Chapter 106

Margie’s office was in a smaller tent not too far from the one where the rest of Jo’s team had gathered. Her desk was fairly tidy considering the change in plans that had happened only a couple of hours ago at the beginning of the attack. A few chairs sat around the desk, one of them askew, as if someone had jumped up quickly. Two cots were set up on either side of the bed in the corners. Jo had to wonder if Margie and Grant slept in separate beds, but that wasn't her business. And it wasn’t as if Guardians slept much anyway.
“All right, Jo,” Margie said, offering Jo a chair. She didn’t really want to sit, and since Margie was leaning against her desk, she didn’t see the point. “How can I help you?”
“Well, first of all, before I forget, do you happen to have any clothes that Cale can borrow that don’t have holes in them? I’m not sure what happened to our bags from the crashed airplane.”
“We got them,” Margie said, folding her arms, her bottom just on the edge of the desk with her feet crossed in front of her on the floor. “I’ll have his bag brought to him.”
“Thanks,” Jo said. “I guess we’ll be spending the night here.”
“I figured,” Margie said with a nod. “I’ve got mechanics looking at your plane now.”
Jo raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yeah. There’s no reason to be afraid of the Vampires coming over to that airstrip now. They might’ve tried it if they thought they could prevent the attack by blowing you up before you landed, but now that you’re here and have done what you came to do, they’ll forget about the plane.”
“Why don’t they attack you here?” Jo asked. They were still fairly close to the Vampires’ headquarters.
“Because there’s no point. They’ve tried to attack us and have had no luck.”
The idea that they needed to come up with a scandium bomb came to mind, but Jo wouldn’t say that out loud.
“What are your plans now?” Margie asked her. “Will you head back to Russia and see if you can find Holland?”
Jo nodded. “That’s the plan. If the plane can be fixed, that’s great. I’m not so sure about Ryker, though. He might not be capable of flying us home.”
Margie looked at her for a long moment and then changed the subject. “I’m not sure what we’ll do next. There are prisoners in Alcatraz that we could hang around and free. But then, New York is a big mess, too. We may stick around and see how else we can help before we head back to Australia.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jo said, thinking about Aurora and Zane’s parents who were also locked up at Alcatraz. If Margie went there, would he want to go with her?
“I’m guessing Jamie and Ashley will go with you since Scott was assigned to your task, but I’m planning on keeping everyone else we just saved, if you don’t mind. I’ve been short of good healers for a while. Having Martin, Olga, and some of the others along with us will make my life a lot easier.”
“That sounds fair enough,” Jo said. She actually hadn’t expected for anyone to go back with her from the rescued group, but she definitely wouldn’t try to convince Jamie not to go with her if he wanted to. She could do without Ashley, but if that’s what it took for Jamie to come with her, she’d put up with it.
“You did really well today, Jo,” Margie said, placing her hands on the desk and resituating herself. Without her arms folded, she looked a lot more relaxed, a lot less… imposing. She wasn’t a large woman, but she had a look about her that screamed that she meant business. “I know your mom would be really proud of you.”
An eyebrow twerked. Jo couldn’t help it. Every time someone tried to tell her what her mom would think, she had to wonder if they knew Cadence as well as they thought they did. “Thanks,” she said. Again, it was just easier to take the compliment than argue.
“I know you feel bad about losing someone. It’s never easy. Over the years, I’ve gotten used to it a little more, but it’s not something I shrug away from when it happens. Of course, some losses are harder than others. Blanche was a well-meaning kid. She just couldn't ever keep her head out of her ass long enough to learn what she was supposed to do.”
“Have you let her family know?” Jo asked, not wanting to speak ill of the dead.
“Not yet. I will,” Margie said, her eyes traveling to the cell phone on the corner of her desk.
“Do you know them?” Jo had no idea why she was even asking these questions. Perhaps she was just trying to stall so that she wouldn’t have to ask the question she really needed to ask, about who was going to fly that plane.
“I do,” Margie said. “They aren’t particularly gifted themselves. That’s why they’re not here. It’ll be all right, though.”
It seemed dismissive to Jo to say it would be all right. After all, a woman was dead. Whether she was a dumbass or not, she didn’t deserve to die. Jo’s team should’ve been able to protect her.
“Of all of the people we could’ve lost tonight, that one was the least costly.” Margie spoke of her teammate as if she was a crate full of supplies that happened to fall off of a truck in transit. They couldn’t get it back, but it was okay because the crate only contained… bandages and not food or water. So bizarre. Jo had her moments when she appeared heartless, but she didn’t think she ever seemed this cold hearted.
“Was there something else you wanted to ask me?” Margie asked, looking a little off kilter all of a sudden.
Assuming she just had other things she needed to get to, Jo said, “Well, it’s just… Ryker’s got a head injury. No one else in my group knows how to fly a plane. Do you think there’s anyone in yours that you could loan me? Assuming that they get the plane up and running again?”
Margie stared at her long and hard for a moment. “You want me to give you a pilot?”
“If you can spare one.”
“I can’t spare a pilot,” Margie said, shaking her head. Her arms were folded again. “Pilots are hard to come by these days. And Crimson Crotch could decide to bomb us at any minute. I’ve gotta be ready to launch a counterattack any time.”
“I understand that. I really do. I’ll be happy to send the guy right back.” Where she’d get a plane for that, she didn’t know, but she’d sort that out when she got to Russia.
“Sorry, Jo. Can’t do it.” Margie sounded completely dismissive.
“Margie--” Jo began, ready to pull out the “you owe me” card. “You have to--”
“Besides, Jo.” Margie interrupted her as if she hadn’t been talking at all. “You probably don’t need one of my pilots anyway.”
“Why is that?” Jo asked, thinking she was going to say Ryker would be fine to fly back.
“Because there’s a pretty damn good one standing right behind you,” Margie replied.
“What?” Confusion washed over her as Jo turned around thinking maybe it was possible Ryker was back on his feet and had snuck into the tent somehow.
“Holy shit,” Jo muttered as she made eye contact with the pilot in question.
That wasn’t Ryker.