Page 47 of Russian Rescue

“I like it,” Piper said. “I’m ready whenever you guys are.”

“We go tonight,” Marcus said decidedly. “Knox and I will steal the helicopter. Piper, take Wes somewhere out of town where he can get on the internet and be our Overwatch.”

“I’m coming with,” I spit out.

Marcus’s eyes widened along with Knox’s. “No way, man.”

“You said you need a getaway car. I can drive it.”

Knox snorted. “You? I don’t think so, Pretty Boy. You get the computer to some Wi-Fi, and just let us know what’s going on in that building.”

“I can drive. Well. Very well. Ask Piper.” I looked to Piper, who gave a slight nod.

Marcus shook his head. “Even if you can drive well, we can’t take a chance of you getting seen.”

“No one is going to recognize me, guys. And your sedan has tinted windows. Why don’t I drop you guys off outside the flight school, drive the car into Moscow, and park across the street from the building? I’ll set up shop in there, and I’ll have the engine running for when you drop down. Easy peasy.”

They all passed a look between them.

“You guys. I can do this. I know I’m normally sitting at home in my underwear when you go on ops, but this way, I’m there if you need me. I can shoot. I can drive. Hell, I can even throw knives now. I’m good. Right, Piper?”

She pursed her lips, then let out a lengthy sigh. “Yeah. For a beginner.”

“You really want to do this?” Knox asked. “Because you know if you fall into their hands again, you won’t live long if the US government finds out. They’ll take you out.”

“They won’t see me. This will work. It makes the most sense.”

Marcus twisted his lips then slapped his thighs. “Okay. Fine. It does make things easier for us getting the helicopter if we can all go together to steal it. Let’s take a ride now to Moscow, get the gear from Oleg, then Wes can drop us outside the airfield and head back into the city to get ready.”

My grin spread across my face. “I won’t let you down, guys. Or Amanda. My sister is counting on us, and I intend to make sure she gets out safely. Whatever it takes.”

“We all in agreement?” Marcus’s gaze swept across Piper and Knox.

Knox chuckled. “Works for me. Welcome to the on-site team, Pretty Boy.”

Piper sucked her lip between her teeth before she let out a sigh. “Fine. Agreed.”

“Fuck yeah.” I grinned wider. “Let’s do this shit.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Piper

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“You’re gonna have to disengage fast when you’re passing over the roof,” Knox said into his comms from the cockpit. “I’m going to kill the engine and use the autorotation so we can glide over quietly, but remember that means I’ve got no power to slow down or stop. We’ve got one shot because this thing isn’t going to restart. But I should have enough altitude I can glide it to land outside of Moscow safely.”

“Roger that,” Marcus answered.

The wind blew in my face as I stood at Marcus’s side at the open door. The lights from the city far below flickered as we passed over them. Normally on an Elite Stealth Force mission, we’d have used our stealth helicopter to hover above the roof and fast roped down, but because we didn’t have our usual equipment and had to steal this basic helicopter, we couldn’t get close without alerting everyone in the building that a helicopter was overhead. Instead, Knox had to kill the engine and use the helicopter’s autorotation to keep us in the air as well as line us up to hit the roof at just the right height—an excessively difficult feat, and an impossible one for a regular pilot, but I trusted Knox completely to pull it off.

Before Knox had joined the Elite Stealth Force, he’d been an Army Ranger who’d also shown proficiency in flying. After that, he’d become part of a covert special operations Army team that combined both aerial and tactical skills. His time there had made him an unstoppable pilot, and that was why I trusted him to kill the engine on this helicopter and safely glide us down to land on the roof of the high-rise. We only got one shot, so the rest depended on Marcus and I jumping off at just the right time.

“Get ready,” Knox said. “I’m going to kill the engine and go to autorotation.” He turned off all the lights on the helicopter.

“Roger that.” I checked my rigging one last time, then clutched the edge of the door, preparing to descend.

“Ready?” Marcus asked.