BASE jumping: an extreme sport involving leaping from a fixed object with a parachute. The acronym comes from Building, Antenna, Span, Earth, the four places a jumper leaps from to launch.
An ultra-compact ram-air parachute nestled on Maliha’s back, running from shoulder to waist and tightly compressed in a pack. She deployed her pilot chute manually as soon as she jumped. There had been no time to attach a static line to the building, which would have automatically opened the pilot chute as she jumped. She had only ninety feet of air space to the ground—giving her a dangerously short, almost impossibly short, amount of time to slow her descent. Most BASE jumpers preferred six or eight times that height in order to enjoy tracking in freefall, opening their chutes when they got closer to the ground.
Maliha had no tracking time at all. The main chute snapped open partially and she half fell, half glided, unable to maneuver well. She tucked up her legs as she passed over the fence closer to the building, then made it over the outer fence, but the fence snagged the chute. Her shoes were a few feet from the ground, but she was held in place by the harness.
A bullet from behind her snapped one of the harness straps above her head, and she cut the other one with a knife. She ran into the woods with bullets chasing her, heading away from the barn. The last thing she wanted was to have someone trail her to her car, or even worse, guess where she was going and arrive there first.
She ran for miles in the night, the moon lighting her way, forest animals acknowledging her passage with a blink of their eyes or the flick of a tail.
When she got back to the barn, she was feeling good about her mission that night. She’d gotten what she came for, photos of the ledgers, and a bonus: a glimpse behind the secure door.
She flicked on a flashlight in the dark interior of the barn, and was shocked when another one winked on nearby. Instantly, she threw her flashlight at the source of the light. It went spinning end over end, aiming up and to the right of the second flashlight’s beam, where the chest of the person holding it should be.
Her flashlight struck the wall of the barn hard and dropped down.
“Ouch! What the hell, what are you doing?”
It was a familiar voice. Her flashlight, now lying on the ground, illuminated the lower body of Jake Stackman. He’d been sitting on the floor of the barn, waiting in the dark. Her flashlight had bounced off the wall and hit him in the head.
“Christ! I’m going to have a bump the size of—”
“What are you doing here? And roll my flashlight back over to me.”
“I followed you here. I’ve been watching ShaleTech.” He kicked the flashlight in her direction, but it rolled to a stop eight feet from him. Cautiously, she went to pick it up.
“Don’t try anything. I’m armed,” she said.
“What a coincidence. So am I.”
She retrieved the flashlight and played it over him. He had his back against the wall of the barn and was rubbing the top of his head with one hand. The other hand held a gun pointed at her midsection.
She was eight feet away. She could knock that gun out of his hand before he could squeeze the trigger with his vulnerable one-handed grip.
“Why’d you visit Shale? Picking up drugs? Which is it, resale or personal use?”
“You have a one-track mind. I have nothing to do with Shale’s drug operation.”
“Then tell me the source of your information. You’re going to, one way or the other.”
He threatened me. This is getting ugly.
She lunged forward, planted one foot and used the other to flick the gun out of his hand. Before he could get up from his seated position, she snatched up the gun and ended up fifteen feet away, with his own gun pointed at him.
He frowned. “Well, shit.”
“Any more weapons you want to threaten me with?” She couldn’t keep a smug tone out of her voice.
“Shucks, I left my phaser at home. Who are you, anyway? You look like Emma Peel in that outfit.”
I should just shoot the guy. I’d be putting him out of his misery.
She didn’t act on the thought, no matter how tempting. Instead she sank to the ground, put the gun on the floor behind her, and sat facing him.
“You don’t know how much I regret that I ever gave you that tip about smuggling drugs in computers.”
“I’m not regretting this. My name’s going down for the credit on this operation. I’m getting a promotion out of this, in addition to taking a lot of drugs off the street. All I have to do is figure out your role. Are you a bad guy or not?”
“Why can’t you just believe me that I’m a good guy?”
“Lame. I need proof. Nice car you have there. Nice, expensive car.”
“I didn’t get that car with drug money. You know that. You already know how much money I’ve earned in the last few years.”
Jake levered himself to his feet. Startled, Maliha did the same. He walked toward her. She kicked his gun across the floor, so it landed underneath the McLaren. She drew a knife, but he kept coming.
“Stop! I’ll cut you.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“What?”
He was close, too close. What was going on? Did he want to be killed?
“Dangerous. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and dangerous, too.”
When he was three feet away, he reached for her knife arm. She blocked it easily, knocking his flashlight to the ground, and she was about to bring her flashlight around in an arc to hit the side of his head. He grabbed both of her shoulders, pulled her to him, and kissed her passionately.
Her first reaction was indignation. Her second was to pull back from his embrace. Her third was to melt into it.
Her flashlight slid to the ground, and she threw the knife she was holding toward the barn wall, where it stuck, quivering. Moments after that, when they’d frantically taken off each other’s clothing, Maliha wrapped her legs around Jake and took him inside her. His hands and mouth couldn’t get enough of her. He walked forward, his hands under her thighs, and then braced her ass on the McLaren’s front fender.
They were breathless, panting, moaning in time with the thrusts. Jake crushed his body against hers, flattening her breasts against his chest so man and woman couldn’t be any closer as they both cried out with release. Then she rested her head on his shoulder and ran her fingers across his sweaty back until he peeled himself away from her. She slid her feet to the ground and stood in front of him. With the light of two flashlights on the floor casting deep shadows, his hands explored her body. His touch was electric, so that everywhere on her skin that he touched she imagined he was leaving bright trails of sparks.
He leaned over and nestled his face into her neck, then whispered in her ear.
“I’ve wanted to do that from the moment I saw you.”
“Me, too.” She was surprised that it was the truth. “Does this mean I’m a good guy now?”
“Mmm.” He was kissing her neck, licking her earlobe. His warm breath excited her, and she felt his hardness growing.
They came together gently, moving slowly, tenderly, until they moaned with pleasure.
Afterward, Maliha pulled on her clothes with Jake’s eyes following her every move. She couldn’t stay around. The experience had been too intense, and she had to get away to think.