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As soon as he was free of the victim, Lucky called for me to take off again. Bennett stood at the edge of the group with his hands in front of his mouth. He still looked terrified, and I didn’t blame him. Head injuries were serious and time to treatment was critical. I’d learned that from Lucky during our training, so I knew he’d be conscious of it every second Xander was delayed from critical care.
Once we hovered over the sinkhole again I noticed a light mist on the windshield. I didn’t mind the mist, but I hoped to hell it didn’t bring any wind with it. One light gust could send Lucky swinging into those tree branches and tangle the line, endangering everyone involved.
“Hold!” Lucky shouted through my earpiece. He wasn’t low enough yet to have reached Xander.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Pull up! Pull up!”
I didn’t stop to question the command, I simply pulled the bird straight up just in time to see the motion of another tree falling at the edge of the sinkhole. Lucky must have noticed it coming loose from the soft ground.
Cold sweat poured off me as I realized how close he’d come to being hit or trapped by it. “Status,” I demanded.
“Yeah. Clear. Fine. Fuck, that was close. Go again.”
The image of that tree taking Lucky off the line kept replaying in my mind. If he hadn’t noticed it because he’d been more focused below him on Xander’s position instead of keeping an eagle eye on his surroundings…
“We need to reassess,” I said.
“No. Go again. We’re clear.”
“It’s protocol to reassess hazards, Lucky. We need to—”
For the first time since getting on the line, Lucky’s voice broke in my ear.
“Zach, please. I have to get to him… please. He’s my dad. The ground was shifting beneath him even as we spoke. We’re running out of time.”
“Zach! Zach, get him out of here!” I heard Xander call as his voice came through on the comms.
“No!” Lucky shouted. “Lower me, Zach. I can do this!”
The lump in my throat prevented me from responding right away as my conscience warred with itself. I knew Xander wanted me to do whatever it took to keep Lucky safe, even at the cost of his own life, but could I really let an innocent man die just to ensure Lucky lived? Xander was as biased as I was, if not more so. I leaned over to put my eyes on Lucky, nothing but a red jacket and white helmet hanging far below. My heart pounded in my chest, whatever part of it wasn’t dangling from that fucking line, anyway.
“Zach…” Lucky said more softly over the comms. It was what I didn’t hear that had me hyper-focused on him. There was no panic or desperation in his voice as he said just my name again. He sounded every bit the professional he was. And right now what he needed was his pilot to trust him and follow his commands so this rescue mission could be completed.
“Prepare to drop,” I said through my teeth. “Let me know when ready.”
Chapter 30
Lucky
“Ready.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that Zach wasn’t aborting the mission. My father continued to call across the radio in a desperate effort to get Zach to change his mind.
“Dad,” I said. I had to repeat myself three times before Xander finally fell silent. “Dad, I’m coming down, so I need you to keep the line clear. I need to be able to give Zach directions.”
“Lucky,” my father murmured. Despite the noise of the helicopter, I could hear how tired he sounded. I hadn’t really had much chance to talk to him when I’d gone in to get the kid out and I doubted my father had really had a chance to process that it had been me on the rescue line at the time.
“Dad, I can see things from up here that you can’t. I promise you, I can get us both out safely. I need you to trust me.”
“Dropping,” Zach interrupted quietly. It was a reminder that I needed to focus.
“I’ll see you soon, Dad, okay?”
My father didn’t answer, but I tried not to focus on what that could possibly mean.
Zach had much less room to work with this time, and I knew lowering me into the narrow open area without a spotter was like trying to thread a needle with a helicopter. When he finally got me down to where Xander lay in the mud below, I called for Zach to hold. The longline disappeared above me into the daylight, and I lost sight of the helicopter I was attached to.
“Dad,” I called, stepping over to where he lay in a heap on the ground.
“Lucky?” he croaked, blinking his eyes open. Since he’d been talking to me only a few minutes earlier, he was clearly disoriented which only confirmed his probable head injury. We needed to get him to the hospital.
