by Mary Alford
Aaron spotted a break in the trees and aimed for it. “Hold onto something. This is going to be a hard landing.”
Even with all his training, it was an impossible feat to feather the chopper to a decent landing. They hit the ground with tremendous force and plowed ground until they hit a group of trees in front of them, forcing the chopper to a jarring halt.
“Is everyone okay?” he asked, while he searched Liz’s face. He couldn’t lose her like this.
“We’re okay,” she assured him.
They’d barely gotten airborne before taking fire. It wouldn’t take the men long to find them even on foot.
“We need to get out of here as quickly as possible,” he told them. “The fuel tank was hit. We’re sitting on a bomb that could go off at any moment.”
Aaron unbuckled his harness, opened the door, and jumped out. He helped Liz from the chopper. It took both of them to get a wounded Davis to the ground. Aaron slung his arm around Davis’s waist and headed for tree coverage. “How are you holding up?” he asked. The man was as white as a sheet.
“I’m okay,” Davis struggled to convince him. “I think I can keep up.”
He didn’t sound nearly as confident as Aaron hoped. But they were out of options.
“We have to keep moving. They’ll be here soon. We still have the sat phone. If we can find a spot with decent reception we can call Jase and tell him what’s happened. Have him meet us someplace else.” He tried to sound positive, but the chances of them being able to escape with Davis injured were slim.
Aaron racked his brain trying to remember the details of the map. He recalled seeing one of the hunter’s cabins a couple of miles away. “There’s a cabin not far from here.” He tried the sat phone without any luck.
A helicopter was closing in and Aaron hurried everyone deeper in the woods.
“It’s looking for a place to land.” It was no longer an option to leave the area. If they stood a chance at surviving, they’d have to stand and fight.
The chopper circled the wreckage, its spotlight searching the ground.
“They’re trying to see if there are any survivors,” Liz said in a tense voice.
The chopper circled a few more times before it landed in the open space close to the downed machine.
Half a dozen men exited, heavily armed.
“Find them,” Aaron recognized Kalel’s voice right away. “We still don’t have the location of the weapons. Don’t let them get away.”
Aaron glanced around. He had to think of something quickly. A standoff was out of the question. They were grossly outmanned. He watched the men close in on the chopper. He could think of only one option.
“I have an idea. Once those men get close enough to the chopper, I’ll shoot for the fuel tank. The explosion should give us a chance, but we’ll need to charge the chopper and take down Kalel and whatever men there are left inside. We need to take Kalel alive to find out what he knows about the missing weapons.”
Liz’s gaze met his. He could see she understood it was a longshot at best, but she never let on. “That’s a good idea. Do you need some help?”
Her wrist had to be hurting like crazy. Still she was the best shot around.
“Are you up to it?” he asked.
“I’ve got this,” she assured him. And she sighted in the assault rifle. He held his breath. She was waiting until the last possible moment.
She fired once; the chopper exploded. Screams could be heard.
“Now,” Aaron said and they raced for the remaining chopper.
Kalel was strapped in the seat watching the fireball in front of him and taken completely by surprise.
He whirled around but not in time.
“Drop the weapon, Kalel. You’ll never get a shot off.” Aaron ordered. Liz had her rifle pointed at the one remaining man on board. “Tell your man to drop his gun.”
Kalel stared at them with venom before slowly issuing the order.
“Your turn, Kalel,” Aaron demanded.
“My men will be here soon. You’ll never get airborne.”
“Nice try, but the ones that aren’t hurt won’t be coming to your aid,” Liz said.
Aaron waited through several tense moments when he wondered if Kalel with nothing to lose wouldn’t just fire on them.
Then slowly, Kalel lowered the weapon. “Fine, but you’ll never make it out of Black Bear. I have men everywhere.”
“Then it will be our pleasure to take them down as well.” Aaron pointed to the seat belt. “Get up. We’re going back to the cabin.”
Under Liz’s watchful eye, Kalel moved to the back seat. Along with the second man. Davis took the seat next to Aaron.
“Ready?” he asked and he could see her happiness.
She smiled genuinely. “More than ready. Let’s get out of here.”
He laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. It was so good to see her smile. To know that the future held a promise it hadn’t before. They might not be out of the woods yet, but it was as if the weight of the world had lifted.
They had the person responsible for buying the weapons. Whatever evil plans Kalel had for them, it wouldn’t happen now. They’d find out where the weapons had ended up along with the evidence Michael had left behind, because in Aaron’s mind, Davis knew exactly where they were at.
* * *
“Why did you kill Michael?” Liz asked the biggest question on her mind. She needed to know why her partner had to die.
Kalel stared at her with a dead expression. “Why would I tell you anything?”
“To help yourself. If you talk, it could mean you won’t get a death sentence.”
Kalel wasn’t moved by her answer. “You’re so sure you’ve won. This isn’t over, Agent Ramirez.”
Aaron jerked briefly around to stare at Kalel. “What are you talking about?”
Kalel merely smirked.
Aaron had reached the cabin. He zeroed the spotlight in on the surrounding area. “I don’t see anything, do you?”
Liz focused on the woods around the cabin. “Hang on.” She spotted movement. “Aaron, there are dozens of men down there.” She pointed to the wooded area.
Aaron banked quickly to the left and opened fire.
“Call them off,” Liz ordered Kalel while shoving the weapon against his temple.
He simply smiled at her. “Why would I do that? You’re outmanned.”
“Because if they kill us, you’ll die too,” she told him.
Kalel shrugged. “But we’ll take out two of the enemy in the process. So what if I die.”
The man seated next to Kalel wasn’t nearly as convinced. “Do as they ask. If we die here our story dies with us.”
Aaron continued shooting, but the chopper was taking on heavy fire.
“We’re going to have to get out of here,” Aaron said. “We’re outgunned.”
Aaron continued shooting rounds as they prepared to leave. Over the tree tops three choppers appeared and Liz’s heart sank.
She noticed Kalel looking out at them too. He wasn’t relieved to see them.
“They’re ours,” Aaron shouted enthusiastically.
And Liz had never been so happy to see anyone in all her life.
The three Scorpion choppers came in firing heavily.
Aaron grabbed the mic. “Jase, it’s me in the chopper. Don’t shoot.”
“Aaron?” Jase’s shocked voice came through the mic. “What’s going on?”
“You have enemy troops on the ground in the woods close to the cabin.”
Right away, the three choppers zeroed in on the wooded area and began firing.
“Drop your weapons and come out into the clearing if you want to live,” Jase announced on the loudspeaker
over the noise of shooting.
Soon men began to emerge from the woods with their hands in the air.
Jase and the rest of the choppers landed in the clearing and immediately the Scorpions exited with weapons drawn.
“We have a man injured on board,” Aaron told his team.
“Once you land, I’ll send Ryan Samuels over to help him,” Jase assured him.
Aaron found a safe landing place a little ways from the other machines. Ryan was ready and waiting as Aaron killed the chopper. He helped Davis disembark.
“I’ve got him.” Ryan took the visibly weak Davis and headed for the cabin amongst ensuing chaos.
Aaron exited the chopper and waited as the man with Kalel got out of the chopper.
“You’re next, Kalel,” Liz said and kept her weapon trained on the man. Kalel cast her an angry look before he hopped from the chopper.
Aaron reached for the man. Kalel quickly jerked out of his reach, pulled a hidden gun from behind his back and fired dead-on.
EIGHTEEN
“Aaron!” Her heart leaped to her throat as Aaron’s face contorted in pain and he stumbled backward then fell to the cold ground.
With the noise of the shot still ringing in her ears, Liz fired. The gun Kalel had used to wound Aaron flew from his hand. Someone charged Kalel, taking him down.
All Liz could think about was Aaron. She knelt next to him. The bullet had sliced clean through the right side of his body. He was unconscious.
“Hang on, Aaron,” she begged him.
Please, God. Don’t let him die.
“Somebody...please, I need help,” she yelled, then took off her jacket and placed it over the wound, applying pressure.
Agent Ryan Samuels was the first to reach her. Ryan was a trained paramedic. “Let me take a look,” he told her and gently pushed her hand away.
“Is he going to be okay?” she asked and hovered close. “Please, Ryan, don’t let him die.”
Ryan didn’t answer. That alone was terrifying.
“Ryan,” she pleaded for him to say something.
“I don’t know. We need to get him inside right away.” Agent Gavin Dalton appeared and the two men lifted Aaron and rushed him inside the cabin.
“There’s a bedroom at the back of the cabin,” Liz told them and they carried him to the room and laid him on the bed.
She stood close by; she wasn’t about to leave his side, as Ryan ripped away Aaron’s shirt to get a better view of the injury.
“It looks like a clean shot. The bullet exited straight through,” Ryan told her and looked her in the eyes. “Liz, I need to stop the bleeding. Step outside and give me room.”
She was about to refuse when Jase came over to her. “Let them work, Liz. Aaron’s strong. If anyone can pull through this, it’s him.”
Jase was right. She slowly followed him out the door. She was crying and she didn’t care.
“I want to say a prayer for him. Is that okay?” Jase asked.
She stared up at Jase. For a moment, she’d forgotten how close the two men were.
She nodded and wiped her eyes. “Yes, let’s pray,” she said gratefully.
Liz bowed her head as Jase prayed for Aaron. “Lord, our friend needs Your healing. Please guide Ryan’s hands and keep Aaron strong... Amen.”
Humbled by Jase’s prayer, she whispered. “Thank you.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “He’s like a brother. I can see you care about him as well.”
She shoved aside her fears. She loved Aaron and she didn’t care who knew. “I do.”
“You know, my wife always said the two of you would make the perfect couple,” Jase said with a smile.
Kalel was restrained to a chair in the corner. “You think he’ll talk? Or will he be like Sam?”
Jase shook his head. “No, I have a feeling he’ll talk. He wants the world to know why he did the things he did.”
She hoped Jase was right. Feeling completely helpless, Liz knew that the best way she could help Aaron was to find out what had truly happened to the evidence and the weapons.
Davis came over to where they stood watching as Gavin started interrogating Kalel. She noticed the fresh bandage covering Davis’s wound.
“Jase, this is Davis Kincaid... Michael’s brother.” She made the introductions.
Jase couldn’t even begin to hide his surprise. “I had no idea Michael even had a brother.”
In all the chaos that had taken place, something occurred to Liz. Davis didn’t seem surprised to hear Kalel had killed his brother.
“You knew Michael was dead before Kalel told you? How?” she asked in amazement.
Davis closed his eyes briefly. “You told me,” he said and she stared at him without understanding. “I was the one who texted you the warning, at Michael’s request. I didn’t know Michael had died until then. You were the one who told me my brother was dead.”
Liz was incapable of speaking, stunned by what Davis said.
“I think you’d better explain,” Jase said for them both.
Davis slowly nodded. “The night he died, my brother called me and told me everything about his involvement with Kalel.”
“Kalel? Michael was working for Kalel, not Sam?” Jase asked, but what he said didn’t really surprise Liz.
Davis looked at him strangely. “Michael was never involved with Sam, but he wanted him to think he was. You see, Sam was always a loose cannon. Michael said Kalel blackmailed him into working for him so that he could keep an eye on Sam. Kalel even put his own brother inside Sam’s organization to insure Sam did what he wanted.”
Only it hadn’t worked out that way. Sam had murdered Alhasan.
So many questions raced through Liz’s mind. Davis seemed to intercept her questions. “Michael told me that Kalel had something on him, something that would ruin him if it was made known to the CIA.”
Liz couldn’t imagine what would be the tipping point from protecting your country to betraying it.
“Michael told me to warn Liz and he explained where he’d hidden the evidence that would clear her name and hopefully explain everything.”
“You have the box,” Liz supplied.
Davis smiled. “I do. I got to the cabin the day before I ran into you two. I found the box and managed to get it safely out of the cabin. That’s why it took me so long to get back to you today. I had to move the evidence again. I was worried with all these men searching the area, they’d come upon my camp and find it.”
“And the weapons?” Jase asked.
“Not here,” Davis told them. “Michael knew that Kalel had something deadly planned for them and he couldn’t live with himself if he let the weapons go, so he had them rerouted.”
Liz’s head reeled with all the new information. “Where are they?”
“He had his former marine buddy divert them to the Amish community near Eagle’s Nest, Montana, where Michael and I were originally from.”
She thought about the photo of Michael with another marine. Then something Kalel said made her ask, “You were once Amish?”
Davis smiled sympathetically. “At one time. I haven’t been back there in years, but I think I would like to take Michael home.” She could see it was hard for him to speak for a moment.
Davis drew in a breath. “Michael told me the weapons are in an old mine shaft near Eagle’s Nest. I can help you find them.”
Liz blew out a sigh. “Have you seen what’s in the box?” She had to know what Michael had died to protect.
“I have. It’s filled with years of evidence Michael accumulated. His personal ties to the Safar brothers and to Sam allowed him to gather enough proof to condemn Sam for weapons smuggling, and tie Kalel to numerous terrorist attacks throughout the world.”
Jase shook his head in in disbelief. “What did Kalel have on Michael?”
“It wasn’t so much what as who. Kalel threatened to kill Michael’s mother, my stepmother. When he found out Michael had joined the CIA, he demanded that he find a way to join the Scorpion team. He said if he didn’t he’d kill Rachel. Kalel told him he had people watching her all the time. He’d know if Michael tried to warn her.” Davis shook his head. “I guess Michael believed him. I just wish he’d come to me sooner. I could have helped him.” Davis’s pain was clear. He felt as if he’d let his brother down. She understood the feeling all too well.
She touched his arm. “What happened isn’t your fault. You did everything you could.”
As relieved as she was that she was now in the clear, she couldn’t enjoy the moment. All she could think about was Aaron. She was going out of her mind with worry. Ryan had been in there for a long time. Had something happened? She had to know.
Liz headed for the bedroom, when Ryan stepped out into the hall.
“Is he okay?” she asked before he’d managed even a single step.
Ryan grinned and some of her fear disappeared. “He is. He’s awake and threatening to get out of bed if I don’t get you...” She didn’t let him finish.
She opened the door and ran to Aaron’s bedside. The sight of the blood-soaked bandage on the man who had stood by her through all the dark moments they’d faced together was too much. She lost it. With tears streaming down her face she sat down next to him and hugged him tight.
Liz felt him wince and she jerked away and looked into his handsome face. “I’m sorry. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
He managed a smile and everything in the world righted itself. “I’m more than okay. I’m blessed.”
* * *
Aaron pulled her back against him, ignoring the pain. He wanted her close, because he was so afraid he was dreaming. He’d handle a little discomfort.
“Is it over?” he asked and she knew what he meant.
She nodded against his chest. “It is.” She told him everything Davis had said.
“Amazing,” he said, unable to wrap his head around what had happened in such a short amount of time.