CHAPTER FIVE

"Are you sure, Rose?" asked Clark.

"I'm positive. I'm going to stay a few days with Baptiste, and we'll be driving down to D.C. to meet with some of the lawmakers. We'll contact everyone when we're ready to come back. But there's no need for you to stay. You go ahead and get home. I'm sure there's someone there you'd rather be with," smiled the woman.

"You know?"

"Honey, everyone knows everything at Belle Fleur. Alistair is a great guy, and you two are a beautiful couple."

"It feels so fast," she said, shrugging her shoulders. Rose could only laugh.

"Listen to me, Clark. Love doesn't have a time or date stamp. It happens when it happens. Sometimes, it's like a bolt of lightning that shoots you out of your seat and right into the arms of the man you're supposed to be with for your entire life. Sometimes, it's slow, like a lazy train traveling across winding tracks. At Belle Fleur, well, it's more like a high-speed Mach 10 jet," she grinned. Clark laughed.

"That is what it feels like. But it also feels normal. Like this is how it should be."

"Then go with it, honey. You won't regret it." Baptiste walked toward them, his massive body pushing crowds aside at the convention center.

"He's very good-looking for a man his age. Hell, for a man any age," smiled Clark.

"Don't I know it," winked Rose. "Fly safe, and we'll see you in a few days."

Rose hugged the young woman as Baptiste approached and hugged her as well. She waved to the couple, turning to wave down a taxi for a ride to the airport. As she waited in the taxi line, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, and she immediately looked around. Not seeing anything, she waved it off as the cool fall breeze and hopped into the taxi.

"Municipal airport, please." The driver nodded as he wove through traffic, getting her to the small city airport. Clark checked the Osprey several times, then took her place at the controls.

"Base, do you read?" she asked.

" Loud and clear, Clark. We're ready to track you and welcome you home," said Evie.

"I'm ready to be home," she smiled. "Hopefully, I'll be there by seven."

"Roger that. Double-check your trackers and comms."

Clark thought the tracking and comms devices invented by G.R.I.P. were absolutely amazing, but she also thought they were a bit over the top. The ability to track and hear anything and everything seemed extreme, but she was a rule follower.

"Confirmed. See you soon."

Pilots and ground crew alike turned to see the unusual Osprey lift off the ground and suddenly disappear into the gray fall sky. Flying north first, she took a turn to the west and began her route south over West Virginia. Looking down, she realized she was almost over the exact location of her last team flight.

"What the hell?" she murmured, seeing the lights and fires below. Someone was back at work. Just as she was about to place the Osprey on stealth mode, she saw the firing of a rocket launcher too late.

"Oh, shit! Base, this is Clark. I'm going down!" She would have to ask the geniuses at G.R.I.P. why the defenses failed, but that wasn't important right now.

" We read, Clark. We're already on our way."

"Tell-tell Alistair…"

That was the last thing Clark remembered. She heard the crunching of metal and the sounds of trees being sliced by the rotors as they helped to absorb some of the crash. Opening her eyes, she knew she hadn't been out long, looking around at the dusky sky.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!" she muttered.

Whoever shot her down could not get to the Osprey. She released her restraints, grabbed the first-aid kit and her backpack, and set the timer on the self-destruct. Staring at the beautiful chopper one last time, she took off running south through the woods. Sixty seconds later, a fireball that could be seen for a hundred miles lit up the sky.

"Base? I'm on the run. Someone shot me down, and I'm on the move."

"Help is on the way, Clark. Find a place to stay safe. We'll find you," said Savannah.

Clark could hear someone firing shots into the air and stopped, listening for any sounds of a human. Then she heard it. She heard a sound she didn't want to hear. The one that had caused her nightmares.

"Girly! Girly, I know you're out there!" screamed the familiar voice.

"No," whispered Clark. "No, he's in jail."

"I told you I don't forget a face."

Clark turned in a big circle, searching the dense forested area. She knew they could track her from base, but she also knew that if the dealers got to her first, she'd wish she were dead.

"Clark? Clark, I know you can hear me, baby. Don't speak. Don't let them know where you are. We're on our way. Find a place to hide. I'll find you, baby. I'll find you."

Clark let out a long, slow breath, then turned. And ran.