Page 137 of One Last Shot

Yeah, lies had done a number on her.

She hung up the pack, then picked up a coil of rope, re-coiling it, tying it, and hanging it on the rope rack.

Oaken deserved better from her.

“Boo, we’re out of here,” Shep said, sticking his head into the room. “We’ll be back in a few hours.”

“I’m making chili.”

He gave her a thumbs-up. “Glad you’re back. You were missed.”

“Yeah, well, I wish I wereout there with you.”

“It’s enough that you’re here.” He tapped the doorframe and headed out.

Yeah, lies had created chaos in her life. Made her believe she had to do more, be more.

And now she was humming that stupid song.

“I reach out to the stars, beggin’ for a sign,

Hopin’ she’ll hear this broken heart of mine.

If only I could find the words to say,

Maybe she’d come back to me one day.”

Aw. She finished re-coiling the ropes and reorganizing the tech on the webbing. Then she went to the gear in the corner. A parachute pack, and inside, the broken chute. Mike’s gear.

She pulled out the chute and brought it to the chute room to lay on the long table and refold.

The chutes had been repacked since her last time in here, the packs all neatly hung on hooks. Now, Mike’s silk fluttered out as she laid it on the table.

The cut ran down one of the sections, and she picked it up to examine it. Frayed edges, jagged, torn from the violence of the wind. So, just an accident.

Except, as she ran her fingers along the tattered edge, the rip became less ragged, smoother.

As if it had been cut. Or at least ripped with something sharp. Like a knife.

Huh.

She folded the chute up and put it into the pack, zipping it up. It was then she noticed the PLB clipped to the webbing, and once again, Oaken was in her head.

“That would have been nice to have when I was out with Mike.”

Yeah, he was a real hero. The kind worth waiting for.“First rule of rescue—don’t panic. Useyour resources.”

She should start listening to herself.

She carried the pack tothe main area.

Two hours. She should get the chili going.

Her cell phone buzzed on the table, so she went over and picked it up.

Drew in a breath.Blake.

No. Never.