Chapter 37
“Get in and plug in,” the pilot yelled to me. I jacked my own helmet into the comm system and slipped into the empty seat. Once again, my hands took care of the buckles while I looked at the pilot.
The voice that came through the audio was clear and cool, like we were ordering burgers at a drive up.
“I’m told you know how to fly.”
“I have twenty hours on a simulator, Agent. That’s it.”
“Congratulations. That makes you the most qualified copilot on this aircraft.”
“It’s handling okay, though, right? Despite the temp climb?”
“It is. I’m not,” the pilot said with a strained voice, taking a hand off the collective control to pull aside the flap of the flight jacket, revealing a concerning spot of red.
The hand holding the flap shook. So did the hand on the cyclic control.
“I think it’s just a fragment, but I need you on these controls while I try to pack something into the wound.
Take the collective and cyclic please, Cassie. ”
Instantly, I did as the pilot asked, my hands wrapping around the familiar controls, feet on the pedals. “Okay, you have control. Keep us on this heading and we’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”
I held the aircraft steady, well aware that this was real, so real, yet the pedals and controls were all very familiar.
The pilot grabbed at a bandana in a flight suit pocket and stuffed it against the wound all while speaking over the radio.
“Control, this is echo one niner, inbound to Tiki. We have sustained gunfire from the ground. Pilot and copilot both wounded. Most of our systems are nominal except the starboard engine flight temperature. Still within tolerance. We’ll set down on the east parking lot, and we have a guest at the controls, but she’ll be fine.
We need EMTs and ambulances as fast as possible. ”
“Roger echo one niner, we read and will comply. Landing conditions are optimal. Who is at the controls?”
“Echo Prime.”
I didn’t dare glance at the pilot. Echo Prime?
“Roger that, echo one niner. Good luck.”
My display showed me the flight path, and it was blessedly short and straight, and we were moving at speed. Time distorted, seemingly slowing, but then it seemed like I blinked and suddenly the familiar shape of the Tiki facility hove into view.
“Swing around nice and gentle, so that we come in on the east side. Perfect. Very smooth, Cassie,” the pilot said.
“Now you’ll need…” the pilot began but cut off when I automatically pitched the rotor correctly and reduced the collective to bring us down. “Outstanding.”
We set down and the pilot gave a sigh of relief. “Fucking A. Let’s shut her down. She’ll need to be trucked out of here.”
I began the engine shutdown sequence and the pilot just watched, nodding slightly. As soon as I hit the last switch, I turned and yelled, “We need a medic here now!”
The pilot fumbled the flight helmet off and shook out her black hair. “I’ll live, Cassie. Thank you, that was outstanding. You can fly with me anytime.”
“Thank you, Agent Simon. That was… whew.”
“You!” Rose Carmine said loudly, leaning in from outside the aircraft through the forward door. “Out of that seat and inside,” she commanded, nodding at the pilot, who nodded back as a pair of EMTs descended on her.
I climbed out, Rose holding me steady, and then we were running for Tiki. A swarm of agents in front, behind, and around us ushered us into the building and then we were headed down to the main floor.
Rose looked me over for the seventh time, checking for wounds, and then gave me a tight, tense smile. “Damned show-off,” she said, with no bite to her bark.
“I like flying, but we don’t need to do that again. Is the copilot okay?”
“Already halfway to the hospital and stable, according to my comm,” Rose said. The elevator opened and we streamed right along behind Agent Steele.
“We still beat the director and the ground team,” Steele said, glancing at me. “Nice landing, Cassie.”
“Thanks.”
We got to the largest conference room, and someone brought bottled water. The sight of it made me realize I was dying of thirst. I guzzled the first bottle in one go.
“Adrenaline makes the body thirsty,” Steele said while other agents came in to check us out with their own eyes. “What do we know?” Steele asked Red.
“Metro police found the shooter’s hide, complete with the shooter still in it. He did not survive the meeting,” Red said. “Forensics is on scene. Director’s party is arriving now.”
“How are the copilot and the pilot?” I asked.
“Stable and at the hospital,” Red said, her eyes bright with understanding.
“How is our pilot?” Dr. Chen asked me.
“A little shaky now, but fine.”
“You responded so fast,” Rose said, head tilted slightly.
“My dad told me about being in a Blackhawk that was taking rounds. He described the vibrations perfectly. When I looked up, I saw the copilot’s wound.” Mentioning my dad brought me up short and I looked down quickly before anyone could see my eyes blinking rapidly.
“It’s okay, Cassie. That was chaos,” Dr. Chen said.
I just shook my head.
“It’s her dad, not the flight,” Rose explained for me. I glanced at her. “What, you don’t think I know that you cry every night? Wouldn’t be much of an agent if I couldn’t detect that.”
I blinked a few times and then, ironically, I heard Dad’s voice telling me to put it away for later.
Stupid tears under control, I lifted my head and met their gazes: Chen, Steele, Red, Kessler, Rao, and Carmine.
“Sorry. I’m fine. What do you need?”
They were quiet, watching me. Chen glanced at Steele, then back to me. “No, Cassie, I’m sorry. You function so well, I forgot you just lost your sole parent three weeks ago. You’ve been on the run or on the go ever since.”
“I feel at night,” I said. “Daytime is for work. Just I literally hear his words all the time. Like complete memories of him giving me advice or instruction.”
Chen studied me with a knowing gaze that sorta pissed me off, so I kept my eyes on Steele.
“There will be people here from the Bureau’s Office of Inspector General and a team from the NTSB to investigate today’s incident,” Agent Steele said. “They will want to talk to you about the sequence of events. They’ll be talking to all of us.”
I thought about that. “Inspector General… that’s Internal Affairs. Is Agent Simon in trouble? Do I need my attorney?”
Steele looked startled and the others froze in place.
“She put control of the aircraft in the hands of a non-FBI consultant, Cassie,” Rose said. “They will look hard at that decision.”
“Okay, then they should be prepared for a level of detail they’ve never faced before,” I said, sitting up. “And I’d like to place a call to my attorney. Will all interviews be recorded? They should record them.”
“Easy, Cassie,” Agent Steele said. “This is standard procedure, and it was an exceptional circumstance and an exceptional departure from procedure.”
“Yeah, like Captain Sully with the Hudson River landing,” I said.
Steele held my gaze for a moment, then nodded. “We’ll get you that call.”