Firebomb (The Jewel Project #2)

05.3|| Company

"Okay, we'd better head out." Sam stood too. "We'll need supplies."

"I have everything ready." Herrison walked toward the bar and pulled out two heavy rucksacks from behind it. "You have everything you need in here."

Sam nodded and they all walked out and towards the edge of the cliff. Kyle and Jimmy rushed towards the inn to get the rest of the luggage while Sam looked to the horizon. Even if the sun was nowhere near as powerful as before, he still felt a bit sick. He'd never noticed how sensitive he was to heat.

Tom got on his front and leaned over the edge of the cliff to look directly down. "Hey, the rock wall is pretty uneven. We can climb down through here."

"Tom, move away from the edge!" Jerry said alarmed. "That's dangerous!"

Tom looked over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out at Jerry, then continued to look directly down. And for once, Sam had to agree with Jerry. That looked crazy dangerous.

"Isn't there a road to lead us down?" Sam asked, taking the map out of his back pocket and laying it on the ground.

Herrison sat next to him and pointed. "Yes, it's over here. But I think Tom's idea is valid. You'd save two days of traveling."

"No use saving two days if we fall and die," Jerry mumbled.

Sam swallowed heavily, but he knew Herrison was right. Snitch Gravel had an important head start already and Sam didn't want to give him two extra days to find the diamond.

"We don't have time to take it slow," he finally said. "I've been thinking about how to get there fastest and I think we should use the rapids. They will take us to the corner of the cliff, here, and we can then walk back on this side and reach the Labs." He traced the route with his finger. "Herrison, did you bring us any rafts?"

"Yeah, you have two rafts ready. You only have to inflate them," Herrison answered indicating the extra luggage.

"Perfect," Sam said, folding the map again. They'll think about how exactly to use the rapids once they got to the river. He'd never been rafting before.

Jimmy and Kyle finally showed up, they all stuffed their rucksacks as much as possible with the new stuff and faced the edge of the cliff.

"So... do we climb down, or what?" Jerry asked nervously.

"We have enough rope to do that with ease, yeah," Jimmy said. "Herrison can throw it back down to us once we're done."

Sam nodded, relieved that he didn't have to climb down without any equipment, only using the uneven rock wall. Climbing down a rope was so much easier and they'd actually practiced that during their training sessions.

"How are we going to get William down?" Jerry whispered, looking to William as though afraid he might offend him.

Ah, crap! Jerry had a very good point. William sat on the ground, drawing in the dust, the look of a reasonably happy four-year-old on his face.

"Tie him up and I'll get him down," Kyle said, searching his rucksack for more rope.

"I think we should lower the luggage first," Jimmy said and Sam nodded in agreement.

"I'll go down first to grab the luggage," Tom said seeming very excited. He tied the rope around his torso to form a semblance of a safety line and practically toppled off the edge of the cliff.

Sam closed his eyes briefly, but when he opened them again, he noticed no one else was worried about Tom. Even Jerry seemed to trust that his twin knew what he was doing. Once Tom reached the ground, Kyle and Jimmy pulled the rope back up, tied some rucksacks to it, and lowered it again.

"I suggest you take good care of William," Herrison said looking back at William who was now skipping in a circle. "I know it's not easy and this is the last thing any of you needed, but... you need him."

Yeah, Sam seriously doubted that, but if the agency felt like sending a capture hazard with them, there wasn't much he could do about it. "Yeah, sure."

Sam watched the others go down the rope, mentally preparing himself for the trip down. He felt strangely unfocused, as if their conversation with Herrison was weighing him down. All the information needed some time to sink in, and he was convinced that once it would, he'd have a ton of questions and no Herrison to answer them. At least he'd have his brothers to bounce ideas off.

"Ready, Sam?" Tom asked and Sam jumped.

"Wait, weren't you down already?"

Tom shrugged. "I climbed back up to see if there's anything else I can help with, but apparently Billy got the last of the luggage."

Sam stared at his twin, wondering how he'd climbed back so fast, why he'd done it and if the whole thing was easier than it looked. He blinked and looked away. Focus! But the heat really got to him. Heaving a deep sigh, he headed for the edge of the cliff, his feet shakier with every step.

"Wait, before you go..." Herrison stopped, biting his lip as though trying to decide whether to say what was on his mind or not. "About the agent... She's a girl and a very young one at that. She did a great job, so don't be too hard on her."

"They've sent a girl?" Tom asked outraged before Sam could even open his mouth. "Alone? To do this? You guys are out of your minds!" He added disgusted and climbed down the rope before Herrison could say anything else.

Herrison stared at Sam apologetically, but Sam could offer him no comfort. Tom was right. The agency guys were out of their minds. But why should he be surprised? He wasn't even eighteen and the leader of a fairly important unit. It's not like the agency took much interest in child safety.

"Well, goodbye. Throw us the rope when I reach the bottom." Sam waved at Herrison and walked to the edge of the cliff.

He took in a deep breath, fastened the rope around his middle and climbed down carefully, just like he had so many times before. Except this wasn't a ten foot wall with a mattress underneath. Trying to keep that out of his mind, Sam kept his eyes on his feet and concentrated on climbing down step by step. Tom had been right. The uneven canyon wall provided him with many steady grips.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he hopped off the wall, on to the dusty ground. He waved up at Herrison who untied the rope and threw it down. A moment later, his head disappeared and Sam, for just one second, wondered if he'd ever see him again.