Page 24

Mitch

S aying goodbye to Rebecca was harder than he thought it would be. He would only be gone two to three nights at most, but she was upset, so upset, he could not ignore it.

She cried and clung to him at the door as he prepared to leave.

For the first time in six years, he was a little worried about this delivery himself.

He had done this kind of thing at least a dozen times before, so he didn’t know why this bothered him, but it did.

Possibly it was because he knew what waited for him back home, and he didn’t want her to be alone.

Or it was because his gut was telling him not to go.

“Will you be able to call me?” she asked, her arms around him as he looked down at her tear-streaked face. He felt awful for hurting her. She had been employed by Donovan, so she knew the rules.

“No, Bex, I’m sorry. We adhere to radio silence to keep security tight. I’m sorry. I’ll just be home in three or four days. I know it is too soon for us to be apart.”

She nodded and said, “I really hate this.”

“I’ll call you before we take off from Heathrow and then when we land back in London if I can.

Remember, this is one and done. When I finish with this, I’m done with Donovan Security.

In a week, we will be in New York cleaning out your apartment.

In two weeks, we will be in Portland and starting to look at neighborhoods.

So, try to think of more pleasant things while I’m away. ”

“Oh sure, that will be easy. I wish we could fast forward to New York,” she said as he dabbed at her tears with a silk handkerchief.

“Me too, Bex.” He kissed her a final time and said goodbye.

Mitch went to the airport and boarded Donovan Security’s private jet bound for Saudi Arabia with three other colleagues.

The helicopters were already in Saudi Arabia, having been shipped there and waiting at the shipper’s point of entry.

They would inspect the helicopters and ride two hours with the pilots to deliver them to the client in Iraq the next day.

One helicopter that belonged to Donovan Security would bring them back to Saudi Arabia, where, after delivery, they could then fly back to London.

“I really hate this part of the job,” one of Mitch’s coworkers said.

Mitch agreed. “This is my last delivery. It’s my last anything with the company.”

“I heard you got married,” said Jeff, one of the security personnel.

“I did,” Mitch replied.

“I thought you were marrying Lily Donovan.”

“No, we broke up. It was for the best.”

“I bet that really pissed off Lucien. No wonder you are leaving the company.”

“Yeah, well, she will find the right guy, but I wasn’t the one,” Mitch said.

They flew to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The flight took the better part of seven hours.

It was still light enough when they arrived that they were able to inspect the helicopters.

Then, they all went to the local Hilton hotel where they were staying for the next two nights.

They had dinner at the hotel restaurant named the Lotus.

Mitch thought about calling Rebecca, but he wasn’t kidding with what he told her.

As a precaution, when on a delivery, they were not allowed to communicate with their families.

Until they were back in London, it was radio silence.

She was five hours behind his time, so when he got ready for bed, he thought of her probably having dinner.

His floor-to-ceiling windows had a wonderful view, but he was uneasy. Without Rebecca, with the delivery still ahead, he felt a great deal of apprehension. He needed to get a grip. This was an easy babysitting job. Why he was so upset, he didn’t know, but he needed to let it go.

Sleeping alone in his king-sized bed didn’t feel right.

He reached for Rebecca more than once in the night.

He missed her, but he was very glad she wasn’t with him.

He thought of her back at his flat by herself, which was good.

He didn’t like that she was so worried, but there wasn’t much he could do about that.

They left at six the next morning, wearing the black uniforms that Donovan Security wore when delivering equipment. It was referred to as “Ninja Wear,” and Mitch would be happy to give it up.

He rode with a pilot in one of the new helicopters.

He preferred it when they worked directly with the military.

As it was, they were hired by a military contractor.

In their contract, the client was supposed to let the military know their plans for delivery of equipment.

Did he trust Jake Collins to do it? Nope.

Donovan Security personnel rode inside each of the helicopters with the pilot, who flew in military formation prearranged by the pilots.

Everything on the two-hour journey was smooth--until it wasn’t.

Everything changed in an instant. They heard a noise like a shriek, but before Mitch could even ask about it, he knew.

The helicopter that was in front and slightly to the right of them seemed to shake.

Before they could even comprehend what they were seeing, it exploded into a massive fireball.

Surprise turned to horror as they grasped what had happened.

The shriek was a missile breaking the sound barrier.

Mitch could not believe his eyes as the aircraft was there and then simply gone.

He felt the heat of the fire and had to shield his eyes from the brightness, despite his sunglasses, as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.

Had it exploded because there was a bomb onboard, or had someone shot at it?

It took Mitch several moments to understand, but then he became aware that something had hit the side of their aircraft so hard it threw the helicopter off balance, and the pilot was swearing as they dropped rapidly from the sky.

The last thing he heard was the pilot speaking to someone on the radio, issuing what he knew to be a mayday.

He thought of Rebecca and their unborn baby. Then everything went black.

***Rebecca***

When the call on her cellphone read, “Donovan Security,” Rebecca smiled. Mitch had found a way to call her.

“I thought I wasn’t going to hear from you?—”

“Rebecca?”

It wasn’t Mitch. In fact, it sounded like Lucien Donovan.

“Lucien?” she asked.

“I’m afraid I have some upsetting news.”

Rebecca sat down on the couch and felt her heart beating in her chest.

“We had an incident with the helicopters. There is no easy way to say this. They were shot down en route to the client. It was a total loss. There were no survivors.”

Rebecca didn’t speak. She didn’t move despite noise she could hear in the background.

Later, she would find out it was someone knocking on the door of the flat.

It got louder, but she didn’t hear it as she ended the call and tried to stand.

Instead, the floor ran up to meet her. She fainted.

That is where her brother found her, after he had the building manager open the door to the flat.

She opened her eyes and saw her brother. Alex had come to see them in London after all.

“I heard you inside, but you didn’t answer, so I made the manager open your door,” he said, the concern evident on his face.

“Mitch died,” she said and started to cry as she held up her cellphone.

Alex grabbed the phone, hit redial, and heard the news again from Lucien Donovan.

Hours later, Rebecca sat on the couch in Mitch’s flat with a blanket wrapped around her and watched as Alex started trying to find answers.

She hadn’t eaten, nor had she slept. The call from Lucien Donovan had been adamant.

He’d had reports from the client who was supposed to get the helicopters.

There were no survivors. Alex wouldn’t believe it, and Rebecca had never been more thankful for his stubbornness.

Alex sat at Mitch’s desk with a laptop and his cellphone.

He started with a number a friend had given him for the U.S. Embassy in London. The friend had a connection. Rebecca listened as he explained this, but she didn’t care what they had to do to get answers.

She did offer, “How about someone directly from the State Department?”

“If we strike out here, that is my next call.”

Rebecca watched, feeling a desperate chill in her bones that didn’t want to go away despite the down comforter she’d taken from Mitch’s bed.

She had ceased to care about anything the moment she’d gotten the call from Lucien Donovan.

Maybe she was in shock, but she hoped, she prayed that she would wake up from the worst dream of her life.

After two hours, Alex was telling Mitch’s story for the fifth time to another person, and this time, it appeared he was getting somewhere. He paced as he talked. This time it went on for a half hour, and then Alex ended the call and joined his sister on the couch.

“What did he say?” she asked.

“He is going to look into it. He was aware of the helicopter crash. I guess he monitors contractors in Iraq. London, or the U.K., seems to be the hub for contractors who want to work in foreign countries. Here is the thing: If he confirms that Mitch is dead, the story ends. We must move on and let it go. Those are his words, not mine. If Mitch somehow survived and was injured or was captured by someone who might want to ransom him, this man, Nathan Kelly, well, then he steps in. In fact, he takes over. He would be the person who manages the negotiations or keeps us informed of how the negotiations are going. He wasn’t exactly clear on that. ”

“Kidnapped?” she asked, her hand going to her mouth.

“It happens, Becca. I think it would be better than a couple of alternatives.”

“It is all bad,” she said as tears trickled down her face. “What is he doing now, this man you talked to?”