Speed nose. Altitude throttles. “Got it.”
“If you pull off power, the nose will drop, and the plane will start to speed up. You have to counter that by raising the nose and holding speed at a hundred ten.”
There was so much to think about at once!
“Lucas?” she added, thinking this might be her last chance to communicate with him.
“Yes, Charlotte?”
She hesitated. What could she say to convey how much she’d loved every moment with him? How much she loved him, as she realized at that moment with the horizon bouncing up and down ahead of her, that she did love him with all of her heart.
“If I had to do this all over again, I would, just so I could spend these past few weeks with you.”
“You’re not going to die, Charlotte,” he retorted on a determined note. “It’s time to push the flaps down one more notch. Trim the nose so your speed stays at one hundred. Fortunately, wind’s not a factor today. See, God’s on your side.”
“Uh huh.” Charlotte pushed the flaps down, and the plane reacted by raising its nose. The airspeed indicator started down, and she hesitated, thinking first, before rolling the trim wheel forward to increase her speed.
Looking out the windscreen, she cringed to see how close the ground was getting. At least she was centered on the runway. She tasted salt on her upper lip.
“Time to pull the flaps to the last slot,” Lucas instructed. “You’re going to slow down to ninety. Remember, control your speed with the trim and your distance from the ground with the throttle. Do it all very gently.”
With her heart in her throat, Charlotte lowered the flaps all the way. The plane reacted as it had before, slowing down and raising its nose. Rolling the trim forward, she tried to make the speed settle on ninety. Looking up, she saw she was much too close to the ground, and the runway was still some distance away. Panicked, she shoved both throttles forward.
The engines roared, and the nose rose abruptly. Oh, God, I’m losing control!
Lucas’s calm voice penetrated her panic again, making her focus. “Pull the throttles back a bit.”
She did, and the nose dropped again. She let it fall. Miraculously, the airspeed indicator settled on ninety. The ground came closer. She made a slight correction with her feet.
Suddenly, the nearest end of the runway seemed to be approaching at blinding speed.
“You’re doing great, baby.” Lucas’s soothing voice freed her to breathe. “You have a huge, long runway in front of you. Just let the plane settle in. When you get about twenty feet up, pull the throttles back more. Then as you sink toward the runway, pull back on the control yoke gently. Use the rudders to keep yourself going straight. You’re doing great, Charlotte. I love you.”
Concrete was flashing underneath her now, and she seemed to be going so fast that there was no way she could survive contact with it.
“Throttles back,” Lucas instructed as the ground rushed up under her. The engine noise died away. “Control yoke,” he added seconds later, “gently.”
She pulled back on the yoke, and then back some more. The pressure was tremendous, but she didn’t dare let go to use the trim wheel. The runway disappeared under the nose of the plane. The screeching of rubber sent her bouncing in her seat, but it was the loveliest sound imaginable.
Her plane was on the ground! One of her feet almost slipped off the rudder, but with supreme effort, she kept the plane from veering off course.
“You did it, baby!” The jubilation and relief in Lucas’s voice made the tension rush out of her. “The brakes are on top of the rudder pedals. Push them gently, and make sure you keep going straight.”
Charlotte depressed the brakes, and the plane began to slow. The end of the runway came into view, but it wasn’t close enough to frighten her. She pumped the brakes until the plane slowed. At last, it stopped.
Charlotte closed her eyes and sagged limply in her seat. Tears of relief flooded her eyes. She clasped her hands and lifted them to her lips.
“Thank You, thank You, thank You, God. I’ll never doubt you again.” The cheers and whistles still sounding in her headset seemed to support her decision.
Suddenly, the plane began to move again. She jammed her feet back on the brakes and yelped. “Help! How do I keep it stopped?”
Her question prompted uproarious laughter from the control tower, which annoyed her.
Lucas’s voice, choked with emotion, responded. “Sorry, baby. We’re a little hysterical up here. Look on the far-left side of the throttle console for two mixture controls. Pull them all the way back.”
“You mean the choke?” she asked, remembering her father’s instructions.
“Yes, the choke. Pull them back.” She did, and the whine of the turboprop descended like a musical scale. The not-too-distant sound of sirens grew louder, taking its place.
With a tremor in her hands, she followed Lucas’s final instructions to turn off the ignition. The instruments jumped and the digital display went dark. Charlotte swallowed convulsively. With her adrenaline receding, she was suddenly aware that her head pounded mercilessly. Nausea roiled in her all at once.
She had fully expected to die. But with Lucas holding her hand, metaphorically, and with God holding her up with His righteous right hand, she’d just given her recurring nightmare a different ending.
It suddenly occurred to her Lucas had slipped a rather profound confession into his last few directions.
I love you, he’d said.
She closed her eyes again, letting the warmth of that message steady her heart. Oh, Lucas, I love you, too.
She didn’t have the strength to hide from that truth. Nor was she above basking in it while she could.
She was only human. And more than anything in the world, she needed to feel Lucas’s arms around her, to know that she was safe and sheltered in his care.
Freeing herself from the copilot’s seat, she headed for the exit at the back of the plane, moving past the comatose pilot then pausing to regard her godfather, who had passed out, likely from loss of blood. It was all over the seat he lolled in. He was still breathing, though.
She realized, looking at him, she was seeing a stranger.
“Did you kill my parents?” she demanded, not expecting an answer.
He cracked an eye at her. For a long moment, there was just the sound of sirens and his labored breaths.
“I’m sorry,” he finally whispered.
The words were a confirmation of her worst suspicions.
“She wasn’t supposed to fly with him. I loved her. I wanted her to myself.”
The words tore open Charlotte’s grief anew. “How could you do that to your best friend, to my mother, to us?” she cried, pressing a fisted hand into her stomach.
Martin lowered his gaze in shame and shook his head, unable to answer.
Dashing the tears from her cheeks, Charlotte pulled herself together. Eager to see Lucas, she
moved to the airlock on the rear exit. It took all her remaining strength to push the door open.
She leaped out onto the tarmac several feet below her, rolling to prevent injury when her knees folded on her unexpectedly. Sitting on the ground, touching its blessed firmness, she watched a black SUV bear down on her. It screeched to a halt fifteen feet away, and Lucas exploded out of the passenger seat, running as if he were still a tight end for the Dallas Cowboys, while Fitz and several agents followed.
“Charlotte,” Lucas cried, hauling her off the concrete and lifting her off her feet in a full-body embrace. “You’re okay. You’re okay,” he murmured, his face buried in her hair.
In that perfect moment, wrapped up in Lucas’s powerful arms, she was more than okay. She was whole.
Chapter 21
“How’s your head?” Lucas asked, placing his hand over Charlotte’s atop her dinette table.
They’d just come from the hospital where he’d insisted she return to be checked over. After several hours of observation
, she’d been released, loaded up with Tylenol for her headache, and strict orders not to fly any more random airplanes.
Arriving at Charlotte’s apartment, they’d discovered a surprise waiting in her reserved parking space. Fitz, as he’d promised at their first meeting, had her Mustang brought down from Quantico, its back end still crumpled and the keys under the floor mat. Retrieving the keys, Charlotte had led the way, using her keyring to let them in.
Lucas had hoped to meet Charlotte’s brother, but he was secretly pleased to find the young man gone from the shared apartment. The time had come for Charlotte and him to finish the conversation he’d begun the day before. Lucas wanted her to remain in his life, no matter what.
He’d swept an interested look around her apartment, not surprised to find it filled with merely the barest necessities. Charlotte had never intended to stay in the area for long.
“I feel okay,” she said, sending him a wry smile. Turning her hand over, she interlaced her fingers with his. “Thank you for taking such good care of me.”
He was about to segue into their unfinished conversation when she added with a far-off look, “I can’t believe that The Entity’s no longer a threat.”
Fitz had assured them that every known member of The Entity had been rounded up and incarcerated, including its leader, Larry Martin, who’d been taken off the plane straight into surgery to repair his femoral artery. In critical condition, there was reason to believe he might die. Fitz had assured Charlotte she would not be charged if that happened.
The United States was reeling that evening as the FBI had leaked news of its multiple high-profile arrests to Headline News, The Associated Press, and United Press International. Sabena, which had been overrun with special agents over the weekend, had been especially affected. As it turned out, the police chief had, in fact, told Dwyer about the break-in. Efforts were underway at the warehouse to move the stolen weapons elsewhere, but the FBI had descended before the majority had disappeared.
Even NAS Oceana and Dam Neck Base had seen their share of arrests, including two senior members of NCIS and half a dozen officers, two of whom had been on Jaguar’s panel, no doubt influencing the remainder of the panel to find Jaguar guilty.
Lucas shook his head in amazement. “It’s hard to fathom everything that’s had us spun up for the last month is over. Jaguar’s home with his family, the stolen weapons are in FBI control, and all is well with the world—except for you,” he added, stroking her thumb with his. “How are you feeling about your godfather’s betrayal?”
While still at the airfield, Charlotte had shared her horrible discovery—that Larry Martin had caused her parents’ plane to crash with the intent of killing her father so he could have her mother to himself.
Pain furrowed her forehead. But then she sighed with acceptance. “I’m okay now. Like you told me once, my parents are free of this world, and they’re together. I heard what you told me on the plane,” she added, meeting his gaze and holding it.
He squeezed her hand reflexively. “And?”
She kept silent for several seconds, though her gaze softened. “And I love you, too.”
Euphoria seized him. Tears of heightened emotion moistened his eyes as it appeared that all his hopes for the future were about to come true.
“But I’m not going to condemn you to the kind of relationship you described,” she added, eviscerating his happiness in one succinct sentence.
Distraught, he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Charlotte turned her body so she was facing him and, lifting his hand, clasped it between both of hers. “Don’t think for a second that what I’m saying isn’t killing me, too, because it is. But if I take you up on your offer, I’m only being selfish. I know what you need to be happy, and it isn’t me—”.
“Yes, it is, Charlotte.” He cut her off firmly. “It doesn’t matter where your job takes you. It doesn’t matter that you don’t want to have a family right away. I can’t give you up. You’ve become my best friend.” He had to stop before his voice broke.
“And you’re my superhero,” she countered, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “But I love you too much to make you miserable. You would come to resent me. I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”
“Charlotte.” This wasn’t at all how he’d envisioned celebrating Jaguar’s exoneration. “Please, just date me until your brother graduates, and then see how you feel.”
He could see her picturing what that would be like. Yet she shook her head, dousing the stubborn hope still flickering inside him.
“That would only make it harder on both of us.” She drew a shuddering breath and released his hand. “You should probably go now,” she added miserably.
He couldn’t believe this was happening—not after what she’d survived that morning.
“Charlotte, don’t do this,” he pleaded gruffly. A tear breached his lower lashes and streaked down his cheek.
Her own eyes glimmered. “I’m doing it for you, Lucas,” she whispered. Then, leaning forward, she kissed him.
Their chemistry was immediately evident, sweet and intoxicating. However, the sorrow that laced their kiss overpowered it.
She drew back. “We’re both going to be okay,” she assured him.
He strove for levity—anything to reduce the pressure in his chest. “It’s been a wild and crazy ride,” he said as he pushed to his feet.
Smiling crookedly, she also stood. “Thanks for rescuing me more than once, Lieutenant.”
“The pleasure was all mine.”
She led him toward the door where they stood a moment looking at each other.
Charlotte broke the silence. “Maybe one more hug,” she said with a sound like a sob in her throat.
Folding her into his embrace, Lucas closed his eyes and savored the feel of her plastered against him. Why couldn’t she see they belonged together?
“I’m going to have to start charging for these,” he teased through the lump in his throat.
Her answer was a watery laugh.
“If you change your mind,” he added, with his arms still around her, “you have my number.”
Charlotte simply stared at him. In other words, he’d be wasting his time if he sat around waiting for her.
“Good-bye, baby,” he rasped.
“Good-bye, Captain America.”
With a wrenching in his chest, he let himself out and blindly descended the exterior stairs toward the parking lot.
Lucas had never seen the ballroom at the Shifting Sands Club as filled to capacity as it was that night. Every member of Blue Squadron, along with their date, had put in put an appearance at the annual Christmas party. The party was also a means of welcoming Lieutenant Mills back to active duty.
True to his word, Fitz had leaned on the right people and accomplished what had seemed an impossible request merely two months earlier. Not only had Jaguar been reinstated into the squadron, but he’d been made executive officer, filling Lowery’s shoes. Their new commander would be onboarding sometime that same week.
The tables stood decked in snowy linens, chinaware, and shimmering crystal. A buffet of roast beef, Cornish game hen, green beans, pasta, rice, and a seemingly endless array of pies and cakes had been laid out, making sure no guest went hungry. With Christmas only three weeks away, evergreen centerpieces and the enormous decorated tree twinkling in the corner added a festive touch.
As dinner ended, the floor became awash with lights reflecting the mirrored ball revolving over it. The tasteful background music was a misleading indication of the pounding beats that were bound to come later. Already, the long lines at the open bar had caused the volume to swell. The guests were having a good time.
Seated at the end of the high table, Lucas watched Master Chief Rivera dance with the ballerina he had married privately and unexpectedly, shortly after Jaguar’s trial. Seeing the way they gazed into each other’s eyes, there wasn’t any question they belonged together
. His thoughts went immediately to Charlotte.
With the feeling he’d been knifed in the chest, Lucas reached for the tumbler of scotch he’d ordered from the bartender but had yet to drink. He took a small sip, and the liquid burned his throat familiarly, but it didn’t ease his heartache. He set the tumbler down. Drinking wasn’t going to help.
He had hoped time would lessen his constant misery, but it hadn’t yet. Over two months had passed since he’d laid eyes on the woman he loved. A harrowing, two-week mission in October had brought him momentary relief. Fear, it seemed, was the only emotion powerful enough to temporarily keep her from his thoughts. But then the mission ended, and she’d haunted him anew.
Her only communication arrived in the form of a note: Told you I would find a way to pay you back. Keep what you want; donate the rest.
The note was accompanied by a shipment of furniture, which he’d recognized as coming from her parents’ townhouse. He’d accepted it, if only to have something by which to remember her. Yet, every time he walked into his house, marveling at how good it looked, bittersweet pain came with the memories of their time together.
Lord, how long do I have to feel this way?
Suddenly edgy, Lucas excused himself from the empty table and, ignoring Jonah and Eden’s worried glance, stepped off the dais and left the ballroom, headed for the nearest exit.
A whipping wind hit him squarely in the face. Finding himself on the veranda, Lucas stalked to the cement railing and gazed out over the dunes to the dark, inhospitable ocean. It was here he and his teammates had first discussed Jaguar’s predicament and how they could help him. It was here Master Chief had told him the FBI had located Charlotte Patterson. Lucas hadn’t realized at the time how much she would invade his existence.
Cold, salty air pinched his cheeks. He welcomed the discomfort.
Charlotte. The surf seemed to say her name as it crashed onto shore on the other side of the dunes. Charlotte. Charlotte
How long was he going to feel like he’d lost a part of himself? The thought pushed tears into his eyes, which the wind quickly dried.
Every Secret Thing Page 26