Former military pilot Blaine Darby carries a load of guilt and pain from the harm he may have caused in wartime. Now he seeks to earn some good karma by fighting wild land fires while holding on to his great love of flying. But reporters like young Daz Contreras scare him -- one of the few things that do -- because he shuns the public eye.<br><br>Freelance investigative journalist Daz Contreras is convinced terrorists are behind at least some of the wild land fires plaguing New Mexico. All he needs is enough proof to break the story. As he pursues leads, he begins to shadow pilot Blaine Darby and, in the process, develops a gigantic case of hero worship.<br><br>When Daz is allowed to ride with Blaine one time, he hopes the adventure will help him to uncover the proof he seeks. Yet when a near tragedy unexpectedly develops and Blaine puts his life on the line to save a trapped hotshot firefighting crew, Daz realizes he’s an eyewitness to what may be a bigger story than the one he planned. But will the reclusive Blaine actually allow Daz to report the news as he sees fit, even as they grow closer?

Red Tails in the Sunset

Without any more pleasantries, he picked up his helmet and headed back out to his plane, now refueled, reloaded, and checked over. He’d still do his own walk around because he never took off without getting a visual on every inch of his bird. Even if he did trust this crew with his life. It was just that one more pair of watchful eyes was never too many.


The only place he felt alive and whole was in the cockpit. By fighting fires, he could do what he loved and also continue to serve. He wasn’t sure he could drop bombs on people anymore, especially when you had no way to guarantee the folks on the ground were “the bad guys.” Still, he could sure bomb the hell out of wildfires without one twinge of guilt. These days it was all that made his life livable. Otherwise the ghosts and regrets got the best of him. 3


Chapter 6