Chapter 20
The plane flew south for about thirty minutes and then Ashlyn jumped on the radio.
“Road Dog, this is Eagle. Do you copy?”
“I copy”, came Christen’s voice through the radio.
“Do you see us?”
“I see you.”
“Alright, we’re preparing to jump. We should be on the ground in five minutes.”
“Copy that.”
How’s the package?” Ashlyn asked.
“Package is fine. See you in five”, Christen said. Ashlyn hung up and then started getting a jump rig onto Whitney.
“Let her go”, Tobin said to Ashlyn. Ashlyn didn’t respond, so Tobin grabbed her and spun her around. Ashlyn shoved the gun in Tobin’s face, but Tobin yelled anyway. “Let her go! Jesus Christ, Ashlyn. You got what you wanted. Let her go!” Ashlyn stared at Tobin for a moment and then went back to readying Whitney for the jump.
“I’m fucking freezing”, Whitney said to Ashlyn. Blood was still flowing out of Whitney’s stomach, and her face had turned white.
“That’s because you’re gonna die soon, Whitney”, Tobin said in a deadpanned voice. “I hope it was worth it.”
“Don’t listen to her, Whit. She’s just scared”, Ashlyn said. She draped the duffel bag full of money over Whitney’s shoulder and then dragged her towards the hatch. She opened up the hatch and then gave Whitney a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll see you on the ground, okay?” she said to Whitney. Whitney nodded, putting on a brave face, and Ashlyn said, “That’s my girl. Just think about all of those margaritas and senoritas that will be nursing you back to health, and you’ll be just fine on the ride down.” Whitney part-laughed/part-coughed, and then looked at Tobin. “See you in hell, Tobin!” she yelled, and then Ashlyn pushed her out of the plane. Ashlyn then put on her own jump rig and then looked at Tobin.
“Let her go, Ashlyn, please! You got what you wanted. You owe me that much!”
“Not until I’m safe”, Ashlyn said. Then she looked at Tobin and said, “I know you want me, Tobin. I know you want me so bad, it’s like salt in the wounds right now. But not this time, amiga.” She walked to the hatch and then smiled.
“How will I know when you let Alex go?” Tobin asked as Ashlyn readied herself for the jump. Ashlyn said nothing, but just waved, and right before she jumped, she threw the gun onto the floor of the plane next to Tobin, and then dove out of the plane.
“Fuck!” Tobin screamed, frustrated. She looked around the cabin. No rigs. She looked at Ashlyn, falling away from her towards the ground. She looked at the gun. No use trying to shoot Ashlyn. She was already out of range, and plus, even if she could manage to shoot Ashlyn, it wouldn’t help anyway, since having Ashlyn alive was necessary for getting Alex back. Not that Ashlyn was necessarily going to return Alex, but shooting Ashlyn would have ensured that Alex definitely wouldn’t return. Then Tobin thought about Alex, about how much her feelings had developed for the beautiful surfer girl, about everything she had put Alex through with her undercover deception, and what Alex was going through now, and in that moment she made a decision. I have to do whatever I can to save her, Tobin thought. She grabbed the gun, took a deep breath, and then jumped out of the plane. I must be fucking crazy, she thought as she fell through the sky. She saw Ashlyn below, spread eagle, and Tobin streamlined her own body and darted through the air. She went spread eagle herself as she got near Ashlyn, and then she wrapped her arms around Ashlyn’s chest as she collided into Ashlyn’s back.
“What the fuck!?” Ashlyn yelled, surprised. She turned around in Tobin’s arms so she was facing Tobin. With one arm Tobin put the gun to Ashlyn’s head, her other arm wrapped around Ashlyn’s body, holding on for dear life.
“Pull the chute, Ashlyn!”
“God, you’re fucking crazy, Tobin!”
“Pull the fucking chute!”
“No, you pull it!”
“I said pull it now!”
“Why don’t you?” Ashlyn asked. Tobin was silent. “It because you have to drop the gun to pull the chute, don't you? Otherwise, what are you going to hold on with?” Ashlyn taunted.
“Last warning, Ashlyn", Tobin yelled, pushing the gun into Ashlyn’s temple. "Pull the fucking chute!”
“No! You do it, Tobin. The ground’s getting closerrrrrrr”, Ashlyn said, and Tobin looked down to see the earth racing up towards them. “Ten, nine, eight” Ashlyn started counting down.
“Pull the fucking chute!” Tobin screamed.
“Seven, six, five, four, three”
“Goddammit!” Tobin screamed. She tossed the gun and pulled the chute. It took hold hold, slowing them down, but they were already close to the earth, and they both hit the ground as if they had jumped off of a two story building. Ashlyn yelled “Shiiiiiiiit”, as Tobin howled in pain as her bad knee gave way upon impact. They both laid still on the ground, Ashlyn wrapped up in her chute, Tobin sprawled out, grabbing her knee, in pain, five feet away.
“God damn, Tobin”, Ashlyn groaned as she got up and started to unbuckle her rig. “You are one radical bitch.” She looked over at Whitney, who was on the ground a hundred yards away. Whitney had managed to pull her chute, but she hadn’t survived the drop. Then Ashlyn looked over at the oncoming car, Christen driving, Alex in the trunk.
Tobin laid there, clutching her leg, in crippling pain and utter disbelief over what had just happened during the last minute and a half. Did I just fucking jump out of an airplane without a chute? She thought. And then she thought, that was the craziest, but maybe most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done. Did I just find myself and lose myself at the same time? Then she looked up and around, and her eyes found Ashlyn. God damn this woman, Tobin thought. She started to get up and then lunged at Ashlyn, but her knee buckled and she went down, hollering in pain.
“Maybe you would’ve been better off sticking to soccer instead of chasing bad guys, huh Tobin?” Ashlyn dryly joked. She stared at Tobin for a moment and then said, “Sorry dude. This game, we both lost.” The she turned around to the car that was pulling up. “Let her go!” she yelled to Christen. Christen got out of the car and unlocked the trunk. She removed Alex’s gag and cut her bonds.
“Tobin!” Alex yelled as she came sprinting towards Tobin.
“Alex!” Tobin breathed out. Alex approached Tobin and collided into her, wrapping her arms around her and burying her face in Tobin’s chest. Tears of joy and relief poured down her cheeks as Tobin held her close and stroked her hair. They stayed like that for a minute, and then Alex pulled away. She stared at Tobin through tear-soaked eyes and said, “I’m so so so so so so sorry, for everything, and I-“
“Shhhh…”, Tobin said. She put her finger to Alex’s lips. There would be plenty of time to talk later. All she cared about right now was that Alex was alive, unharmed and back with her. “Some other time”, she whispered, and then planted the most glorious kiss on Alex’s lips. Then she held Alex tight and watched Ashlyn and Christen drive by Whitney’s body, pick up the duffel full of money, and drive off into the distance.