by H. L. Wegley
“I’m not surprised. Do you realize that—”
Clank!
She gasped as the door popped open. Katie stared out the door at Whistler Valley a half-mile below her. The thought of falling kicked her in the stomach, leaving a dull, sickening ache.
“Kate?” Josh’s voice was much louder now.
“Please be careful up there.” This was all her fault. She had to get Josh safely inside.
“I’m going to hold on to the yoke this car rides on and lower my legs. Tell me if they reach through the door. Here goes.”
A sliding noise turned the ache in her stomach to nausea. She nearly vomited. You’d better get it together, girl. You’ve got to think.
Josh’s foot appeared at the top of the doorway. A second foot slid down beside it. His jeans were barely visible.
“Can you see my feet?”
“Yes, but I can’t reach them. I’ll fall out the door if I try.”
“OK. I’ll try something else.”
He needed another three feet to swing his lower body inside enough for her to grab him. Three feet…about the length of …”Josh?”
“Yeah. What?”
“What brand are your jeans?”
“They’re not the cheap ones, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Take them off. Put the legs around the yoke and use them to lower yourself down to the door.”
“Take my pants off?”
“You do wear underwear, don’t you?”
“But, Kate—”
“If it bothers you, I won’t look.”
“Sure you won’t. You have to look or you can’t pull me in.”
“Just do it, Josh. You can pull your pants down through the door and put them back on once you’re inside.”
“Can’t. After I opened the door, there’s probably some security person with binoculars trained on me. They already think I’m loony. I’m not going to take my pants off and confirm it.”
“Please, just do it. We’ve got to get you off the top before we reach the lift towers and the terminal. If the towers don’t rake you off, all that equipment in the terminal will smash you.”
“The lift towers on Whistler Mountain passed way over my head. I’m wearing a big leather belt. That’s all I’m taking off. It’ll get me almost as far as my pant legs would.”
With snowcapped peaks surrounding them and the emerald green of Whistler Valley three thousand feet below, Katie waited while Josh thumped around on top of the gondola, removing his belt.
She scanned the interior for hand and footholds. The safety bars beside the door might work to keep her securely inside when she pulled Josh in. But if she lost her grip, or if he lost his—she rejected that thought and instead launched a prayer for Josh, for her, and for escape from the gunmen.
“Coming down now, Kate.”
Two feet inched down from the top of the door. The feet suddenly dropped eighteen inches.
Katie gasped.
Josh’s body stopped. “Kate? I’ve got to straighten my arms to lower myself enough for you to pull me inside. Once I do, I don’t think I can pull myself back up. This is a one way trip—”
“I get it! And I’ll get you, too. Do it now, Josh.”
Katie hooked an arm and a leg around the bar mount meant for passengers to steady themselves. She breathed a short prayer as Josh’s knees appeared at the top of the door.
“I can lower myself one more foot, Kate. That’s all I can do.” His feet were at her waist. But Josh’s center of gravity would be above where she circled him with her arms. If his weight pulled her forward, they would both tumble out the door.
“Can’t hold on any longer,” Josh grunted, desperation in each word.
“Swing your legs out, then let them swing in. When you feel me grab you, let go. And, Josh…if you don’t let go the weight of your upper body will pull me out the door.”
“What about me?”
“I can pull you in. Trust me. Do it on three.”
“Kate, I—”
“I prayed, Josh. It’s the only way. One, two, three…”
His body from the hips down swung out and then back into the cabin.
Kate grabbed his upper legs in a bear hug, leaned backward, pushing with all of her leg strength.
Josh’s back landed on the door step with a thud. His head hung out of the cabin.
Katie teetered toward the door.
His upper body slid out the door, pulling Katie with him.
Panic brought a surge of adrenaline. She ripped at his legs. Lifting with her own legs, she dragged Josh’s body into the gondola.
Her back fell hard against the seat sticking out from the wall opposite the open door. The impact knocked her breath from her. Wheezing to catch her breath and panting from exertion, Katie reached for Josh’s arm. She stood and pulled him to his feet, her arms circled his neck, clamping in a fierce hug.
“Josh…I thought you were—”
“Yeah, me too. You’re choking me, Kate.” Josh’s hoarse voice spoke into her ear.
She relaxed her arms, but wasn’t ready to let go of him yet. Josh had come far too close to pulling them both out the door. She was Katie Brandt, the girl who risked danger to prove she was worth something, to make people need her. This time she had risked another person’s life. A person who wasn’t ready to die, not ready to meet God. Tears stung her eyes and ran down her cheeks. And now she was a weak person. A weak, sobbing fool. She hated her weakness and hated herself for risking Josh’s life.
He gripped her shoulders, holding her at arm’s length, staring at her tear-streaked face. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m so sorry for endangering you, Josh. I’m a fool.” More tears rolled down her cheeks. “A big, blubbering fool.”
He wrapped her snugly in his strong arms, holding her much closer than she had ever allowed any man to do.
She thought of the times that Lee had held her when she cried. Those thoughts made her feel even worse. Like a traitor, because the comfort of Josh’s arms was beginning to feel more like home than Lee. That brought more tears. Katie buried her tear-stained face and snotty nose in Josh’s neck until her sobs subsided.
“You’re no fool, Kate. It’s better that you and I take some risks now than to let these people carry out their plans.”
“Thanks, Josh.” She sniffed, wiped her cheeks again, slipped from Josh’s arms and opened her purse. Katie sat down on a seat, pulling a tissue from her purse, and blew her nose. It’s time to grow up, girl. Get it together or you could still be killed.
Katie pulled her netbook from her purse and opened it. “Sorry for being such a baby. I wasted nearly five minutes of our riding time. The sign at the terminal said it takes a little over eleven minutes to cross. I need to hurry or we’ll run out of time.”
“You never did tell me about your plan—why we’re riding to Blackcomb and then back to Whistler Mountain.”
Her netbook computer booted and the screen lit up. “Help me, Josh.” She sat down beside him and scooted against his side.
“What are you doing, Kate? Are we still on our honeymoon?”
“We need the FBI helping us. I can make that happen if we have a little more evidence for them. Help me scan these files as quickly as possible. If we find anything about a planned act of terror, I’ll call Agent Peterson.”
“Do you actually think he can—”
“Yes. He’ll have someone, maybe the Mounties, protect us until he can get here.”
“So that was your plan? Ride the gondola until we can get the FBI to come to our rescue?”
“It was the plan you nearly hijacked when you started to take over.”
“About that…I’m sorry, Kate. You had a good plan and only you could’ve implemented it. No way could I persuade Peterson to drop everything and come up here.”
“Thanks. But what I really want, Josh, is for you to realize where that plan came from. I want you to know how hard I prayed for your safety when you nearl
y fell off the gondola. He’s a good God, and I trust Him with my life.”
“Good God? Too bad He’s not always around when He’s needed. Bad stuff happens all the time.”
“Hold that thought—bad stuff, good God. Right now, we need to scan these files and pray they’re not all encrypted, because if we can’t find anything in them, our only chance for safety will come from the officials monitoring this gondola. You know, the one with the door that you opened. I don’t think they’re going to be very happy with us at Blackcomb.”
13
Katie sat beside Josh on a bench in the gondola, while the terminal building rushed at them so fast she couldn’t concentrate on her netbook’s screen.
“These files aren’t anything but blog posts about how to self-publish books.” Frustration was written across Josh’s frowning face.
His anxiety was catching. In another minute they would reach the Blackcomb terminal where they might be detained. And, if they were taken down the mountain from there, they could be killed.
“We’re getting close to the terminal, Kate. We need to do something.”
Katie looked up at the terminal growing larger and more ominous looking. A huge, dark cavern, like the jaws of a monster, waited to consume them. Or was it the mouth of the whale that swallowed Jonah? But the whale spat Jonah out. Maybe they could make the Blackcomb terminal behave like that whale. “Josh, lay flat on the cabin floor and don’t move.”
“Come on, Kate. Security has probably been watching this gondola since I opened the door, waiting to nab us at Blackcomb.”
“I’ll pray that they haven’t been.”
“Prayer, again.” He shook his head. “Besides, we can’t hide in this thing. It’s all windows.”
The cabin rocked gently as they slowed inside the terminal.
“You’re right.” She stood and pulled Josh to his feet beside her. “Here’s what we’ll do.” She stepped to the open door of the cabin, pulling him with her. “We’ll block the door. When we slow in front of the waiting passengers, kiss me until we pass the boarding area. I’ll shove my palm at them. No one will bother us. We’re honeymooners.”
Josh’s gaze dropped from her eyes to her lips.
Katie hadn’t so much as kissed a guy since some kid in junior high stole a kiss by surprising her. And here she was again…
Josh didn’t need to be told a second time. His lips pressed softly against hers as he drew her into a convincing embrace.
To ward off boarding passengers, Katie reached out her hand, a hand that had somehow found its way around Josh’s broad shoulders.
People in the periphery of her vision disappeared when she closed her eyes and returned Josh’s kiss. Katie’s eyes popped open when the door snapped shut.
Their lips parted.
They were alone in the cabin.
“Josh…we need to…uh…we have to—”
“Do that again sometime soon?” He smiled warmly at her.
She tried to slow her heavy breathing, hoping Josh hadn’t noticed. “Honeymoon’s over.”
Josh relaxed his arms and she slid free.
Katie shook her head and took another calming breath. “My netbook. According to the big sign in the terminal, we’ve got eleven minutes.” She sat on a bench and opened her computer.
Josh slid in beside her. Close beside her.
“Let’s try something else.”
“Why something else, Kate?”
“It was pretend, a pretend honeymoon.” She gave him a corner-of-the-eye glance. They had just gotten a little carried away like actors do sometimes.
“If you say so. But I guess we do need to get back to work, don’t we?”
What was she about to do? “Yeah. Back to work.” She slid a finger over the touchpad. “I’ll highlight each word that seems forced, awkward, or doesn’t fit. Then we’ll look for patterns.”
Josh’s hand brushed hers as he pointed at a word. “Accelerant…how many writers use that word in their blogs on e-publishing? And here’s another, RC?”
“Keep going. We can’t analyze it until we’ve found enough words.”
In less than a minute, they highlighted five words.
“Three of the words are nine words apart.” She tapped out the intervening word count. “One is eleven, and the other…twenty.”
Josh looked up at her face. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“You mean 9, 11, 9, 11?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you pick what looks like the first word and highlight all the words in the 9/11 pattern.”
Katie started with the letters ‘RC’ and changed the font color of all succeeding words in the pattern. After she scanned the colored words, Katie blew out a blast of air.
Josh whistled through his teeth. “Accelerant, RC, controlled, AC, purchased. I think this tells us what they’re up to. They’re going to bomb something and burn it using radio-controlled planes as drones.”
“But we don’t know what or where,” Katie added. “Regardless, it’s time to call Peterson.” She pulled out her cell phone, hit the contacts icon, and scrolled to the P’s. “You’d better pray this goes well, Josh. Peterson can be a little testy when he gets surprises.”
“I’ll leave the praying to you. You seem to have gotten some results today.”
She smiled at Josh. His mind seemed a little more open to her faith. At least her mention of prayer hadn’t caused an argument or spawned anymore snide remarks. Katie turned on her speakerphone and pressed the green call icon. Josh needed to hear both sides of this conversation. “Come on, Peterson, answer.” Katie’s foot tapped out a snappy rhythm on the gondola coach floor. “He’s not answering. I’m not going to give up and leave a message yet.” She terminated the call at the voicemail prompt.
“Now what?”
She gave Josh a hands-up shrug.
“Well aren’t you going to pray…or something?”
He actually wanted her to pray? If their situation wasn’t so tenuous, she would’ve given Josh a hug. He looked like he needed one. The concern in his eyes revealed his need for someone he could trust, someone like a Lord and Savior. But if she didn’t come up with another plan really soon, Josh might miss his chance for that. And she might miss her chance for…no, it was silly to think about her and Josh in that way.
Katie jumped when her cell played her college fight song. She opened the phone. The number was blocked. “I think it’s Peterson calling from his office phone,” she said as she hit the speakerphone.
“Hello.”
“This is Peterson. Did you just call me, Katie?”
“Yes. We need your help as soon as possible.”
“Not another shooter, I hope.”
“Two shooters are after us and there’s a whole lot more than shooting being planned.”
“Us? Two shooters? Katie, where are you? Who’s with you? And who’s after you?”
“Joshua West, the guy you met at Key Arena is with me. We’re in Whistler on the peak to peak gondola, and two people with guns, terrorists, we think, are after us. Can you have the police here secure at least one end of the run so we can get off?”
“Good grief, Katie. How did you—”
“Don’t ask. We think these people may try to kill us when we make the turn in the terminal.”
“Before I call the Mounties, I need to know what convinced you this is terrorist activity.”
“They plan to use drones with firebombs in an attack on—”
“And how do you know this?”
“It’s spelled out in information I got from the terrorists hard drive and—”
“You need to stop, Katie. You’re in enough trouble, already. Don’t make things worse.” He paused. “OK, you stay on this call and both of you stay on that gondola until you see a uniformed Mountie. I’ll be back in a moment.”
She looked at Josh. “You heard him. We sit tight for now.”
“Kate, if we were sitting any tighter, you’d be in my lap. But what a
re we going to do when this thing enters the terminal? He can’t contact the Mounted Police and have someone magically appear at the terminal halfway up Whistler Mountain in five minutes or less.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. But I pray Peterson has something in mind.”
“We could try to lay flat and hide like you suggested earlier.”
“But someone might get on, and the two terrorists might kill us all. I won’t endanger anyone else.”
She looked at the Whistler Peak terminal. It rushed at them at an incredible speed.
The cabin jerked to a stop.
Katie gasped.
Josh’s arm circled her shoulder and held her as the gondola swung back and forth 300 yards from the terminal.
He squeezed her, and then removed his arm. “I think our friend Peterson did have something in mind.”
She gauged the distance to the terminal. “Even if those two knew where we were, they couldn’t hit us at this distance. Not with their handguns.”
“I hope they don’t try. I feel like a target in a shooting gallery. A literal sitting duck.”
Whap! A hole appeared in the Plexiglas above Josh’s head, showering them with small fragments of plastic.
“On the floor!” Josh yelled.
Katie belly-flopped onto the floor.
Josh hit the floor beside her.
Thwap!
Another hole appeared near the top of the Plexiglas on the terminal side of the cabin.
Katie raised her head and saw two exit holes opposite the terminal side.
Josh’s big hand covered the crown of her head and pushed it to the floor. He monkey rolled over her body, lying beside her on the terminal side.
Josh was shielding her.
“Josh, no!”
“Kate, be quiet and keep your head down.”
“But I don’t want to be quiet. They’re shooting at us.”
“Listen for the shots.”
“I didn’t hear any shots.”
Josh blew out a blast of air. “That’s not good. They’re using silencers or suppressors. They can be hiding near the terminal, watching with binoculars, and shooting at us without being detected.”
She looked at her cell. “Darn it! I lost Peterson’s call.”
