Catherine Mann - Taking Cover

Her half smile, wry though it was, shook his focus. His hands stopped aerial maneuvers and landed on the bed. “Hi, Doc.”

Cutter glanced from one to the other, his brows pleating. “Did it just get chilly in here? Time for me to punch out.” He passed the chart to Kathleen on his way to the door. “I’ll check in with you both later.”

Her smile faded as Cutter left. Disappointment nipped Tanner. Too much.

He wanted to bring that smile back. What a crazy thought. Must be the drugs again. Regardless, Cutter was right. Kathleen—

Kathleen?

Tanner frowned, and refocused his thoughts. O’Connell deserved an apology. “I’m sorry about last night.”

“What?” Still no smile in sight, not a surprise since her face looked frozen with shock.

Tanner inched up. “I shouldn’t have given you hell on the flight line. It’s not your fault my back’s out. Are there some torturous tests you want to run so I can pay my penance?”

Her gaze skittered away, and she flipped through his chart, avoiding his eyes. “Just follow the recovery plan.”

“I intend to be a model patient.”

“Music to my ears.”

“The sooner this is over, the sooner I can get back on a crew. I don’t expect you to understand, Doc.”

Her head snapped up. The diamond glint in her eyes could have cut glass. “Why not, hotshot?”

“Hey, I’m trying to apologize here.” He raised his hands in mock surrender. What had he done this time? Not that either of them ever needed much of a reason to argue. “The least you could do is be gracious.”

Hugging the chart like a shield, she pulled a tight smile again. “Pardon me. Must be something else this ‘Doc’ didn’t learn in medical school. Apology accepted.”

“Great.”

“Thanks.”

“Fine!”

A cleared throat sounded from the hall just before Lt. Col. Zach Dawson knocked on the open door with exaggerated precision.

The Squadron Commander. The boss. Tanner wondered if a plague of locusts might be next, because his day couldn’t get much worse.

Lt. Col. Dawson ducked inside. “Hey, you two want to fire it up some more? I don’t think they heard you in Switzerland.”

Kathleen popped to attention. “Good afternoon, Colonel.”

Tanner sat as straight as he could, mentally cursing the hospital gown. “Colonel.”

“Captains.” The Squadron Commander nodded. His Texas twang echoed in the silent room as he ambled to a stop at the foot of Tanner’s bed. “So, Doc, when’re you going to cut my guy here loose?”

“Overnight in the infirmary should have him back on his feet, ready for desk duty within twenty-four hours. Two weeks on muscle relaxants. I’ll reevaluate then, but he’ll likely be on flying status again within four weeks. As long as he keeps up with his chiropractor appointments, there shouldn’t be a repeat.”

The commander shot her a thumbs-up. “That works.”

Tanner studied his boss for signs of impatience over the lost air time and found none. No gripes or pressure to get him into action? Unusual for Dawson. “Thanks for stopping by, sir.”

“Just checking on one of my men. And having O’Connell here saves me arranging a meeting later.” The commander plucked a metal chair from the corner and straddled it, his arms resting along the back. “Doc, how about pull up a seat and let’s chat.”

Eyes wary, Kathleen lowered herself to the recliner by Tanner’s bed. “Yes, sir?”

The commander scrubbed a hand along his close-shorn hair, taking his sweet Texas time. “See, I’ve got this morale problem in my squadron, and that concerns me.”

Tanner frowned, sweeping a hand over his face to clear away the Demerol fog. “Sir?”

“Morale is the glue that bonds a unit. And when there’s a problem in that department, say infighting among my officers, especially in front of my enlisted folks, it needs to be addressed.”

Their flight line incident. Cutter had said it was the story of the day, apparently for everyone. Icy prickles started up Tanner’s back that had nothing to do with pinched nerves.

The commander pinned Tanner with his deceptively easygoing stare. “Bennett, what’s the first thing I do when I’ve got dissenting fliers who need to establish camaraderie?”

Those icy prickles turned into a veritable shower. He knew where this was headed, and it didn’t bode well for either of them.

“Well, Captain?”

Tanner voiced the inevitable. “You send them TDY as a group.”

Dawson shot him a thumbs-up worthy of Caesar at gladiator games. “Exactly. A little temporary duty together is just the ticket.”

Kathleen’s light gasp tugged Tanner’s gaze. Every last drop of color drained from her already pale face until freckles he’d never noticed popped along her pert nose.

Lt. Col. Dawson continued as if Kathleen’s telling gasp hadn’t slipped free. “Get away from the rest of the squadron. Work together. Ride together. Eat together. Play together. Spend every waking hour with each other until things settle out.”

It wasn’t the waking hours that worried Tanner. “And what will be our official function during this TDY?”

“I’m sending you two to check out a C-17 accident. Put all that money spent sending you to safety school to good use.”

“Crash? I heard something about one on the news earlier. No details released though.” Tanner shed his own concerns, nothing in comparison to a crash in their small and tight flyer community. Any accident was personal. “Did anyone die?”

“No fatalities.”

Tanner swallowed a relief stronger than the meds pumping through him.

“It’s a test crew,” the commander continued. “Only minor injuries to the loadmaster. Baker’s crew, Daniel Baker.”

“Crusty’s crew?” Tanner exchanged a quick look with Kathleen.

The commander frowned. “Problem?”

Kathleen straightened. “We all attended the Academy together. But no, sir, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Tanner wished he could be as certain. The last thing he wanted was to write up a fellow flyer—a friend.

Folding his arms over his chest, Tanner clenched his jaw shut before he said something reckless. Why couldn’t he have kept his mouth closed on the runway the night before?

The commander cleared his throat and resumed the brief. “It happened last night while you were airborne. The crew was running a test mission, dropping a two-pack of Humvees. The drop went bad and ripped the ramp right off the airplane. A lesser crew would have bought it.”

Or a crew that was off its stride from losing a team member.

Dawson canted forward. “So I’ve volunteered you two to head on over to the site and join the investigation team. See if you can figure out what went wrong. Perfect timing with Bennett being grounded for a month. You can even spend Christmas together. I call that downright serendipitous.”

Serendipity stunk. The flicker of horror on Kathleen’s face told him her feelings flew the same path.

But the deed was done. The best he could hope for was a good locale, one of the bases where they could lose themselves in recreation after hours. Away from each other. “And where was this test mission being flown?”

“At Edwards Air Force Base.”

In the middle of the California desert. Tanner slumped back on his pillow.

Lt. Col. Dawson pushed up from his chair and swung it back against the wall. A steely warning flashed in his silver eyes, belying his laid-back attitude. “Lighten up, Captains. This will make for great reading in your performance reports. If memory serves, and I believe it does, O’Connell’s got a major’s board coming up. Soon, right, O’Connell?”

Kathleen’s jaw flexed before she nodded.