Sarah screamed and unbuckled her seat belt and shoulder harness with frantic fingers. “Gavin! Hold on!”

Finally, she was free just as he managed to wrap his fingers around the leg of one of the seats. She darted toward him and grabbed his wrist. He placed a foot against the edge of the door and Sarah slammed against the side of the plane.

“What do I do?” she screamed.

“Put your legs through the straps and pull them tight.”

Working quickly, she yanked her sweatshirt off, then with her back still against the wall of the plane, she loosened the material around her upper body to enable her to maneuver her legs into the proper place. She pulled the straps tight as instructed. The plane lurched and she lost her balance, tumbling to her hip and sliding toward the open door. “Gavin!”

His hand clamped onto the right shoulder strap and yanked her back. Prayers whispered from her lips, even as she struggled to regain her balance. “He had a parachute on,” she said. “He’s getting away.”

“I’m more worried about us right now.” Gavin’s fingers slipped and his leg dangled outside the open door. The ground rose rapidly and the police chopper hovered close by.

She pointed. “We have to jump!”

Sweat dripped from his brow. “I can’t!”

“Of course you can,” she shouted above the roar of the wind. “You’ve done it a thousand times.”

“Not since the incident.” He shook his head. “I freeze every time I try. Go! Jump!”

“Not without you!”

“I’m going to land the plane.”

“Not a chance, my friend. This one is going down and fast.”

“Innocent people are going to die if I don’t—”

“The helicopter is right there. They’re tracking the plane and evacuating anyone in the area where it might crash. Now, let’s go!”

“Sarah, I’m sorry, but I . . . can’t.”

“You promised me!”

He shut his eyes, agony dripping from every square inch of him.

“You promised me that as long as you had breath left in you, you’d make sure I was safe. I’m not safe yet and I’m not going alone!”

“Sarah—”

She looked around. Spotted the pilot’s gun sliding toward her and snagged it. She gathered her strength and her feet and moved to the seat belt. She fired the weapon once, twice, three times, effectively slicing a long strip of material from the seat.

Quickly, she stuck one end through the parachute strap buckled on her chest and then inched forward toward the door and Gavin. “Tie this around you! We’re running out of time.”

“Sarah—”

“Do it!” She screamed the two words. “You have to keep your promise or I’ll die with you!”