I nod firmly. “We’re as safe as we’re going to be.” It’s a low bar to cross, but we crossed it.
Her head bobs, and she finally looks out the window. The tension in her neck fades by a degree, and that’s all I can ask for.
The crew runs the checklist in a tone I can believe. No stumbles. No repeats. The engines spool. The floor carries a low vibration. The air tastes like hot metal and then like nothing when the engine powers back down.
Captain gets on the speaker. “The tower wants to hold us for traffic. Going to plan D.”
“Understood.” I reach beneath my seat and pull out a neck brace in case we’re boarded.
“Plan D?” Mina asks. “What happened to A through C?”
“A was nothing happening. B was a Vitaly sighting with no action taken, meaning watchful waiting, with a chance of activity. C…you don’t want to know what C was.” I wrap the neck brace around my neck and wait to hear the conversation.
The captain turns on the speakers, so he knows I’m listening. He tells the tower the right words about a medical need and a deteriorating situation. A minute later, we get expedited clearance.
No need for the neck brace, so I tug the Velcro apart and tuck it away. “Thankfully, plan D went without a hitch.”
Mina shakes her head in disbelief and chuckles. “You really do think of everything, don’t you? How many plans were there?”
“A through double F.”
She almost smiles at that, but after everything that happened today, smiles are a rare commodity.
At three thousand feet the islands become a smear of green and sand against a blue background. Guests will post stories that do not match. Security will write a report that avoids names. The manager will issue credits and lose sleep. My men will stay dead.
I do not look at Mina when that thought lands. If I look, heat will flood the places I need cold. She is in danger, and the thoughtchokes me if I let it. Falling for her is fast and hard. That is almost as dangerous as a bullet.
I turn that off. Staying focused is the only option.
I unbuckle and walk nose to tail one more time. The ritual keeps me sane. I listen for new buzzes in the cabinets. I look at crew faces. No darting eyes. No sweat that does not fit.
I stop at Mina’s seat. “Drink some water.”
“I’m fine.”
“For me.”
Rolling her eyes, she breaks the seal on a bottle and drinks. “Happy?”
“I won’t be until this is over, but I’m glad you’re drinking water.”
“You should too, you know.”
She’s right about that, so I force some down. “This will be a short hop to another island for fuel, then we continue on.”
“Understood,” she says. She closes her eyes for two breaths and then watches the window again. “It all looks so peaceful from a distance.”
“Most things do.” I didn’t let myself think their names when I saw the boat empty and bloodied. I swallow down more water first. “Marcus and Tanner are gone.”
“Gone?”
“Vitaly got them.”
She takes a breath, and her face goes pale. “Did you see them?”
“I saw enough to know.”
Mina’s eyes fall onto my hands. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
