Chapter Eight
"Renegade two-five-four, you read?"
"Renegade two-five-four, go ahead," Nick answered the call.
"Renegade two-five-four, we've got a downed Black Hawk receiving enemy fire near your location. Need immediate search and rescue over. Stand by for coordinates."
Nick wrote them down. He immediately thought of Hope.
"Roger that. Do we have air support in the vicinity? Over."
"Affirmative two-five-four. Apache's are in route and medevac is standing by."
"Were the birds part of the Twilight team out of Camp Adder? Over."
After a brief silence, the man answered, "Affirmative."
Nick slowly lowered the mike. Lord, please watch over them.
"The Black Hawk is one of the safest helicopters made," Jim said. "They're made to withstand impact as well as enemy fire."
Nick had seen what an RPG could do to aircraft if it was a direct hit, though. Even if they did survive the crash, the ammunition from their 9mm's and M4's wouldn't last long.
*****
Pieces of burning metal lay within inches of Hope and her ears were ringing. "Taylor. You okay?" She was afraid to look back.
"I think I wet my pants," he answered from close behind. "Other than that, I'm okay."
Hope grinned. Rolling onto her side, she saw what was left of her aircraft. Only the tail section had survived.
The enemy continued to fire randomly at the crash site from the tree line to the south.
It was dark, so the enemy couldn't really see anything except for the burning aircraft. It gave Hope and her teammates an advantage. What concerned her more were the insurgents on the hill. Both aircrafts were flying without lights, and yet the enemy scored two direct hits. They were either very lucky, had night vision capability, or they had heat-seeking missiles. She didn't like any of those options.
She rose to one knee scanning the tree line through the binoculars. All she saw were trees. "Brody."
He ran to her. "Are you guys okay?"
"We're fine." She glanced over her shoulder. Eric was right beside him. "How bad is it?"
"Kylie's got a broken ankle. Jenson and the crewmembers just scrapes and bruises. They've put out the fire, and they're immobilizing her ankle now."
"They need to hurry. We need to find a ditch or canal for cover. There's no telling how long it'll be before air support gets here and I don't want to be standing next to their chopper if the insurgents take it out, too."
"Jenson said he saw an irrigation ditch about fifty meters northwest. You want to try for it?"
"Sounds good. Eric, switch places with me." She handed him the binoculars. "I don't think they can see us, but keep low anyway."
"How'd they hit us if they couldn't see us?" Eric asked.
"I'm guessing heat-seeking missiles."
Hope walked with Brody to the front of Kylie's chopper. "Do we have a working radio?"
A backpack dropped on the ground in front of her, barely missing her feet.
"Sorry," Jenson said from the cabin door. "Sparks has one, but he hasn't been able to get through to anyone."
"Where's Kylie?"
"We moved her around to the other side." Jenson tossed out another backpack then jumped from the chopper. "You know they're gonna try and box us in."
"I know," Hope answered. "Gather as much ammunition and supplies as you can and let's head to that irrigation ditch you saw."
Brody pitched in to help, and Hope moved to the other side of the chopper. She found Kylie with her eyes closed, leaned against the right front wheel that was buried in the sand. "How you holding up?"
"I'll be okay. This isn't the way I was hoping to spend Christmas Eve, though."
"At least we're alive."
"That's true."
Hope knelt down and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Though Kylie didn't express it, Hope knew she was scared. Hope was too. They couldn't think about that, though. They had to stay strong and hold their position until help arrived. "We need to move out."
"All right." She wrapped her arm around Hope's shoulder and attempted to stand. "Oh God, it hurts."
Kylie's crew chief moved in to assist. Draping Kylie's other arm around his shoulder, he looked over at Hope. "There's pain medication in the first aid kit. I tried to give it to her, but she wouldn't take it."
"I'm saving it for later. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night."
"No, it won't. Help is on the way," Hope said with as much conviction as she could muster.
"We're a long way from any forward operating base. A lot could happen in an hour."
"Come on, we better get out of here."
With the gunners covering their backs, Brody and Eric carried Kylie, while Hope, Taylor, and Jenson led the way to the irrigation ditch.
"How are we on ammunition?" Hope asked Jenson.
"Worse case scenario; half an hour."
Hope prayed it wouldn't come to that, and held tight to her belief that help would be there soon.
"We need to move to higher ground," Taylor suggested. "The radio is useless in this valley."
"We don't have the firepower to risk that," Jenson argued. "We don't know how many there are, or if they have anymore RPG's."
"He's right," Hope agreed. "We take shelter and only fire at targets we can hit."
A few minutes later they reached the dry drainage ditch. The gunners and crew chiefs stood guard over the north and south sectors while Hope and the other three pilots covered east and west. For the next twenty minutes, the eight of them exchanged gunfire, sporadically, with the enemy.
Mini explosions and more gunfire were heard on the hillside above them. Hope stood next to Jenson on the east side of the trench. Whenever she'd spot a target through her night vision goggles, she fired.
"I've trained for this for years," Jenson said, "but I never thought I'd actually be in this situation."
Neither had Hope. She was glad she called home yesterday. "We're going to be fine." Despite her optimism, anxiousness grew in the pit of her stomach. If air support didn't arrive soon, they could all die.
*****
With infrared binoculars, Nick could see the smoldering remains of one chopper blown to pieces. Several meters away, the other lay on its side. There was no movement around either aircraft. Had they been killed on impact? Were they taken prisoner? Some could still be alive, waiting for help.
He felt nauseous. Please let her be okay, Lord.
Forcing himself to focus on the mission, he shifted his gaze on the advancing team. They'd already taken out more than a dozen insurgents embedded in the small hillside above the crash site. He went over their strategic plan in his mind again. According to their last transmission, the Apaches should be arriving any minute. His team would then move in and search for survivors.
"Crew personnel have been located," one of his men reported through Nick's earpiece.
He held his breath, fearing the worse.
"They've taken cover in a drainage ditch north of the downed aircraft. They're engaging with enemy fire. We're moving in."
"Negative, Snowman. Hold your position," he instructed soberly. He didn't want to place his guys in the path of a misguided missile from the approaching Apaches. "Report coordinates of enemy fire and prepare to target."
He prayed his decision wouldn't cost any lives.
*****
Hope spotted more insurgents several meters in front of her. "Three more at one o'clock." She only managed to get off two rounds before her clip was empty. Jenson continued to shoot while she loaded her last clip. She heard bullets peppering the ground in front of them and ducked.
"I'm hit!" Taylor hollered from a few feet away.
Hope hurried to his side and sank with him to the ground.
"I'm all right." Taylor tried to get up.
Hope pushed him back down. "I know you are. Just let me have a look." Blood seeped from his shoulder wound. She turned him slightly in
her arms and saw another patch of blood on his back, near his collarbone.
"Jenson. Let me have your backpack."
He shook it off and kicked it toward her.
She found the first aid kit and ripped open a package of gauze with her mouth. She then shoved a handful inside Taylor's uniform and applied pressure to the wound. In the distance, she heard the familiar thump, thump of helicopter blades and glanced up in time to see a laser beam coming from the south aimed at the hill above them. Two missiles came barreling from the sky toward the hill and exploded on impact. A barrage of 30mm rounds from its M230 chain gun followed. The second Apache did the same.
They all cheered.
Small-arms gunfire followed, lasting several minutes. Complete silence was followed by a flare, alerting them they were about to be rescued.
Jenson knelt at her side. "I'll take over."
Kylie hobbled to Hope and hugged her. She then hugged Brody.
Hope let out a long sigh. It was finally over.
A few minutes later, two Humvees rolled into the crash site. Hope and her teammates climbed out of the ditch and greeted their rescuers with smiles. Through the approaching group of army rangers, Hope spotted a very familiar face. She ran to him.
Nick picked her up in his arms and twirled her around. Then lowering her to her feet, he hugged her tight. "I suppose this makes us even," she said.
"You scared the hell out of me."
She stepped from his arms and looked up at him. "I'm all right. I'm glad you came when you did, though. I was almost out of bullets."
"How are they doing?"
She followed his gaze to Kylie and Brody, who sat huddled together on the ground. "Kylie broke her ankle on impact and Taylor has a shoulder wound. We'll need medevac."
"They're on their way. What happened, Hope?"
"We were on our way to Kuwait for the last leg of our mission and started receiving enemy fire. Kylie's tail rotor was hit and she crash-landed. Brody and I thought we'd neutralized the enemy and went in to evacuate. Then I spotted another truck on the hill and knew I'd better do something quick. So I shut her down and ran like crazy." She shook her head. "Talk about a close call. My ears are still ringing."
Nick pulled her into his arms and hugged her again.
"I'd like to know how they got their hands on heat-seeking missiles."
"I've got a pretty good idea."
She leaned back in his arms and looked up at him.
"We raided an Iranian-backed militant group near Al Kut today that had some in their possession."
"You were in Al Kut? We refueled at Camp Delta."
He smiled at her. "Maybe that's a sign."
She smiled as Brody's question a few weeks ago came to mind. "Maybe it is."
*****
Hope saw the crewmembers of the medevac lift Taylor onto a stretcher. She hurried to catch up. Placing her left hand on his shoulder, she smiled down at her teammate. "Looks like you're gonna be there for that delivery after all."
Taylor grinned. "Yes, ma'am." He reached up and squeezed her hand. "It's been an honor to serve with you, Captain."
"You too, Sergeant." With her free hand, she saluted him.
He saluted her back as they loaded him into the chopper.
"Well, don't think you're getting rid of me that easily," Kylie spoke from behind.
Hope turned just as Kylie stepped from Brody's arms. She hugged Hope. "According to the doc it isn't a bad break, so I should be back in business in no time."
Hope smiled. "Glad to hear it. It'd be pretty boring around here without you."
Kylie laughed. "I'll see you in a few weeks."
Brody helped her aboard the aircraft, and then he and Hope stood together and watched it lift from the ground and dart off into the dark sky. Another Black Hawk stood by, waiting for Hope and her teammates.
Nick came over and draped his arm around her shoulder. Brody smiled at her before walking to the chopper.
"Guess this means you won't be spending Christmas in Kuwait?"
"Afraid not. We'll all have to be debriefed back at Camp Adder." She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Looks like you got your wish after all."
He tilted his head to one side. "Well, not quite. At least not all of it."
"What do you mean? Your wish was to spend Christmas with me."
"Yeah. But there was a second part I didn't tell you about."
She smiled. "What was it?"
He hesitated briefly. "That we would spend the rest of our lives together."
Her heart pounded as hard now as it had during the firefight with the insurgents. "We barely know one another and you're already proposing marriage?"
"Does that frighten you?"
"Not in the least," she admitted before eagerly meeting his lips.
The End
About the Author:
Anne Patrick is the author of more than a dozen novels of Romance, Mayhem & Faith, including the award-winning and bestselling Wounded Heroes series, Fire and Ash, and Ties That Bind. Her heroines are usually strong willed, witty, and often very opinionated…combinations that usually land them in situations where death seems imminent. When she's not working on her next novel, she enjoys spending time with family and friends. She makes her home in Kansas.
Published Works:
Dangerous Deception – a short story
Reservations for Two
Lethal Dreams
Ties That Bind
Out of the Darkness
Fire and Ash
No Greater Love
Sabotage
A Familiar Evil
Journey to Redemption
Fire Creek
Renegade Hearts
Kill Shot – Wounded Heroes Series, Book One
Trespasses – Wounded Heroes Series, Book Two
Betrayal – Wounded Heroes Series, Book Three
Secrets – Wounded Heroes Series, Book Four
Vengeance – Wounded Heroes Series, Book Five
Malice
Murder at Black Lake
To learn more about Anne, please visit her website: https://www.annepatrickbooks.com
She loves to hear from her readers!
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