Hard Landing

by Becky McGraw

  “We’re here for you, Hawk—whatever you need us to do,” Logan said, his voice serious as he squeezed his shoulder. “I’ve never seen you not happy-go-lucky, so this must be bad. But nothing is so bad it can’t be fixed, if you’ll let us help you.”

  “I need Dante to take Maria back to Guatemala, get a visual on that Little Bird in the compound and call me with coordinates. Maddie has been accused of consorting with the enemy, desertion and theft of government property. Unless the Army can recover their helicopter, she could go to jail for the rest of her life.”

  “Oh, my God!” Susan said, pushing around Dave to stare down at Hawk. “That is the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard. Has she got a lawyer?”

  “He looks about sixteen and is really excited about his first big case,” Hawk growled, his anger growing more. “This had to be a set-up of some kind. Why would the Army give her an attorney like that?”

  “I fired him. I’d rather represent myself than have Beaver Cleaver do it,” Maddie said, her voice hoarse, as she walked out of the bedroom in a housecoat looking ragged. Her eyes zoned in on Maria and her face pinched as she walked over to take the baby out of her arms.

  “Oh, you can’t do that,” Susan said, her brows crashing together. “Only a fool represents him—um—herself. I’d offer to help, but I don’t know any military attorneys. I’ll call Ronnie to see if she might know anyone.”

  “Surely, they’ll appoint you another one if you fired him, won’t they?” Mickie asked, sliding her arm around Gray’s waist.

  “I don’t know if they will or not,” Maddie replied, walking over to stand beside Hawk.

  “If we get the helo back to them and turn over the cartel location, maybe they’ll just stop this insanity.” Hawk looked up into Maddie’s red-rimmed, fear-filled eyes. “That should be proof she wasn’t consorting with anyone, that she was held captive. It should be readily apparent, but some of the Army brass are just morons.” Like her father, who he couldn’t help but believe may be behind some of this. If he was, Hawk might just kill the bastard.

  “Well, Levi and I will help Mickie clean up, then we’re on standby when Dante is ready to roll,” Caleb said, stopping to squeeze his shoulder. “We’ve got your six, man.”

  “Let me know if you need me to go and I’ll be ready too,” Slade said, stepping up. Lola barked and he laughed as he looked at her. “No, you won’t be going this time, baby. I need you to stay here and make sure Taylor stays out of trouble.”

  “Buddy is the one she needs to keep out of trouble. I threw hotdogs in the trash and he found them, after scattering garbage all over my new kitchen,” Taylor growled, folding her arms and resting them on top of her small baby bump.

  Dante stepped up beside Mickie. “I just need to do a ground check and rev up on the bird to make sure those repairs are good. She did good flying back from Arizona today, but it’s a lot farther to Guatemala.”

  “I left the leased bird on the grass beside the pad, so if she’s not airworthy, just take that one,” Hawk said, looking up at Dave, who frowned. “Ah, never mind. I’ll take it back tomorrow. I’m sure our helo is fine now.”

  “Considering what I spent fixing it, it better be air-worthy,” Dave growled, then glared at Dante. “Don’t bring it back with holes this time, or I’ll put holes in you.”

  “Stronzo,” Dante said with an eye roll.

  “Dante, call me as soon as you have those coordinates. I need to get them to the brass quickly, before they press charges and file for a court martial,” Hawk said, and he gave him a thumbs up as he walked away.

  Hawk looked up and saw Maria staring at Maddie and he believed if she had a knife in her hand at that moment, she might well slit her throat.

  “Adios, Maria. Go get your things together and Caleb will take you to the helicopter,” he said in Spanish and she jerked as if waking from a trance. She took a step toward Maddie as if she wanted to say goodbye to Sarah, then huffed a breath, grabbed the stroller and left.

  “Good riddance,” Maddie hissed, following her with her eyes. “I think she was a bad luck charm. We should’ve never brought her back here.”

  There was definitely a bad omen working overtime in their universe, but Hawk thought that demon might be wearing a uniform, not a skirt. Until he heard back from Max, though, he wouldn’t know for sure.

  Chapter 25

  “Has Max called yet? Dante?” Maddie asked, digging the rut she’d worn into the carpet of the suite a little deeper as she turned and paced back north with Sarah in her arms.

  Hawk knew he needed to get her out of there, or she might have a meltdown if they didn’t get word soon. Something to distract her, he thought. Running! She had the blade to do that, but they had been otherwise occupied since she was released from the hospital.

  “No, if you remember, which you probably don’t because you were on death’s door on the way back from Guatemala, it’s a two-day trip and the phone service is sketchy before El Paso. He’ll call soon,” Hawk replied.

  It was day three, and he should be in range very shortly. He had no excuse for Max, whom he hadn’t heard from at all. Yeah, there was probably plenty of paperwork to file for his formal exit from the military, but his sister going to jail should be a bigger concern.

  “I sure hope so, because I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” Maddie said, turning at the far wall to walk back toward him. Hawk got up and moved to her to take the baby from her arms.

  “Mickie wants her turn with Sarah this morning, and we are going running,” Hawk said, bouncing Sarah in his arms and adjusting her pacifier when she fussed.

  “Mickie has work to do,” Maddie replied, trying to reclaim the baby, but Hawk turned away and walked toward the door of the suite.

  “Get your blade on. It’s only an hour, and you need it. I need it too,” he growled, as he opened the door. “This pacing and worrying is getting us nowhere.”

  “Neither is trying to forget it,” Maddie replied, her voice trembling.

  “Get ready for PT and maybe a little target practice at the range,” he said, slipping out of the suite and letting the door close behind him.

  He was halfway down the hall to the front office when his phone rang in his pocket. Balancing Sarah on his left arm, he pulled it from his pocket and thumbed the button to answer.

  “This is Max,” he said without preamble when Hawk put the phone to his ear. “I have information, but you’re not going to like it.”

  Mickie took the baby from him and smiled. He nodded his thanks and walked back down the hallway to the conference room. After he shut the door, he huffed a breath.

  “Shoot. I’m secure,” Hawk said, sitting down.

  “I could go to Leavenworth for sticking my nose into this, but here’s what I found out. They interviewed several of her teammates who trained with her in Kentucky and the commander at the JCET compound. All of them told the investigators that she was not happy to be there. She was distracted and they were afraid to fly with her. Since she was one of the most seasoned pilots, the commander blew them off as men just not wanting a woman there. That’s why he assigned her the mission.”

  “Any idea why she was distracted?” Hawk asked, suspecting the answer was she knew she was pregnant.

  “No, they had no idea. The investigators took it farther to try to find that answer, though. They interviewed the General, too…”

  Hawk groaned. “What did he tell them?” he asked, his stomach clenched.

  “That he’d pushed her to go into the Nightstalker program. Pulled strings for her. That he wouldn’t doubt she wanted out badly enough to desert. Probably stayed in Guatemala so she didn’t have to come back to face him, because she was a coward.”

  “Wow,” Hawk hissed through his teeth, astonished at the level of evil they were dealing with. Her own father had sold her out. That man did not deserve to wear a uniform, much less have children. He deserved to be in hell, where he came from.

  “Oh, it gets
better. He also planted all kind of ideas as to how she probably did whatever she had to do to stay with the cartel, including flying drugs for them and spreading her legs. Told them she could’ve escaped if she wanted, because she was a resourceful girl.”

  “Good God Almighty—when this is over, I’m going to kick that bastard’s teeth out,” Hawk snarled, his left fist clenched with his teeth.

  “Get in line. I haven’t confronted him yet, because I’m mad enough to kill him at the moment.” Max dragged in several ragged breaths. “He pushed our mother to kill herself—I’m not letting him do that to my sister too.”

  There was no way in hell he was telling Maddie all of this right now for that same reason. She was too on edge to handle it well.

  “Thanks for sticking your neck out. I appreciate it,” Hawk said.

  “Oh, I’m not done yet. Call me if anything changes,” Max said.

  “Roger,” Hawk said, then sat there in stunned silence. He looked up when the door opened and Maddie stood there in her workout clothes.

  “Did you hear something?” she asked, her eyes glittering, her voice trembling.

  “No, that was just Logan asking the same thing,” Hawk replied, forcing a smile as he stood to walk over and pull her into his chest. “I think he’s as worried as we are, but maybe he’s more worried about his helicopter.”

  Her body deflated in his arms as her breath rushed out. “I can’t wait for this to all be over, but I can’t stop feeling like it never will be,” she said, hugging him tight.

  Hawk’s phone rang again on the table. He ran to pick it up and his muscles unfurled when he saw it was Dante.

  “Thank God, it’s you,” Hawk said as he answered.

  “Yeah, well we had a little trouble, but nothing major. We dropped Maria and her kid a little too close to the compound and took some fire. I wanted to get the best coordinates I could for you, and had to get closer to get a visual on the Little Bird, too.”

  “It’s there?” Hawk asked, feeling his heart pounding in his throat.

  “Yeah, it’s there, right where we left it,” Dante replied, and relief made Hawk’s knees weak and he melted into a chair.

  “Thanks, man. Can you text them to me? I want to forward them to the investigators as soon as possible.”

  “I’ll do that now. We’re about to stop in El Paso to refuel.” The phone disconnected and Hawk’s chin dropped to his chest.

  “What?” Maddie asked, walking over to put her hand on his shoulder.

  “I think this is finally about to end,” he replied, his voice choked. “Get those party shoes ready, baby, because we are going dancing this time.”

  Chapter 26

  “Let’s go running again,” Maddie said, hugging the man she loved more than her next breath tightly. His delicious heated scent surrounded her, his arms tightened around her too, making her want to change her mind and stay right where she was for other physical activity.

  “What about Sarah?” Hawk asked groggily, loosening his grip on her to rub his eyes.

  “Susan loaned me her jogging stroller,” she replied, smiling as his eyes met hers. “The fresh air will do her good too.”

  Sarah was growing so fast, Maddie needed life to slow down some, so she could memorize every moment and she was hopeful it would very soon. After Hawk sent the cartel location to the investigative team, he told her he was confident. It had been two weeks with no news, but she guessed no news was good news. Since she was trying to remain optimistic, like he requested, that is how she was viewing it.

  Maddie hugged him again, slid her left hand under the covers then glided it down his abs. She curled her fingers around his hot, steely erection and he sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Are you sure you want to go running, sweet thang?” he growled, his eyes sparking and his nostrils flaring with his breaths.

  “Can’t we do both?” she replied with a smile, squeezing him and earning a groan.

  He growled as he rolled her on her back, shoved his hand into her hair and slammed his mouth over hers to devour her mouth. Fiery need swept through her and he swallowed her moan. His right hand traced down her body to jerk her to him as he ground his hips against hers.

  “Um, Maddie?” Mickie’s voice over the intercom made her tense. Hawk stopped mid-motion too. Sarah cried in the other room. “There’s someone out here to see you, and I think you should call your attorney before you come out.”

  “Who do you think it is?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

  Hawk’s dire look told her he knew exactly who was out there waiting for her too. She reached for her phone on the nightstand to call Beaver and tell him she’d changed her mind, but her hand shook too badly to pick it up. After a second, she couldn’t see it because of the tears that streamed from her eyes.

  “Promise me something,” she whispered, when Hawk put his arms around her.

  “Anything, baby,” he said, his voice choked.

  “Don’t let her forget me, but never tell her where I am. I died in Guatemala. Take good care of her,” she said, her voice trailing off as her airway closed off.

  Hawk’s arms squeezed her so tightly, the steel bands forced the breath out of her. Maddie hoped it didn’t come back, because all she wanted at the moment was die.

  “I’m going to fix this, sweetheart,” Hawk snarled, and hot tears scalded her shoulder.

  “There’s no fixing it, Rhett. It’s over. I’m going to plead guilty to the lesser charges like Beaver suggested. I don’t want to spend my life in prison.” And she didn’t want him to wait twenty years for her. It was over for them, too. “One more promise.”

  “What?” he asked, his body shaking as water slid over her shoulder to streak down her breasts.

  “Don’t wait for me, and d—don’t come to see me,” she replied, and his arms became so tight her bones shifted. She kissed his forearm. “Know that I loved you with all of my heart, Rhett Hawkins, and am so thankful for all you’ve done for me. I’m sorrier than you’ll ever know that I turned you down. It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

  With a shuddering sigh, Maddie peeled his arms away and sat on the side of the bed to get dressed in yesterday’s clothes and pull on her prosthesis, not her running blade. There would be no running today. Instead, she would be walking her last mile. Alone.

  “I’m not giving up!” Hawk roared as he flew out of the bed to pull on his jeans and shirt. She heard him dial his cell phone as she stood, but didn’t wait. She walked through the bedroom door, and went to the second bedroom. After she kissed her daughter, who had gone back to sleep, she stumbled across the living room and stopped there for a second to compose herself.

  Hawk walked up behind her, and his fingers dug into her shoulders. “Just wait a few minutes for Max to call me back,” he begged. “Please, baby.”

  “Max can’t fix this either, Rhett. Just please stop,” she wailed, her hand on the knob. “You’re making this twice as difficult, and I can’t take anymore.” Maddie flung the door open, and gave up on trying to stop crying as she walked down the hallway.

  Twenty steps later, the MPs and Warrant Officer told her she was under arrest. Ten seconds later, her hands were cuffed behind her back and she was being hustled out of the office to the black SUV parked in front of the office.

  “Maddie!” Hawk yelled from the front porch, his voice tortured. “I love you, baby, and I will get you out of this!”

  When they settled her in the back seat and fastened her seatbelt, Maddie forced herself to look out the side window, instead of at the porch. It was time for her to forget him, forget her baby and face the fact she was in captivity again.

  This time she didn’t know if she’d survive it, though, or if she even wanted to.

  In twenty years, both Rhett and Sarah will have forgotten her. When they released her, she knew she’d try to find them, to check up on them. To see what she’d missed and make sure they were okay. Seeing them, but not being part of their world would kill her
. If she got weak and inserted herself into their lives then, she could hurt them.

  Pleading to the higher crime, getting this over with, would be best for them all, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

  It was time for the madness to end.

  Chapter 27

  Hawk leaned over his arms and clutched his stomach. He had never been in more pain in his life. Ever. He felt gutted, hollow inside with no room for anything other than terror and grief. This was a terminal disease he felt he might not survive.

  He couldn’t smile this away, like he had the trauma of losing his mother, that was for sure. This pain would be with him every day for the rest of his life. Every time he looked at the tiny piece of Maddie Carter she left behind, he would grieve.

  “Oh, God,” he groaned as another sharp pain knifed through him. Hawk’s whole body felt numb as he rocked on his knees.

  “I called Cade. He’s coming to help you,” Mickie said frantically, as she knelt beside him to put her hand on his back.

  “He can’t help me,” Hawk growled. “I need you to call Max Carter and get him here. The number is in my cell phone. Keep calling until he answers. Text him 9-1-1.”

  Mickie nodded and ran back inside the office, but Gray appeared in her place to put a hand on his shoulder. “What can I do to help, Hawk?” he asked.

  “I won’t know until I can find out what happened. She cooperated, we told them where the compound was, where they could find the helo,” he replied, rocking harder.

  “Why did they arrest her, then?” he asked.

  Anger finally cut through his grief, and with a roar, Hawk surged up to his feet. “I don’t know why they fucking arrested her! It doesn’t make any sense!”