Damaged

CHAPTER 21

Maggie slid into a position close enough to the open doorway that she could watch Bailey. Whatever the woman had given her earlier seemed to be helping. She wasn't nauseated; however, her stomach dived every time Bailey plunged. It didn't matter that the rescue swimmer was attached to the helicopter by a cable. Each attempt to drop her onto the boat looked more like a circus stunt gone horribly wrong.

Kesnick relayed every move step-by-step to his other two crew members. Minutes ago he said there might be a problem.

"The guy's refusing to get into the basket."

"From what I've heard," Ellis said, "she was able to talk her way around some real crazies in New Orleans after Katrina."

"What do mean, talk her way around?" Wilson wanted to know.

"You heard about some of the situations. The crew would hover down over a flooded area where a couple of people were stranded, and as soon as the rescue swimmer got down there other people swarmed out demanding rescue. Some nasty dudes, too. I guess Bailey had to tell them women and children or injured got first priority. They didn't much like it."

"So what happened?"

"She said what she needed to, to get them to listen to her."

"Humph."

Maggie glanced over at Wilson. His grunt sounded like he wasn't impressed.

"She's getting him in the basket," Kesnick announced.

"All right." Ellis pumped a fist.

"It's about time. Pull him up," Wilson told him.

"No signal yet."

More minutes ticked by and then Maggie realized what Bailey was up to right about the same time Kesnick did. She saw him glance back at his pilot as if looking for a way to not report what was going on below.

"What's the holdup?" Wilson wanted to know.

No answer.

"Kesnick, what the hell's going on?"

"I think she's bringing the dog up with the guy."

"She's not bringing up that dog, Kesnick." Wilson's anger rocked the controls and the helicopter jerked to the right.

"She's putting the dog in on top of the guy."

"You have got to be kidding me," Ellis yelled, but Maggie thought it sounded like he was smiling.

"I told her not to bring up that dog."

Maggie saw Bailey wave the all clear and up, and Kesnick didn't hesitate. He concentrated on raising the basket, keeping it steady. Maggie watched Bailey down below. She had crawled back farther onto the deck, under the cabin roof.

Kesnick pulled and yanked, getting the basket into the helicopter's cabin, sliding and grinding it over the entry. The whole time his attention was focused on the survivor and the dog. Maggie knew Kesnick hadn't even seen the second dog that Bailey had dragged from the cabin. She had it clutched tight to her chest and managed to harness it to her safety belt.

"Son of a bitch," Kesnick said as he grasped the deployment cable.

"What now?" Wilson asked.

Maggie glanced between Wilson and Kesnick while watching the survivor settle against the cabin wall, hugging what looked like a broken arm. The dog stayed close to his owner, panting and licking the man's hand. Maggie was glad he couldn't hear the exchange between Kesnick and Wilson.

"There's a second dog," Kesnick finally admitted.

"She better not be bringing up another dog."

"She's bringing up the second dog."

"Don't raise that dog up."

"She has it in the quick strop. She's holding it."

"Son of a bitch. Don't raise her up, Kesnick. Leave her butt down there until she puts that damn dog back."

Maggie watched Kesnick's face, the half she could see below his eye shield. She thought she saw a hint of a smile. What Wilson didn't realize and couldn't see was that the flight mechanic already had Bailey halfway up. She was almost to the helicopter.