Page 90 of Her Devils

I might have changed since I met Lenley a couple of months ago, but I hope the relationship I have with them never will.

“Change isn’t always a bad thing,” JeanLuc Marceau says, speaking for the first time.

I had forgotten he was sitting at the table, and as I look at him, I wonder what he’s doing here. He has nothing to do with Team USA, and his skydiving team in France rivals the Cove Angels when it comes to fame and accolades.

“I’m excited to see what the new Cove Angels will bring to the skydiving world, and of course we’ll be fighting for the world titles in every specialty in a couple of months. However, this isn’t why I’m here.”

“Why are you here, Marceau?” Penn asks before one of us can say anything.

His tone is less than friendly, and I file that information away for later, curious why since the two are supposed to be childhood friends.

“I came to see mychérie, Lenley, and watch the US Nationals, and I have a proposal and an invitation for the Angels and Devils. Or maybe I should say for the new and improved Cove Angels?”

“A proposal?” Lenley asks, obviously as surprised as we are by Marceau’s presence in the boardroom.

“Précisément.” The Frenchman nods. “I’m sure I’m not the only one in this room who loves BASE jumping. I know all of you have their four numbers.”

I grin at Marceau. “Sure, we all do. I got my one and two—buildings and antennas—the year I turned eighteen. It took me a bit longer to get my three for spans, and Chan, J, and I got our number four for earth last year in Colorado. I’ve always wanted to do more challenging jumps or some official stuff, like the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, but despite jumping as much as I can in my free time, I never got the invitation.”

“Loser!” Penn snorts.

I glare at him, dying to wipe that smirk off his face with my fists but not daring to in front of Gina, Dad, and Kyle. “I might be a loser, but remind me, Penn, when did you get your invitation to Petronas? If memory serves, never, so you might want to shut the fuck up.”

Kyle Penn intervenes. “Enough, you two. JeanLuc,” he says, turning to look at the French champion, “it’s nice to have you here, but at this point, I’m curious to hear your proposal. Had I known it had to do with BASE jumping, I would have told you that the Angels do it, but not at competitive levels. We organize a few shows during the year, but on a very small scale and never from dangerous locations. The Petronas Towers event has been marred by reckless management and lax safety standards over the years, so it isn’t an event my team is interested in. Patrick was the real BASE jumping aficionado in our midst, but after his death, we concentrated mostly on the skydiving side. We’ve been watching the World Wingsuit League events in China with interest, but we’ve been out of the game for a while.”

Ken agrees with him. “Yeah, BASE jumping is a totally different animal. I know Peyton is passionate about it, and he’s been working on his own wingsuit, but frankly, our team never had the resources to pursue it on a competitive level. The guys got their BASE numbers on their own time and dime. We were hoping to find the right sponsor to expand to it, but in all honesty, it hasn’t been easy.”

Dad’s eyes meet mine when he says that last part. The reason why we haven’t been able to find our sponsor was because of our reckless reputation, which is ironic since BASE jumping is the most reckless, dangerous sport out there.

“Aside from the events Kyle just mentioned,” Dad continues, “there aren’t a lot of BASE jumping official events or an official circuit compared to skydiving. Teams like the Mountain Men BASE in the UK are few and far between, and a lot of jumps are still done illegally, so that’s where we’re at.”

Marceau nods in agreement. “That’s exactly why I’m here. I have plans to change that.”

Darrius snorts. “You? By yourself? Goddamn, JeanLuc, you’re arrogant even for a fucking Frenchman.”

I roll my eyes at Penn’s typical douchebag tone, but when Marceau shoots Penn a glare full of disdain, I realize that the two men don’t like each other. I file that information away for later and grit my teeth to resist the urge to comment that Penn calling anyone arrogant is a case of pot, meet kettle.

“No, not entirely by myself,” JeanLuc bites out. “I’m putting together an international team on behalf of Wild Horse. We want to bring BASE jumping to a wider audience and eventually become as mainstream as skydiving. The plan is to fly to Hawaii by the end of this year and recreate Patrick’s legendary stunt, jumping back into the aircraft we jumped from after flying for as long as possible. We also want to enter an aircraft after jumping from a BASE and flying to a lower altitude like Patrick did a few times.”

I look at my teammates and see the same excitement I feel gleaming in Chan’s and J’s eyes. “That sounds fucking awesome,” I offer.

For once in his life, Penn is on the same page. “I’m interested. I’ve been trying to replicate Patrick’s stunts for a few years now and realized how easy he made them look. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s hard. There’s a reason why Patrick DeLaurent is a legend in our world to this day.”

Marceau nods. “I’m aware of that. Don’t forget that I’m a couple of years younger than you, and before they upped the minimum age for jumping, Patrick took me out with him many times. Lenley came with us a couple of times as well on the easiest skydiving outings and jumped strapped to herpapà. Remember,chérie?”

Len makes an affirmative noise, suddenly pale. “Yeah. You know I don’t jump anymore, JeanLuc.”

Anna speaks for the first time from her spot next to Jameson. “Do you have a deal with anyone for the wingsuits you’ll be using? As you know, we’re also sponsored by Wild Horse, and while the Angels’ patented wingsuit was created by Patrick for skydiving, we also own the patent of the suit he used when he BASE jumped. If we join, we’d be interested in supplying the wingsuits.”

Gina intervenes before Marceau can reply. “That isn’t accurate, Anna. Patrick owned the patent, and he left it to Lenley. While your father and I were managing Lenley’s assets before she came of age, we had a contract that stipulated the exclusive use of the patents by the Cove Angels. The contract will be up for renewal soon, and it’ll be up to Lenley to decide what she wants to do. The actual BASE jumping suit Patrick used was a modified version of the skydiving equipment, and it’s covered by that patent too. Of course I’m talking about the original version, not the modified one he used on his last jump, which is in our museum. That version was never patented for obvious reasons.”

Gina is talking about the suit that had the modification to the parachute pack with the rigging error that cost her late husband his life.

Anna looks annoyed by her CEO’s remark. “Right. We would be interested in working on supplying a new version of the wingsuits, pending the renewal of the contract. I don’t need to tell you that you’d be giving up on a lot of money if you didn’t renew, Lenley.”

Her tone is condescending, and I’m about to tell her that she shouldn’t talk to Lenley that way, but Snow doesn’t need protection, she can hold her own.

“I’m happy to sit down with the board and hear their offer. The Angels are my legacy, and I’m going to do everything I can to support them.” Lenley turns her attention back to JeanLuc. “So when’s Hawaii? I assume after worlds?”

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