight."

  "We'll check them out," Crawford said. "But-"

  "Take guns when you check it out," Wilder said. "Take real Army guys who know how to shoot and stuff. Or even SEALs."

  Crawford hung up and Wilder said, "Asshole," and turned the phone off.

  "Will he do it?" Lucy asked.

  Wilder nodded. "Yeah, but getting Pepper back is up to us." He started punching numbers into his phone again. "Okay, now we do leverage." He waited, holding out the phone so Lucy could hear.

  "She's still breathing and talking," the voice came.

  "I'm not as slow as you think, Ghost Boy," Wilder said. "You have something I want back, and I have something you want back."