holes in the stretcher where Sabine had lain. She covered her head and buried herself among the gear as much as she could, moaning. Exhaustion did nothing to dull the sickening fear that had been her constant companion for so long.
Then the flurry of gunfire died. Sabine lifted her head. Rudy crouched, ready for battle.
“Who the hell was that?” the Southern man asked from his seat in the cockpit.
The helicopter sputtered and lost elevation with a severe plunge.
The pilot cursed.
“What’s our position?” Rudy demanded.
The pilot shouted back coordinates.
“Can you make it to the airstrip?”
“Maybe.” The helicopter sputtered more. The pilot shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Sabine looked at Rudy. He glanced her way, and she saw his confusion. He hadn’t expected to be attacked after lifting off the ground. The gunfire from the ground had been from what was left of her captors, but who had fired at them from the other helicopter?
“We’re going down, we’re going down!” the pilot yelled.
“No,” Sabine breathed.
Rudy pushed away from the opening. Tossing his weapon aside, he landed on Sabine with the agility of a cat as the helicopter began to smoke and spin.
Chapter 2
Sabine screamed as the helicopter careened toward the ground. She could feel the pilot trying to keep the machine airborne. The roar was deafening. Debris flew through the pod. If it weren’t for Rudy holding her, she’d have gone flying, too. But even he couldn’t withstand the force of the crash. When they hit, she felt the jarring impact and knew her body had smashed against something hard, but she blacked out an instant later.
She regained consciousness to the smell of smoke and stillness. Flickers of fire alarmed her. She didn’t know how long she’d been out. She didn’t think it was longer than seconds or minutes.
Someone stirred beside her. She looked to see Rudy climb to his feet. He scanned the rest of the helicopter. The cockpit was barely visible through darkness and smoke and the tangle of metal.
“Comet!” Rudy shouted. “Blitz!”
There was no answer.
Sabine ignored the searing pain that sliced through her already bruised body and rose to her hands and knees. Rudy hefted a rucksack over his shoulder and stepped over scattered debris on his way to her. She grabbed his arm and used it as a tether to pull herself up. Instead of helping her walk out of the helicopter, Rudy bent and draped her over his big shoulder like a sack of dog food. She withheld groans of agony the pressure against her ribs caused.
Rudy hurried out of the helicopter. When he was far enough away, he lowered her to the ground. She sat on her rear—more like collapsed—and watched him drop the rucksack and jog back toward the helicopter for the other two.
An explosion flipped him onto his back. Sabine cringed and twisted away from the violent flames and rumbling blast. She rolled onto her side and covered her head as debris dropped from the air. A brief moment later, she pushed herself up by one hand and gaped at the inferno. Were the men still in there? They were, but she couldn’t bring herself to face it. She crawled toward the helicopter, half sobbing, too numb to process everything all at once. She only knew she couldn’t leave the men in that helicopter after they just saved her life.
She got as far as Rudy, who swung his arm out like an iron bar and stopped her. His face was stark with shock and maybe a few signs of grief. She didn’t know him enough to read his emotions, but losing what must be his team had to be shattering.
Slowly, he turned his head. His eyes went from disbelieving to expressionless to angry before he eventually covered that, too. Gripping her arm just above her elbow, he hauled her to her feet, swinging the rucksack over his other shoulder. “We have to get out of here.”
Sabine strained to see the burning helicopter. “Are we going to—”
“They’re dead,” he cut her off.
Tears pushed into her eyes. “Oh—my God … I’m so sorry.”
He didn’t respond, just pulled her along. With a will of iron that had seen her through two weeks of unimaginable suffering, she forced her tears away. She stumbled and fell against Rudy, nearly falling. Her legs wouldn’t support her very much longer. She was amazed she could walk at all.
Rudy muttered a curse and hefted her over his shoulder again. She bit her lip against the stab of pain in her ribs. The glowing orb of the helicopter disappeared from view as Rudy walked. His strides grew monotonous. She had no concept of passing time.
When Rudy finally eased her from his shoulder, she groaned as she lay on the ground. Her entire body throbbed. She tried not to vent her discomfort with audible sounds. Rudy had enough to worry about. And she wanted him to get her out of there.
She saw him dig into his rucksack and pull out a handheld radio. He lifted it to his mouth and depressed a button with his thumb.
“Dasher, this is Rudy. Do you read?”
The names he’d called his teammates penetrated her awareness. Comet. Blitz. Was that short for Blitzen? Now Dasher. Was Rudy short for Rudolf? Was that his code name?
“Dasher, come in.” There was a short crackling noise followed by nothing.
Rudy wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
The radio crackled. “Rudy, this is Dasher. I read you. What happened? Over.” The radio crackled again.
“I’m going to set a flare. You have to get here before anyone else finds us. Over.”
“I don’t see any movement near the crash sight. I’ll find you. Over.”
“Hurry.” Rudy tossed the radio into the rucksack and dug for something else. He stood when he found the flare and moved away from Sabine a few steps. He was efficient and fast with his hands as he lit the flare and sent it into the night sky.
Sabine watched the flare illuminate the landscape. She could see nothing that suggested anyone was after them, but she rubbed her arms anyway, afraid of the possibility, so afraid. She would not survive if she had to face more torture. Not after tasting freedom again.
Her gaze shifted to Rudy. He stood with his feet slightly parted, searching the landscape. Only then did she notice he held a pistol at his side.
The sound of a helicopter broke the silence. Rudy tipped his head back and closed his eyes. She felt his relief, and it sparked hope along with a fresh threat of tears. Were they really going to make it?
The helicopter neared. Soon it tossed up dirt as it landed and Rudy helped her to her feet, carrying the rucksack in his other hand. She leaned against him as they made their way to the helicopter, Rudy bearing most of her weight. He boosted her inside and she crawled into the pod. Leaning against the far side, she watched Rudy climb in as the helicopter lifted into the air.
He lay on his back and draped his arm over his forehead, his massive chest rising and falling from more than exertion. Sabine knew he was thinking of his men. Remorse overwhelmed her. It was so unfair.
She folded her arm over her ribs, wishing the pain would ease. She closed her eyes to ride it through. Hearing movement, she opened her eyes and saw Rudy rolling to his hands and knees. He stood and crossed the small space of the helicopter.
Crouching before her, he asked, “How badly are you hurt?”
He must have noticed her holding her ribs. “I’ll be all right.” As long as she was away from those terrible men, she was fine.
Rudy pulled her arm away from her body. “Is anything broken?”
“I don’t