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I rested my hand on Layla’s shoulder. “Don’t fall out of the chopper this time.”
She tilted her head at me. “No way.”
“Okay, Layla, hang onto here.” Gunn indicated to a shoulder strap on his harness.
She did as he asked, and he waved at the chopper.
Layla’s eyes met mine before she was winched from the Amazon jungle for a second time. As the blades whirred overhead, casting a menacing shadow on the jungle floor, I stepped back to watch her ascent. My heart clenched over what she’d been through. None of this was her fault. All her hard work, and she had nothing to show for it.
Her computer!
As Gunn manipulated her into the chopper, I sprinted back into the ruined lab and snatched the laptop from the floor. I tried to snap it shut but the frame was buckled, and the keys were gone. But with a bit of luck, the hard drive wouldn’t be ruined, and Wyatt could work his magic on it and salvage something for Layla after all.
The winch returned to the ground for me. I hooked it to my vest, and gripping the laptop under my arm, I gave Gunn, who was leaning out the chopper, theall-clearsignal.
The helicopter blades roared above me, drowning out the relentless jungle sounds and my burn scars stung like a bitch as I was hauled into the bird. Layla’s scars were mental ones, and she’d fought hard to eradicate them by providing a solution to her sister’s burn wounds. But her sister’s burn scars would be there to stay, just like mine. Layla knew that, yet she had persisted anyway.
I fought my agony by scanning the jungle below searching for tangos and wondering why Neville had sabotaged her work.
Gunn pulled me into the chopper and grabbing onto a handle, I shuffled inside, then leaned toward the cockpit. “Hey, Xavier, thanks for saving our asses.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Xavier saluted me from the pilot seat.
As Gunn secured the winch, I showed Layla her laptop. “Thought you might need this.”
Her expression twisted into a baffling mix of confusion and delight.
I shoved the computer into a duffle bag secured on the opposite seat to Layla and pulled on a headset. “Let’s go get the rest of our team.”
“Roger that,” Xavier said. “You got some directions for me?”
He raised the chopper away from the tree canopy.
I pulled the GPS from my vest, gave him the coordinates and as the helicopter banked sharply, I rested my hand on Layla’s thigh. “You okay?” I yelled over the thumping beat of the rotors.
She nodded, but a sadness washed over her that was like a punch to my gut. She’d been through so much.
Dragging my eyes from her, I explained to Gunn and Xavier how our chopper went down, the angle of the wreck, and how Booker’s legs were pinned.
“You two better figure out how to get him out of there ASAP,” Xavier said. “We don’t have enough juice to mess around.”
“Roger that.” I nodded at Gunn. “I don’t suppose you brought a hydraulic spreader with you?” I joked. It would be handy to have the ‘jaws of life’ with us.
Gunn shuffled to the equipment box at the back and pulled out a crowbar. “That’s a start.”
I took the crowbar from him. “What do we have to cut metal?”
He pulled out plyers, a hammer, and a screwdriver. “We’re gonna need a bigger knife than this though.”
I took the utility knife. “We could use the winch to pry the metal apart?”
Gunn clicked his fingers and pointed at me. “Good plan.”
“Almost there,” Xavier called from the cockpit.
Layla touched a blue, swollen lump on her thigh. Her legs were covered in cuts and bruises, as were her arms. But she got damn lucky they were her only injuries.
“I see them,” Xavier hollered from the cockpit and pointed forward.
