Chapter 8 - The Pilot Looks BackInside the helicopter, pilot Mark Reynolds stared at Ethan in disbelief.
Ava’s seat was empty.
Her belt hung loose.
The side door remained open.
Ethan’s watch screamed in his hand.
“What happened?” Mark shouted.
“She panicked!”
Ethan pointed toward the ocean.
“She opened the door and jumped!”
Mark looked at the door mechanism.
It had been opened from Ethan’s side.
He looked at the loose seat belt.
The release buckle was twisted toward Ethan’s seat.
Ethan saw the pilot making connections.
“She was unstable,” he said. “Pregnancy hormones. She attacked me.”
Mark’s gaze moved to Ethan’s hands.
Fresh red marks crossed his fingers.
One of Ava’s pearl earrings lay trapped beneath the seat beside him.
The pilot reached toward the radio.
Ethan grabbed his shoulder.
“Keep flying.”
Mark turned sharply.
“Take your hand off me.”
“We need to leave.”
“A passenger just went out of my aircraft.”
“It was an accident.”
“Then I’m reporting it.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
The charming billionaire husband disappeared again.
He looked toward the radio, then toward the controls.
Mark saw the calculation in his eyes.
Ethan lunged.
The helicopter tilted as both men struck the cockpit divider.
Mark kept one hand on the cyclic while using his other arm to block Ethan.
“Get back!”
Ethan grabbed at the radio cable.
Mark shoved him away.
A warning tone began sounding through the cockpit.
Not from the aircraft.
From an emergency beacon linked to Ava’s system.
A location marker appeared on the navigation display.
Mark stared at it.
The system showed a moving signal below and behind them.
Ava had not disappeared.
She was transmitting.
Ethan saw the marker too.
His face went white.
He reached for the display.
May you like
Mark struck his hand away and turned the helicopter toward Ava’s signal.
👉 The pilot now knew Ava was alive—but Ethan was willing to destroy the helicopter before letting anyone find her.
