Last night, a week into their trip to hell without finding the devil, Dante spotted heat signatures in the jungle on the infrared while they were flying back to their campsite in El Salvador. When he turned back to make another pass to attempt to get a visual, Hawk noticed what he thought might be the Little Bird in a clearance between two hills with his night-vision goggles.

The helo was covered with brush, but it was difficult to hide rotors. He had to get closer to make sure those rotors belonged to the Little Bird, though, so Dante dropped him off and he hiked here. Through knee-deep mud. All night long. He was exhausted, mosquito-bite ridden, his feet were blistered in his boots, but he had never been more relieved in his life.

From his vantage point at the top of the hill, as the sun came up, Hawk verified it was the right aircraft and used his SAT phone to notify Dante. Excitement surged through him when he got the acknowledgement that they would set up to enact their mission plan.

Max and Cade were going in to find and capture El Jefe and his lieutenant and son-in-law, Maria’s husband, Raul. Logan and Slade would find Maria and the baby and take them into the jungle for their insurance policy. They weren’t making the mistake of loading that bad luck charm onto the helo again.

Dante, Levi and Caleb would provide the fireworks and air cover—and Hawk was stealing a helicopter. If it had enough fuel and wasn’t damaged, which he couldn’t find out because of the two guards who slept in the small tent beside the Little Bird.

If it was low on fuel, he would get it out anyway. As long as it cranked and he got airborne, Hawk would get it out of there. Even if he had to flap his arms outside of the doors, spin the rotors by hand or carry it on his back to deliver it to the Army. He was that determined.

But first, he had to neutralize those two guards. Alone.

That would be the challenge, because the bird was in a clearing and he would have no cover getting down there. With the sun coming up, they would surely see him if he just ran down the hill to the bird. At that moment, he wished he had Caleb with him to snipe them from up there, but they needed their sharpshooter on that helo with Dante to provide air support.

That was the key to Slade, Logan, Cade and Max carrying out their prong of the mission. Hawk would figure out how to carry out his on his own. It had been a while since he was in combat, and never on the ground, but he knew he could do this. He would do this. Because Maddie’s life and their daughter’s future depended on it.

Hawk blew out a breath, pushed up to his feet and cringed with his first step. Mind over matter, he thought, as he worked his way down the backside of the hill. When the sun rose higher over the hill, he was positioned at the edge of the jungle at ground level, watching the two banditos who were busy building a morning fire outside the tent.

He decided while he trekked down here, his best bet would be to wait for the fireworks at the compound. Maybe those two men would just get in their jeep and head back to the compound to help their friends. That would leave him clear to take the bird.

But Hawk waited. And waited. Tried to be patient. After two hours, his patience wore out. What in the hell were the others doing? What were they waiting for? Had something happened?

He pulled out his SAT phone to find out, but a loud, powerful shot echoed through the clearing. One of the banditos suddenly flew backwards and didn’t move. The other reached for his rifle and stood, but another shot rang out and he lurched back and fell into the tent.

Hearing rotors, Hawk looked up and squinted against the sun, his heart pounding when he saw the Deep Six bird crest the west hill. He frowned, because this was not the plan, but didn’t wait. He had cover now, so he stood and ran into the clearing toward the Little Bird.

Caleb suddenly appeared in the clearing, running from the opposite direction toward the bird too. Without a word, he helped Hawk quickly remove the brush covering the helo. Hawk hopped into the pilot’s seat, and Caleb took the jump seat then stashed his sniper rifle behind his seat. Hawk’s hands shook and adrenaline made him dizzy as he flipped switches to start the engine and get the rotors in motion.

He felt like he was about to have a heart attack when it took three attempts to get the engines revved, and another two to get the rotors going. He did have one when he saw the bird only had fumes left in the tank. His face must have shown his horror, because Caleb suddenly leaned over to look at the console.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I may need you to flap your arms for me,” Hawk replied, relieved when the engine finally roared to life.

“Not. Funny. Dude,” Caleb growled, fastening his seat belt.

Pushing his foot in on the pedal, Hawk grabbed the stick and prayed for lift. He prayed harder when he saw a truck lurch out of the jungle with men manning the machine gun mounted in back. Another truck followed, and Hawk knew it was then or never.

He closed his eyes to listen to the rotors and engine. When they reached what he thought was full power, he pulled back on the stick, worked the pedals and almost pissed his pants when the bird left the ground.

The fireworks he’d been waiting for started as he reached the level of the top of the east hill and could see the jungle beyond. Bullets, rockets, and explosions were his background soundtrack as he cleared the top of the trees, then pushed the stick forward. Hawk finally breathed again when he was looking down at the jungle and could see the horizon.

That relief lasted about twenty minutes. Until the engine began sputtering and he lost altitude.

“What the hell, man?!?” Caleb shouted, grabbing the handle above his head, his face white as he glared over at Hawk.

“Don’t worry. I got this. This is my specialty, Sniper,” Hawk replied, grinning over at him as his adrenaline load surged to full power too.

With the last drops of fuel, Hawk increased his airspeed, worked the pedals and manipulated the stick to get them as high as he could before the engine died. They had about eight miles to go to get to the JCET compound, and it looked like he was going to have to coast there and make a grand entrance.

Or crash into the jungle.