Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Captain Jennifer Walker

M y eyes shot open to the sound of blaring alarms and my body being pressed tightly into my seat. I looked around wide eyed for a second until my mind caught up. Someone was shooting at us and the aircraft's pilot was maneuvering out of the line of fire. The alarms were a nice touch, as if getting thrown back and forth in your seat wasn't an indicator of trouble.

We were crammed into the back of a C-17, an oversized airplane with no windows, no movie, and no inflight meal. Not that we expected any of those things, but it was fun to joke with the flight crew about it. Fun for us. I'm pretty sure they heard these jokes daily. But they smiled and played along.

I glanced over at Sarah, my medic, and Karolyn, my crew chief. "What the hell, Cap? These guys are even rougher than you," Sarah said, her face pale. She gave me a weak grin. Karolyn looked ready to puke. There was a greenish tint to her usually tanned complexion.

Giving Sarah an unamused look, I tightened my seatbelt. It was cinched down as much as it would go and I was still being tossed around like a ragdoll. Something tickled my nose and I brushed loose strands of hair out of my face. The jostling around had knocked my bun loose. "Come on, it's not that bad. We did worse maneuvers back in Texas."

I was a Black Hawk Helicopter pilot with the U.S. Army. We flew medical evacuation missions, MEDEVAC for short. Karolyn was our mechanic, it was her job to keep the helicopter running. Sarah had the fun job of keeping the wounded alive until we could fly them to safety. Though I'd been flying for six years and we'd been working together as a team for more than three. We trusted each other with our lives on a daily basis.

"I don't remember you ever making Karolyn throw up," Sarah said with another grin. Karolyn just tucked her head between her legs, not bothering to answer. The aircraft rolled hard to the right, throwing us to the side again.

"We must be landing, feel the way we're in a tight spiral? The pilot is keeping us over the airfield so that whoever shot at us doesn't get a second chance. We'll be on the ground soon." My voice was tight, but calm. It was my job to keep everyone relaxed and focused.

There was a pair of young soldiers in the seat across from us and their eyes were wide as dinner plates. These guys were fine with being shot at, but they weren't used to the idea of falling out of the sky. Everyone looked a bit green in the face and I wondered if the Air Force flight crew realized they were going to have a massive mess to clean up. This wasn't the kind of flight that had puke bags for people. Too bad for whoever was responsible for hosing out the plane.

Karolyn's hand emerged from her lap with a thumbs up. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I was a little queasy myself. That was the irony with helicopter pilots and their crews. We were fine when we were in control, but never really comfortable as passengers. It would be better once we were on the ground and on our way to our own aircraft.

The plane leveled back out and I let out a breath of relief. The pilot was trying to slow down quickly because it felt like the nose of the airplane was pointing straight up. The seats shook as the wheels made contact with the runway, and we finally came to an abrupt stop.

Silence was heavy around us and I knew more than a few of the guys were thanking whichever deity they believed in that we'd made it down in one piece. I grinned and glanced over at my girls.

"Alright gang, time to go." I stepped into the aisle, waiting to get off the plane. Already the heat from outside was invading. It was thick and wrapped itself around me as I began to sweat. My hair stuck to my neck, making me regret not properly fixing my bun. Too late now.

"Holy hell it's hot out here." Sarah and I both turned and looked at Karolyn. "What? I'm roasting and we just got here," Karolyn complained as she reached the ground. Sarah looked back at me and rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Just grab your bags and let's get inside before we pass out from heat exhaustion." I told her, shaking my head. Karolyn wasn't wrong. The heat here was worse than Texas, and standing on the tarmac wasn't helping matters.

We watched as the forklifts unloaded our bags, sweat trickling down my back while they picked up pallets of equipment and dropped them off near us. That was typical of the military; hurry up and wait. The base rose up out of the desert like a sleeping beast.

This was Bagram air base. It was the largest military base in Afghanistan. It might as well have been a small city. I couldn't even see the end of the runway. The place was massive. With any luck we'd get to see more of it in the next few days.

"Alright everyone, follow me. I'll show you to your barracks for the night," an Airman called out. With our bags finally in hand we followed him over to a large warehouse building. Inside were rows of at least a hundred sleeping cots. "Female changing room is to the north end, male changing room is to the south end," he said, pointing to each.

A temporary co-ed space wasn't uncommon. We were only here for one night, then everyone on the plane would be scattered across the country. I was used to sharing close quarters with other soldiers, men and women. You got used to the cramped space and lack of privacy quickly. You also learned to sleep through hundreds of men snoring or you went without. It was better to sleep.

The next morning, we wasted no time gathering our things and getting out of the barracks. We headed back to the flightline where we met our personnel sergeant, Ariel, inside one of the maintenance hangers.

"Hi," she greeted us with a smile. We introduced ourselves, then settled in to hear her report. "First off, you're not staying here in Bagram like you were supposed to. You're heading into a bit of a mess," she admitted.

My brows shot up. "Really?" I didn't ask anything more. She was sure to tell me what to expect. I'd found it was best to wait for the explanation versus assume. And there was no point in getting agitated at the changes. That was another thing the Army was famous for. If you had a plan of any kind, they'd be sure to derail it.

Ariel motioned for me to follow her to a quiet part of the hanger. I wasn't in the habit of keeping things from my crew, but she was our unit's senior personnel officer. She worked directly for the unit commander, so if she thought something warranted discretion, she was probably right.

"You're being sent to Mazar E Sharif, or MES for short." She held up her hand, silencing me before I could ask. "It's the northernmost base, just outside the city of Mazar. There was an incident up there, a big fallout between the MEDEVAC crew and the Apache crews. Big enough that the whole MEDEVAC team is being broken up. That's why you and your team are being sent in to replace some of them.

"What happened?" I asked, "I know that MEDEVAC and attack pilots often have rivalries, but I've never heard of this happening mid deployment. It must have been bad."

"It was, but I don't have any of the details." Disappointment filled her face, forcing me to bite back a smile. It could get boring on deployments. Everyone loved new gossip. "You get to go clean up the mess."

Fun times ahead for me.

"Anyway, your ride will be here any minute. They're flying down now. The old crew will get off the bird, you and your crew will jump in. The Apaches will be escorting them down and escorting you back."

As if on cue, two helicopters rolled into the parking area and shut down. The crew inside the Black Hawk got out and walked off without saying a word.

That can't be good.

For them to not even come talk to us verified everything Ariel had told me. We'd somehow ended up in the middle of a feud. I could only hope the girls and I weren't going to be caught in whatever drama fell between the old crews. I tried not to take it personally as the guys shot me dark looks over their shoulders before disappearing into the building.

The Apache crew walked over to us, but their posture was anything but friendly. "You the new captain?" A man barked at me. He must have been the pilot in command of this crew. His copilot stood behind him watching with a bored look on his face as Sarah and Karolyn approached us.

Nodding at him, I tried for a friendly smile. He pulled his helmet off. A set of dark hazel eyes locked onto mine. My breath caught under his stare and I had to force myself to breathe. No one had ever eyed me with this much intensity before, and for a moment I forgot what was going on. His stare was penetrating, and I was so wrapped up in it that I almost didn't notice his gaze rove up and down my body before he spoke again.

"We don't have time for any bullshit. Get your gear, get your people, and get in your bird. I'll lead us out of here. Once we're in the air, Nate…"

"Nick," a voice from behind him corrected.

"Whatever." The man didn't even bother to look behind him at Nick. He was still watching me. "Your copilot, he knows the route home, you'll move your aircraft into the lead position so we can follow and watch your ass. Don't take off too far ahead of us. I don't give a shit if the Black Hawk is faster. We can't protect you if you get away from us. Understand?" My jaw was hanging open. He didn't even give me a moment to respond before continuing on. "Good. Let's go."

Without waiting to see if we'd follow, he stalked off to his own helicopter. With him no longer staring at me the spell was, at least for now, broken. If I wasn't still shocked at his abruptness I would be furious. Being spoken to like I was fresh out of flight school was beyond insulting.

I glared at his back as he stalked away from me. "What the hell was that?" I muttered.

"That was Chief Sheppard. Mister sunshine himself. Don't take it personally, he speaks to every non Apache pilot like that. Hi, I'm Nick, your copilot. Wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

Turning away from the man heading towards the Apache, I tried to shake the lingering attraction. It didn't matter that Sheppard was gorgeous, tall and packed with muscle—so much so I could see it through his uniform—the guy was a bit of an asshole. Who introduced themselves to a new crew that way?

"Sorry, Jennifer Walker. Nice to meet you." I reached out and shook Nick's hand. He was only a few inches taller than me with blond hair and warm brown eyes. He was a decent looking man, and yet my stomach didn't give a single flutter. At least if there'd been some attraction here I'd know it was my self-imposed hiatus from guys that was causing my reaction to Sheppard. Even my own body wouldn't let me lie to myself, however, because there wasn't even a twinge of interest. "I guess we'll finish introductions later," I told the others, sarcasm heavy in my tone. Sarah giggled and even Nick wore a grin.

"Something tells me you're going to get along just fine here," he said as we headed toward the aircraft.

Opening my mouth to ask my new co-pilot a bit about himself, I let out a groan as I heard a familiar voice echo over the tarmac. "No. Not here," I sighed. A quick glance at Sarah and Karolyn's shocked expressions confirmed my worst nightmare. "Go get everything set up, would you?" I asked Nick. "I don't want to delay the Apache guys."

Nick nodded, though he cast a curious glance at the man approaching us. Sarah gave me an encouraging smile before she dragged Karolyn along with her.

"Jen!"

Heaving a deep sigh, I turned and faced the man who'd shattered every hope and dream I'd once had. "What are you doing here, Scott?" I asked. It came out as more of a growl. I knew the literal answer; he was on his own deployment. But why here? Why bother me ?

His blond eyebrows shot up at my less than welcoming tone. "I got stationed here in Bagram. You know how it is." He cocked his head, his eyes roaming over me.

I couldn't help but compare the cold dead sensation that rose up inside of me while he checked me out, to the heat that'd nearly incinerated me when the Apache jerk had done the same. At first glance they seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Gorgeous, tall, ego the size of Texas. But my response couldn't have been more different. Maybe that was because I'd already given Scott a chance. We'd dated for three years and all I'd ended up with was a boyfriend who'd cheated on me. Grinding my teeth together, I glared at him. "That's unfortunate."

"Aw don't be that way, Sweetheart. I already told you that I made a mistake. It was years ago." He gave me a winning smile, nearly blinding me with all the white teeth. "How long is it going to take before you realize that you made a mistake, too?"

Sucking in a breath at the audacity of claiming I made a mistake in leaving his sorry ass, I readied myself to berate him until he was nothing but a melted pile of goo on the ground at my feet.

"What the fuck is the hold up here?"

I winced as the deep voice came from directly behind me. Having heard it only moments ago, barking at me, I didn't need to turn to know Chief Sheppard was at my back.

Scott's smile turned nasty. "Nothing. We'll be finished in a few minutes, then you can go about your business. Just go back to your aircraft and play with your guns."

I bit my lip at the dismissal in his tone. How embarrassing. "I don't need a few minutes," I told both of them. Starting to turn, I gasped when Scott's hand shot out and blocked my path.

"We're not done here," he said

My eyes landed on Sheppard. I was standing between the two and I realized Sheppard had a few inches on Scott. He had to be six-three, at least. Scott always claimed to be six foot, but seeing him next to the Apache pilot I began to doubt it.

A muscle in Sheppard's jaw ticked as he stared down at the hand that was blocking me. He slapped Scott's arm out of the way. "I suggest you stop bothering my pilot."

My pilot?

"Or what?" Scott scoffed.

It happened so fast, I only had time for my mouth to fall open in surprise. Sheppard's hand shot out, hitting Scott directly in the chest. It sent the smaller man stumbling backward. Sheppard's free arm locked onto my bicep and pulled me toward him. "Quit fucking around and get in your helicopter."

Breathing erratically, I stared down at my ex as he looked at us in shock. Just as he started railing at us about reporting us for this, Sheppard interrupted him. "Come near any of my pilots or crew again and I will unscrew your head." He pivoted on his foot and looked at me, I was still standing behind him. "Either you stop wasting time and walk with me back to the helicopters or, I swear to Christ, I'll carry you there myself. We're done fucking around today."

Mutely, I followed him, grabbing my bags and only allowing myself one look over my shoulder. Scott was fuming, his face red as he picked himself up off the ground.

Focusing back on my aircraft as we approached, I threw my bags in the back and began to climb into the pilot's seat. His face softened for just a moment. "You good? You alright to fly?" I nodded, but before I could actually speak, the softness in his tone dropped and the asshole was back. "Good, keep your personal business to yourself, it's time to get the fuck out of here." Once again, he didn't bother to wait for a response.

There was silence in the cabin for a few heartbeats. Then Sarah let out a dramatic sigh. "That was-"

"No," I cut her off.

"But-"

"We're not talking about it." I flicked the switches and the engine gave me a reprieve as it whirred to life, drowning her out. I knew if I looked in the back both Sarah and Karolyn were going to be staring at me with hearts in their eyes. A quick glance over at my co-pilot showed him trying to bite back a grin.

"You're definitely off to a better start than Ross was," he said, while forcing his face into a blank mask as my irritated stare landed on him.

I didn't bother to ask for clarification. This is going to be a long deployment. The last thing I needed was my ex in the same country as me. Then there was the matter of the sexy, grouchy as hell, Apache pilot. Shaking my head, I readied the helicopter for take-off. All I could do was avoid them both and hope that I'd make it through this intact.