Damn-it-to-hell, that hurt. He jabbed his elbow against her hand. “Hey. Leave a little skin.”
“Sorry.” She eased her vise grip clench on his sides.
“That’s okay.” If he ever had to wake her up in the future, he planned to be a lot farther away than face-to-face, body to body. Maybe…or maybe not.
“I thought I was falling in the water again.”
“Not likely. I’ve had a hold on you for the past couple hours.” Rubbing his elbow against his side, he grunted.
“Did I hurt you?” she asked.
“No. Takes a lot more than that to hurt me.” Although, come to think of it, she’d fought with more tenacity than some men he’d met in hand-to-hand combat.
“Are we almost there?”
His earbud clicked at the same time a tiny star flashed bright white on the GPS. He motioned her to look over her shoulder at the screen. “That’s our ride.”
“You two okay out there?” Drake sounded tired as he spoke through the secure communication system.
“Sure thing. We could go another hundred miles.” Mitch would if need be. He’d keep going to his last second of life. When that time came, he planned to fall forward as he hit the dirt, or water, as the case might be.
“That won’t be necessary.”
Liz glanced up. “Drake’s on the boat?”
“Evidently.” Mitch hadn’t planned on the boss coming out to meet them. That wasn’t the standard MO.
Usually, the old man, as the agents liked to call the boss, would have been holed up back at the main headquarters in St. Louis. Most days, he could be found roaming the hallways, checking what was new in research, or offering input on new computer enhancements. Always trying to come up with innovative ways of maintaining security.
A white spot spun off from the tiny star location and moved in their direction. Backup? Guide? Team member?
Didn’t matter what you called the person on the way to their position, he was the OPAQUE agent charged with making sure the pickup went smoothly. And, that he and Liz were actually the ones being guided into the agency’s current mission base.
He throttled back, bringing the Q40 to a floating stop on the water. Tapping Liz to get her attention, he held his fingers to his lips. She nodded.
The other OPAQUE agent approached in silent mode. Still, Mitch knew the silent hum of a Q40 like he knew the click of a bullet being chambered. He tightened his grip on the throttle. If something felt off, he was ready to shoot into high speed in less than a second. If everything connected as okay, he’d need to give a return signal to the incoming agent.
The incoming Q40 ripped into loud high gear. The GPS displayed a tight whip around double circle. Mitch reacted with a silent, slow circle then ripped into loud high gear as he deliberately fishtailed across the water, headed straight toward the star location. The other Q40 stopped parallel about six feet away.
Former CIA agent turned OPAQUE agent, Reese Trenton gave his trademark casual salute with two fingers then tapped his earbud. “Did you lose your client?”
“No. I’ve got her right here.” Mitch pulled the solar vest apart to where Liz could be seen in the glow of the screen.
Reese raised his eyebrows and grinned. “Interesting arrangement you got there.”
“This was the only way to keep her warm.”
“Oh, I imagine both of you were plenty warm.” Reese indicated he’d lead the way to the boat.
Mitch had worked with the newly recruited agent a few times before when the CIA and OPAQUE were in on an assignment. Drake had thought highly enough of the guy to persuade him to join OPAQUE. Only took three years. Mitch had seen enough of his work to know he was good, which meant instant trust in his book.
Closing fast on the pickup boat, a shimmer of a glow in the near distance grew larger with each passing moment. This part always felt like coming home, or at least what he thought that should feel like. He’d had very few good homecomings as he grew up.
Reese landed his Q40 on one of the lifts at the back of the boat and jumped on deck as the lift raised. Mitch pulled alongside the boat then grabbed hold of a rope ladder hung over the side.
“What should I do?” Liz asked.
“Stay where you are until I get everything set for transfer.” He unbuckled the solar vest from around them and shoved it into a compartment on the Q40. “You’ve sat in that position for so long, it may be hard for you to stand at first. Relax, and let us do the work of getting you onboard.”
