Page 28 of Love and Loyalty

"Where's it coming from?" Drew demanded, her eyes darting between the instruments and the ground below.

"It's everywhere!" Captain Lee replied, her voice strained. "We've got multiple hostiles, Major!”

Drew gritted her teeth, her mind racing with tactics. She knew she had to get Lieutenant Colonel Oakley and her team out, but the enemy was closing in fast. She flew the helicopter with precision, dodging and weaving between the bullets, but she knew she couldn't keep this up for much longer.

As Drew continued to expertly maneuver the helicopter through the hail of bullets, she could hear Izzy’s frantic voice crackling over the radio.

“Mitchell, this is Oakley. What's happening over there? Is everything okay?"

Drew's grip on the controls tightened as she heard the desperation in Izzy’s voice. She knew she had to act fast.

She had no time to answer as the enemy fire intensified, and she could feel the helicopter shudder as bullets hit the armor plating.

She gritted her teeth, her focus narrowing to a single point. She could hear the Izzy’s voice again, her words tumbling out in a panicked rush.

“Major, what's going on over there? Is there a problem?"

Drew's heart raced with adrenaline as she sped up, the helicopter surging forward in a burst of power. She could feel the engines roaring beneath her, the rotors whipping the air into a frenzy.

With a fierce cry, Drew unleashed a barrage of return fire, the helicopter's guns blazing as she tore through the enemy lines. The insurgents scattered, momentarily stunned by the ferocity of her counterattack.

As she flew closer to Izzy’s position, Drew could see the enemy regrouping.

With fierce determination, Drew flew straight into the heart of the battle, her guns blazing.

A few moments later, Drew banked the helicopter hard to the left, her eyes scanning the terrain below for any sign of Izzy' medical team.

As she flew, Drew's mind kept drifting back to Izzy herself. She had seen her composure during previous mission, and her intelligence, courage, and beauty had left her breathless. And that was aside from the exquisite pleasure of seeing Izzy come undone for her sexually and the easy intimacy they had shared in the safety of the night together. She had tried to brush it off as a distraction, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was falling in love with Izzy.

“Mitchell, this is Apache-1. We have visual on the Lieutenant Colonel's team. They're going in from the north," Captain Lee called out.

Drew's heart raced as she pushed the helicopter to its limits, ready to swoop in to extract the team.

Her heart swelled with emotion as she saw Isabel’s team huddled together, ready for the next phase of their mission.

With the helicopter safe from enemy fire, Drew and Captain Lee held their ground, ready to fire at will to keep the enemy at bay, their eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of additional threats.

She took a deep breath before turning on the ignition. “Steady yourselves, guys.”

The next phase was the most dangerous part of their plan. She was to circle above the village, use imagery intelligence to locate the specific places where the explosives were positioned, and notify the team, which would, in turn, diffuse the bombs from below.

Beads of sweat trickled down Drew's forehead as she thought about the plan. Her breathing became shallow and rapid, but she composed herself.

She knew she was strong and brave, and the entire team depended on her to pull this off. She was going to make it work at all costs.

She reached the location and began to circle it. Visually inspecting the area, she noticed a change in the landscape in the eastern region of the village; it seemed the place had been dug up.

“Hell yeah!” she said, all riled up, then cleared her voice. “Lieutenant Colonel, there are improvised explosive devices in the eastern region of the village behind a white bungalow.”

“We are heading there now. Hold on!” Then, to the other soldiers, she said, “To the eastern region now!”

Drew watched as they moved fast toward the specified location.

“It looks freshly dug up,” a specialist said over the intercom before they began working on it.

With Jack’s help, they conducted a thorough sweep of the area, uncovering a cache of cleverly concealed explosives, including some buried just 12 inches underground.

Drew implored for the protection of Izzy and the entire team as they worked with precision and haste to defuse the deadly explosives. Just as it seemed like the operation was proceeding smoothly, a sudden jolt of tension shot through the air as Izzy's voice crackled over the intercom, her usual calm demeanor shattered by a frustrated yell. "Goddammit!"

---