Dallas watched Amy’s preparation for Jamie’s transit across the gap. He knew that Amy was one of those women who would sacrifice her own life for her son’s. If the child slipped away, Amy would go with him. Not many times in his career had Dallas felt so incapacitated. There was nothing he could do to help her, to protect her, or to remove the danger she was in. With the steep bluff above the trail and a sheer drop below, there was no alternative route for Dallas to take, to reach them. If he did anything to alarm Eickher, the man could send any one of them flying over the edge, Jamie in particular. Dallas watched one of the sister’s take Jamie from the scientist. Maybe Dallas would get his chance; he leveled his Glock on Eickher. In a split second, the scientist put the barrel of his revolver at the back of the woman’s head.
He knows I’m here. He’s covering himself, knowing I won’t shoot as long as he has a hostage in jeopardy.
Dallas could only watch, wait, hope...and stew.
Alesha looked down and froze.
Amy saw her sway with vertigo and called to her, “Focus.
Please.
We have to get Jamie across
.”
Her sister seemed to hear and understand. She nodded and keeping her eyes on Amy, lifted the boy up.
“
Now!”
Amy shouted again.
Alesha pushed Jamie toward his mom. Amy reached as far as she could, but couldn’t reach him. “You need to throw him to me. I have the belt. I’ll grab him.” Amy wrapped the belt around her wrist and leaned out a little more, hoping her feet would stay planted on the ledge.
“Hurry up, you brainless bitch! This is taking too long.” Eickher yelled.
It was a knee jerk reaction. Alesha threw Jamie into the air. The boy reached for his mom. Amy grabbed him mid-flight but misjudged the affect of his weight hitting her as she leaned over the precipice. When she caught him, her body dipped low over the gap, knocking her off balance. Amy knew she had to correct fast or they’d both go down. She pulled Jamie tight to her with her right arm and reached back for the rock bluff with her left. They teetered there, out over the edge.
Alesha screamed, then covered her mouth and turned away.
Amy reached behind her and grabbed onto a protruding rock, pulling herself backward with all her strength. Slowly her body responded. Still holding Jamie tight, she closed her eyes. Tears of relief streamed down her face. Then she put her son down. “Stand very still, Sweetheart. Don’t move, okay?”
Jamie nodded.
Amy looked at her sister. “Your turn.”
Eickher pushed past Alesha. “I’m next,” he announced and stood poised on the edge of the gap. “Get back out of my way.” With incredible agility he leapt into the air, landing softly on the other side, with room to spare. He picked up Jamie and dangled him off one hip. Eickher yelled at Alesha, “Get on with it!”
Alesha looked down, her body swaying precariously. “I can’t,” she said.
Eickher nodded knowingly. “So, now we know. You are Alesha,” he said. “Stop this silliness and jump!”
Again, Alesha reacted to him. She pushed off the ledge. But she didn’t have enough height.
Amy stifled a scream. Alesha wasn’t going to make it.
Larson joined Dallas on the ledge and handed him the coil of rope. “Here’s your cowboy lasso, Sheriff.”
Dallas slung it over his shoulder. “Don’t knock it, Larson, this is the only rope you can throw over a rock, or a person, for that matter. There’s just no substitute for what this rope can do.”
Larson grinned. “All of us know that, but you’re the only one who can make that damn thing work.” He looked along the steep bluff, saw the situation, and raised his rifle. “You want to take the shot, Sheriff, or you want me to?”
“You’re better at long shots. You see an opportunity, take it. That bastard’s going to get them killed. Trouble is, with the angle we’re on, it’s all but impossible to get a shot off without risk to one of the others.”
Larson put his sights on Eickher. “Yeah, you’re right.” He tried different positions. “There just isn’t a clear shot. Not from here.” He watched Eickher leap with ease across the gap. “The man’s part elk.”
“Yeah, and the rest is complete psycho,” Dallas said with distain. He’d seen what happened with Jamie. One twin froze, leaving the boy dangling precariously over the brink. To his relief, she had recovered enough to send the child across. The other sister had to lean out so far to grab Jamie that it threw her off balance. She and the boy almost fell into the void. It was clear that one twin had a debilitating fear of heights. Remembering how Amy was with heights, he knew it wasn’t her.
Suddenly Alesha jumped.
“Shit! She’s not going to make it!” Dallas yelled to Larson, “Give me the rope.” Dallas raced for the gap.
Alesha’s death flashed across Amy’s mind. She pictured her twin falling onto the rocks, her body gored by the pointed pinnacles. “NO!” Amy screamed.
Alesha was falling a foot short of the landing ledge, her arms out, her feet sending her end of the blanket into the void. Amy reached out, grabbed Alesha’s arm, and holding tight, Amy dropped flat onto the ledge. Grasping onto Alesha’s other arm, Amy pulled hard, swinging her sister into the rock wall below. Amy braced for Alesha’s full body weight to hit her. Suddenly, Alesha’s weight yanked Amy’s upper body out over the precipice. Amy’s arms and shoulders felt like they were being ripped from their sockets. Her muscles burned.
Alesha hung momentarily from Amy’s hands before her arms started sliding from Amy’s grip. Amy squeezed hard but couldn’t stop the slippage. Then she felt Alesha's hands in hers and they locked onto each other. Amy could barely breathe. The weight was too much. Suddenly, Alesha was slipping away again.
Alesha searched in desperation for a foothold on the rock face. She found a protrusion. Quickly, she transferred her weight from Amy.
“There’s another ledge about a foot up,” Amy called out. Alesha found it. Now, Amy could wiggle backward to safety. Their hands were still locked.
“Leave her!” Eickher yelled. “The stupid woman can get up herself. If she can’t, she deserves to drown. You hear me Wench, I said, get up!”
Dallas moved quickly, darting in and around rock outcroppings. Eickher spotted him, leveled his revolver in Dallas’s direction, and waited for the sheriff to come into view.
Dallas stopped to assess the situation. The second he stuck his head out, Eickher fired. Dallas ducked back. The scientist had the gun raised in one hand and Jamie tucked under his other arm, dangling over the edge. If anything happened to Eickher, the boy would be gone. Neither Dallas, nor Larson could shoot. Meanwhile, one of the sisters, likely Alesha, clung precariously to the rock wall below the gap and there wasn’t a damn thing Dallas could do to help her.
He pulled out the radio and spoke to Larson. “You got him in your sights?”
“Yeah, but the prick’s still got the boy hanging over the edge.”
Dallas told him, “They’re moving out. Son-of-a-bitch is leaving one of the women hanging off the wall.”
“I’m almost there, Sheriff.”
The gunshot sent a bolt of terror through Amy. She glimpsed Dallas on the other side of the gap, about thirty feet down the trail, and hoped Eickher had missed.
Amy waited for Alesha to grab onto a ledge before reluctantly letting go of her sister’s hands. “Dallas is close behind us,” she told her, “Hang on tight. He’ll be here soon.”
Amy stood and took one last look at Alesha before turning around. When she turned, what she saw stopped her dead. Eickher was holding Jamie over the edge of the precipice. “Put him down!” Amy screamed at him, reaching for Jamie.
Eickher knocked her back. “One wrong move and I’ll drop him,” he said. His voice was like ice. His eyes bored through her. “I’ve had enough of your games. Now, get in front of me where I can see you, and move your ass!” He stepped tight to the edge, forcing Amy to squeeze by on the inside.
“Get moving!” Eickher commanded.
Amy led off, fighting panic. Inside, she was a caldron of churning fear and horror. She was terrified for Jamie, but if she let those fears get a grip on her, they’d paralyze her. She had to focus on finding a way to get Jamie from Eickher, and then get safely away.
Beneath her fear, a different emotion began to surface: a deep, burning anger at the psychotic who played them for personal gain. Human life had no value to Eickher. He would toss her beautiful son to his death at the first sign of insubordination or risk. She had to do something fast.
A premonition flashed across her mind and she knew without a doubt that to save her son, she would need to kill Eickher. A dozen scenarios crossed her mind. Never had she ever imagined that some day she would have to kill a man. The thought was revolting, horrifying, and gruesome. Life wasn’t supposed to throw a woman into harrowing situations. Life was supposed to be a picket fence and the American dream. Where had it all gone?
Both Larson and Dallas had their weapons trained on Eickher. The man kept Jamie positioned over the ledge. The scientist mocked them, knowing he was safe. Leaving one sister down on the wall, he pushed the other in front of him and followed her out of sight. Just before he disappeared, he turned and tipped his hat to Dallas.
“Bastard!” Dallas cursed, his eyes boring into Eickher’s back.
“Egocentric prick,” Larson spit out.
“His time is short,” Dallas promised, grabbing the coil of rope and dashing for the gap. He called to Alesha, “Put your head down, I’m coming over,” and using the forward momentum, he leapt off the ledge, landing heavily on the other side. He knelt down and reached for her, “Alesha?”
“Yes,” was the shaky response.
“Okay. Take my hands; I’m going to pull you up. Use your toes to push,” Dallas instructed. He pulled with steady strength until he could help her up onto the ledge. It had taken longer than he liked. He had to get to Amy and Jamie.
Alesha stood, relieved. “Thank you, Sheriff,” she pushed Dallas down the trail, “I’ll be fine. Please continue on. The second Helmut sees an opportunity to flee, he’ll kill Amy and Jamie. They’re only alive because he needs them."
The trail sloped downhill toward The Caves. They were now only about twenty feet above the swirling sea. The ocean surged through a narrow opening in the rock and was trapped by a huge horseshoe of low rocks. The inbound ocean formed a massive whirlpool. One slip and she’d be sucked into the swirling vortex.
Eickher slid over the wet rocks and moss, descending behind her, still holding Jamie near the drop-off.
Amy estimated they were only about thirty feet from the nearest cave, but between them and the entrance a cascade of water rushed down the bluff face. On the other side was a thin, perilous overhang. The water had eroded and undermined the trail, leaving only a small protrusion sticking out. There wasn’t much support. Would it hold them?
Amy stopped beside the waterfall. It cascaded straight down. The only thing she could do was jump onto the ledge on the other side and pray it would hold her weight.
“Get going, Wench.” Eickher snapped.
Amy reached back and touched Jamie’s soft, damp cheek. The child was so weary his eyes were half-closed. “You’re a brave boy, Jamie,” she told him. “Mommy loves you very much.”
Jamie’s small hand reached up and caught hers. “Love you, Mommy,” he said sleepily.
Amy scanned the ledge for signs of instability. There was a deep fissure about two feet ahead of her landing position. A bad sign. It was crazy to put weight anywhere near there. The entire outcropping could break off the minute they stepped on it. She knew Eickher would never turn around with Dallas behind them. Even if she pointed out this new danger ahead of them, Eickher would tell her to keep going. His escape depended on that.
Suddenly, she was thrown against the rock wall. His right hand flew against her chin, driving her head into the rock. “You whore.” He put his face into hers, his breath hot and rancid against her cheek. His jaw snapped uncontrollably. His black eyes were pinholes. “You’re only alive because of Alesha’s stupidity. You’ll take her place. But when I’m done with you,” he slid his hand down over her neck, “I’ll take the greatest pleasure in breaking your neck!” He yanked her off the wall and flipped her around. “Now, get the hell over to the other side before I drop this kid in the drink.”
Amy tried to catch her breath and stop shaking. She was ill with fear of what was going to become of her and Jamie.
Keep going. Don’t do anything to maker him angrier.
She stepped back, took a few steps, and jumped. Mid-air she reached for the rock wall trying to defer some of her body weight and landed as lightly as possible on her toes.
Immediately, she felt the ledge shift. She froze, waiting. It stabilized. Slowly, she turned around. With Jamie on his hip, Eickher weighed almost double what she did. She was certain the outcropping would never sustain his weight. She reached for her son, calling out to be heard over the rushing water. “Pass Jamie to me.” She could see the scientist’s mind ticking, wondering if he could risk it.
“Get back.” Was the chilly response.
Amy stepped gingerly back, looking at the deep crack by her feet. If the ledge started to give away, she needed to move with lightning speed.
Eickher checked behind him. Amy hadn’t seen Dallas since the gap and assumed he had stopped to help Alesha. Satisfied the sheriff wasn’t in sight, the scientist stepped back, and with Jamie on his outside hip, he leapt over the waterfall and landed heavily on the other side.