Chapter 104
“Nothing. I’m not thinking about anything.”
That wasn’t true. She was thinking about everything. Outside of the tent, people were bustling about, getting supplies ready in case there was an attack. Getting vehicles ready in case they left. Voices from further down the row of tents hit her ear, most of them with thick Australian accents. She heard a few Americans and could pick out a couple of her teammates, too. It was never hard to miss Elliott’s booming voice.
She didn’t make it to the tent where Jamie and the other escapees were gathered. They hadn’t made it too far at all before a figure stepped in front of them, the white bandage over his head sticking out to Jo before she even looked at his face.
“Ryker,” she said, holding her breath. He looked angry. But then… he always looked angry. “How are you?”
“Fucking fantastic,” he said. “I love carrying shards of glass around in my face and chest. It saves space in the cabinets for all of the other dishes.”
She couldn’t blame him for being upset, but then, it hadn’t been her fault that the runway was so short. “I’m really sorry about that,” she said, meaning it, even if she had nothing to do with it.
Ryker looked at Zane like he had no business being there, so he said, “I’ll go on ahead,” and left her. Jo thanked him through the IAC, not because she particularly wanted to have the conversation Ryker was demanding of her but because she knew it would be better to get it over with now.
“As much as I hated wrecking that goddamn plane because it hurt like hell, we have another problem we need to consider.” Ryker shifted on his feet like he might fall over at any second, making Jo wonder if he was even supposed to be out of bed.
“What problem is that?” Jo asked. Off the top of her head, she could think of at least six problems that were pretty close to life or death situations, but somehow she guessed the one he was referring to wasn’t one on her list.
“The plane,” he said. “It’s fucking ruined. First of all, how the hell are we supposed to get back to Russia without a goddamn plane? And second of all, if we do figure out how to get back to Russia so that you can track down your redheaded bitch, how the hell am I supposed to explain to my comrades in the Russian military that the plane I promised them I’d have back in one piece in just a few days is halfway buried in a crater in fucking Virginia?”
Jo cleared her throat. “I don’t think it’s buried quite halfway,” she muttered. He only narrowed his eyes. “Well… we have other planes. LIGHTS has other planes. I’m sure we can figure something out. Maybe we just fly into a different airport. Or maybe they’ll take one of our planes in exchange.”
Ryker was already shaking his head, indicating none of that would work. “They need a big ass cargo plane like the one we just wrecked. All you’ve got is planes so small, we probably won’t even fit in them.”
“Well, then… we’ll ask Margie for one of hers,” Jo suggested. “Maybe she’ll give it to us since we just got her brother back to her.”
“I thought they didn’t really care for each other,” Ryker said, folding his arms but grimacing at the pain and unfolding them just as quickly.
Jo shrugged. “Still… she came all the way over here from Australia to get him out of prison. I bet she’ll show her gratefulness one way or another.”
“All right. Let’s say you do manage to get us another cargo plane. Let me ask you this, sweet cheeks. Who the hell is gonna fly the plane? It’s not gonna be me. My fucking eyes won’t even focus right now, and while I’ve flown under some pretty adverse conditions, like being drunk off my ass and being awake for seventy-two hours, even I’m not stupid enough to fly with a serious head wound.”
“So… we need a plane and a pilot. I’ll talk to Margie. I’m sure she can help us out. We did her a favor; she owes us one.”
He was shaking his head. “The world don’t work like that in my experience. People like to take favors, not hand them out.”
“Well, let’s hope that this isn’t your world, then,” Jo said. But he had a point. She wasn’t often on the receiving end of a favor either. “I’m going to go talk to Jamie now. Do you want to come?”
Ryker shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m going to go back to my comfy cot now and hope the morphine fairy comes by again soon.”
Jo took a deep breath. She considered reaching out to him, patting his shoulder or something, but she didn’t. “I really am sorry that you got hurt. And I really am grateful that you got us here in time to complete our mission. I’ll find a way to get us back. I promise.”
Ryker nodded and waved a hand at her dismissively before he stumbled back in the direction that he’d come. Jo watched him go, sucked in some more air, and headed on to the tent where most of the noise was coming from. Where was that fake smile when she needed it? Nowhere to be found.
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