Chapter 17

Flying on small planes was nothing new to Jo, but this one was even tinier than the ones she remembered traveling on when she was younger, and she doubted she’d have much of a chance to speak to Cassidy without everyone else hearing while they were in such cramped quarters.
The plane seated four besides the pilot and the co-pilot. She climbed in next to Zane with Brandon and Cassidy behind them, and hooked her seatbelt. It would be a long flight with several fuel stops, but Jo decided not to drink too much since there was no bathroom on board, and she doubted they’d be stopping frequently enough to accommodate too much water in any one bladder. She couldn’t help but wonder if her brother was on a nicer plane, one with a restroom, maybe even seats that reclined. No one else was complaining, so Jo didn’t either, but the seat was uncomfortable, and she had no idea how the guys were managing to squeeze their longer legs in behind the seats in front of them.
Zane smiled at her and squeezed her arm momentarily as the pilot handed them all headsets, indicating it would be noisy aboard the little plane as well. She thought perhaps they should’ve let this one go instead of concealing it. “At least we’ll be harder to shoot down,” Cassidy said through the headset once they were all on and operational.
Jo glanced over her shoulder to see she was laughing; it was a joke, but not a funny one. Brandon disagreed with Jo’s assessment as he was laughing with his wife. She caught Zane’s eyes. He shrugged, and Jo decided it was going to be an even longer flight than she had assumed. Maybe she’d find a way to fall asleep.
Closing her eyes, she rested her head back against the seat, hoping she could just drift away and not have to think about any of this again until they touched down in Moscow. That wouldn’t be the case, though. Even if she could fall asleep easily under normal circumstances, this situation didn’t exactly lend itself to a peaceful slumber. Before they’d left for the airport that morning, her dad had asked her if she’d made up her mind, and Jo had had to be evasive. He’d let it go, but reminded her that he’d need an answer sooner rather than later. Not only was he intending to go back into the portal soon, he’d have to let the team waiting for them in Russia know who was in charge.
“What’s the deal, Jo? Are you running this thing or not?”
Her aunt’s voice in her head took her by surprise. Jo opened her eyes and blinked a few times before she remembered Cassidy had telepathy. Her IAC would work better the further away from the US they got, but for now, it was just a snowy blip, like a TV channel that wouldn’t come in during a storm. She’d have to answer with her thoughts and wait for Cassidy to read her mind. She hated that her entire brain would be open for access, but it was the only way this conversation was happening, and it would do her no good to be anything less than honest. “I definitely don’t want to,” she said, knowing that was certainly true.
“Why not? This is a pretty good opportunity for you. Show everyone you’re part of the team again, that you can follow orders, even when they come from your dad.”
Biting back the nasty response that wanted to form in her head, Jo tried to keep her answer as neutral as possible, though she knew it wouldn’t take much for Cassidy to find her real feelings. “I don’t think I’m ready for this. Besides, I’d rather kill Holland than take her in.”
“Because you think your mom is dead?”
“Yes.”
Cassidy was quiet for a long time, and Jo thought perhaps the conversation was over. She knew Cassidy wasn’t capable of accepting the fact that her older sister was gone. Jo wouldn’t believe it either if she hadn’t seen everything she had the day her mom vanished. When she finally did speak, Cassidy said, “Your dad wants to know what your decision is. He wants you to do this. I don’t know why, but he’s not wrong very often. You need to do it, Jo. I’ll help you, but he doesn’t want me leading. So… what’s it going to be?”
Jo wished she could turn her head to look at her aunt, to get a feel for whether or not she could actually trust her to help. They’d been close when Jo was younger, before she’d rebelled against her parents’ heavy hands, before she’d been there when her mom died, before she’d let the world know she thought the searches were futile. Before she’d told her dad where he could go. Cass had made it pretty damn clear she didn’t approve of any of that. She’d been almost as hostile about the entire situation as Cadon had been, so why would she help her now?
“Because I want to bring that bitch in and see what she knows,” Cassidy answered with absolutely no need for Jo to voice the question. “I’ll help you, Jo. I’m pissed at the way you treated your dad. I’m angry that you’ve given up on your mom. But I’m a team player, and if you’re the one Aaron wants in charge, so be it.”
Jo let out a sigh and ran her hand down her face, wishing she didn’t have to decide right at that moment. That nagging doubt she’d heard in the back of her head most of her life seemed to be shouting now, telling her she’d find a way to fuck this up, to get someone killed, to lose Holland and any chance at proving the entire idea of bringing her in was ridiculous.
“Josephina McReynolds, what’s it gonna be?” Cassidy asked. “Yay or nay? Your dad is about to go back into the portal, and he wants to know.”
Possibly sensing her uneasiness, Zane was looking at her. She caught his eyes, and he smiled at her reassuringly. He likely had no idea that she was in the middle of one of the most difficult decisions she’d ever make in her life, but it was enough. He should be leading this. He should be the one who was theoretically next in line to take over whenever all of this chaos had ended and things were back to the way they were supposed to be. Zane was smart and talented--he’d never let someone he loved get slaughtered while he cowered behind a tree….
“You okay?” he mouthed to her, and Jo nodded, her eyes likely telling him otherwise. He took her hand and gripped her fingers tightly, assuring her that she wasn’t alone. The fact that he’d agreed to come in the first place, without her even having to ask, should’ve been enough for her to realize Zane would use all of that talent and skill to help her in any way that he possibly could.
That was a good thing, too, because she was going to need all the help she could get. “Fine,” she said to Cassidy, hoping she couldn’t pick up the doubt in her response. “I’ll do it.”
“Yee haw.” Cassidy’s tone didn’t match the words, but Jo had no doubt her aunt would let her dad know, and that she meant what she’d said about helping her. For whatever reason, Cassidy seemed determined to support Aaron in this endeavor. Jo was glad that someone was because if her aunt was still walking around in her head, she’d know for certain that Jo was confident they were embarking on what was sure to be a horrific disaster.