In the helicopter, Kit was in front next to Hawk. Bull and Caz were in back. So was Aric who was buckled in with the kid restraint system and wearing child-sized headphones. The boy pouted at losing his shotgun position, but to give directions, Kit needed to see out the front.

Hawk got everyone arranged for an equitable weight distribution. At least one thing had gone right—since there was fog in the lowlands, the helicopter hadn’t been booked for any tourist flights.

Accompanied by Aric’s muted squeal of joy, the helicopter lifted off from McNally’s Resort landing pad.

I agree, kid. With an unspoken whoop, Hawk took the helicopter straight down the mountain toward the compound. Fuck, he loved this machine. The Airbus H125, aka the Squirrel, was a hell of a workhorse.

In the headphones, he heard a sharply drawn breath, and he glanced to his right. Was Kit panicking?

Then he grinned. Like her son’s, her wide smile was a tiny bit crooked…and just as filled with joy.

The woman liked flying.

Relaxing, he settled in to enjoy the flight—because being in the air was happiness, no matter how often he flew.

A few minutes later, he could see that the private road leading to the PZ compound was still blocked to traffic. The fence gate was closed.

But the law enforcement vehicles were gone.

Keeping the helicopter at a low height, Hawk flew over the compound and hovered by the back fence.

“I don’t see a trail.” Bull’s voice came through the headphones.

“That way.” Kit motioned toward the east. “The path is almost invisible when near the compound. Obadiah didn’t want it to be used. Once in the forest, there’s an animal trail to follow.”

Hawk made a couple of passes.

“There.” Kit leaned forward and pointed. “It’s that thin line. Do you see it? The cliff near that stream is where we’re going.”

Hawk glanced around, checking his surroundings, height, speed.

“I can see that’d be quite a walk,” Bull said.

As they got closer, Kit motioned to the right. “The caves are there, beside the waterfall, and”—she made an unhappy sound—“the open area is smaller than I realized.”

Hawk shrugged. No wind. No fog. Easy enough. He’d dropped into tighter spots.

Piece of cake, although he noticed Kit held her breath as he centered and lowered the helicopter into the clearing. After landing on the stream bank, he shut down the engine.

Before removing his headphones, he told Kit, “Wait for me to help you out.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” The bubbly laughter in her voice didn’t sound like her.

Ah, right. “First helicopter ride?”

“Oh, yes.” Her huge brown eyes were luminous with delight. “It was awesome. And you do this all the time?”

“I take my floatplane more often than the helicopter, but yeah. This is my job.”