Page 61 of Strike Fast

“Everyone out,” she commanded through gritted teeth. She couldn’t move her right arm. Her copilot seemed okay, but she wasn’t sure about the guys in the back.

“Tess, you hurt?” the copilot asked.

“My collarbone,” she gasped out, fumbling with her left hand to hit the single button quick release on her harness.

She hadn’t realized how much of an angle the cockpit was bent forward until the harness released. Her body fell forward in the seat, and she threw out her left arm to keep from smashing into the control panel, the sudden movement wrenching another cry from her as white-hot needles ripped through her right shoulder.

The copilot leaned over her. “I’ve got you.” Strong hands gripped her under the arms. Her pain-filled scream echoed through the ruined cockpit as he hauled her up and muscled her between the seats and into the back.

Agony engulfed her, stealing her breath, rendering her immobile. Someone else grabbed her around the waist. She forced her eyes open, stared up at her crew chief through the fog of pain.

“Got you, Tess,” he said, quickly moving backward as they carried her together out the left side cabin door. Shredded trees covered the ground like sawdust, branches and bits of the chewed-up rotor blades strewn all over.

“The crew,” she forced out, trying to counteract the pain and shock. She was pilot commander. She had to clear her head, look out for her crew.

“All accounted for. Banged up, one’s got a leg injury, but not as bad off as you,” the chief said.

She sagged in relief at the news, closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as every step they took jarred her injured shoulder.

They carried her a safe distance away from the ruined aircraft and set her down, leaning her back against a tree trunk. Her left cheek stung like hell, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her shoulder. She grabbed hold of her right upper arm, cradling it to her side to relieve the pressure on her broken bone.

The sharp, staccato beat of gunfire echoed in the distance, probably from near the target house. Tess’s eyes snapped open, scanning through the trees for any sign of a threat. One or both teams must have engaged the enemy. Her copilot immediately got on the radio to contact command and let them know everyone had survived.

“Here. I’m gonna try and stop the bleeding,” her crew chief said, putting a gauze pad to her left cheek and pressing hard.

She was shaking, sucking in choppy breaths while her heart raced, pins and needles in her hands and feet. Breathing way too fast.Slow it down, Tess. Get control.

“Where else hurts?”

“R-right collarbone,” she forced out. “Can’t m-move my arm.”

He used an elastic bandage as a makeshift sling around her right arm and bound it to her body, then wrapped a thin thermal blanket around her. “Eat this,” he said, pressing something to her lips.

Before she could protest or ask what it was, she smelled chocolate and obediently chewed it up, willing the sugar to counteract the shock a little. “Where the hell did that RPG come from?” she said after she swallowed, the pain a bit more bearable now that her arm was secured.

“Barely saw it before it hit,” the crew chief said.

Shit, that had been close.

Her copilot was on the radio to someone back at command. He stopped in mid-sentence, his gaze swinging in the direction of the firefight. “Roger that.” He set the radio down, his expression urgent as he faced Tess and the others. “Command says a handful of Ruiz’s men are moving in our direction, and they’re coming fast.”

****

Reid stood frozen behind Taggart, his gaze glued in horror to the monitor in front of him, trying to process what he’d just seen.

He’d just watched Tess’s aircraft fucking crash into the trees. The helo’s wreckage was hidden from view by the thick canopy obscuring the satellite, and now both FAST Bravo and the HRT were engaged with the enemy force at the target property. The other Blackhawk was nearby, but there was no room for the crew to land to attempt a rescue.

Taggart put his hand over the bottom of the phone and half-turned to Reid. “They’re all alive, but Dubrovski and one of the crew are hurt.”

God, not Tess.Before Reid could ask how badly, Taggart resumed his conversation.

Then Reid’s attention caught on a sat feed showing four men coming in and out of view through the trees, heading in the direction of the crash site. They were armed, and dressed in civvies rather than uniforms.

Ruiz’s men.

Fear shot through Reid, but Taggart had already seen it. He alerted the person on the other end to the threat and told him to stand by. Then he called out in a loud voice so everyone in the RV could hear him. “I need volunteers to get in there and rescue the crew.”

“I’ll go,” Reid said automatically, already turning for the door. There was nothing he could do for Autumn at the moment, but he sure as shit could get in there and protect Tess.

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