tried to push my discomfort aside, but it wasn’t easy.
“Of course, dear.”
“I’m sure she’ll need some Advil when she wakes. She might not remember where mine are.”
“I have some right here.”
“And when will Dr. Rice be here to look her over?”
“Frank had her checked out before she arrived yesterday.” I started to speak, but she held her hand up. “But of course I called the doctor to double check. I knew it would make you feel better.”
“It would.” I sighed and checked my watch. “Thanks, Sue.”
“Don’t worry, dear. I promise she’ll be well taken care of.”
“I know.” I kissed her cheek, and as I raced toward the front door, I glanced up the stairs, wishing I could wake her to say goodbye.
“Black?” Mike called as we exited the living room. “Ready?”
“Yeah.” As I shut the door, I whispered, “Goodbye.”
The mood in the helicopter was abnormally tense because our new plan was one we’d never done before. We rarely broke our own protocol, but this was different. We needed answers. Mike was fiddling with his fingers, working out his side of the playbook, while I was mentally calculating the upcoming climb. When I glanced up, I saw each man was doing his own thing to prepare. Several glances came our way, which told me they were uncomfortable with the change in plan.
“T-minus five minutes, boys.” Cole’s voice came over our earpieces. All, including Mike and me, stood to check our gear one last time. We stepped back to let the others prepare for their jump.
“Join together, retire together.” Cole recited our Blackstone motto, and we all chanted it back in unison.
Mark was the first to go, followed by Keith, but when Daniel stepped forward, he pushed Mike ahead of him and said, “You go. I’m going with Black.”
Cole’s face scrunched in confusion, and he started to protest, but then he gave Mike the nod and followed him out of the Blackhawk.
“What’s going on, Daniel?” A last-minute change in plan was bad enough, but now this?
“No one knows the southern side of Mexico like I do. If you’re going in, you get me. Besides, they’ve got some climbing of their own to do, and they could really use Irons.” We both stood, arms above our heads, holding on to the handles while we got our heads back in the game.
We trained for years for the unexpected, and we understood the sacrifice and toll it took on us mentally and physically every time we faced a mission, but nothing could prepare us for this.
Bang!
A sudden jerk and a bright flash filled the belly of the chopper. We were thrown off our feet, and our grip tightened on the handles or we would have been ejected through the opening. Colors morphed together into horizontal line as we spun like a propeller.
“Mayday, mayday.” I heard the pilot’s call for help as he fought to regain control of the beast. “We’ve been hit.”
Immediately, we went into survival mode. Somehow, I willed my brain to do an inventory check of the Blackhawk. Thankfully, we didn’t carry much, only a few weapons. Nothing the cartel could use.
Bang! Again, we were thrown to the side, which stopped the spin but sent Daniel flying into the bench. He hit hard but managed to hang on. The pilot called in the second hit. The shriek of the alarms told me we were going down hard. I braced myself for impact and hoped the Blackhawk lived true to its design and landed on its belly.
Smoke and jet fuel made its way to my senses, and I searched for the source. If there were flames, we might explode before we even hit the ground, destroying any chance we had of surviving. But before I could even finish that thought, we hit the trees, sending debris everywhere. The sound was deafening. I squeezed my eyes shut until we finally stopped with a hard jerk on the forest floor.
I didn’t remember letting go of the strap as I stood up on shaky legs and did a mental check of myself. Just a cut to the calf and some pain in my ribs, but all things considered, I was fine. I shook my head clear and immediately looked for Daniel. He lay crumpled against the wall of the cabin, not moving.
“Daniel,” I hissed in pain noting a few broken ribs, “can you hear me?”
Nothing.
I knew the cartel would be hot on our trail, as they would have followed the smoke from our crash. I pushed aside