“Because that’s about as much as I know!”
“You’re aggravating. Why did Conor and I help you find Kitty again?”
The casual mention of her name tripped every internal alarm I possessed. “Star,” I warned. “Proceed with caution.”
“Says you. I checked the flight log on your Falcon.”
“I dropped them off at their home a half hour ago.”
“In one piece?”
Did hopefully turning three into four count as ‘in one piece?’
Now was not the time to be dealing with an erection.
“Yes,” I demurred.
“What mechanical issue had you making an emergency stop in Hell’s Rebels’ turf? Could someone have tampered with the plane?”
“Whatever security leak let you uncover that, I want you to fill in. Later.” I ignored the bird she flipped my way. “The pilot mentioned something about throttle stagger. Whatever the fuck that means.”
“Unlikely method of sabotage but possible.” She hummed. “I’dhave thought it was an electronic issue. How trustworthy’s your pilot?”
“What are you thinking—Martinez…?”
“I don’t trust anyone apart from Conor, and that’s only because he’s had my back for years.” She dipped her chin. “AndI love him.”
“You trust Dead To Me, surely?”
“With my life. Not with my secrets.”
“You only believed me when I told you Martinez confirmed she was dead. So, I’ll tell you what I told Martinez and his wife—you’re discussing this with the wrong brother.”
Ignoring me, she repeated, “Is the pilot trustworthy?”
“Aurora picked him so it’s likely. We lost our last pilot a couple years ago.” During the plane hijacking that had almost taken my life too. “This one’s been with us ever since.”
“I’ll look into him.”
“Pro bono?” I jibed, smirking when she glowered. “Did you speak with Martinez after our call?”
“I did. He gave me a detective’s number. I refuse to believe she’s dead, Stan.”
“She couldn’t have survived the blast, Star. Not if she was on-site.” I grimaced. “We drove through the carnage yesterday. It was a fucking war zone.”
“She was supposed to be shadowing the Frasier girls. If they’re safe, then it tracks that she is.”
“Didn’t trust me with them?”
“No,” was her flat retort. “But I had enough faith to set you up with her, so there’s a compliment somewhere in there.”
“Conor was against me meeting Kitty.”
An annoyingly smug smile was the only answer she was willing to give me.
Unwilling to drop this, I prompted, “Star?”
I didn’t know Conor well, but I recognized a kingmaker when I sawtwo—the pair of them were definitely that.
