Authors: Adrianne Byrd
She squeezed her eyes tight. Surely, she’d reached fourteen thousand feet by now. Where was her damn her parachute?
Manic, Sydney reached for the seat handle, but before she could pull, she heard a muffled
pop
. The drogue chute stabilized and slowed her speed. In the next second a louder pop literally brought tears to her eyes as her main parachute bloomed overhead as her seat and headrest fell away.
Sydney snatched off her helmet and oxygen mask and tossed them into the wind. Dizzy from the high altitude, she offered a prayer of thanks to her guardian angel.
However, looking back down at the forest green carpet—she was hit with another concern: trees.
Though it felt like she’d been falling forever, in truth, it had been no more than a few second since she had ejected.
And for the first time, Sydney’s thoughts returned to her wingman. Where was Captain Johnson? Had he seen her eject from her aircraft?
Her eyes scanned the area above but saw nothing but a sea of blue sky and billowy white clouds. Sydney strained her ears to hear the roar of a jet plane—but only the hard rush of air pounded her eardrums. Had he been hit as well? Was he out searching for her?
Once she reached the ground, how long would it be before NATO sent in a search and rescue? Of course, that depended on whether the Guard Channel had picked up her distress signal. If not, they would figure she went down with her plane.
Of course—the enemy could pick up her signal as well-particularly, whoever launched the surface to air missiles.
She didn’t want to think about that.
The trees grew larger and Sydney reached for the red handles above her head that were attached to the parachute. This handy doodad helped manipulate the shape of her parachute and aid in steering-but there was nowhere to steer to—no
safe
place to land. One tree would hurt just as much as the next.
If by chance she survived the trees would hostile forces then meet her? The last time she checked launching a missile at someone wasn’t exactly meant as a friendly greeting card.
Every Hollywood torture scene she’d ever seen in a darken theatre flooded her mind and did nothing to calm her anxiety. Her mind raced over the items in her survival kit and vest.
Two way radio—check.
Global Positioning Satellite (GPS)—check.
9-mm semiautomatic Beretta Pistol—check.
All her training had prepared her for this moment and she was determined to make her country proud.
She kept her eyes glued to the horizon, her legs and feet together, knees bent. For the third time that day, a pair of golden eyes twinkled back at her and the fluttering in her heart was different this time.
Jett.
All too soon, her vision was obscured and merciless tree branches ripped and tore at her and the paper-thin nylon parachute. She tried to reel away; but when something sharp hit the back of her head, the world went black.
Soaring through time...
Chapter 3
Thursday July 4, 2003 1100 Hours
Sydney shielded her eyes from the bright Georgia sun as she stepped out of her brother’s old, dependable Honda. As usual the southern state’s humidity made the simple act of breathing an extraneous cardio workout. All in all, it was good to be home.
Henderson’s airport really should have been named Henderson’s airstrip because it was just that small. For all intensive purposes it looked like nothing more than a mom and pop operation. How did her brother even find this place?
“I can’t wait until you see this little baby.” Steven’s already wide smile slid even wider as he uncurled his six-foot-six frame out of the car. “She’s perfect.”
Sydney drew in a deep breath and tried not to roll her eyes skyward, but her next words still had a way of damping her brother’s mood. “Are you sure you want to spend two point seven million dollars to buy a Cessna Jet?”
“Oh, yeah. This little baby is worth it,” he said.
She smiled, nodded, and finally rolled her eyes. Steven who had the good fortune to make his millions before the dot comers went bust pretty much spent his days as a carefree playboy.
In the military, she got her daily fix of roaring through the sky. Her brother, who wanted nothing to do with the military, had to sate his flying addiction in other ways—at the moment in two point seven million ways.
“Mr. Garrett!” a voice thundered from behind them.
Sydney and Steven turned toward a silver-haired gentleman, with skin the color of a lobster. Not everyone can tan.
“Mr. Henderson!” Steven shouted. His mood brightened.
Sydney eyed the two men and knew both were about to engage in a good round of haggling.
“So who’s this pretty lady you brought with you?” Mr. Henderson removed his mirror glasses and flashed steel gray eyes at her. “Or maybe
beautiful
is the right word?”
Embarrassment burned Sydney’s cheeks as she smiled and slid her hand into Henderson’s offered one. Accepting compliments for anything other than her flying skills wasn’t her strong suit. Today was a rare day where Sydney wore a white, summer dress and allowed her thick hair to hang loose.
“This is my sister,” Steven replied, rocking on his heels. “I brought her to get her professional opinion.”
Henderson’s brows shot up with surprise. “
She’s
the F-16 fighter pilot you were bragging about?” His incredulity heightened his comic book features.
“She knows her stuff,” Steven bragged and puffed out his chest. “I figured I bring her out to get her professional opinion of the plane.”
Henderson gave her another cursory, yet calculating glance before he released her hand. “Well, it’s certainly nice to meet you. When I was in the military we didn’t have women as beautiful as you working on the frontlines...of course there were plenty of gorgeous nightingales in the hospitals. I even managed to marry one.” He winked.
“Lucky you,” she said, barely able to contain her sarcasm.
Steven pierced her with his ‘behave’ look and Sydney simply ignored him.
“Matt!” A man yelled out the door of the white airport hub.
The small group all turned toward the loud man.
“Telephone!”
Henderson waved to let the young man know that he heard him and then turned back toward Steven and Sydney. “That should be the bank. Why don’t we go inside and do a little business?”
“I haven’t decided to sign on the dotted line yet.” Steven warned.
“You will.” Henderson patted his back. “You will.” Henderson swung an arm around her brother’s shoulders.
“We’ll see.” Steven glanced at Sydney. “You want to come in?”
“I’ll just wait around out here,” Sydney said, flashing her best smile.
“Don’t sign anything until you take me on a test flight,” she reminded him.
Henderson squeezed Steven’s shoulders. “This shouldn’t take long.”
Once the men disappeared into the building, Sydney sighed and glanced around the small airport, bored.
“What a beautiful afternoon,” she mumbled under her breath, and then leaned back on the hood of her brother’s car and turned her face up toward the sky and imagined herself soaring.
A car’s engine roared behind her while gravel crunched beneath tires but Sydney wasn’t willing to abandon her daydreaming to see who was pulling into the airport. The car stopped next to her and the engine shut off seconds before the car door opened.
It was probably the ensuing silence that finally piqued her curiosity and she opened her eyes.
Sydney sucked in an involuntary breath when her gaze met eyes the color of fresh honey and a smile that rivaled the sun. She blinked certain that the image would disappear once she opened her eyes again.
No such luck.
“I wasn’t sure you were real either,” he said with a soft chuckle.
She swallowed and pretended the man’s warm, seductive voice wasn’t strumming her heartstrings.
“Jett Colton.” He thrust out a hand and continued to blind her with his smile.
“Jett?”
“It’s my call sign.”
“Call sign?” she feigned ignorance.
“Yeah. I’m an Air Force fighter pilot. My friends call me ‘Jett’ because I like anything fast.” His gaze was unwanted but still felt as good as a lover’s caress.
“Good for you.” Sydney’s eyes lowered to his hands, but she didn’t dare take it. Her entire body was setting off warning alarms and for the first time in her life her heart was vulnerable to a stranger’s invasion.
“O-okay.” Jett relaxed his arm back at his side as his next chuckle sounded more like a misfired weapon. “You don’t talk much.” He eyed her bare fingers. “I don’t see a ring-so you’re not married. And being as beautiful as you are, if you don’t already have a man on the hook, you must have a few fish swarming toward it.”
Sydney rolled her eyes. Why were all the good-looking ones dumb as hell?
Jett crossed his arms and leaned back against his own car and studied her.
“Why are you doing that?”
“Doing what?” he asked with convincing innocence.
“Staring at me.”
“Because you’re beautiful.”
Another heat wave scorched her face. “Thanks—but stop it. It’s...rude.”
Jett laughed, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she hadn’t joined him. “So what’s the deal? You’re not married and you don’t have a boyfriend-”
“I didn’t say I didn’t have a boyfriend.”
His eyebrows crashed together. “Do you?”
“Well...no.”
“Good.”
“I just don’t like you,” she lied.
Jett’s smile disappeared as though he she’d slapped him. After a few strained heartbeats, his lips bloomed wider than the before. “Liar.”
The man’s response was so incredible-so unexpected, that Sydney’s laughter burst out before she had a chance to contain it.
Jett pushed off from his car and moved closer to her. “Please tell me that you like a man who makes you laugh.”
“You don’t give up, do you?” she asked, still amused. He moved so close that the day’s slight breeze flapped her dress against his pants legs.
“Tell me you find a man who goes after what he wants a complete turn on.”
Sydney’s amusement evaporated and those alarm warnings came in loud and clear.
“Tell me you like a man who seeks only to pleaseboth body and soul.”
Jett’s last word blew like a breeze across her cheek and her knees weakened. “You’re good,” she whispered. “Cheesy but good.”
Jett’s brows arched. “You’re not half bad yourself.”
She wanted to sidestep him or push him back to allow herself more breathing room; but both options would require that she touch him, and judging by her body’s warning system, that was not an option.
“You want to go up?” he asked, snapping her out of her trance.
“Up?”
“A trip up into the great blue wonder.” He tilted his head up to the sky. “I’m a pretty good pilot. I promise to keep you safe.”
The man’s beautiful eyes were having a vertigo effect on her. It was the only way to describe the sensation of falling.
“What do you say?” he continued. “Are you up for the challenge?”
Sydney swallowed and gained control of her fast-beating heart through the steel discipline of her military training. When she felt like herself again, she met his leveled gaze. “Challenge accepted.”
Chapter 4
Sydney slid into the leather seats of a brand new ‘99 Cessna Piper N226T and resisted the urge to run her hand over the controls.
“Make sure you buckle up.” Jett said, entering through the pilot’s door and winking. “I have to protect the precious cargo.”
Sydney smiled, shook her head, and reached for the seatbelt. It was a good thing this guy was good looking, because he was growing cheesier by the moment.
“It seems I have a knack for putting a smile on your face,” he commented, shutting his door.
“That, you do,” she admitted.
“Seems to me it’s as good a reason as any to tell me your name.”
Her gaze swept up to his mesmerizing stare and she tried to deny his crooked smile had anything to do with the knots looping in her stomach. “Syd,” she croaked, and then cleared her throat. “Sydney Garrett.”