Page 118 of Falling for the Playboy Pilot

I ignored her and dropped lower.

“Herc, what are you doing?” Chief asked.

“I’m going to put this bitch out,” I replied.

At one-sixty, I hit the button and felt the aircraft surge upward as 1,200 gallons of red retardant poured out below me. It hit clean. No drifting or splattering. A perfect wedge of protection.

But it wasn’t enough. We needed a few more passes.

“Coming back in,” I said and started to climb.

I managed to get above the worst turbulence, which allowed me to fly a little faster back to the field. It was the same process, sliding across the tarmac and pulling to a stop. The crew rushed in.

I had just taken off and was headed back to the same area when the radio clicked on and then off. And then I heard it click on again, but no one spoke right away.

“Herc.” Laser’s tone had the hair on the back of my neck standing up. Whatever she had to say wasn’t good. “We’ve lost contact with Janna and Pickle.”

Every muscle in me clenched.

“Where?” I asked.

“They got caught in a whirl. Last transmission from Pickle was he was trying to bring it down on Main.”

She was using her professional voice. She only used that when shit was real. All of us were pretty used to the craziness and most of us used humor to keep things chill. Humor and cockiness. Laser was all business right then, which said it all.

“Did they put out a mayday?” I asked. My tone was just as cold as hers.

“No.”

“Radio?”

“Nothing.”

I took a deep breath. The many scenarios that ran through my mind were anything but good.

I wanted to ask if anyone saw an explosion. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I needed to hold on to that hope. Pickle was a damn good pilot. If he knew he was going down, he’d cut the engine to shut off the fuel line. That gave them a chance.

“Who do we have up?” I asked.

She knew what I was asking. “Just you. Wild Bill is heading out to a group of hotshots that are about to get boxed in.”

Fuck.

“Dalton.” Her use of my given name scared me even more.

“Tell me,” I said.

“There’s no one. Chief says he has to look at the bigger picture. We’re directing all our resources to stopping the forward progression but it’s already there. They are there, Dalton. The last communication said they were going to try and make it to the evac zone. Main Street.”

I heard everything she wasn’t saying. Janna and Pickle were on their own. There was no one to save them.

Except me. And I wasn’t foolish enough to think I could swoop in and pick them up. I was in a fucking S-2. I needed something to land on. And then I had to try and figure out how to take off, which was easier said than done through a wall of flames.

I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves. I knew Chief was listening to the comms. He couldn’t ask me to do anything, but I knew he would want me to tell everyone to fuck off and do it anyway. I was the cowboy with no fucks to give.

“Can I land? On pavement?”

“Negative. Main street is too narrow. Maybe near Sullivan Farm. There’s limited fire activity out that way right now.”