Warrior (Navy SEALs Romance Book 5) (4 page)

“
S
o
, who was this hot lunch date you had? Anyone I know?” Angel teased when Mike came back to the office, dropping his backpack in his locker.

“I doubt you know her, seeing as how she can read and she looks like she bathes regularly.” Mike shot back. He wasn’t about to go into detail, not after the way he and Emily had left things. He turned and ducked his head when Angel grabbed a life vest from the rack he was stacking and pelted him with it.

“Jerk,” Angel muttered, stooping to retrieve the life vest, but when he stood up he was laughing. “Seriously, who is she? Has she come around here before?”

“Naw, I ran into her the other night while I was taking Misha out for a walk. I helped her change a flat, and so we had lunch yesterday. It's no big deal.” Mike turned back to his locker and took out his flight suit, ignoring the questioning look on Angel’s face.

“What? No way. You know every single one of the girls we’re dating! Hell, Knox is getting married in the fall. We had to put up with all your ribbing and questions, so you're not getting out of this.” Angel left the front room where the lockers and gear were housed and called out, “Yo, guys! Get in here! Michael finally had a date and now he's not talking!”

There was a thundering of footsteps as four sets of tactical boots hit the floor and came running to the gear room. Even Madison, Angel’s fiancée and the team’s trauma nurse, poked her head in with a sheepish grin on her face, unable to stay away.

“It's nothing, guys. I just had lunch with someone, that's all,” Mike explained, shaking his head and turning his back on them.

“Yeah, but was this ‘someone’ a female? Then it's newsworthy. Especially after all the crap you've given the rest of us whenever a girl was involved!” Tanner fired back triumphantly. “Now spill it. Is she hot?”

“Dude, ladies present,” Madison chastised him in a stern but joking voice. “Just for that, you have to sit out in the hall and you lose the right to ask one of your questions.” The others laughed when Tanner made a show of hanging his head and leaving the room, like a little boy who'd been told to go stand in the corner. “Now, if anyone has any
polite
questions for Mike, this would be an opportune time to ask,” she continued, narrowing her eyes like a school teacher reprimanding her students. Immediately their hands shot up, and even Mike had to cover his laughter with a cough.

Madison opened her mouth to call on one of them, but an alarm sounded at the control desk. Six sets of eyes turned toward bank of computer monitors that framed the oversized desk. Angel, who was in command of the team that week, jumped forward to read the alert.

“All right,” he began after scanning the report, “get suited up. We’ll need the chopper and fire gear. We've got a forest fire with stranded campers in the state park about eighty miles east of here. Fire crews are handling the blaze and the outlying soak down, they just need us on the casualties and search.”

Even as he called out the orders, the team got busy. Mike headed out to run the pre-flight checks while the others stowed their gear in their ruck sacks. Madison and Knox ran through a supply checklist of medical gear specific to the scenario, while Tanner and Jake assembled climbing gear.

Within three minutes, they were ready to head out. The team gathered their duffel bags and secured their helmets, checking their headset channels with Angel’s radio on the way past. Madison was last, and Angel couldn't help but tug the chin strap of her helmet and pull on the carabiners hanging from her five point harness for good measure. He smiled reluctantly, kissed her hard for a few seconds, then stepped back, looking grim.

“I hate this. Every single time you go out there without me to look out for you, I hate it,” he said quietly.

“I know you do. It's exactly how I felt when you became a SEAL, remember? Payback’s a bitch, isn't that what you guys tell each other?” she joked, but she instantly turned serious. “I'll be careful, I promise. And I've got the most top-notch guys watching out for me. You just make sure you have dinner ready by the time I get home.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Angel joked back, giving her one last kiss before sneaking a smack to her butt when she started to walk away. She yelped in surprise and turned around long enough to shoot him a hilariously vengeful look.

“
M
r. Howey
? Wake up. There’s a noise, you gotta wake up!” one of the students insisted, shaking the teacher’s shoulder roughly. Ella’s shoulders slumped when the teacher still didn’t move, barely managing a groan.

“How come he’s asleep on our field trip?” another student said with a disgruntled scowl. “He’s supposed to take us on the hiking trail. That was the whole point of this stupid trip!”

“Stop it, Chase! I think something’s really wrong,” the girl argued back, still shaking the teacher and trying to rouse him. “He doesn’t look right, and I can’t make him wake up.”

“Maybe he’s sick or something,” a smaller boy piped up, only to immediately step back when Chase glowered at him.

“Do you guys smell that? Somebody’s got a campfire. I bet they’re roasting marshmallows!” a tall girl named Brooke said excitedly. “We should go find them and tell them our teacher’s sick, and maybe they have a way to call our parents to come get us.”

“No!” Ella yelled, standing up and ignoring the teacher for a moment. “Nobody leave! We have to stay here, and stay together. If we go wandering off, we’ll get in trouble. Remember what Mr. Howey said, we’re supposed to stay on the path and not go off of it for anything.”

That was enough to freeze her classmates in their tracks, at least for the moment. The group of third graders looked at each other nervously, casting glances to where Mr. Howey was still unconscious on the ground. Most of them wanted to ignore Ella’s advice and go exploring - after all, they’d been waiting for almost an hour for their teacher to wake up - but collectively they knew Ella was right.

“Fine, but if we don’t get to go to the waterfall, I’m gonna be pissed! The only reason I came on this stupid trip was to see the giant fish!” Chase yelled, shocking his younger classmates, the ones who hadn’t had to repeat the grade, with his language.

“You’ll get to see your precious fish, okay? But right now, could you care a little more about Mr. Howey?” Ella said, pointing to the ground.

Chase ambled over, his untied shoelaces dragging carelessly behind him. He nudged the teacher in the ribs with his foot a few times, then shrugged.

“Beats me. He’s so old, maybe he just had to have his nap.” He walked away and found a stick, one large enough to make a satisfying thudding sound when he smacked it against a tree trunk some yards away.

“Hey Ella,” the smaller boy said softly, coming up behind her. “I think I know what’s wrong with Mr. Howey.” He looked around before saying anything more, making sure no one else could hear them. “One day I forgot my lunchbox in the classroom on the way to PE, so I went back to get it and Mr. Howey was in the room all by himself. He was giving himself a shot.”

“What? Ewwww, why would he do that?” Ella asked, her eyes getting big.

“I don’t know. He told me what he was doing and he said it like it was no big deal, and he said the shots were from his doctor and they kept him healthy. Maybe it’s time for his shots and he forgot to do it?”

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head and looking at the teacher. “We can’t go anywhere else but we have to do something. And all this smoke is gross! I just don’t know what to do.”

“Well, if he hadn’t made us leave our phones on the bus, we could call our moms,” the boy said sadly before walking away again. Ella watched him walk off, her big blue eyes quickly scanning her classmates and making sure they were all there. Mr. Howey had made her the class sheriff for the field trip, and she was going to do her job, no matter what.

* * *

“
J
ust heard from ground ops
,” Angel’s voice echoed through their headsets as they flew out over the foothills. “All campers and day use civilians have been pinpointed, except for two groups. Teams are working on evacuating the ones they’ve located, but you’ll be doing aerial on the two unknown groups. Sending Knox the search coords now, but be ready for it… they’re pretty big areas.”

“Any recs on which group we should go for first? Over.” Michael adjusted his visor as Knox located the coordinates Angel had sent over on the panel’s GPS.

“Roger that. Hold on, I’m waiting for further instructions.” There was an audible click as Angel switched off their channel to try to contact the lead ground team for details. They continued moving in the direction of the fire, already seeing smoke in the distance. Another click told the group he was back. “Have details on one of the groups, guys… it’s a bunch of kids.”

There was a loud gasp as they processed the information, but no one spoke.

“Do you copy, bird?” Angel asked, repeating the information. “Approximately twenty-five school children and their teacher. Day hike field trip from an area elementary school.”

“Yes, we copy, home base. Tell the ground team chief that’s our primary target. Another crew will have to search for the other campers.”

“Roger, bird. I’ll let him know. I’ll try to get you coords for their expected plans to help you narrow the search.”

“Copy that, over.” Michael flipped a switch and spoke to the airborne team. “All right, guys. You heard the boss man. We’re looking for a school group, which means no signal fire most likely. We also have to prepare for a jump and dump.”

“Wait, what? What’s a jump and dump?” Madison asked nervously. “‘Cause I don’t jump, remember? I just wait right here in the helicopter and you send me the injured.”

“Don’t worry, there’s not really a jump,” Jake reminded her. “You’re not gonna be skydive certified ‘til you’ve had ten more freefalls. A jump and dump is where we drop someone down on the cable and lower supplies down to the victims. We can’t put twenty-six people in this helicopter, even if they’re just kids, so the ground person stays behind and keeps everyone safe while we make repeat runs.”

“Oh, okay. The name fits, I guess,” Madison said with a nervous laugh.

“Don’t worry, you’re not the jump or the dump!” Tanner teased her. “Just help us locate the victims, then we’ll most likely leave you on the ground when we deposit the first load of rugrats, just to evaluate them and make sure everyone’s okay.”

“Got it. Sounds like a plan.” Madison nodded, trying not to let her relief show on her face. She was thrilled to be part of S&R’s team, but still hadn’t gotten used to the crazy flight patterns of the rescue helicopter.

I’m not chickening out, I just promised Angel I’d be safe… that’s all
, Madison told herself. She couldn’t help feeling like a dead weight, though. Everyone on the team was expected to be able to fill any role; Knox could fly the helicopter if Michael wasn’t available, for example. And to be honest, everyone had enough basic medical training to keep a victim partly stable until they landed. She knew this job had been created for her after she came back into Angel’s life, so the last thing she wanted was for anyone to think she wasn’t doing her fair share.

But she was supposed to stay safely tucked in the helicopter while the others did the dirty work? The dangerous stuff? It made her feel guilty. These guys were her new family, the people closest to her. They saw her as Angel’s girlfriend a lot of the time, but they also saw her as a capable trauma nurse and a mom to their entire team.

She couldn’t help feel like she was only using them, that she was far from being a part of the team.

“
Y
ou up for an adventure
, Dr. Stanton?” Dr. Macmillan’s smiling face asked from the doorway. Emily looked up and cocked an eyebrow, intrigued.

“Always,” she answered skeptically. “What’s up?”

“I’ve got an assignment from NOAA and WWF, and I’m recruiting instructional staff to help. It’s supremely last minute, but the other project lead just cancelled on me. It’ll be two weeks at sea on a research vessel, but there’s practically a guaranteed option to publish after the fact.”

“Guaranteed publication? Whoa, that’s huge!” Emily answered, trying to keep herself in check. The university had a strict policy for professors: get published, or get out. “What’s the topic?”

“Okay, I admit it, so shrimp aren’t as glamorous as killer whales, but this one’s got major funding backers. They need preliminary data in order to set the bar for an inland shrimp farming study. You know, climate change and all that. They’re saying we’re all going to be eating insects by the middle of the century, and I’d far rather be eating homegrown shrimp from a pond in my backyard!”

“Ewww, I know. Same here. Sure, count me in.”

“You don’t have to find someone to keep your thirty-seven cats or anything, do you? Water your spider plant that you named after your first boyfriend?” he teased. Emily thought she detected a hint of something nasty, something darker in his joking tone, and it was strong enough that she was ready to tell him to take his research assignment and shove it. Still, the chance to publish… it was too good to pass up.

She really wanted to kick him out of her office, but telling him to get out of her freshman biology classroom didn’t have the same oomph to it.

“No. No cats, thanks for stereotyping me, though. I’m ready to leave anytime.” She sat up straighter and squared her shoulders, staring him down. “Keep me informed of the details, and I’ll be sure I’m up to speed on the current research.”

“You got it, Stanton,” he answered with an unnerving leer. He actually winked at her before sauntering off down the hall, leaving Emily to wonder when she would ever be taken seriously.

She went back to grading more papers, but couldn’t help but sneak a glance at her phone now and then. Mike hadn’t texted her, not that she wanted to hear from him, but she couldn’t help hoping he would have the decency to apologize. Worse, she felt foolish for thinking he would respond so soon. Each time she saw the blank screen, her spirits sank just a little bit more.

An email alert sounded on her laptop, and she turned to read it. Dr. Macmillan had sent over the Dropbox link to page after page after page of research she would need for the project. It also included full specifications of the trip itself, including departure, duration, and what she would need to do to be reimbursed by the university under the grant.

Forgetting Mike for the moment, Emily wrapped up her last few student papers and got to work on the research trip. She read and made notes, while simultaneously planning out what she would need in order to leave in less than two days for a two-week trip.

* * *

“
H
ome base
, we have visual of a slight clearing in the trees, we’re going in for a closer look,” Mike said through the microphone. They’d been searching the treetops for over an hour after reaching the state park, but hadn’t seen anything from the air that looked like a school group.

“Roger, keep the channel open and let me know as soon as you see anything. And watch your altitude, the rotors can fan a spark into a full-fledged blaze in no time.”

“Copy that. We’re keeping it steady over a clear zone, no flames in sight.” He hovered slowly over the trees, watching the topmost limbs whip back and forth under the powerful draft of the helicopter’s blades. “We got anything back there?”

“Just more and more green!” Tanner shouted back, not bothering with the radio. Madison looked out the rear windows on the opposite side, her binoculars helping bring the ground into focus.

“I think I have a visual,” she said over the radio. “Look to the east, five o’clock position. Do you see the colors?”

“Got it, I see what you’re indicating,” Knox answered. “But give me something more before we take the time to drop someone in.”

Madison sighed in frustration. She’d kept her eyes peeled for so long that she was doubting her own eyesight, but she felt certain those were artificial colors down below. But with the tree limbs moving about so wildly, she couldn’t tell if they were clothes on people or just an optical illusion.

“No, I think she’s got it,” Jake answered, taking down his own binoculars. “Those are definitely people moving down there. Could be our missing students, or the other set of campers, but either way it’s a confirmed sighting.”

“All right! Suit up for a jump and dump while I radio it back to Angel.”

Tanner and Jake took a second to rock-paper-scissors for the drop while Madison just shook her head. Tanner won out, and he reached overhead for the heavy steel carabiner on the thick steel cable. Everyone braced themselves for the rush of air before he opened the door, then expertly maneuvered out onto the strut. From there, he lowered himself to the ground while the winch whirred almost silently, its sound drowned out by the chopper.

“Confirm, bird, I’m on the ground. Counting multiple victims, all seem to be in good condition--wait, negative, bird. One victim appears unconscious, and… whoa! Calm down! Hey! Stop, I’m here to help!”

Tanner’s shouts came through the radio, and everyone on board the chopper exchanged worried glances. Madison and Jake craned their necks to see the ground out the windows, but couldn’t make out what was happening on the ground.

“Tanner! Give it up, buddy, what’s going on down there?” Mike asked while Knox tried to look for him out the front. “Tanner! Do you read me?”

“Bird, I need backup. The victims are frightened and disoriented. Some have actually fled the scene and headed further into the woods, so I’m backing off. My presence is upsetting them.”

“Can you get to the unconscious person?” Madison asked. “Can you assess the victim?”

“That’s a negative. I’d have to wade back into the group of kids, and they’re terrified. Madison, you gotta get down here.”

“What? Can you repeat?” she asked, blinking in surprise.

“You heard me! Get down here! These kids are afraid of me, and I can’t get any closer. I’ve already got to get to the ones who ran off. Maybe they won’t be scared of you. Just hook the cable, you’ll be fine. The winch will do all the work.”

“Come on, Madison. I’ll help you,” Jake said encouragingly. He reached for the front of her harness and grabbed the metal clip that was slowly snaking its way back up into the helicopter.

“No need to jump and dump, huh? Madison doesn’t have to do it?” she asked nervously, trying to sound like she was joking while covering up her fear and irritation.

“It’s a piece of cake. Just like falling off a log, only it’s a lot slower and there’s no crash at the end. You’ll see.” Jake smiled after giving her harness a tug, then shook her helmet slightly to make sure it was in place. “Just whatever you do, don’t tell Angel I’m the one who pushed you out of the chopper, okay?”

“I heard that, jackass. I’m on this channel, too,” Angel’s voice said darkly. “And yeah, Madison… it’s gonna be fine. Like he said, just like falling off a log. Okay?”

“Yeah… okay.” Madison inched towards the open door of the helicopter and sat on the edge, placing her feet out and feeling the air beneath them. Gravity seemed to already be playing tug of war with her legs, and she wasn’t even out the door yet. Jake tapped her on the shoulder and placed her medical bag in her arms.

“Just hug the bag, okay? Just think about not letting that bag fall, it’s got all your gear in it. That’ll give you something to focus on.”

Instead of making her climb down to the strut, Jake ran the winch in reverse even higher, lifting Madison off the floor of the helicopter. Her arm flung out wildly just on instinct, but she suddenly remembered the bag. She grabbed it in both arms and held onto it like a life preserver. Jake gave her a thumbs up and gently pushed her out away from the chopper before turning the direction on the winch.

Madison felt weightless as she descended from the helicopter, surprised at how much nauseous anticipation she’d felt only to have it turn out to be nothing. This was certainly slower than the zip line she’d tried during a girls’ weekend in Hawaii a few years ago, slow enough, in fact, that she almost wished she could tell them to make it unwind faster so she could to the ground quicker.

When her feet hit the ground, it took her a second to get her bearings. Once she looked around, the put down the oversized duffel bag and unclipped the carabiner from her harness. Scooping up the bag, she walked slowly towards Tanner and stared at the kids.

“Take off your helmet!” he ordered, shouting over the sound of the helicopter blades. He tapped on the edge of his helmet to show her what he meant. “It’s scaring the kids. Let ‘em see that you’re a mommy type.”

“I’m ignoring that remark,” she shot back, but then did as he said. She took off the helmet and shook out her ponytail, then tried her best to smile at the kids without scaring them even more. She took a tentative step forward, and was glad to see that none of the kids moved away.

“How many were there?” she asked, turning back to Tanner.

“Supposed to be twenty-five; by my count we’re missing three.”

“Okay. Here’s what we do. I’m gonna introduce myself, get them to calm down, then ask two of them to go with you and help find the missing kids. But I’ve got to hurry, that guy on the ground is my first priority.”

Madison turned to the kids again and walked closer, holding out her hand as though they were a pack of rabid, feral dogs. She smiled, hoping she didn’t look as nervous as she felt.

“Hi guys! My name’s Madison. I’m here to help get you guys out of here. Would that be okay?”

“You’re not the army men?” a boy asked.

“No, no, I’m not! I’m a nurse, see?” Madison showed them the cross patch on her flight suit, the one that was meant to indicate to enemies in wartime that she was a medical personnel and not to be fired at. “And I need to know what happened to that man.”

“That’s our teacher,” a girl said matter-of-factly, stepping forward and eyeing Madison carefully. “He took a nap a long time ago and we can’t wake him up.”

“He took a nap? Right in the middle of a field trip? Hmmm, that actually sounds like maybe he’s sick. I should go check him out, right?”

A couple of the kids nodded or mumbled their agreement, but most of them just stared at her, wide-eyed in fear. Madison stepped slowly towards the fallen teacher, keeping an eye on the kids in case they decided to become protective.

“What’s his name?” she asked over her shoulder. A few of the students answered almost in unison. “Thanks, guys. Mr. Howey? Can you hear me?”

Madison checked his pulse, alarmed at how sluggish it was. She went to check it on the other wrist, then found the man’s silver linked ID bracelet, complete with medical alert logo. Flipping the solid portion inside out, she read the word: “Diabetes.”

Shit
, she thought to herself.
He’s been out for a long time, and we’re hours from getting him to a hospital
.

“Bird, we’ve got a diabetic patient, presenting with symptoms of a related emergency. Victim has a slow pulse, but is unresponsive. The kids indicate he’s been unconscious for some time. He’s got to go in the first batch, tell me how many kids can go with him.”

“Roger that, ground team,” Mike answered back. “We can fit three plus the victim. Make your selection.”

Madison stood reeling for a moment as she looked out at the sea of scared children. Already the smell of smoke had gotten overpowering, and their little faces were showing the first signs of a fine layer of soot.

“Okay, kids! Let’s make a plan, all right? Aunt Madison is going to let three of you ride up in a big basket into that helicopter. Won’t that be cool? It'll be just like a ride at an amusement park!” She waited eagerly for them to get excited, but no one moved. “So, who can tell me if anyone in the class has to take medicine?”

“I take medicine for my allergies,” a little girl with blond pigtails said.

“All right! Then you get to go in the basket. Who else? Does anyone have any medicine they need to take? Oh wait, how about this… does anyone have any food allergies?”

“I’m allergic to peanuts,” a boy answered, dropping his gaze to the ground when the other kids turned to stare at him.

“Okay, then you’re going with Mr. Howey, too. One more right now, and then the rest of us are going to sit down and have a snack and a drink while we wait for our turns.”

“I’m allergic to bee stings,” another student said, raising his hand slightly. Madison turned to him, too.

“Really? And you went on a field trip to the woods? Okay. Whatever. Then yup, you get to go in this group, too. If you three guys will stand right here together, my buddy Uncle Tanner and I are going to get Mr. Howey ready to go, and then we’re going to send you up the same way! We’ll all see you a little later, okay? But first… who wants to go on a scavenger hunt to find your friends?”