Desert Secrets Read online

  Colton tried to shove back the worst-case scenarios flooding through his mind in order to deal with the emergency at hand. “I need you both to tighten your seat belts. This is going to get rough.”

  Thirty minutes later, the engine sputtered and died. He reacted automatically thanks to hours of practicing emergency scenarios and began planning his approach. Because no matter what happened in the next few seconds, he had to be in control of the aircraft. Full flaps, gears down, wings level…

  God, I could really use your help right now.

  Colton held his breath, straining to keep his plane just above the stall speed as he dropped in altitude and made his approach. The theory of landing an aircraft on a soft surface was fairly simple. Control the airspeed of the plane so the wings could support the weight of the craft as long as possible, then touch down at a minimum speed with the nose at a high pitch as the wheels made contact with the ground.

  Whether or not their actual landing ended up to be that straightforward with a section of the plane hit was going to be a whole other story.

  THREE

  The impact jolted Colton forward as he touched down the plane, then managed to slide to a stop. Silence engulfed the cabin. His lungs let out a swish of air, but he wasn’t done yet. He needed to get the three of them off the aircraft.

  “Are you two okay?” He glanced at Lexi as he undid his seat belt before moving to open the door. Her face had paled, but she nodded. Bret was also clearly shaken, but seemed okay, as well.

  He waited for them to disembark, still needing to determine the damage to the aircraft. Frustration simmered to the surface as he made his initial assessment. Inside the cockpit, the radio was dead, which likely meant the instrument panel had been damaged on impact, and they’d lost their only way to communicate. Outside the plane, the damage was just as extensive. Beyond the hole left by the attack, one landing gear plus the nose of the plane had been sheared off. There was no way they were flying out of here.

  He joined the others beneath the shadow of the wing, his forehead already beaded with sweat from the heat. He shrugged off his jacket.

  “What can I do to help?” Lexi asked.

  Colton glanced up at sun that had already begun its descent and ran through his options. There was still a strong chance that his team would be able to find them via the plane’s GPS tracker. But for the moment they were on their own. And from his military experience, he knew firsthand how quickly a situation like this could spiral out of control. If they were going to survive, it was going to take them working together and not panicking.

  “It’s going to be dark before long,” he said, quickly taking charge, “which means we need to be prepared to stay here tonight.”

  “What about going for help?” Bret asked. “There’s got to be a village nearby. Because if whoever shot us down finds us…”

  “That’s an option, but we have no idea how far the nearest village is, and with the sun setting, we don’t have time to find it. At least here with the plane’s emergency rations, we’ve got shelter, food and enough water for the time being. And it’s better than heading out unprepared and getting lost. When my team discovers we didn’t make it to Morocco, they’ll start looking for this plane. And if they can track us via the GPS—”

  “If they can track the GPS?” Lexi tugged at the bottom of her T-shirt.

  Colton shook his head. “With no way to communicate with them, I can’t be a hundred percent sure they’re getting the signal. But if they are—and I’m assuming they are—we should be in Morocco by tomorrow.”

  But if his team wasn’t able to receive the signal and track the plane, he knew that surviving the landing intact had been only one of many hurdles they were liable to face. Because statistically, the odds were against them. The average healthy person exposed fully to the sun in this environment wouldn’t last a day without water, and then there were other dangers, as well—like snakes, scorpions and dust storms that were as unpredictable as they were deadly.

  “What do you need me to do?” Bret asked. “I could take a look at the radio. It can’t be much different from one of Noah’s science projects I’ve helped him with over the years.”

  “Are you up to it?” Colton asked.

  “If it’s a way to get help, I’m up for anything.”

  “Just remember, both of you, that with the temperatures as high as they are, we need to conserve both our energy and our water, and stay out of the direct sun as much as possible. Covering your heads and the back of your necks will help, as well.”

  “What about me?” Lexi asked.

  “I’ll need help sorting through the emergency rations.”

  “Of course.”

  “But first…” He walked to the hold on the side of the plane where the emergency rations were stored, thankful nothing looked damaged, and pulled out a small suitcase from the side of the plane. “I brought a couple changes of clothes for Bret, figuring he’d probably lost some weight. And while they might not fit perfectly…”

  He handed her the chocolate-brown cargo pants and a black V-neck T-shirt.

  Lexi looked down at her own bloodstained pants. “Anything is better than what I’m wearing now. Thank you.”

  Colton nodded, then undid the top button of his shirt, while she walked around to the other side of the plane to change. But he couldn’t shake the uneasiness that had settled over him. Because he hadn’t told either of them the entire truth. Their emergency landing had taken them way off course, which meant even with his maps, finding the nearest village in this barren terrain wasn’t going to be easy. And on top of that, every hour they were stuck here was another hour for the insurgents to find them.

  *

  Lexi finished changing into the cargo pants Colton had just given her, pulling the drawstring as tight as she could. They were too long and even cinched tightly they were still too big, but she didn’t care. She was just glad she didn’t have to wear the bloodstained clothes any longer. And grateful to be alive—though the thought of being stranded in the middle of the Sahara terrified her almost as much as being kidnapped had.

  She shoved away thoughts of dehydration, heat stroke and scorpions as she came back around to where Colton was already working.

  “Cute outfit,” he said, looking up from the pile of supplies he’d pulled out of the plane.

  “Funny,” she said, returning his grin. “How long will these supplies last?”

  “Several days, but my mission will find us before then,” he said, grabbing the last jug of water.

  “At least you’re prepared,” she said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.

  “Our entire fleet carries survival kits appropriate to the region,” he said. “First aid, food rations, water, blankets… “

  “Sounds as if you’ve been through this before.”

  “Two tours in Afghanistan taught me a thing or two about survival.”

  “I’d like to hear some of your stories.”

  If they got out of here.

  She pushed aside the negative thought. Of course they’d find a way out. They had to.

  “How cold does it get out here at night?” she asked.

  “It’s possible to drop below zero after the sun sets, though thankfully it’s not that bad this time of year. It’s the heat we have to worry about right now. Dehydration can set in quickly.”

  He pulled out a narrow box filled with packaged ready-to-eat meals—and set them next to the blankets. At least they wouldn’t go hungry.

  “We need to pull out everything we’ll need from now until morning,” he told her. “Primarily sleeping bags, food and water.”

  She worked beside Colton, remembering details from the first time she’d met him. It had been a quick introduction made by mutual friends at a local restaurant. They’d spent a couple minutes chatting before going their separate ways.

  She’d dreamed of the sandy-haired pilot that night, but at the time she’d ignored the attraction. She tho
ught she’d ever see him again, and figured that the chances of them running into each other were slim on this vast continent. And besides that, any feelings of attraction she might feel toward him were completely unwanted. Long-distance relationships didn’t work. She’d discovered that firsthand after falling for the last guy she dated.

  At first she thought the six-foot three hunk she met through a mutual friend was perfect. Evan was funny and smart and could always make her laugh no matter what her mood. But after they’d been dating for eight months, Evan took a job in London working as an internal communications manager for a US bank, and it quickly became clear that his communication skills—at least when it came to a relationship—were severely limited. In the end all he’d managed to do was break her heart.

  That had been at least part of her motivation to take a year away from her job as an environmental engineer and spend it in Mali. It had taken her family a while to embrace her decision. Her stepfather in particular was convinced she’d left for the ends of the earth. And in a way she had. But in her mind that wasn’t a bad thing. Living here had given her time to catch her breath, refocus her goals and start to figure out what she wanted out of life. And beyond that grassroots desire to make a difference, it had helped her with another thing she’d been looking for.

  Closure over her mother’s death.

  Today’s events, though, had quickly overshadowed any progress she’d made in figuring out her next step in life.

  “Lexi.”

  She felt his hand against her arm and took in a deep breath.

  “You sure you’re okay.”

  “Sorry.” She blinked back the unwanted tears. “A couple hours ago, I was trying to wrap my mind around the possibility of spending the next few months in some insurgent camp, and now this…”

  “Help is on its way. Even if Bret can’t get the radio fixed, there’s still the GPS tracker.”

  “So what happens until then?” she asked, forcing herself to push the past back where it belonged. “We spend the night here, then head to the nearest village first thing in the morning?”

  Colton hesitated as he pulled out the last Kelvalite blanket.

  “Colton…what is it?” She saw the worry in his eyes. There was something he hadn’t told her.

  He hesitated a moment longer, then caught her gaze. “While what I said is true, I think you need to know that getting out of here might not be that simple.”

  Lexi was scared. He could see it in her eyes. But at the moment there was nothing he could to do change it. He hadn’t seen any villages from the air. The only thing he had seen as they made their rocky landing was mile after mile of endless sand.

  “What do you mean getting out of here might not be that simple?” she asked.

  He handed her the last blanket, debating how much he should tell her. “Our emergency landing took us off course.”

  She sucked in a lungful of air, then blew it out slowly. “How far off course?”

  “I’m not sure.” He turned to face her, catching her gaze. “But if my team isn’t able to track us…we’re going to be on our own.”

  “On our own?” she repeated.

  “If they can’t track us.”

  He took a swig of cold water from his insulated thermos, hoping it would help counteract the fatigue setting in from the unrelenting heat and the headache that had started. At least the temperature would start dropping soon, and they had enough emergency rations for a couple of days. But beyond that, it was going to be a race against the clock to find their way out of here. And the odds, unfortunately, were far from being in their favor.

  Bret stepped out of the plane. The determined set of his jaw told Colton he hadn’t been successful.

  Colton handed him a bottle of water. “Bad news?”

  “I can’t get any reception at all. Something must have shorted out, and I’m not sure it can be fixed.”

  Colton’s muscles tensed. In the military he’d been dropped into combat zones and faced roadside bombs. But today he didn’t have the backing of a special ops team. His passengers were civilians who weren’t used to facing hostile situations. And in an environment like this, anything—and everything—could go wrong.

  “Okay.” Colton worked to keep his voice sounding upbeat. “Worst-case scenario is that we’re stuck out here a day or two until my team can pick us up, but we’ve got enough food and water to last us a few days.”

  But they all knew that being found by their abductors first was more likely.

  “I think I’ve about worn myself out for now,” Bret said. “I just need a short nap in the shade of the plane, and I think I’ll be okay in an hour or two.”

  Colton grabbed a blanket from the pile. “Are you sure all you need is a rest?”

  “I’ll be fine. Just need to store up some energy.”

  Colton watched his brother-in-law find himself a spot in the shade on top of the blanket. “I’m worried about him. He’s been though quite an ordeal. He needs to be looked over by a doctor.”

  “He will be,” Lexi assured him, then shot him a half smile. “Because you were right. We’re going to get out of here and we have enough supplies to last us until then.”

  Colton stopped and caught her gaze. “Tell me more about your brother.”

  Lexi blew out a short breath. “I don’t know much more than I’ve already said. The guys who work for the man he owes money to took me, hoping I could lead them to Trent. Except I have no idea where he is.”

  Colton shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Are the two of you close?”

  “Not really. He’s my stepbrother,” Lexi said. “My father died when I was thirteen. My mother remarried two years later, so Trent and I didn’t really grow up together. And he’s always been a bit of a…challenge.”

  “Sounds like it.”

  “From what I got out of the men in the short time I was there, he’s been embezzling money from a business partner. I think it had something to do with gun running.”

  “Gun running?” Colton frowned. Clearly whatever Trent had gotten himself involved in, he’d messed with the wrong people.

  “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Lexi said. “When he stayed with me, he was out most nights, keeping strange hours. If only I had known…if I had seen or heard something I would have confronted him.” There was no inflection in her voice as she stared out across the cloudless sky. “It might end up costing us all our lives.”

  Colton rubbed the back of his neck, but it did little to relieve the growing tension. “You’re not responsible for his actions.”

  “You’re wrong.” Tears welled in her eyes as she looked up at him. “I should have seen what he was doing…noticed that something wasn’t right—”

  “And then what?” He ran his hand down her arm until his fingers caught her hand. “This wasn’t your fault.”

  He studied her in the shadow of the plane. The cargo pants and T-shirt he’d given her hung a bit loose on her figure, but still managed to look both comfortable and flattering. He had a feeling she was the kind of person who could fit in pretty much anywhere. Whether it was a corporate board meeting in the States wearing business attire, or doing fieldwork in the middle of an African village.

  In another place and time, he could see himself taking the initiative to get to know her. But after Maggie, he had no desire to jump into another relationship. Ever. Spending his days flying across North Africa had become the perfect remedy for a broken heart. He loved the freedom it brought. The time spent in the air where he felt the closest to his Creator, where he could do some good, and where the past seemed the furthest away. It certainly wasn’t a life he planned to let go of any time soon.

  And everything that had happened today had only managed to remind him that life was volatile, and how everything could change in the blink of an eye.

  “I’m worried, Colton.”

  He caught the vulnerability in her eyes as she spoke and felt a crazy urge to draw her into his arms and t
ell her everything was going to be all right. That he’d make sure they got to the nearest airport and then on home to the States safely. But he couldn’t make her any promises. They were still at the mercy of the desert, and the men who’d shot down their plane.

  He brushed his hand against her arm. “We’re going to figure this out. I promise.”

  “But in the meantime, there has to be something else we can do,” she said.

  “The plane’s beyond repair. Bret’s sleeping. So for now about the only thing we can do is wait. How about sitting down with me to watch the sunset in the meantime?”

  Because he needed to spend the next hour thinking about something—anything—other than the mess they were in, and he knew he wasn’t the only one.

  FOUR

  Lexi hesitated at Colton’s suggestion, but already, the sky had captured her attention with its spectacular show of pinks, reds and oranges, lighting the sand in its golden hues. Before long the colors would shift to shades of blue until the vast sky faded into darkness.

  “Come on,” he said. “You can tell me more about what you’ve been doing here.”

  He led her a dozen or so feet from the plane toward a spot where they could have a front row seat to the incredible nightly display and sat down beside her. “I know you’re working here with a water program. What did you do back in the States?”

  She settled into the space beside Colton, mesmerized by the scene in front of her. “I got a degree in engineering, then started working for a company that provides technical support to both public and private clients, specializing in environmental and marine engineering.”