Chapter 8

CHAPTER

EIGHT

"ETA ninety seconds."

Derek's voice filled Colton's head through the comms unit inside his snowboarding helmet. He gave a brisk nod to the primary cameraman who would be shooting footage from inside the helicopter as Colton jumped. The other footage would be made up from the two cameras strapped to Colton's body and various other camera crews strategically stationed down the mountain.

"You good, Colt?" Tony asked. He wasn't with them in the helicopter, but only because he hadn't figured out how to clone himself. He desperately wanted to be here but was needed in control central to be able to live edit the footage coming through.

"I'm ready."

And he was. His mind was clear and focused. The talk with Bear had helped, then an even bigger source of support had shown up: his dad.

His parents came to a lot of his stunts, but he'd expected them to stay in Oak Creek this time, visiting their friends. When he'd gotten to the resort's helo pad and found his dad there, he had felt nothing short of immense relief.

If there was anyone in the world who understood what was going through Colton's mind right now, it was Riley Harrison, a former extreme sport athlete himself.

"I checked with Derek about payload, and he said we were within acceptable limits with me on board, but I'm good either way," Riley had said after hugging Colton. "Just wanted to be here for support and deliver the hug your mother sent."

Colton had immediately dragged his dad onto the helicopter. As long as it didn't put them over the weight limit—hell, even if he'd had to get rid of some of his crew or gear, he would've done it to have Riley on board with him.

He looked at his father now and found him staring back, doing a last-minute mental safety check all the way down Colton's body for any noticeable concerns.

"I'm ready, Dad."

Riley cracked a smile. "Never crossed my mind that you weren't."

"Thirty seconds," Derek said. "Everybody prep."

"Roger that." Colton buckled his boots into the snowboard and tightened the strap of his helmet. He knew it would only be a second before?—

Yep, his dad reached over, gave the strap another tug before placing a hand on either side of Colton's head and shaking them to make sure the helmet was situated as snugly as possible.

Riley had been doing that since he'd put Colton's first helmet on him when he was two and taught him how to do a wheelie on a skateboard.

Colton put his gloved hands over Riley's. "Thanks, Dad."

Riley winked then thumped the top of his helmet—also a tradition. "Glad to be here. I'll have the best vantage point."

Once Colton was on his way down the mountain, the helicopter would be catching some of the most amazing aerial shots.

"I'm in place, Derek."

"Okay, let's do this," the pilot responded.

"Don't forget—720 out of the helicopter," Tony said. "Let's give them a show they'll never forget. "

Dad rolled his eyes, but Colton just grinned. He wouldn't miss a chance to do a double front flip even if there were no cameras anywhere around.

"Okay, we're coming up on the mark," Derek said. "Get ready."

Holding the copter steady at this altitude wouldn't be easy. Riley thumped him on the head again and then got out of the way. Colton slid the rest of the way to the open side area of the helicopter.

Tony had all the camera operators give a final check, but Colton wasn't listening. He was completely focused on what was in front of him. The jump, then the route he'd take down the mountain, that included some almost sheer cliffs, which would once again allow for acrobatics.

The first cliff was the most dangerous. After that, Colton would just add maneuvers to make it look as thrilling as possible. In fifteen minutes, it would all be over but the celebrating.

The helicopter arrived about twenty feet over the decreed jumping point, and Derek eased it into a hover. "In place. On your mark, Colton."

Colton didn't hesitate. "Three, two, one… Go ."

He was falling.

He didn't have much skin exposed, but he could still hear the wind. He used his core strength to flip himself around then do it again as the earth hurtled nearer—making it look like he was going to crash headfirst right out of the gate. Tony definitely had his 720.

The landing was critical—and probably the most dangerous part of the stunt. When Colton handled it with no problem, he heard the cheering over the comms, but he stayed focused on the snow in front of him.

They'd gone over the route so many times, it was basically tattooed on his brain. Not having to focus on the path allowed him to be able to perform all sorts of cuts and ollies and corked spins.

Allowed him to be free and do what he did best: tackle the challenge in front of him.

"Looking great, Colt," Tony said. "Got that big cliff coming up."

Colton didn't respond, knowing Tony wouldn't expect him to .

This was the second-most dangerous part of the stunt—and the most thrilling. He curled himself a little lower so he could pick up speed.

The plan was a backside rodeo 540. It would be tight, but just like the leap out of the helicopter, it would provide quite the money shot.

He launched himself over the side of the cliff, grabbing the back of the board and flipping and twisting himself around at the same time. Keeping his focus on the horizon so he was sure to know which end was up, he curled in as he finished his twist, then let his body do what it knew how to do.

As almost always, his body didn't disappoint him. Colton landed smoothly on the snow where it began to angle out from the mountain.

He'd cleared the cliff.

Once again, cheers roared in his ears.

"All right, you're home free now," Tony said. "Just have fun and give everybody a show."

Colton grinned and cut to the left, using as many opportunities to jump and flip as he could find, loving the feel of the wind in his face.

How could he leave this? This feeling right here was one of the greatest in the world.

He was enjoying his minor stunts, almost on autopilot, when he felt the slope fracture under him like broken glass. It only took a split second for every survival instinct he had to snap into place as he realized what was happening.

Avalanche .

Damn it, they'd placed explosives farther up the mountain a couple weeks ago to trigger their own mini avalanche to keep this from happening during the stunt at the spot where it would be most likely.

It shouldn't have been necessary this far down the mountain.

Colton's instinct was to try to outrun it, but he knew that wouldn't work for long. Avalanches could move at speeds up to two hundred miles per hour.

"Shit, Colton, you've got a fucking avalanche!" Tony's panicked voice squeaked in his ears.

Yeah, already aware. "Roger."

Tony was screaming other stuff at people, but Colton tried to block it out. He needed to focus on what he was doing.

Suddenly, there was blessed silence over the comms unit. Colton didn't know why, and he didn't care. Nobody could help him right now. He was on his own.

"Son, listen, it's right behind you." Dad. He'd switched to a private channel. "It's going to take you under. You've trained for this. Swim. Air pocket. Stay alive. You have the beacon. We'll come for you?—"

His dad's voice was cut off as snow slammed into Colton, knocking him forward off the snowboard. Immediately, he used his arms in a swimming motion to try to remain toward the top of the tidal wave of snow.

The sheer force of Mother Nature's power was humbling. He could do nothing to get out of it. All he could do was try to stay alive until it slowed.

The few seconds it took felt like an eternity, but finally, the deafening momentum eased just slightly. Using all his strength, Colton flipped himself over onto his back. He wanted to be faceup for what he knew was coming next.

The snow was going to bury him.

The thousands of pounds of snow slowed further, but that meant it would pile, trapping him. Sure enough, a moment later, a blanket of icy white poured over him, like freezing concrete.

White. The entire world was white.

The snow's movement was almost stopping. This was it. He had to create an air pocket for himself as he came to a halt. It was going to make the difference between suffocating and maybe being able to stay alive long enough for rescuers to get to him.

The roar of the moving snow lowered as it halted. Colton couldn't see anything but white all around him. He thrust up an arm and expanded his chest to create as much airspace as possible. As he came to a complete stop, he angled his head around to try to make even more space between him and the deadly frozen white.

And then he couldn't move. Not even one inch of his body. There was absolutely nothing he could do.

Don't panic. Stay calm.

That was part of the avalanche survival training—hyperventilating was just going to cause you to use up oxygen more quickly. But staying calm was much fucking easier said in a ski classroom than done when your body temperature was plummeting, you couldn't move, and you knew the oxygen was extremely limited.

He could still see the light coming through the cracks in the snow, but only for a few seconds. It got darker as the snow filled in even the tiniest crevice.

And then there was only blackness—the whiteness gone. It was one hundred percent dark.

He had no idea if he was buried six inches or ten feet under the snow. Ultimately, it didn't matter; either one would kill him if rescuers didn't get to him in time.

Colton was completely entombed.