Deadly Cargo

by Jodie Bailey

  Her voice was emotionless. She was clearly leaving out the details, holding the horrors of that day at bay.

  Will nearly reached over and took her hand, then he remembered who he was and what his job was and opted for professionalism.

  “It wasn’t a simple murder. He was a hired killer responsible for dozens of deaths, and he was contracted to an upstart cartel run by Dasha Melnyk. My testimony put Anton in jail, and he cut a deal.” She released a quavering breath. “His testimony shut down the cartel’s operations entirely. When he threatened me, and one of his signature bombs showed up under my car after the trial, I wound up here. He proved he could reach me from the inside.”

  Dasha Melnyk. He knew a little about the case. The cartel had crumbled, and Melnyk had disappeared somewhere in Romania, rumored dead at the hands of her biggest rival.

  Jasmine finally faced him, eyes wide with fear—or determination. Will wasn’t quite sure which.

  “I’ve been flying since I was sixteen, although it was a hobby. It was the one part of my life WITSEC let me keep. I love Alaska. Love supplying people who’d be cut off and in danger without us.” She swept her hand across the cockpit toward the wide-open spaces before them. “I don’t want to jeopardize this life, but if it will stop drug runners from destroying more lives, I’ll do whatever it takes.” Without waiting for him to comment, she slipped on her headset and motioned for Harley to remove the wheel chocks before she started the plane. “If Jesus can die for me, then...”

  Will slid on his headset but remained silent. She would lay her life down for people she hardly knew and most of whom she’d never meet. But she loved them enough to give up everything, and her words echoed ones he knew all too well, words he tried to live by. “You’re a Christian?”

  As the plane coasted to a stop before takeoff, she nodded. Before he could say more, they’d bumped down the runway and were airborne, headed to Loifort, a little less than an hour’s flight away. He’d already been warned it was a remote location with no grounds crew or staff, but flying in would give him the lay of the land.

  Every day, Will recited Christ’s words in his head, prepared to literally die for the people of Alaska. But he’d never considered that dying might also mean continuing to breathe while giving up everything to survive.

  “Why do you do what you do, Trooper?” Jasmine’s voice crackled in his ear, but she kept her eyes on the gauges and the sky before them. “You don’t seem like the type to enjoy running around the wilds of Alaska.”

  “Oh?” Will angled his body toward her, willing to engage in conversation. She ran deeper than he’d anticipated, had flipped sideways everything he’d assumed about her. Had reminded him of what fellow trooper Helena Maddox said way too often. It’s innocent until proven guilty, Stryker. Not the other way around. Your unwillingness to remember that is going to get you into trouble one day.

  It nearly had today. “So what type of guy do I seem like?”

  She nearly smiled. It was a first, and he had to admit it was attractive. “You’re all spit and polish, kind of like if your uniform got mud on it, you’d freak out. I’m guessing there’s stain remover in your backpack.”

  He laughed and, when he did, the air in the plane seemed to lighten. “Nope. The spit and polish is part of the job. I hate shining and ironing. You should have seen me a few weeks ago, crawling in the mud trying to locate a poacher. I loved every minute of it.”

  “Hard to imagine you muddy, Trooper.”

  “Call me Will.” He held out his hand, realizing he’d never actually introduced himself.

  She gave his hand a quick shake, and this time she really did smile, lighting up the full force of a grin. “Wait. Will Stryker? Did your parents have a random name generator for cops? That sounds like a purposely heroic name.” She dropped her chin and her voice. “Will Stryker. Defender of the innocent.”

  He chuckled. It wasn’t the first time he’d been poked about the name. “I had it legally changed. It was originally Humbert Hubert.”

  “That’s not true.” With her secret in the open, something had changed. It sure was making this flight more comfortable than their previous one.

  “You’re right, but it makes a good story.”

  This time when she smiled, the man in Will noticed. From behind his sunglasses, he watched as she guided the plane through the air, navigating shifting air currents along the edge of the mountains. She was confident and capable, at ease in the cockpit in a way he envied. With her chin-length hair waving darkly from beneath the ball cap she’d smashed over it, he had to admit she was a beautiful woman.

  Something he shouldn’t be noticing. He watched the wilderness below roll away to mountains, crisscrossed with waterways. All of this would be frozen soon, an entirely different sort of dangerous wonderland.

  There was a long, companionable silence, one he was reluctant to break. Finally, the splendor around him drove Will to speak. “I’ll never get used to the wild out here. Or to the way it stays daylight until after midnight.”

  “That took some getting used to. I’ve been here two years and I’m just now getting to where I can sleep.” She adjusted her grip on the yoke. “Are you really from Kansas, or did you just say that to get a reaction from me?”

  He nodded, acknowledging that she’d caught him. “Minnesota. When they started the K-9 unit here, I wanted to be a part of it.” That, and Minnesota had too many rough memories. Memories of why he’d gone into law enforcement. Memories of how criminals never played fair.

  “You didn’t answer my original question.” This time, she faced him and, although she wore sunglasses, he couldn’t tear away from the directness of her gaze. “Why do you do this? If we’re working together, I’d like to know your level of commitment.” Gone were the smile and the teasing tone. She was laying her life on the line for him and for the people she served.

  He could at least tell her the truth he held close to his bulletproof vest.

  Will tapped the side of his headset to remind her someone might be listening. He wasn’t interested in broadcasting his entire story to the world. “The short version is that my mother...” Emotion rushed his chest in a way that it hadn’t in a long time. Something about the small cockpit and the hum of the engines made the telling more difficult. He pulled in a deep breath and opted for the easy way out. “My mother was an addict.” That was all she needed to know.

  Only Jasmine’s sigh broke the hum of static in his headset, and then her hand was on his. She gave his fingers a quick squeeze before she withdrew, almost as though she’d never touched him.

  But the warmth lingered. It crept up his arm and into his chest, loosening the bands there, making him want to say more. To tell her how it had felt when his mother had overdosed—not by accident and not by suicide. How it had felt when, at eighteen, he’d had to identify her at the morgue. How he’d dropped out of college and done four years in the army before he’d found himself and decided to go into law enforcement. How his job had led to yet another thrashing of his heart. Things he’d never—

  “We have a problem.” Jasmine’s voice cut into his chaotic thoughts. When he turned, she was staring at a gauge in front of her, then she leaned over to look at the one in front of him.

  For the first time, he realized the engines sounded different, as though they might be struggling.

  “The gauges don’t back me up, but...” Jasmine looked straight at him, her mouth a grim line. “I’m pretty sure we’re out of fuel.”

  “Whoa. What?” Every muscle in Will’s body tightened. While he wasn’t afraid of flying, crashing was a whole other story.

  “We had fuel when I checked. Gauges say we do. But the engines—” A sputtering cough cut through her words. “Both engines aren’t getting fuel.” She switched on the radio. “Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is Nevada five-seven-five-xray-romeo.” She repeated the information and ga
ve their situation and location.

  The radio remained silent.

  Jasmine repeated the call, again with no answer. With a frustrated huff, she flipped switches and adjusted half a dozen things he had no idea what to call. “We should be getting a response on the radio. It’s dead.”

  Will balled his fists, working hard not to focus on the eerie silence. A dead radio and no fuel? He didn’t believe in that much coincidence. “Now what?”

  “Now we land it like a glider.” She glanced sideways at him. “It can be done, but it’s rough. And my best option is right there.” She pulled her hand from the yoke only long enough to indicate a flat open area between a river and a mountain. “We’re fine as long as we don’t get a downdraft or lose altitude too fast. Make sure you and Scout are secured.”

  Scout. Will reached behind him and laid his hand on his partner’s head. He’d never felt so out of control. There was nothing he could do but watch and trust.

  And pray.

  The quiet after the engine sounds was loud, but he didn’t dare speak as Jasmine made adjustments and gripped the yoke so tightly her knuckles were white.

  The ground grew closer.

  “Get ready.” Jasmine muttered the words, her concentration clearly on her job.

  Should he brace for impact? Fireballs and flipping planes raced across his mind, but he forced them aside and prayed without actual words. They’d be safe. They had to be.

  The plane hit hard, bounced, hit again then immediately seemed to slide left toward the mountain. Why wasn’t she steering away? “What are you doing?”

  “Tire blew.” She fought the plane for control as the mountain loomed larger. “Will. Pray.”

  FOUR

  The plane fought her best efforts to turn it away from the slope at the bottom of the mountain. They couldn’t hit it. At best, the slope would tear off a wing. At worst?

  She couldn’t think of the worst.

  Finally, the plane bounced and slowed, coming to a stop perpendicular to her intended landing area, facing the frontier that stretched out toward the river.

  Jasmine exhaled the breath she’d been holding, slumped in her seat and forced tight muscles to relax. She flexed her fingers, not entirely certain she wasn’t dead.

  Beside her, Will sank back into his seat as well. “What happened?”

  “A blown tire makes it a battle to control the plane on the ground.” Without power, she’d glided into the uneven ground and likely hit something that took out the tire and threw off her ability to steer.

  “That was some amazing piloting.” His voice was all admiration and relief.

  “That was a lot of prayer.” Jasmine pulled off her headset, released her seat belt and leaned forward, trying to catch her breath as reality kicked in. The plane could have flipped. She fired a very sincere prayer to her God that it hadn’t.

  Still, this day couldn’t get much worse. She’d had weapons aimed at her. Had nearly been arrested. Was hauling around a man who was at times amiable and at times combative.

  Now, the beloved Twin Otter, her favorite plane in the Kesuk Aviation fleet, had betrayed her in multiple ways. She didn’t want to think about how that could have happened. She glanced sideways at Will. Something about the way the trooper was focused on his knees drew her attention to him. “You’re not a fan of flying, are you?”

  He seemed to come back from a distance. “In the army, I jumped out of planes frequently. Enjoyed the ride down under canopy more than the ride up in the plane.” He arched an eyebrow. “However, I am definitely not a fan of what just happened, and I’m already sitting here praying I never repeat the experience.” Now that he’d spoken, some of the tension seemed to leave him. He reached back and scratched Scout’s ears.

  The collie seemed none the worse for wear and closed his eyes in bliss at the attention.

  If he could be calm, so could she. After all, she was the pilot and she’d gotten them down safely. The danger was behind them. She could fall apart over their near miss when she was home behind closed doors. “Well, thankfully we’re safe. But I have to call back and let my company know what’s going on. I’m going to need a mechanic ASAP if we’re going to get out of here before nightfall.” That was still a lot of hours away, but she didn’t want to push it.

  Jasmine unbuckled her seat belt and shoved open her door. “I’ll see if I can’t figure out why the gauges aren’t working.” And why she was out of fuel in the first place. She’d flown this route dozens of times. Never once had she come even remotely close to running on fumes.

  As for the sudden loss of the radio? It had been working when she checked it before takeoff. The malfunction had to be a coincidence. Anything else was too terrifying to consider.

  Will was suddenly in motion. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Not at the moment. I’ll let you know.” She grabbed the satellite phone and climbed out of the plane. Relief sank into her, almost weakening her knees as she walked toward the nearby river. While she was used to being solo out on the frontier, she wouldn’t deny Will’s company was welcome if she was stranded for a few hours.

  She dialed the office and the phone rang three times before Darrin Hawkins, one of the owners, picked up. “Jasmine? Everything okay?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” Darrin wasn’t one to panic easily, but his voice held an edge.

  “You don’t usually call on the sat phone. And...” He trailed off like a guilty preschooler caught with his hand in the candy jar.

  “And you could have warned me I was going to be boarded by the state troopers today.” She watched Will heft Scout down from the plane. “A heads-up would have been nice. They scared me to death.”

  “Actually, I couldn’t. A team showed up here and wanted permission to board the plane. They told me there was a tip, but I wasn’t allowed to contact you. They were afraid you’d divert or drop cargo, I guess.”

  Jasmine sighed. Darrin was right. If she was a bad guy, that was exactly what she’d have done.

  “So what’s going on now? By my calculations, you should be at Loifort. Is everything okay?”

  “Not exactly.” She relayed the fuel issue to him, as well as the trouble with the gauges and the radio. “And to boot, I’ve got a passenger. You should have my location on the locator beacon. Can you send Jerry up with some fuel and his toolbox? Oh, and a let him know we blew a tire.” Jerry was an ace mechanic. He’d have the plane squared away and in the air in no time.

  “You have a passenger?” There was a rustle and some clicks of a mouse. “That’s not on my manifest.”

  “It’s the state trooper who boarded. He’s hopping a ride back to Fairbanks with me.” That was enough said. She could fill Darrin in on the details later. Right now, all she wanted to hear was that Jerry was on the way and that they could get out of here before darkness set in at 10:30. That was still half a day away, but given the hour it would take Jerry to get to them and the time it would take him to repair the airplane, she didn’t want to be flying back in the dark.

  “You should have let us know you’d picked up a passenger.”

  “Been a lot going on today, Darrin. Now, how soon can you get Jerry out here? I can do a minimal amount of checking to see what’s wrong, but I can’t repair the plane.”

  “Jerry flew to Anchorage to pick up a part for the Cessna.”

  “What about Keith?”

  “He flew out today in the King Air and won’t be back for a couple of hours, and Manny’s out recovering from surgery. I’ll call Jerry back in, but it’s going to take him at least an hour to get here once they get to the airport and take off, then he’ll have to load up and get to you. You may be camping tonight, Jas.”

  She wanted to sink to the ground at the thought. She’d been looking forward to a hot bath and an early bedtime. The idea of sleeping on the floor of the plane after the
day she’d already had was almost too much. “You’re sure?”

  “You have emergency gear, your pistol and an Alaska State Trooper to keep you safe. You’ll be fine.”

  She scowled. “You think I can’t take care of myself?” Sometimes, she really hated being a woman in a man’s world. “I’m not afraid of being out here alone. I just wanted hot food tonight.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Darrin chuckled. “Build a campfire and do some hunting. Hot food in no time.”

  “Bye, Darrin.” Killing the call, she walked to the Twin Otter to lean her head against the plane’s metal skin. Jasmine wasn’t afraid to stay in the bush. She’d camped alone before, but never by necessity. If she were being honest, she was ready to drop Will off and be alone. To process this day and spend some time with Jesus.

  Not camp out in the wilds with the man who messed with her head and her emotions.

  “Everything okay?” Will’s voice reached her at the same time Scout did.

  The dog nudged her calf with his nose, looking up with soulful brown eyes.

  Somehow, the dog seemed to get it. Jasmine crouched and cupped his adorable face in her hands, then scratched behind both of his ears before she glanced up at Will. “Hope you like camping. Looks like you might get a shot at seeing the aurora after all, though not from the air.”

  “No help until tomorrow?”

  “Probably not.” She stood and brushed off her knees. “We’re fairly safe out here. We can bunk in the plane and there’s an emergency kit with food and gear. Biggest danger is bear, but they can’t breach the plane.”

  Will pulled out his sat phone. “I have to call in. Where’s the nearest village?”

  “Couple of hours by four-wheeler. There are some remote settlers out here, but even they’re a good distance away so I doubt we’ll see them. Even if someone happened by, they won’t be able to do much for us.”