Desperate Situations (4 page)

He patted her leg. "It's only because of your flying skills that all the rest of us made it out alive. That's seven for one, Girl."

Megan snorted again.

Cowboy chuckled. "Just think 'bout how you get to rag on Cupcake."

Megan chuckled too. "Did you see his file?"

"Nope."

"He's good. Damn good." She looked up at the group to see the five guys teaching Jake the card game. "He won't require much training, mostly just getting used to the way we do things."

"Bet that don't stop ya from giving him shit though."

"Ya got that right."

He winked at her with a knowing grin as he stood.

Megan made a funny face. "You know that's not going to happen. As a member of my crew, he's off limits."

"Right."

"Shut up."

"Right," Cowboy said as he walked away with a huge grin on his face.

Megan shook her head as her eyes followed him down the aisle then drifted to the group playing cards.
Why did Jake McGrew have to be so good-looking, so good at his job? And in my crew?
He had a great personality too, evident by the fact that he was already being accepted into the group after such a short time.

She studied him as he asked several questions about the South African card game. Maybe she had pegged him wrong in Iraq. It was just a normal reaction toward a Special Forces Ranger. Or maybe he was just playing nice to get his own crew and extra pay.

Jake laughed at that moment.

Megan smiled.
Damn.
His light brown hair, more a dirty blond really, and blue eyes were just the right shades of how she liked them.
And his body!
Even the fatigues and body armor he wore when she picked them up in Iraq couldn't hide the nice physique. From his file, he was also extremely intelligent. Usually that combination ripped her the wrong way, as was testament to her usual stance on specialized military soldiers.
But he was just…

Megan quickly replaced the soft smile with a more neutral look as he turned toward her. Their eyes met across the passenger area, his blue eyes piercing hers and seemed to look deep within. It
made her strangely uncomfortable, as though he could see inside and know her secrets. She broke the look first to pull out the mission folder from the briefcase at her feet―the file she was supposed to be familiar with by the time they got to the Afghanistan base.

But now her heart rate was elevated. She took several deep breaths to calm herself so she could concentrate. But she couldn't. Slowly she raised her eyes to watch the card game again.

***

"No, no. I said it needed to be refitted. This doesn't look like you did anything. Was the new part installed?" Megan asked checking out the Pave Hawk in front of her where it sat outside the hanger. She was pointing to an area right behind the engine.

"The work order said it was to be done by today. It is," said Marshall Kittering. He put his hands on his hips, disgusted. He was an American National but of Afghanistan origin. Speaking the language and having relations in the country helped him reach the position he was in as assistant head mechanic.

Megan took several deep breaths. "Fine. Is the work done on the Chinook?"

"Yes." The mechanic stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Okay. When I take this bird up, Kit, you're riding along."

"Why?"

"Because…" Megan leaned closer to him. "If we crash, I want you to be with us. Our lives depend on these machines. That means everything you do on this aircraft, including the most mundane things, affect our lives. Be ready to go in fifty minutes when I finish with the pre-flight check."

"But…"

"Yes?" Megan turned a disgusted look at him.

"Nothing. I'll be ready."

"Good," Megan said as the big, burly mechanic hurried away. Another body moved in close.

"You seem to carry a lot of weight around here." Jake had an amused tone to his voice.

"They don't realize how important it is to have things running at the highest performance." She glanced toward the hanger. "Having an absolutely smooth running machine has saved my crew's ass more than once. You think White Pine could spring for some people who understand this." She took a deep breath to calm herself.

Jake chuckled. "Stay on top of them, Chief. We don't want an incompetent screwing us up."

"Yeah. Did you need something? I thought I assigned you to help with inventory in the main stockroom."

"You did. It's done. Cowboy sent me here. He said I could help 'purtty up the steel steed.' And to tell you, he'd be out to help preflight after he 'wiggled the wiggly.' " McGrew hesitated. "As your faithful messenger, I delivered it." He gave a formal bow.

Megan chuckled. "Cupcake, there's two things you gotta learn about me. I don't take ass kissing well, but I do like a sense of humor."

"In that case Chief, care to tell me what you want me to do next?" Jake asked with a smile.

Megan reached into the Pave Hawk grabbing a flat, thin box. She pulled out a large piece of white paper. As she set the box back into Pave Hawk, she caught his puzzled look. "Have you ever put on transfers?"

"Transfers?"

Megan lifted one corner to show the reversed painting of a pale rider on a horse. She gave the ex-military man a wry smile. "I get chewed out every time I put these on the choppers
, but once they're on, they're bitches to get off." She looked around the area, especially into the hanger. "Spray the nose of the cockpit with adhesive." She pointed to a spray can sitting near the box. "Let it dry, then peel away the backing and it'll stick on. You get one shot at it, Cupcake. There's Death for the Pave Hawk and Famine for the Black Hawk. One for each side." She handed it to him. "Make'em look 'purtty.' "

Jake chuckled. "Sure thing, Chief."

Megan continued with the preflight check. It took over half an hour to go over every inch of the helicopter. These hadn't been flown in eight months, so they had been mothballed, and it was a very thorough inspection. Finally, she was in the cockpit checking out dials when McGrew walked up and waited. She glanced at him.

"All 'purttied' up, Chief. What's next?"

Megan glanced out the cockpit door at the Black Hawk. The nose art was in just the right spot on the front. She also saw the other two pilots finishing with pre-flighting the Black Hawk. "Good job."

"Thanks. What else?"

Megan glanced at her watch then leaned out the cockpit toward the back of the aircraft. "Hey, Kelly. How long?"

"I'm just finishin' up. Give me two."

She turned her eyes to Jake. "We need to give the 'steel steeds' a little test flight. Take a break until we get back, assuming the others are done with their jobs. If not, help them."

With two quick taps on the side of the helicopter, Jake moved off to the nearby hanger.

Megan watched him walk away, admiring his butt and general physique. She shook her head.
He's off limits. Totally off limits. Completely and absolutely off limits.

***

"What the hell?" Megan said, noticing the light that flashed on the collective she held in her left hand. It was the instrument with which she controlled the pitch of the blades. The light indicated there was a problem in engine number one.

"What?" Cowboy asked, swing
ing his head toward her.

"Light. Problem in number one." She intoned quickly and keyed the microphone to the back of the helicopter. "Kit, look out the left side and see if we're smoking… Kit?"

"Damn it." Megan glanced at Cowboy who was looking into the back of the helicopter.

"He's not plugged in."

"Do you see anything coming out?"

"No." Cowboy was straining to look around back.

"I'm going to turn." Even as she said so, she slightly turned the helicopter left to see if she was trailing smoke.

As soon as she began the maneuver, Cowboy spoke, "Yep. Smoke outta one."

Megan grimaced. "That oil line. I told him―"

"You got smoke, Death," came from the other helicopter over the radio.

"Yeah, we see it. We're shuttin' number one down and headin' back," Cowboy said. He always handled communication and navigation while they flew, leaving the pilot to fly.

"We'll foll
ow you."

"Can we make it back?" Cowboy asked Megan.

"I'm sure as hell gonna try. You know if I put it down now, it'll be stripped before you can count to ten, not to mention if we stay with it, the locals will kill to get the parts," she cursed softly.

She shut down the engine and turned again to see if the craft was still smoking. The smoke was less but still there. In her ear, she heard Cowboy alerting White Pine Tower that they were returning with a crippled aircraft.

***

McGrew returned from the soda machine in the main office complex to join the rest of the crew when he saw several people hurrying out the door heading to the hanger. With a puzzled look, he changed directions and followed. The other members of his crew were taking a break near the patio.

There was a scramble of people coming out of the hanger too. Jake quickened his steps to join the small group standing outside the hanger entrance on the airstrip side. Worried looks were on everyone's faces.

"Problem?" Jake asked Corn, one of the mechanics.

"Yeah, the Ghost is having trouble with her Bird." He glanced back into the hanger.

McGrew followed his glance to see the two man firefighting team of mechanics quickly donning gear. Jake's face hardened. "Is it that serious?"

Corn nodded. "Could be. Any other pilot probably would have ditched it. Then the battle becomes who gets to it first, the locals or us. The parts of a helicopter go for mighty high prices on the black market. We had a crew, a year ago or so, that ditched a chopper, and it was never seen again. All we found was the fuselage. Totally stripped." Corn shook his head. "Serious shit. Cartwright hates to loose a bird."

Jake turned to see the crowd getting bigger
, including the rest of his crew, as news spread across the White Pine compound.

By this time, they could hear the whirl of the two returning choppers. The Black Hawk was pacing the smoking Pave Hawk. A small black cloud trailed the crippled helicopter.

Jake's eyes still focused on the quickly approaching helicopters as he heard the two firefighting mechanics discussing possible situations.

"Looks like she's got an oil fire."

"Had. Look close. One of the engines is down."

"That means she can't hover. She'll have to land on the wheels." Both jumped into the small fire truck
, and it pulled out of the hanger to stop near the runway, waiting.

Suddenly the Pave Hawk dipped and swung to the side.

Jake sucked up an involuntary breath. His heart stopped for a brief second until Megan got control of the helicopter. Quickly, it descended at a steep angle toward the end of the runway.

"Come on, Megan," Jake whispered, watching the helicopter approach more like a fixed wing aircraft.

Death touched down once, lifted slightly, then put back down as it rolled down the runway. The other engine was cut and it glided to a stop.

Jake glanced around at the still gathering crowd to see most of his crew waiting anxiously while the fire apparatus accelerate
d onto the runway. As Famine landed a short distance away, Jake took off running toward the disabled aircraft followed by his crew.

As soon as it was on the ground, Jake saw Kit the mechanic scramble out of the back. He moved to a safe distance and stood staring at the firefighters spraying the tail rotor area. He was breathing hard and whiter than his grease-smudged shirt.

Jake slowed as he got closer to the crippled aircraft, especially when he saw a pissed off Megan exit the cockpit.

Megan was already discussing the situation with the head mechanic and Corn when he got near. The firefighting guys were also investigating. All of them were pointing and moving from one side to the other in heavy discussion.

A curse word caught McGrew's attention as he stood nearby assessing the situation. His head snapped up to see Cartwright heading toward the still pale mechanic standing off the side of the runway. He glanced at the others, and moved on an intercept course. But Cartwright moved fast. Jake got there right as Megan grabbed the shaken mechanic.

"I told you to replace that oil line. If that had been a mission, we might all be dead, you
…" Her eyes narrowed, her breathing fast as her fist rose.

Jake grabbed Megan by the arm, breaking her hold on the mechanic
, and with his other hand captured her clenched fist. She struggled, but he turned and pinned her arms to her sides. "Get him away," Jake ordered Gunner who was following behind him.