Off the Map (Winter Rescue #2) by Tamara Morgan Page B

it memorized. Reason. Cause. Outcome. Repeat.
    “I’m not a highly educated man, Carrie, and I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but the last time I checked, a helicopter pilot can’t just hijack a 9-1-1 call and force a team of paramedics to accompany her onboard.” Newman’s mustache tilted dramatically upward, almost as if he were smiling underneath it. “At least, not without a gun and an outstanding warrant for her arrest.”
    “It was complicated. I misunderstood my orders.”
    “Ah. I see.” His words accepted her story. His tone did not. “I wonder…was it complicated to be in communication with the emergency operator the whole time you’d gone rogue?”
    She bit the side of her lip.
    “And did you misunderstand the control tower when you were cleared for takeoff and landing?”
    She bit the other side.
    Newman’s mustache twitched again, this time more gently—almost benevolently. He leaned forward, closing the distance between them. “According to what I’ve been able to glean, you weren’t on the clock when the call came in, which leads me to believe one of two things. Either you really did storm in there with a gun and a suicide mission, or you were asked to make a special trip because you were the only pilot willing—and able—to make the trip under those weather conditions. Especially since it would have to be done away from the watchful eye of the suits who sign your paychecks.”
    She stopped biting long enough to release a pent-up breath. It should’ve been a relief to have the truth out there, to know that not everyone viewed her as a massive liability to the human race, but she felt more anxiety than anything else.
    “You can’t tell anyone,” she said quickly. “If the FAA or corporate headquarters asks, I acted alone. It was my bad judgment call that took us out there, my mistakes in the air that caused us to crash. End of story.”
    “You’re not going to tell me the truth?”
    She shook her head. She wanted to—she really did, but it wasn’t her truth to tell. Her boss had a wife and four kids. The EMTs who’d been on the flight with her had a couple of spouses and another four kids between them. The receptionist who’d asked her to come in took care of her elderly mother.
    They were all technically culpable and in line for immediate termination for answering that call, but Carrie was the only one without family, without any real ties to this city, without people who depended on her or even cared all that much if she ended up on the streets. Carrie was the only one who was completely alone.
    “It was my fault.” She stuck her chin out. “I’m sorry for the damages I caused, but I’m not sorry for going to get that woman. I’d do it all over again if I had to.”
    Newman’s expression didn’t change. “Even if it means I can’t, in good conscience, allow you to take Scott out tomorrow?”
    Her chin sank. Her heart sank. Her whole body melted into a puddle on the floor. “That’s not fair.”
    “It’s not,” he agreed. “Do you want to change your story now?”
    “I don’t believe this. You’re blackmailing me.”
    “That I am.”
    “I’m a good pilot.”
    “That you are.”
    She shot to her feet, furious at Newman for agreeing with her, furious at Scott for putting her in this position, and furious with herself for wanting to put that ungrateful bastard above everyone and everything else. She almost did it, too. She almost gave up every one of the coworkers she’d lost her job trying to protect in order to save Scott’s favorite dog.
    “I know my own limitations, sir,” she said, resorting to the formal tones she’d always adopted when speaking to her father. Yes, sir. No, sir. Of course I’m not yelling, sir. “The crash was unfortunate, but it had nothing to do with the weather conditions or the circumstances. It was a broken tail rotor, something no one could have predicted, and something that could have happened just as easily on a