“Digital card,” Danny interjected.
Forman smiled. “Digital card, then. We can make the copies back on the base.”
Dione took a quick step forward. “Hold on. That footage belongs to the Quest Network. It’s not leaving our hands. If you’d like a copy, you can send someone to pick it up at the hotel.”
“Miss Li, I totally understand your reluctance,” the commander said, his voice calm and accommodating. “I promise you, we will return your original as soon as possible.”
“Oh, no. No one’s giving anything to anyone,” Dione told him. “There’s a certain thing called freedom of the press.”
“Again, I understand your reluctance,” the commander said patiently. “But this isn’t a matter of press freedom. It’s a matter of finding out why one of our men is dead, and trying to prevent it from happening to someone else. All I’m asking for is your help.”
Before Dione could say anything else, Wes jumped in. “Sure,” he said. “No problem. We can get you the card.”
Dione glanced quickly at Wes, her jaw clenched. “This isn’t your responsibility. It’s mine.” She turned her attention back to the commander. “That footage is network property.”
Wes locked eyes with her. “They said they’d give it back as soon as they can. You know it’s the right thing to do.”
She held his gaze for a moment before finally turning away. “Fine,” she whispered.
Wes turned to Forman. “Danny can get you the digital card.”
“But we want it back tomorrow,” Dione demanded.
“We’ll do what we can,” Forman said.
She frowned, then gave Danny a single terse nod.
“Please give it to Lieutenant Miller,” Forman said.
Danny led the lieutenant over to the SUVs.
“I’m going to lodge a formal complaint,” Dione said.
The commander smiled sympathetically. “If you feel that’s necessary, then by all means do so.”
She pulled away from them and marched off to where the others were gathered.
“Sorry,” Wes said as he stood waiting with Forman.
“It’s okay,” the commander told him. “She’s just doing her job. That I can understand.”
A few moments later, Danny and Lieutenant Miller returned. In the lieutenant’s hand was a digital card.
“Thank you,” the commander said. “If we need to speak to you further, we’ll be in touch. But you’re free to go now.”
He started walking back toward his helicopter, Lieutenant Miller falling in step behind him.
“Excuse me,” Dione said.
The commander looked back. “Yes, Ms. Li?”
“Don’t you need to know where we’re staying? So you know where to return the card when you’re done?” There was more than a little accusation in her question.
“Of course. I’m so sorry. Sometimes I get too focused on the task at hand. Where
“At the Desert Rose Motel on China Lake Boulevard,” Wes said.
“Thank you. We’ll get the card back to you as quickly as possible.”
“We appreciate that.”
“Again, thank you all for your help.”
As the crew climbed back in the SUVs, Wes took a final look at the mangled remains of the plane. He was trying to think of something more he could have done, but he knew deep down there was nothing. He got behind the wheel, then headed back to Ridgecrest.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Dione said to Wes once they’d reached the highway.
Wes remained silent.
“They had no right to take our footage.”
“I don’t know if they had a right or not,” Wes said. “But it wasn’t worth arguing about. We watched someone die out there today, remember?”
She took a deep breath. “I realize that. It’s just I don’t like being taken advantage of.”
“So you’re taking the moral high ground on this?”
“Damn right I am.”
“You thought it was perfectly fine to have Danny shooting footage of the trapped pilot?”
“Don’t get righteous on me, Wes. News teams shoot that kind of stuff all the time.”
“Last I checked, we weren’t a news team.”
“It doesn’t matter that we’re not a news team,” she said, getting heated. “We witnessed a news event, and were the
“So it was our obligation,” Wes said.
“Absolutely.”
Wes caught Danny’s eyes in the mirror and shook his head. Danny arched an eyebrow, but gave a slight nod and remained silent.
The truth was, they
They’d tell Dione in a few days. But not now. If she knew they had the shots, she would have Wes send them to L.A., and they would be on all the networks within an hour.
But that wasn’t really what made Wes keep his mouth shut.
He had been right beside the pilot, had actually talked to him. He’d had the chance to save the man’s life and failed.
This wasn’t news to Wes.
This was far more personal than that.
4
The big brown, that’s what one of Wes’s old friends used to call the desert. And that’s exactly what it was. Vast and tan. The dirt, the bushes, the birds, the rocks, everything variations on the theme.
Wes had never intended on seeing it again. Not in person, anyway.
But time had a way of changing things, and when the assignment for the “High Desert” episode had come up, Wes had realized it would be his opportunity to do something he should have done a long time ago.
When they’d arrived the night before, they had entered the valley high on the western edge, driving along the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Below them, the eastern half of the valley had been lit up like a squashed ball of Christmas lights, a glowing oasis in an otherwise dark landscape. At night the city of Ridgecrest was indistinguishable from the adjacent Navy base at China Lake.
The moment Wes had seen those lights, his chest muscles had begun constricting tightly across his ribs as if they were trying to crush him. In his ears, blood had thundered past, sounding like the rapids of the Kern River. He’d glanced around to see if anyone had picked up on his distress, but the others had been either staring out the window or half-asleep.
The next morning the town had looked somewhat diminished. There was just no way to hide all the brown from the sun. And while Wes’s tension had mellowed, it hadn’t gone away, becoming a low simmer he was unable to shake off.
“You grew up here?” Danny had asked incredulously as they’d driven through town that morning on their way out to the Pinnacles.
“It’s got its good points,” Wes had replied.
“Name three.”
