Skydiving, Soufflés and Sabotage Read online

  “Great, make sure you do.” Ally smiled proudly. “We have a wide assortment of flavors.”

  “I’d be a very lucky man if I had the chance to sample every one of them.” He winked at her.

  The plane bumped and lurched a bit, which made Ally grab onto her grandmother’s hand and gasp.

  “It’s okay, it’s just a little bit of wind. Maybe it would help if I walked you through what happens on each jump?” Austin adjusted the pack on his back. “Maybe if you’re more familiar about what happens and what to expect, you’ll see it’s not as dangerous as you think? What do you say?”

  “That would be great, but you don’t have to do that. I know you didn’t get on this plane to teach a lesson, you got on here to enjoy your experience, and I don’t want to ruin that.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that.” He held her gaze. “I don’t think you could ever ruin anything.”

  Ally’s face pricked with heat as she realized how forward he was being. Should she be clearer with him? Should she point out that she had a boyfriend who she was madly in love with?

  “Oh, I’m sure I could.” She blushed and wondered whether she should tell him now that she was quite involved with someone. She decided that she would make it clear after they landed. Maybe she was imagining it anyway, and if she said something it might embarrass both of them. He launched into some descriptions of the pack, and what would happen once the door was opened.

  “It’s a little scary at first because the wind is loud, and if you look down, well you might just back out. But when you look straight ahead, when you see nothing but sky in front of you, it’s like looking into the universe. Really.” He patted the top of the pack. “That’s why I do it. Every time, it’s like a spiritual experience for me.”

  “That does sound pretty amazing, doesn’t it, Mee-Maw?” Ally looked over at her grandmother beside her.

  “Yes, it does, and I completely agree.” She smiled as she looked across the plane at Austin. “I’ve only done it once, but I always promised myself I would do it again. It was such a fantastic experience.”

  “I hear you both, but I still think that someone would have to push me.” Ally smiled.

  “No one is going to push you. Trust me.” He laughed. “For at least your first jump you go with an expert, harnessed together. It’s still amazing, but it’s nothing like the first time you go by yourself. Then, it’s just you and the sky.” He closed his eyes for a moment and his features relaxed into a serene expression. She was a little startled by just how moved he was by the experience. Maybe she really was missing out on something?

  “The way you describe it sounds really beautiful.” She sighed as she thought about what it might be like to take that first step out the door.

  “It is.” Charlotte offered a small smile. “I remember.”

  Her comment reminded Ally that her grandmother had an entire life before she had her only child, and then her only grandchild.

  “I have to say, I’m getting more interested.” Ally shifted on the seat. “I’m not sure that I can go through with it, but having an expert tell me how amazing it is, might just be what pushes me over the edge.”

  “Five minutes out.” Harris called back from the cockpit. “Gear up!”

  “That’s my favorite song!” Austin stood up and double-checked that the backpack was securely fastened to him. Ally couldn’t imagine relying on one small backpack to save her from becoming a pancake. With wide eyes she watched as he stepped closer to the door. Her heart raced, a thin layer of sweat coated her skin.

  “Wait, isn’t someone going to do a final check on your parachute?” She frowned as he glanced over at her.

  “Oh, trust me, I checked it, it’s fine.” He winked at her.

  “But, what if something isn’t connected right, or what if it just doesn’t open?” Her heart began to race. Could she really let this living breathing man jump out of a perfectly good plane without knowing whether he would make it to the ground alive? It felt so wrong to her.

  “It’s okay, Ally.” Charlotte patted her knee. “I’m sure that Harris checked it as well.”

  “I’m an expert skydiver.” Austin shrugged as he adjusted his pack again. “I check my own equipment. But when you jump, you’ll have someone checking and double-checking, so try not to worry.”

  “If I jump.” She swallowed hard. The sound of the wind against the plane made her queasy.

  “Everything’s going to be fine, Ally.” Charlotte wrapped her hand around her granddaughter’s. She could see the fear in her expression, and sensed the tension in the rest of her body. “Remember, we’re just here to watch.”

  “Yes, I remember.” Ally swallowed hard and forced herself to watch as Austin stepped up to the edge. He loved skydiving. He was quite confident in his safety. So why was she so worried? “Sorry, this is the first time I’ve watched anyone jump out of a plane.” She laughed a little. “I hope you enjoy yourself, Austin!”

  “It’s a go!” Harris called from the front of the plane.

  Austin turned back to look at Ally and Charlotte.

  “Hang on to these for me, will you?” He tossed Ally a set of keys with a broad smile. “You can return them at dinner tonight.”

  She caught the keys and opened her mouth to decline the invitation to dinner, but before she could he backed up to the edge of the plane.

  He gave them two thumbs up, then jumped out of the plane, backwards.

  “Oh, Mee-Maw!” Ally lunged forward as if she might try to catch him, but Charlotte held her back.

  “It’s fine, sweetheart, lots of people like to do trick jumps. Everything’s fine. Here, look, you can see him if you turn your head this way.” She tilted her head at the angle that allowed her a view of Austin. He spun through the air as if he was having the time of his life.

  “Oh wow, that does look amazing.” Ally bit into her bottom lip. She could imagine the sensation of soaring, and just how liberating it might be. As she watched, she wondered when he would open his parachute. “Mee-Maw, how long is he going to wait?” Her heartbeat quickened again.

  “I’m not sure, love, he may be a bit of a daredevil and wait until the last minute.” She waved her hand. “Young men can be like that.”

  “So can Mee-Maws.” Ally arched a brow as she glanced over at her grandmother.

  “What are you trying to say?” She batted her eyes in return. “I’m a pretty cautious person most of the time, but sometimes you just have to let your hair down.” She fluffed her long gray hair and smiled. Ally gazed at her grandmother, who she always felt was far more beautiful than any other grandmother she’d met. She believed in that moment that Charlotte could do absolutely anything she put her mind to. Often, she hoped that she had the same qualities herself. If her grandmother could be brave enough to do something like this, shouldn’t she be able to do it, too?

  When she looked back at Austin, his parachute still hadn’t opened. He didn’t seem so serene anymore. He grabbed at his pack. A sick feeling began in the pit of Ally’s stomach.

  “Oh dear.” Charlotte pressed her hand over her mouth. “It’s been too long, hasn’t it, Ally? Why isn’t he pulling the cord?” Her voice grew more high-pitched with every word she spoke.

  “I think he’s trying to, Mee-Maw.” Ally clung to her other hand. Her heart was in her throat. “Harris!” She shouted at the pilot. “Harris, something is wrong!”

  “Just stay calm,” Harris grumbled, but she could tell he was more worried than angry. He craned his neck to see out the window. The plane dipped a little to the side, which sent another rush of panic through Ally. “Pull the cord, you fool!”

  “Mee-Maw!”

  “It has to be some kind of mistake.” Charlotte stared hard out through the door. “He’ll be fine, he’s going to be just fine.”

  “We’ve got a problem!” Harris barked into the handheld radio beside him in the cockpit. “We’re going to need ground support! And an ambulance!”

  Thos
e words drifted through Ally’s mind as everything around her slowed down to a crawl. This wasn’t some kind of trick jump. Austin, was falling, and there was absolutely nothing that any of them could do to stop him.

  “Please work, please work,” Ally muttered, hoping that the parachute would magically deploy, but she knew it was already too late.

  Harris barked into the radio over and over again. His panicked voice sank deep into Ally’s bones and made her heart race. Beside her she saw her grandmother’s shocked face.

  “Mee-Maw, are you okay?” She wrapped her arm around her grandmother’s shoulders.

  “He’s not going to make it, Ally, he’s not going to be okay.” She took a deep breath. “How could this happen?”

  “I don’t know, Mee-Maw, I don’t know.” Ally held her close as Harris turned the plane around. The ride got bumpier as he angled the plane towards the ground. Ally closed her eyes and willed herself not to give in to panic. She was safe, her grandmother was safe, there was no reason to be so afraid, but she knew she would be until her feet hit solid ground. As the plane bumped across the field before coming to a stop, she sighed with relief. Harris cut the engine on the plane without a word to either of them.

  “Oh Ally, what a disaster.” Charlotte shifted closer to her granddaughter. “I’m sorry.”

  “Mee-Maw, there’s nothing to be sorry for. It’s okay.” In the distance, Ally could hear an ambulance approaching along with police cars. She guessed that Luke wouldn’t be in any of them, since he was working a case at the moment, but a part of her longed for him to be there. She just wanted to see his face.

  Charlotte walked towards the open door. She eased her way down out of the plane. Ally followed after her. As they walked through the tall grass, she could see the grim expressions worn by the men who gathered there. There was no hope for Austin to have survived, and yet Ally still hoped.

  Chapter 3

  Charlotte started to walk towards the men, but Ally grabbed her arm and held her back.

  “Mee-Maw, there’s nothing we can do to help.” She squeezed her grandmother’s hand. “Let’s just stay back here and let everyone do what they need to.”

  “You’re right.” She nodded. “You were right about all of this today. We never should have gotten on that plane.”

  “Mee-Maw.” She wrapped her arms around her. “No one could have known what was going to happen. I certainly didn’t, I was just scared.”

  “Scared for good reason. I can’t believe I took you on that plane.”

  “I’m okay, Mee-Maw. Here, stand here.” Ally glanced back towards the gathering of men. In particular she focused on Harris. He leaned over, then straightened back up. When she saw his face, it was drained of all color. He stumbled back a few steps.

  “He looks terrified.” Charlotte frowned. “Poor man. I can only imagine how horrible he must feel.”

  “Me too.” Ally stood close to her grandmother as she watched Harris stumble a few more steps. For just a moment she thought he looked more confused than scared. Several police officers ran up to the scene. One took Harris aside the moment he arrived. Ally didn’t know them very well as they were fairly new recruits. She reached down and rubbed her grandmother’s shoulder.

  “It’s all going to be fine,” she murmured the words, without fully believing them.

  “You don’t have to take care of me, Ally.” Charlotte squeezed her hand. “I know what’s happened here, and it is terrible, but what I’m more concerned about is why it happened.”

  “It was a terrible accident.” She shook her head. “That’s all, Mee-Maw. Something went wrong, but it was an accident. No one could have predicted it.”

  “Maybe.” Charlotte narrowed her eyes as she watched the crowd grow in the field. Paramedics, police officers, and other farm workers were drawn to the circle.

  “Do you think it could have been something else?” She looked over at her grandmother.

  “I don’t know, yet.” She crossed her arms as she studied the group. “But something doesn’t make sense to me. Austin said he checked his pack. So why didn’t the parachute deploy? Why didn’t the reserve parachute deploy?”

  “I’d guess that sometimes they both just fail. I don’t really know much about it.” Her gaze gravitated back to the officers that surrounded Harris. There were two of them, one on each side of the man. Harris kept shaking his head, over and over. Their voices grew loud enough for her to hear, indicating that there was some conflict between them.

  “It’s not possible, it’s just not possible,” he repeated the same words again.

  “Listen, you’re going to have to start being straight with us.” One of the officers stepped right in front of Harris. “Who cut the lines? That parachute was never going to open, was it?”

  Those words sent a chill up Ally’s spine. Someone cut the lines?

  “Oh no.” Charlotte gasped as she heard the same words. “Do you think that’s possible, Ally? Do you think that someone really cut the lines?”

  “I don’t know.” Ally took a few steps closer to the men to be sure that she didn’t miss out on anything that was said.

  “I had nothing to do with checking his pack! All right? He did it himself. I offered to double-check for him, but he insisted. He didn’t want me anywhere near it.” Harris narrowed his eyes. “These fly-boys that think they know everything, they don’t want someone like me pawing through their pack.”

  “So, you knew him?” The officer in front of him continued to scrutinize him. “You’d flown him before?”

  “No, never.” Harris’ shoulders slumped. “I’d just met him this morning.”

  “You’d just met him but you were certain he could handle his own pack?” The other officer shook his head. “Something isn’t adding up here. How could you just assume that he was a seasoned jumper?”

  “Why would someone lie about that?” Harris threw his hands up in the air. “Why would anyone fake documents and pretend to be an expert jumper? Oh no, maybe he did this on purpose.” He clutched his chest and stumbled a step back.

  “What do you mean?” The first officer asked.

  “I mean, maybe he didn’t want me checking his pack because he’s the one who sabotaged it.” Harris hung his head. “I should have checked it, yes, I should have.”

  Ally looked over at her grandmother. “Harris thinks that this was a suicide.” Her eyes widened. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

  “I can see why he would think that, though.” Charlotte pursed her lips.

  “What? Why? He didn’t seem suicidal in any way to me.”

  “No, but sometimes people don’t. However, if he was the only one who had access to his pack, and he claimed he checked it out before he got on the plane, then how could he have missed the severed cords? Maybe he’s the one who severed them, so that he could have one last jump.” She frowned. “It’s an awful thing to imagine, but it is a possibility.”

  “I don’t believe it.” Ally shook her head as she recalled the vivacious man she’d spent only a few minutes with. “He had everything to live for. Maybe he was a little arrogant, but he was also passionate, and he didn’t show any signs of wanting his life to be over.”

  “Sometimes it’s very hard to see the signs. In all of that travel he talked about he never spoke of having a companion, or family, all he mentioned was his own experiences. That can get a little lonely over time.”

  “You’re right.” Ally gazed at her as she skimmed through their conversation in her mind. “I never even noticed that. He didn’t even indicate that he had a girlfriend, or a wife.”

  “If anything, he was acting pretty single while he was flirting with you.” Charlotte tapped her finger on her hip. “That doesn’t mean he was, though.”

  “You noticed that?” Ally blushed as she wondered whether she should have tried to stop the flirting straight away. “That’s true. I still find it hard to believe that he would do this to himself. He just seemed so eager to enjoy life.”


  “I’m not convinced either, but it’s something to consider.” Charlotte tipped her head towards one of the police officers as he broke away from Harris and began to walk in their direction. “Looks like we’ve got company.”

  Ally watched the officer approach. Luke was a detective, and over time she’d gotten to know most of the officers on the local force, but not this one. She wished she at least knew his name. He paused in front of them and fixed them with a determined stare. She guessed he was barely out of the academy as he seemed so young, which meant he was likely eager to prove himself. She took a deep breath as he pulled out his notepad.

  Ally wasn’t sure what to expect from this officer, but she could tell from his pressed uniform and polished shoes that he took his job very seriously.

  “I’m sorry for what’s happened here, ladies.” He furrowed a brow as he looked between both of them. The empathetic expression softened his presence. “I just need to ask you a few questions about it. I hope you understand. I’m Officer Bailey.” He offered his hand to Ally. “I know we haven’t actually met. I’ve seen you a few times with Luke.”

  “Nice to meet you, Bailey.” She shook his hand. “Although, I wish it was under better circumstances.”

  “Of course.” He nodded. “I’m sure this is a difficult time, but given the situation it’s best that we get the answers as early as possible. I’ll do my best to keep the questions brief, it won’t take long.”

  “Is it true, that it wasn’t an accident?” Charlotte gazed at him.

  The officer glanced back over his shoulder as if seeking approval to speak. Whether or not he got it, he turned back to Charlotte with a mild nod.

  “We’re still investigating, but at this time it certainly doesn’t appear to be an accident. It looks like his equipment was tampered with. Did either of you handle his pack at any time during the flight or before?” He looked straight into Ally’s eyes, and then into Charlotte’s.