“Well, let me clear this up. I never take anything before I fly.”
“You certain you took nothing from your medicine cabinet?” His brows raise.
Her jaw drops at his insinuation, and she pales. “Those pills are ancient… expired. I didn’t want to flush them down the john. I wasn’t sure how to get rid of them.”
“You sure you didn’t take any?”
I’ve had enough and cut off his badgering. “I believe the lady has answered you. Do you have any more concerns?”
Landy raises her hand. “I do. Have you recovered the helicopter? The black box will confirm everything I’ve said.”
“Not yet.” The man in charge shakes his head, motions the other one forward, then pauses in the door frame. “One more thing, you had a good career with The Corp. Why leave?”
Her already red face turns crimson to the tops of her ears. “What’s that got to do with the price of eggs in Alaska?”
He shrugs off her ire. “Just covering my bases.”
“Well, cover them someplace else. Leaving wasn’t my idea and unrelated to my piloting skills. And before you ask again, I signed a nondisclosure. I can’t tell you jack shit.”
“You must’ve fucked up big time.”
At the younger’s snicker, her fists clench and her voice tightens. “As I said, I cannot help you.”
“So, you’re saying the government spent thousands of dollars training one of the first female pilots to see active service and you quit.” The older guy should’ve let it go.
Her head almost hits the ceiling when she stands, looms over him, her body poised for a good fight. “I’ll have you know I have an honorable discharge and am a damn good pilot. I had to be. And understand this. We all survived the crash which means I’m better than good. I’m fucking awesome. You’ll need more than expired pills in my medicine cabinet to take me down and watch your back. I will sue you for slander faster than you can pull your head out of your ass.”
“Yes ma’am.” He clicks off his recorder. “Be seeing you soon.”
After they go, she sinks to her knees, water leaking out her eyes. “Could you go? I need a few to collect myself.”
“I’m a good listener if you want to talk about it.”
“I wasn’t lying before. I can’t.” Using the sleeves of my dress shirt, she wipes her face dry. “I appreciate everything you’ve done but you don’t need to babysit me. I’ll be fine.”
I do as she says and sit by my dad’s bedside until the doctor sends him home. Then, I wait in the common area, watching the comings and goings while researching why the hell a helicopter shakes. The bird was almost brand new and my mechanics, top notch. How had it dropped like a stone? It doesn’t make sense, but somehow, I feel responsible.
Jorge, my chief engineer, swears the MD600 was thoroughly inspected after my last flight. “Boss, it had to have been pilot error. How much do you know about this chica?”
His question hits home. She did contract work for Suds and Sam as well as Patten Securities. I naturally assumed she was vetted, but what if she wasn’t?
I need to find out.
While I’m in the waiting room, a huge, bearded biker walks past and knocks his tatted knuckles on Landy’s door.
“It’s me.” As he unzips his worn leather jacket, a squeal of delight sounds from inside.
“Kade? Come in, come in.” For a former boyfriend, her hug is overly enthusiastic.
Ex, my ass. She played me for a fool.
What else did she lie about?
~ Chapter 4 ~
Landy
“Kade? You didn’t have to come but thank you.” As I let go of the tatted teddy-bear-of-a-man, I wish I could feel something other than friendship.
