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Hunter clutched my arm and shoved me back. Fighting the scream in my throat, I clutched Cody’s hand and gripped a handle.
The helicopter bucked and dropped like it had hit a massive air pocket. My stomach lurched as the chopper rolled to the side.
Cody screamed. Wyatt pulled himself inside and wedged his back against the wall of the cabin.
Hunter clutched the handle at the side of the open door.
“Come on, Booker, what are you doing?” Hunter yelled, yet he seemed so calm.
“Our hydraulics are gone.” The pilot’s knuckles were white as he wrestled with the gear stick.
The helicopter spun and dipped and lurched. Then it stilled, and I met Hunter’s gaze. The fear in his eyes nearly crushed my heart.
As the engine roared, the pilot's face contorted as he struggled to keep the helicopter steady.
Out the open door, trees rushed past in a blur of green.
“Booker! What's the status?” Hunter shouted at the pilot.
“Trying to stabilize it!” Booker wrestled the gear stick, fighting for control.
The Amazon jungle whizzed below us in a haze of giant trees. Air whistled through the bullet holes and the smashed windscreen.
“I'm losing it,” the pilot shouted over the noise. “Brace yourself. We’re gonna crash!”
A scream tore from my throat as the helicopter tipped over and nosedived toward the jungle below.
CHAPTER 7
HUNTER
The chopper careenedout of control toward the enormous trees. I strangled the handle in my right hand and tried to reach Layla. She was too far away. Wind howled through the shattered windshield like a demon.
Layla’s eyes were wild with fear. With one hand, she squeezed Cody’s, and her other hand clutched a handle. Christ! She wasn’t strapped in.
None of us were. It happened too fast.
“Booker, talk to me!” I shouted over the screeching engine.
“We’re going down. Hold on!” His hands white-knuckled the controls.
“Layla!” I yelled over the chaos. “Get your seat belt!”
The helicopter clipped a massive tree in an explosion of leaves. Metal crumpled. Glass exploded. My team shouted, but the roaring engine and shrieking metal made it impossible to hear them.
“Hang on!” I tried to use my feet to hold Layla back.
The chopper hit hard, and the rotors sliced through the trees, shredding the blades to jagged bits of metal. Cody flew across the hold, smashed his head into the roof, and crumpled against the wall.
We jolted to a dead stop with the chopper nose down. Layla screamed as the jarring impact tossed her out the doorway.
I lunged for her. My fingers wrapped around her wrist. Her body dangled below the mangled wreck.
“Grab on!” I said.
Screaming, she swung her legs beneath her.
Fuck! We’re still sixty feet in the air!