AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Drew hovered over the scene as the flight mechanic opened the door and launched the rescue swimmer. For the next few intense minutes, Drew had to battle to keep the helicopter stable as the winds gusted. Flying helicopters was both thrilling and terrifying at times. When he'd first decided to switch from planes to helos, his instructor had looked him dead in the eye and said, "One thing you have to know. Planes want to fly. Helicopters want to crash."
He'd taken the old adage as motivation to conquer the wily bird. He liked being able to fly in and out of tight spots. In the Navy, he'd had to deal with extreme heat and dangerous mountain ranges. He'd flown soldiers into enemy strongholds in the dead of night and rescued the injured. With the Coast Guard, he was able to pluck people out of the sea just before they took their last breath.
If only he'd been able to save Ria.
"Visibility is decreasing. Wind gusting to 25 knots," his copilot, Tim, said.
He nodded. "Five minutes."
"Three," Tim said.
He gave Tim a quick look. "Whatever it takes."
Tim frowned but didn't contradict him.
"Victim one is on board," the flight mechanic said. "Cage is going back down."
Despite his boastful claim of five minutes, Drew knew they had less time than that. The weather conditions were worsening by the second and saving the other man could cost everyone on the helicopter their lives.
"Damn," Tim swore. "Victim two is in the water."
"Swimmer is going after him," the flight mechanic said.
The helicopter bounced and rolled. Drew battled with the controls.
"We've got to go," Tim said tersely.
"We'll make it," Drew said confidently, refusing to believe in any other scenario.
The helo bucked again.
"No time left," Tim said. "Call him in."
"I'm not leaving her," he said tersely as he fought to bring the helicopter back under control.
"Swimmer has the victim. We're bringing them up," the flight mechanic said.
It was a long minute before the second victim and the swimmer were on board, and then Drew headed for home.
When they landed, an ambulance was waiting, and the survivors were taken to the hospital to get checked out. It didn't appear that anyone had life-threatening injuries.
Drew finished his post-flight responsibilities and then exited the helo. The rain had stopped and the winds had decreased. It looked like the storm was on its way east.
As he stepped onto the tarmac, and took off his headset, Tim gave him an irritated look. "What the hell was that, Callaway?"
"What's your problem?"
"My problem is you." Tim glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. "You like to push the envelope; so do I. But what you did risked the life of everyone on board."
"We made it back safely."
"This time."
"This time is all I care about," Drew said sharply. He started to walk away, but Tim was right on his heels.
"And what I care about is this reckless streak you're on," Tim said, grabbing him by the arm.
He shrugged Tim away. "I was doing my job. If you don't have the guts for what we do, maybe you're the one with the problem."
"You said I'm not leaving her. There wasn't a woman in sight."
"So I misspoke."
"Did you?" Tim gave Drew a pointed look. "You were talking about the woman on the island, weren’t you?"
"No."
"Bullshit! She's been on your mind for over a year. You can't get over how she died so suddenly."
"What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to tell me that you're not going to keep trying to rescue a woman who is already dead. You have to let her go. You have to stop seeing her on every damn boat in trouble. You're not making smart decisions, and you know it. This isn't the first time that you've taken too many risks."
Tim's gaze bored into his, and Drew couldn't deny the truth. For a few minutes back there, he had been thinking about Ria and not the fishermen they'd been sent to rescue.
"I've never seen any woman get to you the way she did," Tim added, shaking his head in bewilderment. "And so fast, too."
Ria had gotten under his skin in a way no other woman had. Part of him wanted to chalk it up to the island, the warm tropical breezes, the heady rum drinks, but he hadn't been drunk that night, and neither had Ria.
