“How?” She didn’t like the sound of that.
“They were taken from above, suggesting the person used a drone or something, to get them.”
This was getting worse, and she didn’t even know what the message was. She was going to take everything in her stride, though. She’d been through this once, she could do it again, couldn’t she? “What did the message say?”
“Similar to the first one, but they added they always know where you are.”
Indigo sat back in the seat and closed her eyes, letting everything Wilt told her sink in. “Does that mean everyone who is around me is in danger?” she asked eventually. Another thought hit her, one that didn’t sit well at all. “Or is it someone on the shoot with us?”
Wilt glanced at her again, his lips firm and his brow furrowed. “It’s something I haven’t wanted to consider or say out loud, but given the photos I received, that’s something we need to consider. I’m going to run a check on everyone again. We’ve already completed thorough checks on everyone on the job, but given the circumstances. I’ll run another one.”
This was getting worse and worse. Who could she trust if not the people she worked with? “I can’t believe this is happening.”
A warm hand covered hers, giving them a squeeze. “You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She was grateful for his reassurance and his touch, one she missed when he put his hand back on the steering wheel. “I do, but things happen. And I won’t blame you if something did.”
“Stop! Don’t even fucking think that.” Wilt’s anger filled the car, but it didn’t scare her. Regardless of what he did for hiscareer, there was no fear of violence from him. He wasn’t that type of person.
“I’m being realistic here, Wilt. I don’t think anything will happen, but if it does, then I know you’ll do what you can to ensure that it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Even to her own ears she sounded fatalistic. Not a good attitude to have.
“I’m. Not. Going. To. Let. Anything. Happen. To. You.” Each word enunciated clearly to get the message across to her.
He was driving, he didn’t need his attention split between assuring her and watching the road. A change of subject was needed. “What’s the thing you were going to work on during the flight, for your office? Or were you going to do the background checks?”
Okay, so maybe she couldn’t totally change it.
“I’ll leave the background checks for when we get to Broome. What I was going to do–while not top-secret stuff, and I can’t go into all the specifics–– is check out some satellite images of the area my team members are going into. I’m going to try and see if I can get some more intel for them, so they have a better idea of the lay of the land so they’re not surprised and have plans for every contingency.”
There wasn’t any indication in his voice that he wished he was going with them, even though their past conversations suggested he did.
“Do you do that all the time? Before you go away, that is?”
The sign for the airport flashed past them, soon they would be surrounded by others, and their ability to keep this conversation going was slim. There was no way Wilt would want to talk about this around the rest of the group.
“Yeah, we generally have at least four or more different plans in place for any trip.”
“Why so many?” It seemed excessive, but what did she know about how things like that worked?
“Because nothing is predictable when you’re going into hostile environments. It’s better to have more plans than not enough.”
“Surely, it’s impossible to cover every possible outcome. How would you know what’s going to happen?”
Wilt pulled into a parking spot and turned the engine off. “True, we can’t know every little detail, but after doing what we do for as long as we have, we’ve seen a lot, and had to pivot quickly to avoid danger, so we use those experiences when we’re planning. Nine times out of ten, shit hits the fan anyway and we have to make something up on the fly.”
He spoke about what he did so casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal, but for someone like her who benefitted from the shit they did that kept her and everyone else in the world safe, it was a huge deal.
“Thank you for all you do,” she said quietly.
He shrugged. “I’ve been out of the Army for a while now, but thank you.” He glanced at his watch. “We need to go.”
Indigo didn’t want to be surrounded by people, she’d much rather it just be the two of them. “You’re right. We don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”
Afew hours later after landing in Broome, Indigo looked out over the ocean from her room at the resort they were staying at. Like Rottnest Island, they were in individual bungalows with views of the famous Cable Beach.
The place was owned by one of Jeffrey’s good friends, and it was luxury personified as well as eco-friendly. Everything about it, from the toiletries to the white fluffy robes hanging in the wardrobe, were high quality.
