Chapter 13

Jenny Kimura shivered as she studied Mac through the binoculars, trying to will him out of the copter and back up to safety. The connection she had always felt between them—though they'd never discussed it—was more powerful than ever.

"What's he doing now?" Tim said, holding the ropes.

"He went all the way inside."

"He what?"

"He went inside the damn helicopter," she said, shaking her head.

"Why?"

"You know why," Jenny said. "Because he couldn't not go in."

"A cowboy to the end," Tim said.

"If it's all the same to you," she said, "let's not talk about the end."

The helicopter slowly rotated on its axis. Mac gripped the seat, trying to keep his balance, watching helplessly as the world outside spun, the Plexiglas bubble closer than ever to the glowing surface.

Then it stopped, and the Plexiglas started to blister and melt, and smoke filled the interior of the helicopter.

MacGregor reached out with the Spark gas mask. "Put this on," he said.

"I can't!"the cameraman said. "I'm afraid I'm gonna be sick!"

No point in arguing with him; MacGregor just had to get him out of here, with or without the mask. They were minutes away from the helicopter exploding.

"Grab my hand, for Chrissake," Mac said to the cameraman. "Now."

In the main room at HVO, Rick Ozaki watched the monitor and said, "He takes more chances since Linda left with the boys."

"Oh, hell," Pia said, "he's always taken chances. Taking chances is part of his damned genetic code."

"I hear that's why Linda finally left him."

"Nah, man, she left him because of her law practice."

Rick said, "Seriously? You want to talk about Mac's marriage now?"

"Sorry."

"He's a pain in the ass," Rick said. "But he's our pain in the ass."

Alarms suddenly went off. A red warning light flashed repeatedly across the bottom of Pia's screen: DATA CONTAMINATION. Rick looked away from the monitor and said, "What the hell is happening now?"

Across the room, Kenny Wong was staring at his own monitor. "I think it's the gas analyzers in the crater," he said.

"What's wrong with them?" Pia asked.

"They're picking up something new inside the crater," Kenny said. "Monoxide, dioxide, sulfides, the usual, and…"

"What else?"

"Looks like a new complex—high carbon, lots of ethylene, methyl groups all over the place."

Pia Wilson crossed the room and peered over his shoulder. "Damn," she said.

"Do you know what that is?"

"Yeah," Pia said. "Aviation fuel."

Inside the helicopter, Glenn finally managed to reach out with his good hand. MacGregor grabbed it and pulled the man slowly toward him.

"Just try to keep your balance so you don't jar this thing," Mac said.

The cameraman stepped between the seats, coughing because of the smoke, moving as if in a daze.

They were just a few feet above the lava lake. Small sparks were spattering up. MacGregor stepped out, drew Glenn after him.

He tried to ignore the smell of fuel.

Nearly out of time.

Glenn followed him outside.

"You got this," Mac said, steadying him as his feet slid.

"I'm scared of heights," Glenn said, keeping his eyes fixed on the rim of the crater, away from the lava.

MacGregor thought: You should have thought of that before, you jackhammer.

Mac looked up, saw Jake about ten yards above them, reaching for Tim. Down here, the sharp odor of aviation fuel was stronger than ever.

Mac spoke soothingly to Glenn, trying to distract him. "Almost there."

The cameraman said, "We have to stop."

"No," MacGregor said.

They kept moving. The guy looked around and said, "Hey, what's that smell?"

Too late to lie to him, too close to the top."Fuel," John MacGregor said.

His radio crackled, and he heard Jenny say, "Mac, the lab says the concentration from the fuel vapor is going up."

Mac looked back and saw the Plexiglas bubble of the helicopter had begun to burn; flames licked upward along the fuselage.

His headset crackled again. "Mac, you're out of time—"

But in the very next moment Tim was grabbing Glenn in his big arms and pulling him over the side. He quickly did the same for Mac, who glanced back and saw the helicopter enveloped in flames. Glenn tried to move back to the crater, but Tim shoved him hard toward their copter.

"We're safe now," the cameraman said. "What's the freaking rush?"

The helicopter exploded.

There was a roar, and the force of the explosion nearly knocked them all to the ground. A yellow-orange fireball burst up beyond the crater rim. A moment later, hot, sharp metal fragments clattered onto the slope all around them as they hurried to the red HVO helicopter.

"That's what the freaking rush was, asshole," Mac said to Glenn the cameraman.