Hard Landing Read online

  Chapter 22

  Thank goodness Logan had leased a chopper for a week, since he had a meeting and the Deep Six bird wouldn’t be ready until the end of the week. In the state Maddie was in, flying commercial would’ve been a nightmare for her, not to mention it would’ve probably cost just as much to buy last minute tickets for them to get to Kentucky. How could the military only give her three days to appear in Kentucky for this interview?

  “Why do you think they’d offer me an attorney if this is just an interview? I called him to be safe, but that made me even more nervous,” Maddie said, chewing her bottom lip as they got out of the cab and Hawk paid the driver.

  Because an interview in a criminal investigation, which this must be since the letter you received came from the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, isn’t just an interview.

  Hawk had been there once himself after witnessing an event, and those lawyers grilled him like a porterhouse steak. By the time they turned him loose, he was well done and never wanted to go through that again. His heart was breaking that Maddie would have to go through it now.

  He had called Max to try to get answers as to what this might be about, but even he couldn’t find out. He said not to be worried, because they were probably just finalizing details about what happened to get her discharge in order. Bringing someone back from the dead to discharge them required a lot of answers and paperwork.

  Hawk was sure that was true, but this didn’t feel right. That answer didn’t fit with a criminal investigation either, but he hoped that was the case.

  “Better safe than sorry,” he replied, dragging out one of his mother’s favorite platitudes. “If this is part of an investigation, you should have someone to kick you under the table if he thinks you’re about to say something stupid.”

  She stopped walking and turned to plaster herself to his body. Hawk wrapped his arms around her and felt her shaking. “Please, don’t let me say anything stupid. I don’t need more trouble. I just want my discharge and benefits, but I have this feeling something is very wrong.”

  Again, Hawk had the same feeling of impending doom. Usually when he got that feeling a goat fuck was waiting for him in the wings. He hoped like hell in the five years since his separation from the military that feeling had come to portend something else.

  “They may not let me come in with you, sweet thang. I might just have to support you from out in the hall. You’ll have to rely on your attorney,” he warned, because she needed to be prepared. She whimpered and hugged him tighter, then released him and sucked in a shuddering breath. He was glad to see her roll her glassy eyes and stiffen her shoulders.

  “I got this,” Maddie said, forcing a laugh.

  Hawk didn’t smile, he just put his arm around her shoulders and led her toward the building that had been designated for this meeting. He tried to comfort himself by mentally reviewing the possibilities he’d come up with for this summons.

  Maybe it was related to the cartel was all he could surmise. But if it was about the drug runners, it wouldn’t be investigated by the military. They could be cooperating with Homeland Security or the DEA in their investigation was his second theory, and it held more water. Because Maddie was presumed dead, she hadn’t been interviewed yet, so maybe that was what this was about. To see if she could give them more information about the cartel.

  At the top of the steps, Hawk opened the door for her, waited for her to walk inside, then followed. They stopped at security, showed their identification and he noticed one of the MPs pick up the phone. A minute later, two more MPs showed up on the other side of the x-ray machine and Hawk’s gut clenched.

  They hand scanned Maddie, since she told them she had a prosthesis and as soon as they finished, one of the men grabbed her purse from the belt, and the other took her arm to lead her away. She looked back at him with stark terror in her eyes and mouthed, I love you.

  Definitely not good, Hawk thought, walking through the scanner. The alarm went off and he cursed when he was motioned to the side for a frisk. His sunglasses, which he’d forgotten to put on the belt, were the culprit. He ground his teeth as he waited while they used a hand wand on him too. When they finished, he walked to the end of the entry to the hall and looked left, where they’d taken Maddie, but there was no sign of them.

  He slapped his forehead, closed his eyes and tried to remember the room number from the letter. When he couldn’t, he cursed again and walked back to the security area.

  “Can you tell me which room Captain Maddie Carter is being interviewed in, please?”

  “She the one they’re bringing up on charges for desertion?” the private manning the scanner asked, and the corporal who frisked Hawk glared at him.

  The word desertion rang in his skull like a death knell. His blood ran cold, and his knees buckled. He grabbed the wall for support, before he fell down.

  “She’s been taken to a secured area, so no civilians allowed. That’s why the MPs came to escort her back there,” the corporal responded, his tone terse. “You can wait for her in the break room down the hall.”

  He pointed right, and Maddie had gone left. There was no way Hawk was taking the chance of her coming out and not seeing him.

  “Is there somewhere I can wait down the hall to the left?” he croaked, his voice constricted by the knot in his throat.

  “Fraid not,” the corporal replied.

  Then Hawk would wait on the steps for her. He knew by the time they finished with her, she was going to need him.

  How in the ever-loving hell could they award her a medal of honor for valor in combat and then bring her up on the most serious military charges possible? Especially after all she’d endured, because they had only put a goddamn half-assed effort into finding her! Anger surged through him so violent he wanted to punch something, or someone.

  A wave of sickness rushed up to his throat to choke him. Hawk clamped a hand over his mouth, pushed off the wall and ran for the front door. After tossing his breakfast in the hedge beside the steps, he wiped his mouth and sat on the last tread. He would wait there so he could pick up the pieces that were left of her when they released her.

  If they released her.

  Hawk pulled out his phone to call her brother and inform him how wrong his theory had been and tell him he’d better try harder to get answers, or the lion to which Hawk had just delivered her might very well eat her alive.

  God, how stupid could he have been?

  Chapter 23

  Maddie knew right away she was in big trouble. Her first clue was that her lawyer looked to be about sixteen years old. That he was so excited to get his first big case, was her second. That hers was considered a big case was the coup de grace certifying she was screwed.

  Then came the introduction of these men who were interrogating her—not interviewing. A Warrant Officer and two special military agents with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. When she asked what this interview was about, they told her they were re-investigating the crash at the request of the Secretary of the Army, because the military asset, the Little Bird, hadn’t been recovered, and that she, as the pilot, was now alive to answer to its whereabouts.

  Maddie asked if she was being charged with any crime, and was relieved when they assured her they were not the branch who would file charges. They told her they were merely investigating and would present their findings to the Secretary, who would review them and make a determination whether to close the file, or proceed some other way.

  Her relief was short-lived after they asked her lawyer for permission to record the interview and swear her in, because of the nature of the questioning.

  “Captain Carter, what caused your hard landing, ma’am?” the CID Warrant Officer asked.

  That was his first question, but the other two special military agents with him had asked plenty beforehand, most of which she couldn’t answer either.

  Why had she joined the Nightstalkers? How did she do in training in Kentucky? Was it s
tressful? Did she feel out of place or unfit for the assignment to JCET in El Salvador? Did she want to leave there?

  “I’m sorry, I don’t remember, sir,” Maddie repeated, which was the answer she gave to most of their questions, other than her name.

  “You were rescued from captivity by a drug cartel, right? Who rescued you and how long had you been in captivity?” one of the special agents asked.

  “Yes, I was rescued by men from Deep Six Security six months after I was captured. Before then, I had no idea how long I’d been there. I was just there when I woke up and had no memory of before.”

  “I see,” he said, frowning as he scratched on his legal pad. He was too far away for Maddie to see what he wrote.

  “Why do you think those men went to Guatemala looking for you?” the other special agent asked.

  “I guess they questioned the Army’s determination that I was dead and I’m thankful they did. One of the men with the team who rescued me was, ah…” Maddie’s face flushed. “My boyfriend, and another was my brother.”

  “Here’s something I find very odd, Captain Carter,” the Warrant Office said, clearing his throat. “Yours was the only body of the casualties that wasn’t recovered. It was missing from the crash site, along with the helicopter. Now, you suddenly come back from the dead with no recollection of how that happened. I’m sure you can understand our confusion.”

  “I must’ve sustained a head injury. My leg was so badly damaged it had to be amputated when I got home. There was a witch—um, doctor at the cartel compound who fixed me up and didn’t do a good job of it, evidently.”

  “Is there some reason you haven’t mentioned the baby you had in captivity, Captain Carter?” one of the special agents asked. “Was that baby a result of a sexual assault while you were with the cartel?”

  “I thought so at first, because I didn’t know how long I was there when I woke up,” Maddie replied, looking down at her hands, which she twisted in her lap. “But we had a DNA test done when I got home. My boyfriend is her father.”

  “So you weren’t raped while in captivity?” he asked.

  “No, I wasn’t,” she replied, then tensed as she rushed to add. “That I remember.”

  Just because Sarah wasn’t a product of rape, didn’t mean she hadn’t been assaulted while she was unconscious. Before she killed him, Jorge seemed determined to rape her, didn’t he?

  “And this boyfriend—did you miss him while you were deployed? Want to go home to him, maybe?” the second agent asked.

  “I have no idea, because I don’t remember anything before the crash. Not even him,” she repeated, her frustration building as she mentally upped the purpose of this meeting from interrogation to inquisition. “That is why I thought I was raped when I figured out I was pregnant,”

  “Was the helicopter at the cartel compound too, Captain Carter?” the Warrant Officer asked and her eyes flew to him.

  “Yes, it was there. After they repaired it, they used it to transport drugs to drop off points,” she replied.

  “Why do you think the secret locator beacon didn’t function if the helo was repairable, Captain Carter?” agent number one asked.

  “I have no idea, because I’m not a helo mechanic! They removed the com and navigation equipment from the console, too,” she replied, her voice louder than she intended. Maddie’s insides, including her brain, felt like she’d grabbed a live wire at the moment.

  “But you knew where the tracking device was located in the aircraft, because that was part of your training wasn’t it?” the second agent followed up.

  “I don’t remember my training, sir, since it was before the crash. I don’t even know how I knew how to fly the aircraft. I just did,” she answered, her eyes burning badly.

  “So…you flew helicopter for the cartel, Captain Carter? Transported their drugs for them after you recovered from your injuries?” the Warrant Officer asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “Yes! It was the only way they’d give me pain medication at first. Then after I had my daughter, that’s how I bought time with her,” she grated, shooting a glare at her lawyer, who sat beside her scribbling notes, but not saying a word.

  “Were you restrained at any time while you were there, Captain Carter?” the second agent asked. “Describe your accommodations at the compound to me, please.”

  “I was kept in a locked shanty shack when I wasn’t flying,” she replied.

  “Shanty shack? As in an insubstantial wooden shack?” the Warrant Officer clarified.

  “Yes, it was a wooden shack. That’s how the rescue team got me out. They removed a few boards in the back,” she replied huffing a breath.

  “What about the compound. How was it secured?” special agent number two asked.

  “They had razor wire on top of a rickety board fence, which seemed kind of stupid to me. But with the thick jungle beyond it, I assume they felt pretty safe.”

  “And you felt safe there too, right?” the first agent asked. “They didn’t beat or torture you, they gave you medical attention when you needed it? They fed you?”

  “Yes to all of that,” she replied, her brain so exhausted, she couldn’t think. “They needed to keep me flying.”

  “To transport their drugs,” the first agent added, and she nodded.

  A few minutes of silence ensued while all three of her inquisitors wrote notes. Maddie was glad for the breather and slumped in her chair, but sat straight up when the Warrant Officer looked at the agents and nodded. Agent number two turned off the recorder and put his legal pad away. The Warrant Officer pushed back his chair to stand.

  “Thank you for coming in today to answer our questions, Captain Carter. I’m sure the Army will be in touch soon.”

  Maddie’s leg wobbled, and her stump sweated beneath the sock inside her prosthesis as she held onto the table to stand. The men filed out of the door without another word, leaving her alone with her Beaver-Cleaver lawyer. When he looked up at her and his face was a lighter shade of green than his uniform, Maddie fell back into her seat and her stomach lurched.

  “Can you please tell me what all that was about?” she growled, spearing him with her eyes.

  “It was about an investigation into desertion and theft of government property, ma’am, and I think we should talk about a plea deal. If you’re charged and convicted, those offenses carry a life sentence, but I think I can get it reduced to dereliction of duty and misconduct, which is twenty years.”

  Maddie felt lightheaded, her ears buzzed and dots danced before her eyes. What they needed to talk about before she passed out was the fact that he was fired.

  Chapter 24

  After he put the SUV in park and opened the door, Hawk stared over at Maddie, who was curled in a ball in the passenger seat. Her body was still shaking, but at least she’d stopped crying, which was something. She had been so hysterical on the flight, he thought several times about landing at a hospital to have her seen for anxiety.

  The fact that she passed out after the interview scared the shit out of him and her green-as-grass attorney too. His face was white when he found him outside after the equally freaked out guards told him he was with her.

  You can’t check out on me now, baby. We’ve got a lot of things to do and I need you.

  With a huffed breath, Hawk got out and closed the door then went around to her side. He lifted her out and kicked the door shut. There would be no walking inside for her in this condition, he thought, carrying her toward the front porch.

  He balanced her weight and reached for the knob, but the door opened wide. Mickie stood there looking excited, and behind her was the whole team wearing big grins. Hawk flinched when they all shouted congratulations in unison. Maddie whimpered and a violent tremor shook her body. Mickie’s smile disappeared and she moved so he could carry her inside.

  “What’s wrong?” Gray asked, stepping up behind Mickie to put his arms around her shoulders. “Cade is here. Do you want him to look at her?”
/>   “That might not be a bad idea,” Hawk replied, his eyes searching the group for the former operator-turned-doctor as he walked toward the hallway. He felt the team’s worried eyes following him as he strode toward the suite. Mickie beat him there and punched in the code.

  “What happened to her?” she asked, as she pushed the bar to open the door.

  “As soon as I have her settled, I’ll come and explain it all,” Hawk replied, walking toward the bedroom.

  He opened the door and carried Maddie through the darkened bedroom to the bed, where he gently laid her down. She immediately curled into the fetal position and turned away from him, but Hawk unbuttoned her skirt, rolled her back over and removed it and her prosthesis.

  Her whimper signified she was about to start crying again, and the thing he wanted to do most right then was crawl into that bed with her, hold her and cry too, but he couldn’t. The team was waiting for an explanation and he owed it to them. Mickie had gone to a lot of trouble to arrange the party that was waiting when they got home, and he needed to thank her, but it would be a long time before Hawk felt like celebrating anything—even the birth of his daughter.

  Emotion surged up to choke him as he quietly closed the bedroom door and heard Maddie crying. It rose higher with each step toward the door of the suite. Two steps later, he staggered and fell to his knees as it reached his lips. His stomach cramped, he hugged his waist and the emotion escaped in a roar as his eyes filled and flooded.

  He’d held it together as long as he could and Hawk knew there was no stopping the storm, so he just curled over his arms and let it go. His mother’s death, Maddie’s death, her resurrection, the baby, the amputation, the surgery, and now the possibility that he’d lose her again all joined forces to consume him. What in the hell would he and Sarah do without her if he couldn’t fix this?

  “Oh, God…” he groaned, rocking.

  A hand landed on his back, and he thought it was Maddie. He looked up and saw that every member of the team―no, his family―was in the suite and had circled around him. He even saw Maria lurking behind them holding Sarah and rocking her baby in a stroller. He couldn’t even work up the emotion to get angry about that.