At least he had the hope of being paired with a different crew for the close work. Maybe if he only had to see Linc here and there, in the locker room, at big meetings, it wouldn’t be so bad. And indeed, tuning Linc out, focusing on the hands-on demonstration portion of the pre-jump training was a good call as plenty of important information was shared about all the steps that went into being ready to jump. Planning. Prep. Equipment readiness. Escape plans. Alternate options. Checks. And cross-checks.
Their first jump would be a very straightforward tandem jump, equivalent to a civilian sightseeing leap, none of their extra equipment and such yet, but still the instructors drilled them on each step of the process until a late lunch break. As they sat around the main training room with their food, several of the instructors passed out the afternoon’s agenda and their team/mentor assignments.
“Thank God.” Next to him, Kelley smiled broadly as she looked down at her paper. “McKenna’s crew. You were right. I don’t recognize the other two names, but it’s not Ross. Who’d you get?”
What he saw on his almost made him choke on his sandwich.
“What?” Kelley looked ready to whack him on the back.
“Linc. They gave me Linc.” Oh, fuck.
Chapter Five
“Good. That worked out how I hoped.” Garrick nodded as he folded his assignment sheet, neat creases that would undoubtedly become a bird or rabbit. But Linc was less interested in his origami than his words as he gaped at his own sheet.
“What do you mean? You asked for Jacob?” He shook the paper like that might make it say something other than that Jacob was assigned to him, Garrick and Ray for the season, the higher-ups apparently having decided to slot Jacob right into the spot Wyatt had vacated.
“Well, duh. How are we gonna keep him safe for his mom if we can’t keep an eye on him?” Garrick’s tone said that Linc was an idiot for not thinking of this idea himself. “And we were going to need a fourth, one way or another. Word is that they’re going to move Ray into more of the spotter role for us—keep him on the plane this season, then see about him becoming a foreman next year.”
With each operation, one person always remained on the plane, coordinating the jump from the air, selecting the landing spots, relaying data from jumpers on the ground about wind and terrain factors, dispatching additional jumpers as needed, and coordinating the necessary cargo drop after the jumpers were on the ground. Last season, Ray had been their jumper-in-charge, relaying information from the fire back to dispatch and helping to establish safety zones and escape routes, so moving him to spotter was a natural progression, even if Linc didn’t like it.
“Yeah.” Ray nodded, setting aside his sandwich. “That’s the talk Alder and I had yesterday. I’m getting old.”
“You’re not that old,” Linc protested. Ray had maybe six years on him and Garrick, but Linc didn’t like thinking of any of them as old or washed, even if he felt like it some days.
“I am. Staying fit enough for jump readiness is more and more of a challenge. I don’t want to let you guys down, and management has always been my goal. God knows Betsy wants me off the fire line anyhow. You’ll be jumper-in-charge when it’s the three of you, then follow seniority for the larger operations. It’ll work out, Linc. You’ll see.”
Linc, who had always tried to avoid management, was none too sure. “But Jacob? You guys actually asked for him?”
“Didn’t think you’d have an issue.” Garrick’s forehead creased. “Lord knows you were heated enough about him being here to begin with. And it’s not simply babysitting duty—he’s one of the fittest rookies. Did you see him rattle off his PT test yesterday? He’ll pass the pack-out, no problem, and he’ll pull his weight. Might be nice if he listened a little harder, but we’ll work with him, bust his ass when we need to, same as any other rookie.”
He wished he had even an ounce of Garrick’s confidence in this situation working out. And Jacob was far from any other rookie. Linc didn’t get this terror in his heart over other smoke jumpers, didn’t have the sense of crushing dread, and sure as hell didn’t have inconvenient dreams remembering what they sounded like, tasted like, felt like. Garrick’s approach made a hell of a lot of sense—keep Jacob as safe as they could for his mom—but nothing about how Linc felt toward Jacob made a lick of sense. And while he didn’t exactly relish the idea of Jacob being on a different crew, maybe with people Linc didn’t trust as much as Garrick and Ray, he sure as hell wasn’t up for months of the closest proximity possible.
“Are we going to have a problem?” Ray asked in a low voice. “Alder might let us switch, but...he’s already looking close at you, Linc. Might not want to appear too sensitive right now.”
Fuck. All Linc wanted was to make it through this season. One last season here. The idea of moving on had never been so tempting, get away from everything and start fresh. Damn Jacob. And damn Wyatt too, leaving him in this pickle. And sure, he could quit now, try to catch on with another crew at a different base, but Garrick was right—doing that wouldn’t keep Jacob any safer. At least he and Garrick could manage his load some.
“Nah. Like you said. We’ll make it work.”
“Good. We better decide who’s tandem jumping with him today. Ray, buddy, you probably need the optional PT run more than you need the jump.” Garrick rubbed his hands together, clearly anticipating the airtime. But for a whole host of reasons, none of which had a damn thing to do with Garrick’s jumping ability, Linc didn’t want Garrick strapped to Jacob for the tandem jump.
“I’ll do it,” he said firmly. “You see if Alder will let you jump solo, get you your fix.”
Garrick’s mouth moved like he was going to object, but then he nodded as he stood. “I’ll go try to catch Alder or Sims, talk myself into a spot on one of the planes. You can deal with our rookie.”
He left right as Jacob headed their way, firm tilt to his jaw and stubborn glint in his eyes. He was spoiling for a fight, but Linc wasn’t going to oblige him.
“I’ll take our trash.” Ray quickly scooped up both of their plates and cups before meandering away as Jacob came to stand right in front of Linc.
“So am I going to have to tell them we need a switch or are you?” Jacob glared at him.
“Neither,” Linc said evenly. “Have a seat, Rook.”
“You asked for this?” Anger flared in Jacob’s eyes even as he complied and took the seat Garrick had vacated. “Think I can’t hack it on my own? Think I need you and your crew playing guardian angel all season?”
“Simmer down. No, I didn’t ask for this.” He didn’t rat out Garrick, though, wouldn’t do that to a buddy. “But we’ll deal, you and I. We don’t want folks saying there’s bad blood between us. Don’t need that kind of gossip. And you know damn well I’m no one’s guardian angel.”