But she had failed to kill him. He was alive and angry. What a bitch! He had risked everything to save her and still she had betrayed him. He swore she was not going to get away with it. He was not as helpless as she believed. For one thing he had started out as a free-rock climber before he had moved on to equipment. She did not know that. She had never seen him without a rope or carabiners. Also, before going over the side he had changed out of his hiking boots into rock-climbing shoes. The upper portion of the shoes were unusually flexible. The soles were made of a compound developed to create a sticky bond between the shoes and the rock. That gave him a formidable tool. Finally, he had a small block of gymnastic chalk in his pocket, which improved one’s hand grip, especially in hot weather. Rock-climbing purists did not approve of chalk. They felt it messed up the natural environment. But at the moment Matt couldn’t have cared less.

He had a job in front of him. Another reason it had never occurred to Amy that he could scale his way out of his predicament was because there was an overhang between the ledge where he stood and the edge of the cliff. The bulge would have literally forced him to hang upside down. A highly skilled climber might have tried it, but he wasn’t that guy. Luckily, a hundred feet to his left, the overhang disappeared. He did not know what sort of handholds and footholds waited for him over yonder, but it was not as if he had a lot of choices.

He could hear Amy packing their gear. She had brought a couple of unfinished paintings from home—most of her paint supplies—and she had Jimmy’s toys spread over the rocks. Still, she would be gone in fifteen minutes.

Just the fact that she was packing annoyed him. Another person in her situation would have bolted from the park. She was not worried about him anymore, maybe she had never worried about him. But he suspected she wanted him to hear her packing. She wanted to torture him.

Matt chalked his hands and started left. He used an approach to rock climbing called three-point suspension, in which a person moved one hand or foot at a time while the other three limbs remained stationary. The key was to remain in balance over the feet before releasing a handhold and reaching for the next one. The technique was elementary but it was not like he was trying to impress Amy.