The climbing was treacherous and free solo for the first fifteen feet to a ledge, meaning the athletes had no safety ropes to catch them if they fell. That was one of the challenges of the harder section. A fall from fifteen feet wasn’t going to kill you, but it might knock you out of the race for good. In the easier section there would be no free solo climbing at all.
As he ran over, a flash from the top of the cliff wall caught his eye. Based on the location, it looked like Wildfire had kept her word to come watch him.
That just made him move faster and with more purpose.
He’d never needed to impress her with athletic feats before, but damned if he didn’t want to today.
He studied the cliff wall for a couple moments, determining the best route. Once he had a clear path in his mind, he didn’t hesitate.
All thoughts of everything, even Wildfire, disappeared from his mind as he focused on the climb. If he’d thought the rappelling route was treacherous, this climbing route put it to shame.
Keeping the path he’d established clear in his mind, he began to move. His muscles, which had already been used to run more than thirty miles in the past three days, including the equivalent of a half marathon today, made their abuse known as he pushed himself to fly up the vertical wall.
This wasn’t like the rock-climbing walls in gyms with nice little manmade hand- and footholds. This was a canyon wall carved out by Mother Nature, who damn well had not planned on having anyone climb it.
His legs were screaming by the time he reached the fifteen-foot marker and hooked his harness into the safety ropes. The safety restraints were a bare minimum. All they were going to do was stop someone from plummeting to their death. There was enough give in the rope to allow the climber to choose which route he or she wanted.
Which also meant there was enough slack to allow the climber to fall far enough to break an arm or leg before the rope caught.
Heights had never been a problem for Riley—he wouldn’t have made it far in his career if they had been. Normally, he enjoyed climbing and made sure to take time to appreciate the view around him as he climbed.
Not today. Today he focused, pushing his body harder and harder.
He caught up with Baby just as he made it to the top.
“How’s it going, Bollinger?” Riley smiled at his friend. “You’re hanging pretty tough with the big boys today.”
“Thanks, man. I’m a little slower than I want to be. Stomach upset issues. Four days of MREs aren’t sitting well with my digestive system.”
Riley chuckled. He understood that crazy. He’d spent many a race ducking behind bushes in ways nobody would ever want to know about. “That’s never pretty.”
“Believe me, I just want to make it up this cliffside without embarrassing myself.”
“Suffice it to say, I’m glad I’m next to you rather than below you. But you’re making good time, digestive issues considered.”
Baby shot him one of his famous grins. “Having a brother like Finn and living in this area all my life means I’ve definitely done my share of rock climbing and rappelling. I may spend most of my time in the garage, but I love climbing. Picking out the angles to get me where I need to go the quickest? That’s my kind of brain-work right there.”
Riley stretched to reach the next handhold. “Are you sure you dropped out of high school? You’re talking about some pretty advanced geometry.”
Baby’s smile became a little forced. “Yeah, believe me, I’m sure.”
They made it to the top of the cliff. Both were breathing heavily as they pulled themselves over the top and unhooked themselves from the safety lines.
“I’ll let you go on ahead.” Baby gave him a little salute. “Nature calls, literally. I’m sure you’d pass me anyway.”
Riley waggled an eyebrow. “I am the professional. See you at the bottom.”
Baby waved and rushed toward the nearest set of large bushes in the opposite direction as Riley jogged back toward the top for the rappelling. He stopped when he rounded a boulder and found Amber walking back toward him, face crestfallen.
“Hey, you’re going the wrong way.”
Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes. “I know.”
He reached out toward her. “Whoa. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I was up at the rappelling station for a while. I’ve been training to go down the harder rapelling line, but I sort of freaked out when I got there.”
“It happens. Even to those of us who do stuff like this for a living. We all freeze up some time.” And they weren’t even carrying the emotional baggage of a brother who’d met tragedy going over the side of a ledge.
“Yeah, I guess so. Finally, Bo and Damon showed up for their second rappel, so I decided to leave. Standing there staring wasn’t going to do me any good.”
“Do you want to come back up here with me, and maybe I can talk you through it? I’m sure once you get over the edge you’ll be fine. Hell, once you’re over the edge, what choice do you have but to keep going anyway?”
She gave a little laugh, but at least the pinched look was fading from her face. “Damon was up there. He tried to help.”
Riley rolled his eyes. “I’m surprised Damon didn’t offer to carry you down in his big manly arms. Damon is a sucker for what he sees as a damsel in distress.”
“Oh, he basically did. But that’s not what I wanted. Plus, Bo was there, delightful as always. He was fighting with Damon over which rig he wanted to use.”
Riley rolled his eyes again. “I think, if anything, we’ve all learned an important lesson in this race.”
“To keep going, no matter what?”
“Well, no. Mostly that Bo is an asshole, and we should all ignore him.” They both laughed. “But seriously, I’m more than willing to talk you through this if you want me to. I’m sure you can do it.”
It was the least he could do. Hell, he should’ve been doing a lot more for the Lowe family since Felix’s death.
She gave him sad smile. “Maybe. I’ve, ah, been seeing a therapist since Felix killed himself. I had a lot of anger.”
“That’s understandable.”
“She wasn’t sure I should do this race at all. Said it might be more damaging in the long run.” Amber shrugged. “Maybe she’s right. She also said forcing things could make the situation worse. I didn’t listen to her about the race, obviously, but I think it’s probably better to follow her advice and not force it with this. Go do the easier route.”
Riley wasn’t exactly sure how he should advise Amber. His normal inclination would be to tell her to face her fears and just go for it, but maybe if someone had told Felix not to take such a big risk on that ski hill, he’d still be alive today.
“You have to do what’s best for you,” he finally said.
“Yes. For the first time I feel like I’m doing that.”
That settled it then. “Good.” He smiled at her. “Follow your gut.”
“Thanks. Now you get going. We can’t let Bo win this thing.”
“Oh hell no!” With a wave, both of them took off in their opposite directions.
“Bo swears the rig on the far left is the fastest one!” she called out as they ran.