Page 33 of Her Secret Wish

His face split into a sad smile. “Yes, ma’am I did. Flew Hueys for many years. I was shot down a couple times too. Your buddy told me you might be anxious about getting on a chopper again, but I promise that this little lady,” he patted the side of the 427, “is gentler than anything. What did you operate?”

“The Sikorsky CH-53 Super Stallion for the Marines. Three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan before I put her down hard in the sand. No fatalities, though.”

The man nodded once and rested a hand on her shoulder before taking her hand in his own. “That’s what matters then. I’m Jack.”

“Very nice to meet you, Jack. I’m Rachel.”

“I’m going to finish my check before we take off. You take your time. Nose around inside if you want to.”

Once again, she was fighting tears. Between Chad, Dean and now Jack she’d found more support in the last hour than she had anywhere else in her life. Suddenly, the thought of going back up into the air didn’t seem so scary anymore.

In her job with LNF, domestic flights happened fairly regularly. But flying in a helicopter was definitely out of the ordinary.

Jack turned away to finish his check and Rachel watched him. She remembered doing all this like it was yesterday. She wandered around the machine, conscious of Jack working around her. He should have been done with his pre-fight check by now but he was prolonging it for her sake.

Stepping to the far side of the machine she opened the cockpit door. Oh, wow… much more basic than the Stallion. She could fly this in her sleep.

Then she caught herself. Damn, she was actually thinking of flying again. Not being a passenger… but flying the damn thing herself?

“I don’t have a copilot. You’re more than welcome to join me up front.”

She climbed in without a word, automatically reaching for the headset hanging above her and strapping in. Jack climbed in beside her and did the same, then began the ignition process. The rotor began to spin overhead and the engine whined, but again, it was nothing compared to the Stallion.

Then he drew up on the stick. Her stomach clutched and rolled as they began to pull away from the earth. Rachel held the straps of her harness in her hands, but realized she wasn’t especially scared. No, in fact, she wasthrilled. As Jack flew the helicopter over the terminal and headed toward the south, she leaned into the turn just like she’d always done.

Rachel focused on her body. Nothing on her hurt. Jack had been completely right about the 427 being gentle. Her neck and spine felt completely normal. She laughed internally, knowing that a big happy grin had spread across her face. If she had been flying these, perhaps she could have stayed in the military.

No. The thought brought her up short. No. Everything happened for a reason. If she’d stayed in the military she would never have met Dean. And he was worth everything to her. She thought of theI love youhe’d sent her. He had heard her slip-up. But he’d responded deliberately, with no prompting from her.

Retrieving her phone from her pocket she looked at the display. No cell service. She should have known. Well, she could enjoy the flight at least.

They flew for twenty minutes into a desolate, rocky area. As they continued, Rachel was strongly reminded of Afghanistan’s harsh landscape. And then Jack motioned to the left. A monolithic, monochromatic terra-cotta colored house jutted up out of the rocks. There was a road winding up into the hills to the house, but Jack had said he flew Wattman in and out. Driving probably took a very long time to get anywhere. And there didn’t appear to be any other houses or buildings around. The guy was totally secluded out here.

Rachel felt a spasm of anxiety as Jack positioned the chopper to land, but he was so competent that they touched down with barely a whisper. Any tension she’d felt evaporated as he turned to her with a rakish grin. Rachel put her fist out with an answering smile and he bumped her knuckles as he started to shut down the chopper.

Rachel hopped down out of the cockpit, grinning. Chad gave her considering look and a good slap on the back, then they turned to the paver path leading to the house. They could celebrate her victory later.

Chapter Fourteen

‡

Misti Cokes didn’tcome running out of the house screaming for rescue. No, she just stomped. She slammed the front door behind her and marched away from the house; before they’d made it down the path to the house she was halfway to them. It was easy to identify her from the photos they’d been given but she now sported a shiner and a split lip, still freshly bleeding.

“I need you to fly me out of here. I don’t know who you are, but the man that lives here is a jackass and I plan on filing charges against him. If you don’t take me out of here I’ll file charges against you, too for not helping me.”

Her big blue eyes filled with tears and she crossed her arms over her breasts, quivering with equal parts fury and fright.

Chad held his palm up. “There’s no need for that, Ms. Cokes. We’ve been looking for you.”

The petite woman broke into sobs then, and let Chad wrap an arm around her shoulders to walk away from the house.

A tall man in ragged jeans and a gray Pink Floyd t-shirt jogged out of the house. “Misti, wait, honey.”

WasthisPeter Wattman? An overgrown kid?

Chad glanced back but continued up the path to the helicopter. He made a spinning motion in the air and Jack began to wind the engine.

Wattman started to jog after Misti, but Rachel stepped into his path. “Back off, Mr. Wattman.”

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