Coffee and Cockpits (10 page)

A groan wrenched from my lungs as I heaved. Biceps trembled, abs rippled with tension as we both fought an aircraft that outweighed us a thousand to one.
Come on, you bitch. I’m not ready to die.

“That’s it. Keep pulling!” Anderson shouted.

Incredibly, with screaming engines and whistling air, we inched the nose higher, ready to land.

A bright grin split Anderson’s lips, hidden under his moustache. “Good work, Mikin. Now all we need to do is hold her.”

An eerie calm filled the cockpit. Both of us absorbed with thoughts. Would they be our final thoughts or would we get through this safely? All I could think of was Nina. When I spoke to her after the first nosedive, she’d been quiet, and the thread of fear was unmistakable in her voice, but she was also calm. And so switched on. Her intelligence was one of the first things that drew me to her almost a year ago.

The fact she wasn’t broken and bruised kept me fighting hard. So far, Anderson and I had done well by the passengers, and I wasn’t about to stop as we descended way too fast.

 I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t make it—I’d wasted so many months waiting for a perfect opportunity to ask Nina out on a date, and it never came. As I waited, I learned. And the more I learned, the more I cared. I had a rather large secret where Nina was concerned and my feelings were a little tangled.

Trying to keep my thoughts on the present, I asked Anderson, “What do you think happened?”

He shrugged. Excellent pilots we were when we couldn’t answer such a simple question. “Don’t know. Whatever it was, it was dangerous enough to leave us a bird with no electronics.” Anderson frowned. “I don’t get why we lost control. The engines are firing. We shouldn’t have to fight so hard to keep her airborne.”

I shifted, rolling my aching shoulders. Shit, our time was up. Two minutes to touch down by the speed we hurtled. “Guess the CAA will have to investigate. When we’re on the ground.” I liked the sound of that: on the ground. Safe. 

Anderson wiped his face from drips of sweat and turned on the intercom, telling the passengers to get ready. He performed his speech well with a calmness I doubted I’d be able to pull off. After finishing, he said, “You can do the honours. Call the girls. Tell them to prepare.”

This was happening too fast. I wanted to be on the ground, but I didn’t like how our journey would go to get there. Nina answered the phone. Where was Samantha? Wasn’t she in charge of the cabin?

“Yes?”

Not worrying about who was in charge, I said, “Get everyone secured and make sure everything is locked down. Okay?”

She whispered, “Why do I get the feeling this isn’t gonna be a simple touch down?”

Captain Anderson joined the conversation. “Nina, all our electronics are down. Do you understand what I mean?”

Almost immediately, she answered, “The landing gear won’t come down.” God, she was bright. And stunning. And amazing.

“Correct. And for some reason it’s jammed, and we can’t activate it manually. We’re going to land on our belly. It’s going to be bumpy, loud, and might end in flames. But we’ve already called for fire engines and paramedics to be on the runaway in Samoa.” He paused before adding, “Just remember your training and everything will be fine.”

“Will do, Captain. I look forward to seeing you on the ground.”

“Me too, Nina. Me too,” Captain Anderson replied.

I butted in before he terminated the connection. “Make sure your harness is on extra tight. Do you hear me?” If my stomach wasn’t a knotted ball of stress already it would be, knowing she was back there dealing with hysterical passengers.

“I’ll cinch it as tight as it will go. Liam?”

Hopefully her harness would keep her from injury. Joslyn better have the common sense to do the same. “Yes?”

“Stay safe up there. I know you’ll bring us to the airport in one piece.”

Her concern ripped me to shreds. Even though she didn’t know me and believed in the false rumours, she still cared. That was who she was. A caring, sharing, giving person who thought she hid her emotions so well. Didn’t she know I was like her?

Of course, she didn’t.

I never had the guts to talk to her before. Instead, I learned about her from the shadows. Prying information from Joslyn and Theo, revelling in learning more about the girl who fought so hard for what she wanted and didn’t share her dreams. We were so similar it was scary.

I tried to chuckle light-heartedly. “That’s the plan. Right, I gotta go.”

The moment I hung up, air traffic control warbled in my ear. “Your escort is waiting. Standing by. We see you on the horizon. Over.”

Anderson breathed hard as the plane increased its effort to plummet. “Roger.”

His eyes flashed to mine. “Ready?”

I nodded, looking out the window at the swaying palm trees and picture perfect island. I didn’t want to think how messy this was gonna get. “Yep.”

Engines squealed louder as we soared the last few feet. I tensed, pulling with everything I had as we paused in the last pillow of air before touch down.

Time suspended. I froze. Then everything restarted and eye-watering speed was the only factor

Oh… shiitt.

The first jolt exploded as if the plane was being devoured by metal-eating beasts. The shrieking and ear-piercing bedlam shuddered through the plane.

Anderson yelled commands, but I couldn’t hear him over the metal-buckling noise.

I reached to the middle console and slammed the engines into reverse. Anderson yanked the flaps to increase drag. The noise of the jet screaming and air yowling filled me with dread. 

We bounced and one of the buckles of my harness unlocked. I slammed forward to connect with my steering column. White light flashed as intense pain rippled through my head. Fuck, that hurt.

Anderson yelped but I didn’t see what happened. I hoped he wasn’t too hurt.

We skidded and slipped, every centimetre heralded doom as the runway grew shorter and shorter. A bank of jungle welcomed us, waiting for our carnage.

Unbelievably, the engines managed to twist air to force our speed to slow. The flaps were our lifesavers as we slowly stopped our Formula One speed and came to a leaning halt on a wing tip.

My head thundered in time with my heart. Pressure built full of amazement that we survived.

The phone rang in my headset and Anderson answered, breathing heavily. He shot me a weary grin. “Everything okay back there, Nina?”

“Yes, sir. Everyone’s intact and giving you applause.”

We couldn’t hear the applause, but relief knowing she was okay helped sooth my racing pulse, giving me a pocket of calm. My brain crashed against my skull with every surge of my over worked heart. Every tidal wave of pain brought with it newer maladies, adding to the lingering thud. Hell, that was a nightmare of a landing.

Anderson groused, “I never want to go through that again.” He rested his head against his captain’s chair.

I totally agreed. I didn’t sign up to be a crash pilot. I’d never been so terrified in my life. Not just for my well-being, but for the hundreds of others we were responsible for.

Shifting in my chair, my headphones choked me as they fell off my ears, dangling around my neck. I cursed as my head thickened with more pain. Damn my harness for failing me.  

I reached up and touched my hairline. I was a sweaty mess like I’d run a hundred kilometres on my treadmill, and a slippery warmth had my heart coughing.

Peering at my bright blood, I frowned. There was a lot more blood than there should be for a nasty knock. Sure, it hurt like the devil, but I swore it wasn’t as bad as the crimson on my fingers said.

I stood gingerly and every bone in my body ached. My back muscles, my arms, my abdominals—they all snarled. It was flipping hard work keeping a Boeing in the sky. It made sense—all that metal, rivets, and heavy engines. I never knew how much I loved auto pilot until today.

I had to find Joslyn, make sure she was okay. My dad and step mom would never forgive me if I didn’t swoop in like a dashing knight and check she was uninjured. Then again, I was part of the reason why she survived a crash landing. What the hell caused the bang? I needed answers. I hated being in the dark; hated being at the mercy of a failing piece of machinery. 

My thoughts tripped spastically for a moment before I allowed myself to focus on Nina. I’d hoped to break the ice between us by offering to take her flying, but that hadn’t gone nearly as well as I hoped. No hug of gratitude, no real smile or thawing. My teeth ground as I recalled Joslyn interrupting us. I swear she liked to make my life a constant annoyance. Especially if I was interested in a girl. Meddling little brat.

Maybe now, after a near death experience, Nina would be more open to having me as a friend. I snorted.
Friend.
Yes, because that’s what I wanted to be.

Stumbling toward the door, I struggled with double vision. “Are you going to be alright, Anderson?” 

His face was grey and dampness glistened on his exposed skin like someone microwaved a corpse. Not pretty.

I had an incredible urge to crush the guy in a hug. Without him, we wouldn’t have survived. He was the anchor in the crazy hellfire we’d flown in. His orders kept my head from clunking like the broken fuselage, and I borrowed his strength to fight through the shaky weakness of depleting muscles.

We made it. All in one piece, minus a few scrapes. Nothing but a playschool scuffle. We won. Not the Grim Reaper bully. And I would be eternally thankful.

I didn’t care anymore about trying to find the perfect moment. I was going to ask Nina out. I didn’t know when life would be snatched away, and I wasn’t going to suffer regrets. If I had died today, I would’ve cursed myself for not telling Nina how much I understand her. Ever since overhearing her fight with her father on the phone about her career choice, I wanted to tell her not to let others dictate her life. I’d let my past suffocate who I really wanted to be, and she shouldn’t suffer the same. Then again, the fire she’d shown when arguing, proved she was stronger than me in that regard. She blew me away—no tears when her father yelled he was disowning her—his voice so loud the entire staff room could hear. Luckily, she thought she was alone and didn’t see me in the small kitchen.

I’d turned into a mushy, gushy idiot who was so proud of her and hoped to God she hadn’t noticed.

Anderson sucked in a painful breath. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. You go and deal with the disembarking passengers. I’ll radio operations from here and explain what happened.”

I gave him a half-hearted salute and unlocked the cockpit door.

My eyes widened as I took in the state of the cabin. I expected smoke and carnage—the way we jerked and jumbled, surely things went ricocheting—but apart from some twisted panels that had caused a few overhead lockers to spring open, and the oxygen masks dangling like little orange skeletons from the ceiling, it was surprisingly tidy.

“Liam!” Joslyn appeared from the galley and threw her arms around me.

I stumbled a little, wincing as her hands pressed against my sore shoulder blades. I’d never strained so much as I did to keep the aircraft afloat, and I’d pay for it by the way my body protested.

“Are you okay?” I asked when she stopped hugging me like I was her old stuffed koala.

She sniffed, nodding. “Yes, I’m okay. I’ve done a quick scout; it doesn’t look as if too many people are injured. Just superficial stuff.” She lowered her voice. “Nina suffered pretty bad whiplash and Samantha has gone deathly white. But we’re alive. That’s the main thing.”

I grabbed her wrists. They were smeared with blood. “What the hell happened to your hands?” I quickly surveyed the rest of her and relaxed a little when I realized the only thing wrong was torn pantyhose and scraped knees.

“Nothing. I was flung forward when we nosedived.”

I grunted, looking over her shoulder. My heart interrupted its natural rhythm as Nina walked up the aisle toward us. She was shoeless and her delicate feet sent a protective rush inside me. I wanted to lie on the carpet and let her walk over me just in case there was something sharp. 

God, I was such a sap.

Joslyn tugged her into a hug.

When Nina pulled away she shot me a brave smile. “Are you and Captain Anderson okay?” Her voice sent my blood flowing faster, and I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Yep. We’re good.” Why did I sound so flipping mellow? I was anything but laid-back like my voice implied. I had trouble looking her in the eye with the grateful look radiating from her.

“You saved us. Thank you.” She took a step toward me but stopped at the last moment.

I cleared my throat, my arms cursing that she didn’t give me a hug like Joslyn.

My stepsister watched me with her head tilted. I shot her a scowl, rolling my shoulders. I better look professional and piloty and crap. Nina mustn’t know my tangled feelings. Not this early on, or I’d freak the living daylights out of her.

“I’ve got to talk to the ground staff and see where we are with hospitals and things. Do you think you girls can handle activating the emergency slide and get everyone off?” My voice sounded in control and assertive. I deserved a freakin’ award. The more confidence I oozed, the more I could show Nina that I could provide for her. Why she should look past the rumours and trust me. I
needed
her to trust me.

Nina swallowed, smoothing her skirt. “Joslyn and I’ll start right away.” Her sapphire eyes met mine. How did I not notice till this moment she had such gorgeous eyes?

She opened her mouth to add something, but frowned instead. Spinning on her heel, she strode down the aisle.

Do not look at her ass.
Dammit, but she had an amazing ass. Images of touching her, stroking her filled my head, and my lungs stuck together.

“Jeez, Liam. If you want to keep your secret, you’d better stop looking at her like she’s your favourite triple swirl caramel ice-cream.” Joslyn poked me in the ribs.

“Shut up, Tree.” I deliberately used her childhood nickname. I’d christened her Tree ‘cause that’s where she’d end up when she suffered from insecurities about her parents breaking up. We’d sit in the branches, legs dangling. We’d grown into siblings in those limbs, and she was related to me in every sense of the word.