Page 157 of Scars of Fate

No sign of the escort aircraft.

“Where are we?” Wynn asked.

The pilot looked toward the mountains.

“Approximately thirty miles east of the air base.”

“Can you radio for help?”

Hawk examined the broken equipment.

“Not with this.”

Adam checked his satellite unit.

“Dead.”

Boone held up his phone.

“No signal.”

Russ scanned the ridge.

“The copilot took something else.”

I looked at the open aircraft door.

“What?”

“The tracker from beneath the console.”

Of course.

“He isn’t trying to lead them to us,” I said. “He’s trying to meet them.”

Adam understood immediately.

“An extraction team.”

“Or an assault team.”

“How much time?” Boone asked.

I studied the slope.

The copilot had suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

Fresh blood marked the ground, leading uphill.

“Not much.”

The helicopter groaned again.

Then flames appeared beneath the engine.

“Move!”

We scrambled toward the tree line.