Page 12 of Deserving Lara
Well, as safe as shecouldfeel with a serial killer out there, looking for her.
It was literally only a matter of time before he returned, and while Lara didn’t ever want to see him again, she had to prepare herself for that eventuality. What other choice did she have? Roll over and give up? She wanted to say that she’d fight, but honestly, she wasn’t surewhatshe’d do. She only knew that if it came down to Carter takingheror hurting her new friends, she’d choose the former every time.
“You go again,” she told Owl, shoving the controllers at him and pushing the pedals toward his feet. “I love watching you fly. You make it look so easy.”
“Itiseasy…when you know what you’re doing,” he said with a small smirk.
Lara rolled her eyes. She’d believed him the first time she’d tried the simulator. But when she’d crashed about two seconds after the chopper got in the air, she realized Owl was simply that good, that he made it seem effortless.
He took the controllers and handed over his tablet. There was an app on it that allowed her to see what he was seeing as he went through the simulations. He put the goggles over his eyes and adjusted the difficulty level from beginner to advanced, then the chopper lifted off the ground.
Lara watched in awe as he maneuvered around mountaintops while being shot at from the ground. He managed to pick up a team of Navy SEALs who were pinned down by enemy fire and then lift off and fly out of the mountain canyon as if he was on a pleasure cruise, rather than a simulated life-or-death flight.
A few nights ago, Stone came over with his own equipment and the two men flew together. It was even more impressive than Owl flying through the simulations on his own. Their respective choppers flew so close to each other, she was sure their rotor blades would hit, but they skillfully flew side-by-side without issue.
They’d talked just a little about their flight from Ridge’s house in Arizona. How horrible the conditions were with the wind and sand. How it reminded them of some of their missions in the Middle East…except back then, they didn’t have a crappy helicopter to deal with.
It was several minutes into their discussion when Owl turned to her with an anguished look on his face. “I’m sorry. We weren’t thinking. We shouldn’t be talking about this in front of you.”
She’d been able to reassure them both that since she’d been unconscious at that point in her rescue, talking about the flight wasn’t bringing back any bad memories.
The truth was, she was fascinated by hearing them talk. Stone and Owl were obviously extremely skilled pilots, and she felt thankful that they’d both been there to get her away from the house. Without them, the outcome would’ve been a lot different.
Lara watched as Owl’s hands easily maneuvered the joysticks. He had long fingers, and she loved how they felt around hers as they took their walks in the morning, even though they were both wearing gloves. Spring in the mountains of New Mexico was turning out to be unusually chilly this year, according to Owl.
“Watch and learn,” he joked, jerking Lara out of the daydream she’d fallen into.
She looked down at the tablet and saw Owl was flying his simulated chopper over the ocean. The waves were mean looking, yet Owl was skimming the surface without any issues whatsoever.
“The key is to move with the motion of the waves,” he said as he deftly maneuvered the helicopter.
Lara shook her head as, once again, he made operating such a huge machine look like child’s play. She smiled as Owl continued to fly the simulator. He was obviously in his element. Intellectually, while she’d already known he had to be a very good helicopter pilot, and had participated in many dangerous missions while in the Army, it didn’t hit homehowgood he was until the first time he’d demonstrated the simulator.
True, the simulation wasn’t a real chopper, but the ease with which he handled the joysticks and the small smile on his face as he “flew” made Lara understand that this man was born to fly. It clearly made him happy and helped calm him. She had no idea how he’d survived being a POW without being in the air.
She had no stake in what happened at The Refuge, but she was very glad the owners were seriously considering buying a chopper.
“…you think?”
Lara blinked—and realized she’d missed Owl’s question.
“I’m sorry, what?”
The helicopter on the tablet suddenly stopped in midair and fell like a stone into the ocean. Looking at Owl, she saw he’d shoved the goggles onto his forehead, and he had an expression of concern on his face. “You okay?” he asked.
“Uh…yeah? Owl, you crashed.”
The teasing smile he gave her made tingles shoot down to her toes. “Good thing it’s just a simulation, huh?”
Lara shook her head in exasperation.
“You thinking about your session with Henley later today?” Owl asked gently.
Honestly, Lara hadn’t thought too much about it at all. But now that Owl had brought it up, she frowned. “I’m not sure talking with her is gonna work.”
He was shaking his head before she’d finished speaking. “Your first session went really well.”
Lara snorted. Honest-to-God snorted. She ignored the way Owl’s lips twitched. “Right,” she said sarcastically. “I was a hot mess. Henley did most of the talking.”
