“And can you tell if the feed is live?” Gage asked.
Eryn shook her head. “I’ll have to dig into the code and that will take time.”
“I don’t know anything about websites,” Kiera said. “But the clock has to be live right? Why can’t you tell if the video is live, too?”
“The clock isn’t part of the video. It’s a separate element that sits on top of the video.”
“I see.” Kiera didn’t hide her disappointment, and Coop’s gut twisted with the pain in her expression.
“It’s a moot point,” Jackson said. “Even if it is live, Kevin could have a friend helping him set this all up and throw the police off track.”
“No.” Kiera crossed her arms. “He would never do this to me. Never.”
“What about the video feed background?” Coop asked. “Can you enhance that? Maybe the wall or something else that seems like a shadow will become clear.”
“That I can do.” Eryn bent her head over her laptop. “Let me freeze a frame on my computer, and I’ll get to work on it.”
The big screen went dark, and Coop had to admit it was better for them not to be looking at the clock tick down. And if this video was live, it had to be better for Kiera not to see Kevin sit as a captive in front of them. Coop wished he knew if someone really had abducted Kevin. It would be so easy to give into these unexpected feelings for Kiera and believe her, but he couldn’t without physical proof.
Eryn’s phone dinged from the table. She glanced at the screen, a smile spreading across her face. “My buddy came through for us. We have a location of the photo kiosk where the picture was printed and a date. A drug store in Portland two days ago. I have the manager’s name and number.”
Finally, a lead. Coop pushed to his feet. “We need to get over there to see if their security video captured our guy. I can make arrangements to take the chopper.”
“Hold up,” Blake said. “We should first figure out if there is any video feed.”
“Yeah, we should,” Coop said. “But I’m tired of sitting around. Tired of hashing over leads that aren’t leads at all.”
“Sit tight,” Gage said. “It’ll only take a phone call.”
Coop scowled at his boss. He was right. Blake was right. They both were, but rage for Kiera having to see her brother in such a situation burrowed through Coop, and he could hardly keep it contained. He should still be skeptical of her story. After all, he’d seen time after time in their line of work that people lied to them. She could be lying, too. Worse, he could be buying into her lie because he was attracted to her in a way that he couldn’t explain. And the facts still didn’t support her belief in her brother.
She shifted to look up at him. The pain and anguish in her eyes was nearly his undoing, and he’d wanted to scoop her into his arms and whisper that it would be okay. That he would protect her and find her brother. But he shouldn’t do that under any circumstances and definitely not here in front of his team.
Still, he had to offer comfort of some sort or explode. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “I won’t rest until we find him. You know that, right?”
She didn’t respond. No nod. Not even a tip of her head. She simply looked across the table at Blake as he talked to the drug store manager.
He soon thanked the guy, then said goodbye and put his phone on the table. “They have cameras in the store and outside. They also have video from that date, and the manager’s willing to let you look at it. No warrant needed.”
“Wow, cooperation,” Jackson said. “That’s unusual.”
“Can they email the files?” Gage asked.
Blake shook his head. “They still have an old school VHS machine.”
“Then I’m going.” Coop glanced at the clock. “We have seven hours before Kiera needs to enter her name. It’s less than an hour trip by air. I can easily get a look at that video and be back before the time is up.”
“You’ll need me to go with you.” Some spunk had returned to Kiera’s body language as if she expected him to say no and needed to fight him. “I might be able to recognize the person in the video."
He didn’t even consider refusing. He wanted her by his side, and she was right. She was the only one who could identify the person who’d printed the picture. “We should get going.”
“What about the financial information for any payment of the picture?” Jackson asked.
Blake stood. “That will require a warrant. I should be able to get one once we have the video in hand.”
“Then let’s move,” Coop said, his brain racing ahead with all that he had to do to get the chopper off the ground.
“Hold up.” Kiera looked at Eryn. “I won’t leave unless I know you’ll watch the video of Kevin to make sure nothing happens. And if something does, you’ll call me.”
“I can do that.”
“And if for some reason we don’t get back before the time is up, you’ll enter my name.”
“I will.”
Kiera grabbed Eryn’s arm. “Promise.”
“I promise.”
“Eryn is good for it, and we’re wasting time,” Coop said. “Let’s go.”
He didn’t wait for Kiera to agree but rushed to the door. After their lack of progress, he was jonesing for action and taking the helo up was exactly what he needed. He stepped out of the building, and his foot dropped into a pothole. He jerked it free and a spasm tightened his back.
No. Not now.
The pain was a sure sign that he needed to rest, but he had no time to take it easy. He’d be cautious, but he would work through the pain. He’d done that many times before and could do it again. He planted a hand against the building to wait for the spasm to subside.
Kiera looked up at him. “Everything okay?”
“Just a little spasm in my back.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t take this trip.”
“Give it a sec, and I’ll be good to go.” He took out his phone. “I need to call our buddy Lee in Portland to let him know we’ll be landing at his place. I can do that while we wait.”
Coop made the call, and after disconnecting, he tested his back. The spasm had subsided, and he could move gingerly. “Let’s go.”
He started walking slowly to gauge his body’s response. It seemed as if this might be one of those times when he escaped a few days lying in bed while waiting for his back to cooperate. He hated being gimpy. Hated it with a passion. Not only because it made him less useful for others, but he also couldn’t do all the things he wanted to do.
And worse yet, it earned him looks of pity from others. The exact look on Kiera’s face. He didn’t want her to think he was weak. Less than able. Sure, it was a pride thing, and as a Christian, he should be able to let go of his pride, but physical prowess was who he was. He was smart enough, but he didn’t have brains like Kiera.
They settled in the SUV, and the spasm relaxed even more.
Kiera faced him. “Is your back better?”
“Right as rain,” he said, when it was far from okay.
“Is this from the back surgery you mentioned?”
He nodded and got the vehicle moving down the drive. He took it slower than usual to keep from jostling his body.
“How did it happen?” she asked.
The memories were still right at the surface, no matter how hard he tried to bury them. He could still see the red flash of the IED explosion lighting the skies and feel his body catapulting through the air. Crashing hard. The lightheaded spin of losing consciousness, then waking up on a gurney to learn he’d taken shrapnel to his spine and might never walk again. It had ended up with the best possible outcome, but he hated talking about it.
“IED,” he said and hoped she’d leave it alone.
Maybe his tone was too harsh or she wasn’t interested, but she didn’t ask any additional questions. He was glad for that, but oddly enough, he didn’t want to discuss the injury. Still, part of him wanted her to care enough to ask.
Dumb, Coop.
Real dumb. What would you have told her?
That his whole life changed in that moment when the IED exploded? He’d had his future planned out, and it was taken from him in a heartbeat. Maybe life was better since Gage had hired him, but Coop still wasn’t able to perform one hundred percent. He had no idea why God would want him to be less of a man. Less able to help people in need. And no matter how many times he’d asked about it, God had been silent.
Who knows, maybe Coop deserved the injury.
He parked his vehicle at the side of the helipad and cautiously climbed out of the SUV. The good news was that his back didn’t complain. Bad news was he’d previously tied down the chopper’s rotors to the concrete pad, and he would have to bend over to free them. If one of his teammates was with him, he’d ask them to do it, but he wasn’t about to ask Kiera and erode her confidence in his abilities any more than he already had.
“You can take a seat in the helo while I get the tie downs removed and the preflight checklist handled.” She might be more comfortable in the SUV, but she wouldn’t have a good view of his gimpy movements from inside the chopper.
They crossed the helipad.
“I’m really impressed with Gage’s operation here.”
“He’s done a great job setting it up. We’re gaining so many clients that we may need to bring on more people.”
“That’s good, right? Give others like you all a job they’ll enjoy.”
Coop nodded and opened the door for her. She could choose from any of the nine passenger seats, but he gestured to the seat next to his.
He reached out to help her climb in, but she ignored his hand. Was she thinking about his back—thinking if she accepted his help she’d hurt him? Just the thought sent anger burning in his chest, and he stepped away to start removing the tie downs. Each rotor had a boot on the tip with a strap fixed to an aluminum securing point sunk into the helipad.
He wanted to get moving, but he made sure to squat at each point and rise slowly after undoing the strap to push the blade up to level it. He could see what would happen if he wasn’t careful, stressed his back, and fell to the helipad like a baby. Kiera would come rushing out of the helo to rescue him. Talk about humiliating.
He successfully removed the boots and stowed them in the back, then started on his preflight checklist that included evaluating lights, gauges, fuel levels, and other critical items. Last, he hung up his headset on his side and handed one to Kiera. “To communicate in flight.”
She nodded. “I had no idea you had such a long checklist of things to get a helicopter in the air.”
He nodded as he secured her door and started around to his side. His back was actually feeling looser, likely from squatting. A good sign.
He settled in and looked at Kiera. A worried expression tightened her face.
“Are you afraid to fly?” He reached for his headset.
“No. I mean, I’ve never been in a helicopter, but I think I’ll like it.”
“Then what is it?” He waited for her to say she didn’t want to go up in a chopper with him.
“You’re going to laugh at me.”
“I promise I won’t.”
“I’ve made a ton of snap decisions lately, and I usually like to analyze things first. Racing off like this and climbing in a helicopter has me unsettled.” She looked at him, maybe waiting for that laughter she expected.
But even if he wanted to laugh, which he didn’t, he was so thankful this wasn’t about his inabilities that he reached out to pat her knee. “I can’t pretend to understand that. At least not most of the time. We have to react quickly in this line of work. But there’re times when we have to rehearse an op, so I understand the value of preparation. I just don’t let it stifle me, I guess.”
“I didn’t think I did either, but I’m coming to believe that’s not the case. That maybe I’m weighing things too much. I have this whole plan for my life, you know? I don’t want to risk making a mistake and have it all fall apart on me.”
“If there’s one thing I know for sure, life doesn’t always go the way we plan. God seems to have His own agenda. Not that I pretend to understand it.”
“I get that,” she said. “Like why is this happening to Kevin?”
“If I ever figure it out, I promise I’ll tell you.” He smiled at her, and she rewarded him with a wide smile that set his heart pounding. He could get lost in that smile if he let himself, but he had a job to do here, and he wouldn’t let her down.
“Go ahead and put your seatbelt and headset on, and I’ll get this bad boy going.” He went through his startup routine including leaning out the door and calling out “clear” before starting the rotors spinning. No one was on the helipad with him, but when it came to safely operating a helicopter, if you eliminated steps, you might start to forget it in the future, and that could end in disaster.
Once he had all systems going, he turned to Kiera. “Ready?”
“Roger that,” she said and laughed. “Is that the right thing to say?”
“It works.” He smiled at her, and his mind took a wayward turn. With her brains and meticulous approach to life, she’d make a fine copilot for a helo. As a copilot for his personal life? It was starting to seem like she might fit that bill, too.
9
The helicopter felt like an out-of-balance washing machine at first, but when the rotors got into rhythm, it settled into a steady vibration. Kiera couldn’t believe she was doing this. She’d told Coop she wasn’t afraid, but now that the chopper was lifting off and she felt weightless, fear seized her heart.
She took a breath. Caught the pine scent of air freshener. Took another breath. Blew it out. She would be fine. She would do this for Kevin. Would do anything to find him.
“Settle back for the ride,” Coop told her, his voice sounding deeper through her headset.
She tried to relax, but adrenaline was pulsing through her veins and making her jittery—adrenaline from whizzing through the air combined with the thrill of watching this captivating man in complete control of the large machine. A wide console sat between them, but in the confined space, it felt like he was sitting right next to her.
He turned and found her watching him. He smiled, wide, that boyish grin that was so endearing. He was clearly in his element here. Outside the meeting rooms. The searches. Doing something risky. They say opposites attract, and he was so her opposite. Honestly, it scared her. But she wouldn’t think about that now. She’d listen to his advice and let go. Enjoy the ride and enjoy the view.
They flew along the coast, the crashing waves rolling in as if drawn to the steep wall of rocks lining the shore. Before long, they reached the wide sand dunes at Bandon, a Sahara-type landscape. They left the ocean behind to fly over miles and miles of national forests and the coastal range. She was vaguely aware of saying ooh and ah, but Coop didn’t speak again until they reached the west side of the Portland Metro area.
“We’ll be landing in a few minutes at Lee’s place. Don’t expect a helipad. We’ll put down on a dirt field surrounded by trees. A tricky landing, but nothing like the ones I made in the army.”
She wanted to know about his time in the military, and she would ask him. But not when he had to make the complicated landing. Just thinking about it had her heart rate speeding up and her palms growing moist. She wanted to believe she was brave and daring, but hadn’t had a chance to test that out. In reality, it was looking like she was a big chicken.
Coop eyed her for a moment, then patted her knee. “I’ve got this, you know.”
“I know,” her voice squeaked.
Hopefully he believed it was due to fear, not the way the touch of his hand continued to affect her.
He pointed below. “See the clearing? That’s where we’ll be landing.”
“On that little postage-stamp-sized spot?”
Coop chuckled. “It’s bigger than it looks from up here.”
He swooped the chopper down, leaving her stomach above. She had to a
dmit to loving the feeling. For a moment. Until her fear took over.
Relax. Enjoy.
Right. Simple to say. Hard to do.
He reached the clearing and lowered the chopper down, setting it on the ground with little more than a soft bump. “I told you I had it.”
“You really did. You’re amazing. I wish…”
“Wish what?”
“I had even a fraction of your courage.”
“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. A lot of people on their first helo ride let their nerves get to them and they hurl. You didn’t even turn green.” His warm chuckle drifted through the headset.
She had no choice but to smile at him, and for a moment they sat there. Eye to eye. Arm to arm. Breath to breath.
He suddenly snapped off his headset and turned off the chopper. A flash of something had lit his eyes, and he looked away. Something that looked very much like anger, but what could he suddenly be angry about?
They had a connection—that was obvious. Maybe he hated that. Or maybe he was involved with someone else, and he thought she was coming on to him. Oh, the embarrassment.
He started to get out, and she grabbed his arm. “Are you in a relationship?”
“No, why?”
“You can’t say you don’t feel this thing going on between us. It’s more than attraction.”
“I do.”
“You looked like it made you mad, and I wanted to be sure you weren’t seeing someone and you didn’t want to be attracted to me.”
“I don’t want to be attracted to you, and I’m not seeing anyone, but a relationship is out of the question for me.” He slid from the chopper, and she could only stare at his back.
Never had a man been this direct with her and subversive at the same time. She really didn’t know what to make of his behavior. That was a scary thought on so many levels that she didn’t have a clue what to think about him.
Cold Truth Page 9