Page 63 of Double Exposure

She starts to shake her head.

“Don’t move Jade.” I pause. “Listen to me. Once the weight is lifted, the jaws will snap, if it isn’t rusted out or broken.” I say this with little confidence, neither is true. The circle is perfect. I doubt it’s broken or rusted. “I'm going to put my foot on it and you're going to step out of the circle.”

“Circle?”

I point to the two raised areas on either side of her. She only shifts her eyes. Good girl.

“But then what are you going to do?”

“I'm going to disarm it. There’s usually a pin in these. Take the pin out and it doesn’t work.” What I don’t tell her is that the pin could be rusted out, missing or worse: broken. Any way you cut it, a trap like this is unreliable. “Got it?”

There’s silence.

“Jade?”

“Yes. I got it.”

“I’ll talk you through everything,” I say.

I step very near where she is. The ground is soft and spongy, but I can't tell if that's because there's a working plate with a spring or it’s just thaw. Her hands shake.

“Slowly raise your hands above your head, get them out of the way.”

She raises them, her gaze fixed on me the whole time.

“Now, I want you to stand very, very carefully.” Slowly she rises and I keep inching my foot over. We are now a foot apart, staring at each other. “You’re doing good. The next part will be tough.”

My right foot hovers just inches from where she’s standing. My heart thuds in my chest. I focus on what is happening right now and push away the visions of jaws taking her hands, clawing her belly, puncturing her spleen.

“You grounded?” I ask.

“I am, but I don’t like where this is going.”

“You’re going to be fine,” I say.

“You promise?”

“Promise.” Then, before she can prepare and possibly misstep, my foot lands right where she’s standing and I grab her from under her arms and fling her away like a rag doll.

The sudden added weight of the two of us should not be enough to trigger the trap.

But it does.

The sound of unleashed hinged metal is loud and the jaws snap around my calf. The pain in my leg is immediate and like fire.

The crunch of bone makes Jade flinch.

Then it’s over. She scrambles up and starts to rush toward me, but I stop her with my hand.

Because I had prepared myself, I’m able to swallow a yell. Instead, I breathe long measured breaths, holding it in between.

“Oh my God,” she says, and then, “Tell me what to do.”

I wait to breathe for a moment. “Call Brock. Tell him to get his ass out here.” I try a smile on her. It doesn’t work.

“Carter, your leg. It’s bleeding through.”

Blood trickles down my pants and it’s already soaked my jeans around the teeth of the trap. “Carter, look at your leg.”