Page 40 of Confessions of an Apache Pilot

Brady continued, “I followed Shep to where he burned it into the ground, literally. I was preparing to land next to him, but had to sweep the area to make sure no shitheads were making their way toward him. The only thing I saw was Hush running across the desert. You wouldn’t think someone so big could move so fast, but he was determined. It must have been half a mile from where his Humvee died, but he covered the distance in a few minutes. Fucker was at a dead run with at least fifty pounds of gear on.”

My mouth started opening and closing with no sound. I finally let out a, “Holy cow.”

Now Mark chimed in. “That’s not even the best part. When we hit the ground I decided to take an extra minute to sterilize the cockpit. Since the front wasn’t on fire yet I was grabbing maps and any sensitive gear, to make sure the locals couldn’t scavenge it. I had no idea Hush was on the way until this sasquatch leapt up on top of the cockpit and started slamming the butt of his rifle against the windshield. Scared the shit out of me at the time. He didn’t know we were still conscious; he was going to break his way through the blast shield in order to pull us out.”

“Holy…wow,” I said. “And you guys weren’t friends before this?”

“Nope,” they said in unison.

“I mean, not that I’m complaining, but why? Why such a crazy and impulsive reaction?”

Mark looked at me confused, then turned to Brady. They were staring at each other like they were trying to understand the question. When he started to respond it was slow and deliberate.

Brady answered first. “Because he’s a Marine?”

I could tell by his tone that they considered Marines to be more than a little crazy. Thanks to the nature of my job, I usually only saw the ground units when they were injured. There wasn’t much time for talking on our flights. It meant that me and my crew didn’t get to know the men the same way the other pilots did. We got to save their lives, though, and that was important to me.

Mark smiled, clearly agreeing with Brady, but decided to clarify for me. “It’s the contract we have. Between all of us. It says that if you’re in trouble, I will stop everything and come to your aid. Because one day I might need help, and I know I can count on you to come help me, no matter the circumstances. Doesn’t matter if we know each other or not. I will give you everything I’ve got, friend, family, or stranger.”

“We’re all family here anyway,” Brady added.

I knew exactly what he meant. That’s what the military did—it didn’t matter what branch—it built you up as one huge family. It didn’t matter if you’d never met each other, as soon as you did, you were brothers.

It was a comforting thought. He was right, of course. I’d seen it first-hand. Hell, I didn’t know Dozer, but we jumped right in for him. I was just doing my job, but I guess that’s the point. Above all else, our job was to take care of one another.

I thought about what he’d said about Hush, about what it really meant to go to those lengths for one another. I had to wonder, if he did that for a stranger, what would he do for his friends, or lover…

CHAPTER 22

Jen

The last few weeks were so busy that by the time we moved back to our main base at Mazar it felt like a small vacation. If you weren’t flying, you were sleeping. That was it. Missions and sleep. We got back to MES and had a day given to us to get cleaned up, rest, fix, and restore our equipment, before getting back on the main rotation.

Santos had bumped into us at the laundry and told us they, the Apache crews, were having another bonfire tonight. They finally caught a break and wanted to celebrate. I was hesitant to go; I still really hadn’t talked to Mark since I kissed him. We’d only had a few brief conversations since Pamir, but Santos convinced me to go, so I told Nick and the girls and we headed over.

I found myself sitting next to Brady, and on the other side of him were Mark and Ty. I tried to keep some distance between us, anything to avoid Mark’s gaze. The more I got to know him, the harder it was becoming to keep my distance. On top of being gorgeous and sexy, he was a good man. I could almost believe that he wasn’t like my ex, and that I could trust him. But what if I was wrong?

Looking over at Ty, I asked, “So, did you get your high value target? The guy that planned the attack on Pamir?”

“Useless fucking intel!” Brady shouted. I jumped at his sudden outburst and frowned at him.

Ty groaned in agreement. “It was a bust. We didn’t have high hopes to begin with. Intel came from the feds.”

“Feds? Like CIA?”

“Worse, FBI. CIA is bad enough, they always give us shit intel. Anytime the FBI gets involved it always goes sideways.”

“Last fucking time we burned down a whole village.” Brady interrupted. Although the way he said it sounded like he was proud of the fact.

“The village was mostly empty,” Mark clarified. It was the first he had spoken since I joined them. I met his eyes finally. He stared into mine for a moment longer than was comfortable, before continuing the story. “The village only had shitheads in it, no civilians. It was supposed to be a simple snatch and grab and yeah, it ended with every building there on fire.”

Ty nodded along in agreement. “That's the feds for you. Their intel always sucks. You can count on the exact opposite of whatever they say. We spent the last week kicking in doors and found nothing except angry women. Can’t blame them, I would be pissed if someone kicked down my door, too.”

There was an awkward silence after that. No one had anything to add and the tension between Mark and I was becoming visible. I fidgeted nervously with the ring I had put on my finger. Brady shot me an intrigued look. “Didn’t notice that before. What’s your husband do? Is he a soldier, too?”

It didn’t escape my notice that Brady was asking, but Mark was very clearly listening in. I stared down into the fire and shifted on my seat.

“Uh no. No husband. No fiancé either.” I put my right hand on the ring and spun it around, embarrassment heating my face when I saw Brady and Mark exchange a look. I hadn’t been wearing it since I’d gotten out here. I saw it on my nightstand this morning and put it back on. I didn’t know what possessed me to start back up. Maybe subconsciously I was trying to warn Mark off. It seemed I had a hard time resisting the man on my own. “I’ve been wearing this for quite a while, mostly to keep people from getting ideas.”

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