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Chapter One
The helicopter reeled like a wounded bird, plummeted ten feet, stabilized, and bobbed up. Rafael Lopez increased the volume on his radio. “High turbulence, conditions deteriorating,” he informed the air traffic control tower. “Can I climb above the clouds?”
“Blanket’s not thick. Increase your speed,” the air traffic controller answered.
“Roger.”
“Cut through. Go.”
“Roger.”
The bank of dark clouds looming over the rain forest threatened the stability of the helicopter. In the back of the cabin, the deadly silence attested to the fear gripping its three occupants.
Determined to conduct his mission safely, Rafael raised his voice and spoke into the internal mike. “Stay buckled in your seats,” he instructed the nurse and paramedic watching over their patient strapped to a gurney.
Now that he’d gotten clearance, he touched his mother’s medal magnetically attached to the dashboard, whispered,Santa Maria, save us,and pushed the collective forward, slowly and smoothly. The speed increased. For a few seconds, the clouds cocooned the cabin but soon the copter punched through them, emerging above the dark carpet. A glance at the air speed indicator reassured him that he could stabilize the copter, and he exhaled in relief. They’d made it above the clouds.
How long could they last at this altitude?
He checked in with the controller again.
“Keep going for eight minutes.” And a moment later, the desired command came. “Radar indicates no clouds farther ahead. Go down.”
Once more, Rafael followed directions and decreased his altitude. The rest of the trip should present no further problems.
Earlier in the morning, he’d carefully studied the weather conditions and had accepted the mission. Without a storm, rain, or fog in the forecast, he’d agreed to fly a high-risk patient with heart problems from the Kingston Central Hospital in Jamaica to the Miami Mercy Hospital. The dangerous turbulence had come as an unwanted surprise.
Nervous laughter and bits of conversation wafted from the back. Both experienced and trained, the nurse and paramedic had maintained their bravado and reassured the patient throughout the difficult moments.
“We’re lucky to have the best pilot in Florida,” Martha insisted in a firm voice, while Leo joked about their pilot’s acrobatic skills.
When they landed on the helipad after the three-hour flight, they moved the patient’s gurney onto the roof of the Miami Mercy Hospital.
Martha peeked into the cockpit. “Thank you, Captain,” she murmured, her voice shaky. “God bless you. You managed to control this bird. I don’t know how much longer I can cope with the fear.” She exhaled and pushed the gurney inside the building.
Rafael had the feeling she would offer her resignation soon. She hadn’t lasted three months on the job, even less than her predecessor who’d flown with him for six months. All flight nurses and paramedics claimed to have nerves of steel when they applied for the position. Unfortunately, they had him waste precious time training them when they stayed for only a few months.
Yet he understood their feelings. In his ten years of flying a copter, he’d crossed the ocean only three times. Patients usually made that trek in a plane, but today’s flight had been an emergency and the last chance to save the patient.
“Great job, Captain Lopez.” EMT Leo Connor shook hands with him.
“Hang on to your icy nerves. I have the feeling we’ve lost Martha.”
Leo shrugged. “I’m meeting a friend. Don’t wait for me.” He disappeared inside the hospital.
Rafael pulled the magnet from the dashboard and shoved it into his pocket. Once more his mother’s medal had saved him and his charges. He removed his helmet and climbed out of the copter. Glad to be back on safe ground, he raised his arms to the sunny cloudless sky with a mumbled,Thank you,and spun around to go into the hospital building.
An unusual sight caught his eyes.
“What the heck are you doing here?” he called to the teenager hunkered down at the opposite end of the roof.
In shorts and sandals, with a pink cap allowing a long ponytail to float down her back, she stared but didn’t answer.
“Didn’t you see the sign?Restricted Area. Authorized Personnel Only.”Resolutely, he strode toward her, ready to escort her out and perhaps call security. A girl on the roof near the helipad. She could have been hit by the blades. As if he needed more stress after today’s flight from hell. “You should never—”
“Perfect landing.” She straightened up and clapped her hands.
He stopped short. She was no teenager, but a lovely young woman with long, sleek legs and a figure that would damn a saint.
