Page 96 of Deserving Lara
She couldn’t hear the shots, but she saw Carter jerk and stumble before he fell face first onto the grass.
Ricky collapsed back to the ground, and then they were both still.
She didn’t have time to process what she’d just seen—Ricky and Carter killing each other, a fitting end to such evil men—before she heard a low groan through the headset and turned back to Owl.
He was slumped to the side. He’d gotten them off the ground, but now he was completely unconscious.
Lara’s hands shook as she realizedshewas now flying. By herself! Without Owl there to give her tips on how not to crash.
“Oh crap, Owl! I can’t do this,” she whispered.
But he didn’t respond.
For a moment, panic nearly overwhelmed her, and she forgot everything Owl had ever taught her while they’d been sitting safely on his couch, as she laughed and crashed the simulated helicopter time and time again. He’d been so patient, explaining why she’d gone down and urging her to try again.
Carter Grant was dead. She had to believe that. He wouldn’t be hunting her anymore. She could be free. She and Owl could live happily ever after, just like the characters in all her favorite movies and books.
But only if she got her head out of her ass and got them safely off the island.
Determination welled up. She needed to get Owl to a hospital. He’d protected her, kept her safe for months. It was her turn to do the same for him.
Taking a deep breath, she spoke. “Hello? Is anyone out there? Mayday, Mayday! I’m in a helicopter and we just took off from an island, I don’t know where it is, and the pilot is unconscious and needs an ambulance. My name is Lara Osler, and I don’t know what I’m doing and I need help!”
Her fingers were curled around the controls so tightly, she was relieved she didn’t need to let go in order to communicate via the headsets. There was a switch that made conversation private to the occupants of the chopper, but Owl had flicked it to public before he’d passed out.
“Hello? Mayday! I’m having an emergency. Can anyone hear me?”
“I hear you.”
Lara almost sobbed at those three words.
“I see you’re in a Bell. What’s the emergency?”
“I’m not a pilot! I’ve never flown a real helicopter before. My boyfriend and I were kidnapped by Carter Grant. He’s a serial killer and wanted by the FBI. We were taken to an island and he and another bad guy killed each other. At least I think they did! But Owl was shot and he’s bleeding really badly and I’m flying, but I’m not good at it and I’m afraid I’m going to crash and kill us both and I don’t know where we are or how to read the screens to know where to go!”
She was overexplaining, speaking way too fast, but Lara couldn’t seem to stop. “I’ve only flown a helicopter in a simulator, and I’m so scared!”
“Take a deep breath. You’re doing fine. You’re keeping her level, which is good. On the screen in front of you, there’s a green radar-looking thing. There’s a line in the middle of it that’s probably moving back and forth. See it?”
The man’s voice in her ears was low and soothing, which went a long way toward calming Lara. “Y-Yeah, I think so.”
“Good. Your job is to keep that line as flat as possible. Understand?”
She nodded, her mouth suddenly too dry to speak.
“Right. Let up a little on the stick between your legs. That’s it. Good. You were going a little too fast. Can you lift up on the lever to your left just a bit?”
“I don’t want to go any higher!” Lara exclaimed, feeling panicky again. The higher she went, the more it would hurt if she crashed.
“Just a tiny bit. I want to make sure you’re way above the level of the waves. Good. Okay, Lara, here’s what we’re going to do. I need you to turn to the right. Right now, you’re coming straight for the city, and I’m thinking you don’t want to fly over any buildings.”
“No!” she practically yelled.
“Right, so I’m going to lead you to a small airport south of the city.”
Nausea churned in Lara’s belly once more.
“I’m not very good at landing,” she admitted.
