Not Just an Echo (Piper Anderson Legacy Mystery Book 3)

by Danielle Stewart

  “My brother,” Wilkie asked, directing his question at Michael as though his own voice wouldn’t work on these men.

  “The people who told you about us,” Michael shouted. “The girl, the man, the boy, are they all right?”

  “The man, Aiden,” the soldier explained, “he’s been shot. It ripped up his leg pretty bad, and he’s lost a lot of blood. When we get back the second chopper should be there, and we’re evacuating. The girl is all right. So is the Kitu kid, I guess.”

  “Amal,” Betty shouted. “His name is Amal. And he’s a hero. These boys saved our lives. They are heroes.” She pulled Wilkie against her and held him tight.

  It had been many years since Michael had been the passenger in a helicopter. His fearlessness had been eaten up by the knowledge of all that could happen. Reckless abandon was a young man’s game. One he didn’t know the rules to anymore. So as the helicopter dipped to the side, changing direction, his hands were soaked with sweat, and his stomach lurched into his chest.

  “We’re going to be all right,” he mouthed to Jules and squeezed her tighter. “We’ll be with the kids before you know it.”

  “I can’t believe you were going to leave me,” Jules said, fire still raging in her eyes. His wife could hold a grudge longer then a statue could hold its pose. He’d be paying for this a long time. But he felt lucky to get more time, even if it meant he’d be in trouble. Eventually Jules would forgive him, and they’d be sitting on Betty’s front porch staring at the stars. Their biggest problem would be figuring out who’d have to help with the dishes. And now he was certain, he’d be the first to hop up and fill the sink.

  “I love you,” he said, looking her square in the eyes. “More than anything. I love you.”

  Chapter 27

  “Hang in there, Aiden,” Cosette pleaded as she ran her hand over his head, brushing his hair back. It was matted by sweat as his body shook. “I can hear the helicopter. They must have got them all out of the fort. Everyone must be all right.”

  “They are,” Amal said, peeking his head into the tent. “They have them all. They are landing now. Everyone is all right.”

  “See,” Cosette whispered, dropping her head down to his and whispering into his ear. “See you did it. You got Amal and his information here. You kept everyone safe. Now just stay with me.”

  “We’re going to sedate him,” the medic explained. “We’ll be loading him on the helicopter, and we need him to be still.”

  Cosette nodded as though all this made sense. As though it were perfectly normal, and she was all prepared. “Is he going to be all right?” she asked, her voice small and shaking.

  “We’ll do everything we can for him,” he answered evasively. “Your friends are landing now. You should let them know you’re safe.” He gestured with his pointy chin to the exit of the tent and she understood. It was time for her to leave Aiden. He’d gone so quickly from a stranger to someone who mattered. Something she could understand and measure. If he were gone suddenly the loss would be felt. His absence would be tangible. Whether intentionally or not, Cosette had managed to make much of everything in her life disposable. Like a picnic, all paper plates and plastic forks, so when she was done with something, letting it go wasn’t hard. No one stood over the trashcan looking longingly at their plastic cutlery.

  Cosette was only a couple steps outside of the tent when her body crashed into the wall of people they’d left behind at the fort.

  “You’re alive and well,” Betty sang out, holding her at arm’s length so she could take a proper inventory. Looking her over from head to toe, Cosette seemed to pass Betty’s scrutinizing and was finally pulled in for a hug.

  “I’m so glad you are too,” Cosette said into Betty’s shoulder. This was more than a hug. It was holding on for dear life, because suddenly life was precious again. “Aiden has been shot. We’re going to leave in the two helicopters once they fuel them up. I bet you guys are ready to go home.”

  Everyone nodded, their tired eyes reading relief. Clay pulled Betty away as though he were rescuing Cosette from smothering and everyone had to laugh a bit. Cosette wasn’t dying to be let go, but she also didn’t want to miss the reunion of Wilkie and Amal as they embraced. Surely no one was as relieved as the two of them.

  “We’re loading the first chopper now,” a soldier said, waving them over. We can take five on this one. The second helicopter isn’t as big. My guys will evacuate on the next one.”

  They were all practically in a run now as they made their way to the helicopter and ducked low beneath its whipping blades. Betty was on first, hoisted up by Clay. Cosette could see Aiden had already been lifted in and looked like he was peacefully sleeping. Jules was next and Michael hesitated.

  “I’ll wait for the next one,” he said, lifting Wilkie under the arms and giving him to Jules.

  “I’m sorry sir,” the soldier interrupted. “Those aren’t my orders. Only the Americans are being evacuated now. There are channels they can take. They can apply for asylum.”

  “You know what they did for us?” Michael boomed. “You know what they risked to make sure our country has good intel that will save lives. We will not leave them behind.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” the soldier said and made a move to pull himself into the helicopter, but Michael cut in ahead of him. He sat down and pulled Wilkie onto his lap. “You’ll have to shoot me to get me to let go,” Michael challenged. “Are you prepared to shoot me?”

  “Sir, he cannot be permitted into the United States without going through the proper channels. It’s not something I have control over.”

  “People come in every day who don’t have the right to,” Jules said, placing an arm across Wilkie’s chest.

  “They don’t get an escort from the United States military, ma’am. They hop fences, they break through boards, they stow away.”

  “Stow away,” Betty said, shaking her head knowingly. She reached beneath the bench seat they were on and pulled out an army green blanket. With a flick of her arms she opened it up and covered Wilkie completely with it. “A stowaway,” she said simply.

  “Ma’am,” the soldier said with a sigh, “I’m not sure we would be able to make this work.” He looked out the door of the helicopter for his comrades and then back at them all. “It’s a weight issue. I can’t get these two on and be safe.”

  “I’m fine,” Cosette said, a wave of elation rolling over her. She’d been thinking all along that there had been a reason she was here. Some broken road that had led to the exact moment in her life that finally made sense. And this was it. “Amal and I will be on the next one.”

  “No,” Clay said, standing up. “Switch with me,” he insisted but Cosette stepped back abruptly.

  “I want to stay. Amal and I will be right behind you, but please go. Go be with your family. The people who love you are waiting.” She smiled genuinely at them, and for the first time since this ordeal started there was no threat of tears in her eyes, no quiver ready to shake her lip. “I want to do this. I want to make sure Amal gets on the next helicopter, and I won’t let them say no.” She locked her arm in his as if they were ready to march on a picket line. “They won’t be able to say no.”

  “Cosette,” Jules started but choked on her words, “I don’t feel right about this. The other helicopter isn’t even back yet.”

  “It’s just refueling,” she reminded him. “This is why I’m here,” she explained, nodding her head and beaming. “It was for this moment.”

  “We have to go,” the soldier said, stepping in and signaling for the pilot to take off. Amal and Cosette jogged backward and watched the helicopter lift off the ground. There was not the slightest flutter of regret as she waved goodbye.

  “You made me break my promise,” Amal said, his cheeks dusted with dirt and streaked with tears.

  “They won’t be able to tell me no,” Cosette assured him, the deafening noise finally subsiding. “The next helicopter will be here any minute, and I’
ll make sure you’re on it.”

  Amal sat in the sand and pulled his knees to his chest. “There was an earthquake here ten years ago and many people were killed.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Cosette apologized, adding this information to the list of things that hadn’t made it into the bubble she’d been living in.

  “So many kids were left orphans,” Amal continued, looking down at his toes as he buried it them in the sand. “Americans came to the orphanages, and many kids were adopted. Where do you think they ended up?”

  “I don’t know.” Cosette shrugged.

  “I’d like Wilkie to be able to know some of them. I don’t want him to be there and not see other people like him. He could be friends with kids who were born here too.”

  “That would be nice,” Cosette agreed. “I’m sure there are ways for us to find that out.”

  “He’s never had a proper birthday,” Amal continued. “Maybe you can make him cake someday. I know he would like that.”

  “I’d love to make one for each of you. When is your birthday?” Cosette pressed, trying to get Amal to look up.

  “He can read well,” Amal continued, ignoring her question. “I don’t know if he can go right to school, but he is very smart. Maybe you could make sure they find him a school he could like.”

  “We can do that,” Cosette assured him. “Once we get settled we can work everything out.”

  “He’ll be very angry with me for a while,” Amal sighed. “He stays angry a long time. But he can’t spend the rest of his life being upset with me.”

  “He’ll be thrilled I’m sure,” Cosette said, her confusion growing. “It might take some time to adjust, but I think you will both—”

  “I’m not getting on the helicopter, Miss Cosette,” Amal said his head hung low. “I’m staying here.”

  “You aren’t,” she said, a nervous laugh rolling up from her chest. “Don’t be silly. It’s not safe here. You can’t stay.”

  “It’s not safe here, so I must stay,” Amal corrected.

  “They know what you did. They have already captured you once. Someone will have seen the helicopter coming from the fort. It won’t be safe there anymore. The only reasonable thing to do is come with us.”

  “Promise me that Wilkie won’t hate me. You’ll make sure of that, won’t you?” He was still digging his toes in the sand like a child.

  Cosette imagined Amal should have been shaking with fear at the idea of staying behind in a place where so many people would want him dead. Logic would have said he should be terrified. But for the first time since she met Amal he looked completely at peace. His voice was sweet and slow, his words slipping from his lips like molasses from its jar.

  “I’m at peace with this,” Amal went on. “Aiden will ensure someone comes to intervene here. I want to be around when that happens. The Kitu blood runs through my veins, but the twisted ideology does not. I want to show there is another way.”

  “And what do I do?” she asked, panting with anxiety. “How are the rest of us supposed to go back to our normal lives?”

  “When you are orphaned young,” Amal began and faced her, “it robs you of so much. The mirror image of yourself never really comes into focus. You don’t get to see where the wrinkles will settle on your face or where your skin will start to sag. Will I need glasses? Will my hair go gray? There is no road map to what I will turn into, because they never had the chance to grow old themselves.”

  “I don’t understand,” Cosette pleaded, clearing her cheeks of the stream of tears. “What are you saying?”

  “I don’t know that I will have a future. I don’t know if I will ever be as old as my parents were when they died. But I know I will be here. Like they were. They did everything they could to make Corinti better. They worked hard. I will do the same, because it is the only thing about them that is the same inside me.”

  “They’d want you to live,” Cosette argued, the sound of the helicopter was beginning to flood in around them. “They’d want their son to live on.”

  “He will,” Amal smiled. “Wilkie will also live on. He will have a life he could hardly imagine. I know that. Because I’ve seen into the hearts of the people who will take him to his new life.”

  “I’ll help him all I can,” Cosette promised, dropping down to her knees so she could look him straight in the eyes. “Just tell me what to do,” she begged.

  “I believe we are all given something. And whatever that something is, we have to use it to change what feels impossible. My father used to tell me, if you feel scared it means you are about to do something very special.”

  “Ma’am,” a voice over her shoulder was calling. By the tone and the urgency, she realized it wasn’t the first time he’d likely called out to her. “Ma’am, I need to get you on the chopper now.”

  “Amal,” she said simply, not knowing what other case she could plead to change his mind.

  “Goodbye, Miss Cosette,” Amal said, squeezing her hand tightly. “Use what it is you’ve been given.”

  The soldier guided Cosette toward the helicopter at a hurried pace. “We’re taking off right away, strap in.”

  A hand reached down and pulled her in, but Cosette was hardly attached to her body right then. Her eyes were blinded with tears. Her ears deaf from the noise. Her heart broken from the goodbye she didn’t realize was coming.

  “We’ll have you back in the States before you know it,” the soldier said, misreading her tears as worry for herself. “You’re going to be just fine.”

  Cosette pressed her face to the small square window as the helicopter lifted from the ground. She had never known herself to be definite about anything. Her world had never felt finite. Absolute. But in that moment she was sure it would be her last look at Amal.

  He was standing now, waving as though this was just some ordinary parting. As though everything that stood before him wasn’t devastatingly dangerous.

  As finite as the resolution that she would never see him again was, so was the change in her. If this boy could stand this joyful in a moment of the unknown, she could honor him by being transformed. Her life would be lived differently because she had known him.

  Drying her tears, she looked down at him and an easy smile spread across her face as she waved, matching his enthusiasm.

  “Is that the kid that got the intel?” the soldier asked, looking at him curiously.

  “Yes,” Cosette said, still smiling widely. “His name is Amal. He’s going to change the world.”

  Chapter 28

  Aiden was groggy from the anesthesia, but as his eyes split open and the light poured in, he knew he had lived. Everyone was safe. Or at least he hoped so.

  “Welcome back,” Cosette’s sweet voice whispered. As his senses returned, the pieces of her came into focus. He could smell her skin. He could feel her hand in his.

  “Is everyone here?” Aiden asked, clearing his dry throat. “Everyone made it out all right?”

  She broke into sobs and whatever lingering effects of confusion were over him evaporated. His head cleared, and he watched as she bent to him, putting her head on his chest. “What happened?” he asked, every worst case scenario running through his mind.

  “We put Wilkie on the first helicopter. They didn’t want to take him so Michael got on and held him. He said they’d have to shoot him to get him off. I stayed behind with Amal waiting for the second helicopter.”

  “You promised,” Aiden said, his eyes wide at what she’d done. “You promised you’d get on the helicopter. No matter what.”

  “I was afraid that if I didn’t stay behind they wouldn’t let Amal get on the next one.”

  “Oh, Cosette,” he said, fully understanding now. He wiped the tears from her cheeks and pushed her hair off her eyes. “He was never getting on that helicopter.”

  “You knew that?” Cosette asked, shooting upright and scanning his face for the truth.

  “Amal never wanted to leave Corinti. It’s his hom
e. All he ever asked was that Wilkie be given the chance. It sounds like you gave your seat to his brother and that was all he wanted.”

  “I left him there in the sand,” she cried. “I should have convinced him. You would have known what to say. You could have gotten him to see that leaving was the only way.”

  “Not likely,” Aiden sighed. “I’d been trying to convince him of it for some time. But there will be help there for him soon. He’s a clever kid who knows exactly what he wants. We have to trust that he did the right thing for himself. You can’t carry that with you.”

  Aiden shifted in the bed to make room at his side for her. Patting the space next to him, he watched her face crumble again as she climbed in.

  “You’ve seen things, Cosette, that a lot of people never do. They live the life right in front of them rather than ever spinning around to see what else might be happening in the world. It’s nearly impossible to go back to pretending it’s not there. But you can still be happy. You can still have a life. It might be different now.”

  “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. How do you keep going?” Her face was nuzzled into his chest as she fought to catch her breath.

  “I have no idea,” he admitted. “The way I’ve been dealing with it isn’t healthy. I need a new way. But maybe we could do it together.”

  “There was a lot of adrenaline, Aiden,” Cosette said, sounding like maybe she’d practiced this. “You don’t owe me anything. What you said there, I won’t hold you to it.”

  “Cosette,” he laughed. “I live my life on adrenaline. I meant every word I said. When I look at you I see something I can hold on to. I see something strong enough to hold me up, to hold me still. I hope you see the same in me.”

  “I do,” she said, squeezing him until he grunted at the pain of his cracked ribs. “Well, maybe you aren’t strong enough,” she teased.