The helicopter touched the ground with a couple of bumps, but then came to rest. The engine died around us, and the wop-wop of the blades began to slow. I tugged the headphones off my head and twisted to put them back on the hook on the seat behind me. Jonathan had already jumped out, and he opened the door for us to exit.
Lorcan led the way, and I followed. Kingsley helped George climb out, and we all stayed low as we moved away from the still circling helicopter blades, into an area of safety.
The figure I’d noticed before came forward. He was a man in his late fifties, with a belly straining against the buttons of his checked shirt, and jeans that looked as though they’d seen better days.
“I take it you’re the folks who need to refuel,” he called out, tipping the peak of the baseball cap he wore which had the blue ‘A’ insignia of the Atlanta Braves on the front.
Jonathan stepped forward. “Yes, sir.” He shook the other man’s hand. “Thanks for helping out.”
“If you’ve got the money, I’ve got the fuel. Ain’t nothing in this life comes for free.”
“Absolutely. I assume cash is all right.”
“Cash will work just fine.”
Perhaps assuming we might need to talk, Jonathan jerked his chin toward George. “You ever seen a helicopter get refueled?”
The boy’s blue eyes lit up. “No, sir!”
“Then today’s your lucky day.”
A wide smile broke out across the boy’s face, and his hands clenched into fists. I was pretty sure he was stopping himself jumping up and down with excitement. At some point, he’d figure today was far from his luckiest day ever, having watched men he’d known get shot down in front of him, and having his future team members abducted, but for the moment he was caught up in the excitement of a seven-year-old boy getting to do something with a helicopter.
With George occupied, the rest of us wandered away from the chopper and onto the grass verge which ran alongside the runway. A couple of small planes sat outside one of the buildings I’d seen from the sky, but which I now saw was a hangar. I wondered if they belonged to the same man Jonathan had paid for the fuel.
“This won’t take long,” Isaac said, both hands shoved into the pockets of his suit pants as we meandered along, our pace belying the rush we were in. I knew he was trying to make us all feel better, but it didn’t help.
“Shame we have to do it at all,” Lorcan commented.
“Nothing we can do about it. We can’t fly on air,” said Kingsley.
“We’re flying in air,” I pointed out, my crappy attempt at a joke eliciting a weak smile from the guys.
Clay nudged me in the side with his elbow. “Boom boom.”
I smiled back at him, and resisted the urge to snuggle in closer, to have him hook his arm around my neck in that way he liked to do, and let me lean in against his side. I wanted the support right now, but I guessed they all felt that way.
Something had been playing on my mind, and I couldn’t shake it. I made sure George was out of earshot—the boy was fascinated with the refueling of the helicopter—before I spoke.
“Why do you think Hollan took the boys rather than killing them?”
Isaac pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I have no idea. Maybe he has a heart, after all.”
Of all the reasons, I thought that was the least likely. “I don't think so. Hollan doesn’t do anything out of emotion.”
Another thing occurred to me. Hollan knew nothing about how these secret bases operated. He knew they existed, and he knew the men who came after people like him—corrupt people—were trained to do so, but he didn’t know they had been raised their whole lives for the job.
“Maybe he wasn’t expecting them to be there,” I suggested. “If he doesn’t know you guys are raised from childhood, and that you’re all orphans brought into the system, he wouldn’t have been expecting to find children there. Maybe that threw him, and he needed to know more, which is why he took them rather than killing them on the spot.”
“She’s got a point,” Clay said, nodding.
Isaac rubbed his hand over his mouth, thinking. “So he took them to learn more about how we operate.”
Alex looked between us. “Maybe to prevent any new bases springing up out of the ashes of the ones he knows about?”
“So he has taken them for questioning?” Lorcan asked.
Isaac dropped his hand from his mouth. “That would make the most sense.”
I remembered how it had been when they’d wanted information out of me, the lengths he had gone to. I prayed he wouldn’t hurt the boys in the same way. I said their names in my mind—Tad, Scott, Xander, Chris. I didn’t know their faces, but I knew that much.
“I’m going to see if the old guy’s got a restroom I can use,” I said. I could use a drink and something to eat, too, but it didn’t exactly look like there was a restaurant around here, and we didn’t have time to sit and eat. I felt as though I was being selfish, too, thinking about my own needs when there were far more important issues to deal with.
The older man, the pilot, and George were all standing around the helicopter. A large hose and a nozzle led from the tanker, and was feeding fuel into tanks at the top of the aircraft. The acrid scent of a combination of diesel and aviation fuel filled the air, making my eyes water. They saw me looking over, and the older guy lifted a hand in a wave.
“I’m just looking for your bathroom?” I called.
“Back of the hangar,” he shouted back. “It’s not the prettiest of things. We don’t get many ladies around here.”
I threw him a grin. “Don’t worry. I’m not much of a lady.”
I left them to it and went in the direction he’d pointed out. At the front of the hangar, to the left, I noted a vending machine, which gave out soda and snacks for a fee. I didn’t have any money, but I hoped the guys did. I still felt guilty about thinking of my stomach when lives were in danger, but the men were bigger than I was, and burned more calories, so I figured I probably wasn’t the only one who’d be pleased to see the vending machine.
After I used the bathroom—which was as bad as the older guy had warned—I came out, drying my hands on a piece of tissue, to discover Clay and Lorcan had both found the vending machine for themselves.
“You know that shit will kill you,” I said from behind them.
Clay glanced over his shoulder through the curtain of his hair. “It can line up and wait its turn, then.”
He threw me a can of soda and a packet of chips. I snagged them out of the air, pleased I’d managed to catch them using my other hand, rather than let them fall on the floor. I was cautious catching things with my bad hand, though, aware that just the slightest knock could throw my fingers out of joint again.
The soda was cold, and I snapped open the ring pull and took a couple of gulps, the bubbles going up the back of my nose and making my eyes water. There wasn’t much nutritional value to be had in the snacks, but the caffeine and sugar would keep me going for the moment.
Clay bought a couple of extra candy bars and started stuffing his jeans pockets.
“You hungry?” I quipped.
He looked back at me again. “Thought the kid might appreciate them.”
“Good idea.”
A part of me wished we could leave George here. I didn’t like the idea that we were taking him from one death trap straight into another. But we didn’t have time to take him somewhere safe, and it wasn’t as though we could abandon him with a complete stranger. Besides, there might be a chance he’d remember something else that could help us. It was a long shot, but there was always the possibility.
“We’re all done, folks!” the guy who owned the hangar called out. Money exchanged hands, and I wondered how many times we’d need to do this before this whole thing was over. Would it ever be over? Hadn’t I bought into this life? I hadn’t signed up for an easy life of early nights and Netflix on the TV. I was a part of this now, a life of never knowing what th
e next assignment would be, or what direction danger was coming from. I wanted to be with the guys so badly, but was I giving up my chance at a life at the same time?
I pushed my fears aside. There wasn’t time for self-doubt now. There were children in danger, and the man I hated most in the world was responsible. I would see this through to the end, even if it might mean giving up my own life.
Clay, apparently pleased with his stash of junk food, left to join the others. I watched his walk, the way he swaggered side to side, so easygoing. He looked as though he was joining some buddies at the bar, rather than joining a group of spies to take down a corrupt, murdering, kidnapping son of a bitch.
A leather-jacketed shoulder nudged mine, and I glanced over to see Lorcan’s serious dark eyes studying my face.
“You okay, princess?” he asked, ducking his chin toward me.
I forced a smile. “Sure. And I thought I told you not to call me that. You should know by now that I’m as far away from ‘princessy’ as it’s possible to get.”
He ignored me, perhaps understanding I was trying to use humor to cover how I was really feeling. “You’re allowed to not be okay. You’ve been through a lot, and we’ve all been prepared for this kind of thing our whole lives.”
“Thanks. It makes me feel better knowing I have you guys with me.”
We were hidden in the shadowy corner of the hangar, out of view from the others. Lorcan, all dark and broody, with his tats and his don’t-mess-with-me attitude, always seemed to soften a little when he was around me. I sensed it about him now, something in his eyes changing, his shoulders relaxing. He lifted his hand and swept my hair away from my neck, and then his fingers lightly trailed up my neck to my jaw. I twisted my head so my lips met his fingers. His thumb drifted over my lower lip, tugging it slightly, and a sudden, unexpected surge of lust raced through me.
Our bodies crashed together, and suddenly we were kissing hard, his hands knotted in my hair, mine around the back of his neck, my fingers digging into the short, silky strands at his nape. Both of us knew this couldn’t go anywhere—even though I could feel Lorcan’s erection pressing hard against my stomach. But it wasn’t as though he could push me up against the door of the hangar and take me here and now, however much we both might want it. There were too many people around, and while I was sure Isaac and the others would be happy to join us, I figured the pilot and the guy who owned the hangar might have questions. This was just a snatch in time, a reaffirmation of why we were doing all of this—because we wanted to live, and enjoy each other—not because we thought it would lead to sex. Anyway, we had far more important things we needed to be doing.
“Come on, you two,” a deep voice I recognized as Kingsley’s called to us from outside. “I’m not going to pretend like we don’t know what you’re doing in there.”
Lorcan and I broke apart. Heat flushed my cheeks, and I could see Lorcan was equally affected. He gave me a shy smile that made my stomach do crazy things, and then reached down to the front of his jeans to readjust himself.
“You might have to give me a minute,” he said, and I pressed my fingers to my lips to stop myself giggling. I felt better, though, somehow stronger in myself, as if, through his kiss, Lorcan had reenergized me.
Chapter Eight
I stepped out of the hangar to find all eyes on me. The heat in my face increased, and I had to hide an embarrassed smirk. Lorcan was noticeably absent behind me, as he waited to avoid making it quite so obvious to everyone exactly what we were doing.
The hose that had been feeding the helicopter’s tanks had now been withdrawn, so I figured we were good to go.
Lorcan emerged, his head down, both hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. If it hadn’t been for the presence of George, I figured the others would be ribbing him by now, but instead all he got was a couple of knowing glances.
“You guys ready?” Jonathan asked.
Isaac nodded. “Sure. We don’t exactly have time to waste.”
I didn’t know if that was a jibe at me and Lorcan, but I felt it anyway.
Clay had given George the candy and soda, and the boy was happily filling himself full of sugar. I figured all this would hit him later. For the moment, he was getting helicopter rides and unlimited treats, but, depending on what happened, and whether or not we’d be able to get his friends back, things would crash down on him sooner or later. It wasn’t as though he’d be able to go back to his old life either. The men training him were dead, and the location of the base had been revealed. I didn’t know what was going to happen to him, or to any of the rest of us, for that matter. Would Hollan have passed the information on to others? He must have, for so many men to show up. And if the locations had been revealed, didn’t that mean everyone would have to relocate? Assuming everyone survived. When this was over, everything would have to change, anyway, and I wondered where that would leave us all.
One by one, we climbed back on board and took the same seats as before. I finished my soda, but still had the snacks. I’d eat one and save the other for later. We had a couple of hours left to fly, and even though I knew we were heading into danger, that didn’t stop the sitting here waiting part from getting boring. You could only look at the scenery for so long.
Above our heads, the rotor blades of the helicopter began to spin, and the engine grew louder. I’d always thought it was the blades that made a helicopter so loud, but I discovered it was the engine. Still, it didn’t seem as loud as before, so I forewent the headphones for the moment, content just to sit.
The aircraft lifted into the air, and my stomach did that lurch that went with leaving it several feet below. The hangar and aircraft below us grew smaller as we put more distance between us, and I spotted the tiny figure of the man lifting his hand in a wave.
George peered out the window and waved in return.
The chopper reached a cruising altitude. I sat back in my seat and tried to relax the best I could. It wasn’t easy, though, not when I knew what was to come. Feeling restless, I leaned forward to see Isaac with his laptop open in his lap. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to hear me if I yelled, I lifted the headphones and slipped them over my head to talk.
“What are you looking at?” I asked, nodding to the computer.
“Satellite imagery of the next set of coordinates. The weather is being kind to us this time.” He twisted the computer around so I could see the screen. It didn’t look unlike the scenery passing below us now—just a patchwork of greens with a few roads traversing across it.
I wrinkled my nose. “Doesn’t look like much.”
“I’ve increased the area to keep an eye on anything suspicious that might be approaching. We’re still hoping we get there before Hollan, but I figure this will allow us to potentially spot them if they’re nearby.”
“If we’re nowhere close, we won’t be able to do anything about it, though.” I was feeling frustrated.
He shook his head. “But it will let us know what to expect when we get there.”
More bodies. More missing children.
And at some point, assuming Hollan continued to take the boys when he moved from base to base, he’d run out of room for them in the vehicles he was traveling in. Then he’d have no choice but to kill them.
“How big do you think the next base is going to be?” I asked Isaac. “The last one was noticeably smaller than ours.”
He shook his head. “No idea. I’d always assumed they were each around the same size, training the same number of youngsters to come up through the ranks, but it looked like the last one only had one generation they were bringing up. They must already have an adult team working out of there, or at least they had.”
George spoke up, his voice muffled around the mouthful of Snickers he’d already stuffed in.
“They’re the ones who teach us.” His voice cracked. “I mean, the ones who used to teach us.”
I put out a hand and squeezed the boy’s shoulder, trying to offer him some kind o
f comfort. “How long had you been at the base?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “About a year, I guess.”
“Where did you come from?”
“A boys’ home in Atlanta.”
“And there’s something in particular you like doing, huh?” I asked, remembering how this all worked.
He perked up again. “Yeah, I love engines. Anything with oil!”
I glanced over at Clay, who was our engines guy, and he threw me a wink.
I sat back in my seat again. We still had another ninety minutes before we reached our destination. The temptation to grab Isaac’s laptop and watch the area we were heading for, keeping an eye out for any sign of black vans, was strong, but I held myself back. That was Isaac’s job, and he’d speak up the moment he saw anything. We should have overtaken Hollan by now, and would get there first. Unless he’d switched modes of transport, which I thought was unlikely, though I knew he did have access to a helicopter. But he wouldn’t bother arriving there with only him and a handful of men. He was arriving to declare war, and he wouldn’t do that without an army behind him.
Half an hour or so had passed. Unable to contain myself any longer, I leaned back to peer at Isaac’s laptop again. “Any change?”
“Nope.”
We still had about one hundred and sixty miles to go. Hollan and his vehicles might still have the same distance to travel, but we’d cover the same distance twice as fast.
I peered out the window. I knew I wouldn’t see a snake of black vans winding along the highway, but that didn’t stop me looking.
“Any idea where this base is going to be situated yet?” Alex asked from behind me.
Isaac pursed his lips, and I tried not to think about kissing him. “As you know, the coordinates aren’t precise enough to give us an exact location, but there is a small cluster of houses on that spot.”
Alex frowned. “You think a base would be located near civilian homes?”
“That’s what’s throwing me, too,” he replied. “Too many people would ask questions if they saw people coming and going from a building—in particular if all those people were men—and they didn’t know the reason for it. My guess is it’s somewhere on the outskirts, but I haven’t figured out where yet.”
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