Nothing ever went the way he wanted, Hawke thought as he looked over the books for the past month. Three helicopter tours had been cancelled due to weather and an aerial stunt was cancelled indefinitely when a movie went bankrupt. The three tours and movie stunt would have paid heavily and taken care of their bills for the month. After Hawke filled out the last check and left it for Dominic to sign, he would have to tell Dominic his business was in trouble.
He was filling out the last check for fuel when he heard the voices mixing with Dominic and Caitlin's and knew someone was with them. He put the last check inside the check book and put it into the desk before going out to the hangar to see what was going on.
Two men in suits were speaking to Caitlin and Dominic. Hawke recognized them immediately as detectives. Caitlin introduced him when he joined the group.
"The police department wants to pay us to do a recovery operation for them because they heard we had special equipment for the job and that we had performed that kind of operation before," Caitlin was saying. "When did we handle a recovery operation?"
Hawke ignored her. "Do you have a map of the area?"
The tallest detective as well as the oldest looking pointed to the map Dominic was holding. "We could use your help, Mr. Hawke?"
"Give us a number to reach you when we've found what you're looking for."
The older detective nodded, handed Caitlin the folder with the information in it, and left. Hawke went back to the office. Much to his chagrin, Caitlin followed.
"We've never done this kind of search, Hawke. How did they think we. . ."
"We used Airwolf to look for you, Caitlin. We searched the desert for miles around Horn's compound for five days before we stopped looking. The police knew about the search because some off duty friends of Archangel's helped dig up the spots where we thought he buried you."
Caitlin turned ashen and she took a step back right into Dominic. He let out a squeal to which she apologized and ran off.
"She was going to find out sooner or later," Dominic tried to soften the blow for Hawke.
"Yeah," Hawke fell back into the chair. "But hearing about your death while you're still alive has got to be hard." He opened the folder that Caitlin had laid on the desk and took out the picture. A little girl stared back at him with blond pigtails and a smile that took up the lower half of her face. "Tell Caitlin to get the jeep ready. We'll take the jet ranger and go pick up the lady. By the time we get to the map coordinates it will be dark enough that no one will notice Airwolf in the sky. Give Caitlin the walkie and the phone. As soon as we find," Hawke hesitated. "the little girl Caitlin can radio the police and we can get the lady back home."
"Got it," Dominic left the office. Hawke took the check with its five zeroes and put it into the check book for a trip to the bank later.
He had been right about the night sky. The lady's underbelly couldn't even be seen in the darkness. Neither Hawke nor Dominic had talked much since they got her in the sky. For that matter, Caitlin hadn't uttered a word either from her place in the Jeep somewhere below them.
Infrared was working perfectly for the job they were doing. So far it had picked up the heat from nocturnal creatures and a few sleeping diurnal creatures.
"If you don't say something soon, String, I'm going to fall asleep." Dominic's voice came through the headset of his helmet.
"Small talk doesn't seem right at the moment," Hawke answered back. "What more can be. . .?"
"String," Dominic practically shouted in his ear. "There's something a few feet in front of us with proportions too different to be animal and it's not giving off any heat. It looks to be human."
"Cait, did you hear that?" Hawke asked.
Caitlin's voice flooded the cockpit. "I'm on my way. Out."
"Find us a place to land, Dom. I don't want Caitlin to be the first one to find her."
"You got it, String."
Less than an hour later, police cars and recovery crews flooded the hill where the little girl's body had once been. Dominic had taken Airwolf back to her lair once the first sign of a police car came into view and left Hawke and Caitlin at the scene. Both of them were sitting on the hood of the Jeep when two police officers carrying a large black bag between them came down the hill and laid the bag on a stretcher.
Hawke looked over to see Caitlin's expression. "Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. What a great start to Valentine's Day." She slid off the hood of the Jeep and walked around to the driver's side.
