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
The flight was long and boring, but at least Jo was able to use her IAC the further away from home they got. Rather than spending her time chatting with other team members who had also rediscovered the wondrous device that was the IAC, she spent her time looking through the archives, trying to get a sense of what tools she would be working with, what sort of strategies might work given the terrain and the obstacles they’d face in locating Holland and bringing her in, and researching the teammates she wasn’t familiar with. She slept a little, only ate a few bites when they stopped for fuel, and probably said less than ten words to anyone else on the plane, so by the time they landed in Moscow, the plane waving around in the snowy breeze like a ribbon, she was exhausted and felt just as ill at ease as she had when she’d agreed to do this several hours before.It didn’t seem like it should be snowing this time of year, even in Moscow
The Russian soldier standing next to Brandon’s window barked orders at them in a language none of them spoke, though their IACs were capable of translating what he was saying. That didn’t help in replying. Brandon said, “English,” politely about ten times before he finally held up his badge for the gun toting militant to see. This guy was more of a boy than a man, maybe nineteen at best. Jo fought the urge to reach inside her jacket pocket and finger the cold steel she had strapped there. She caught Cassidy’s eyes and knew the Hybrid was considering tossing all of them out of the way.Once the soldier boy had the badge in his paw, he shouted for a few of his comrades to come over. They looked at it, exchanged some speculative jibes with each other in their native tongue, laughed and then, in broken English, a different soldier, one a little older than the other said, “You all LIGHTS, eh?”&ldquo
The SUV wound its way through a dense forest, and the snow grew thicker the further north they went. Rarely did they see another vehicle, and for the last twenty minutes before Jo directed Brandon to turn right on what didn’t even look like a road, they didn’t see another soul or even a house.“You sure about this?” Brandon asked as he made a sharp turn between two trees.“That’s what the map says.” She could see the red dot that represented their vehicle turning onto the thin line of a road on the map she was following using her IAC. “It’s narrow and winds around a lot, but eventually, it should come to a fence with a steel gate. The cabin is another thirty yards up the drive.”“Oookay,” Brandon said, steering them between trees whose branches reached out and slashed at the roof of the vehicle. The road was bumpy, so he took his time. Even with th
Conversation continued as Jo walked into the cabin, Zane behind her. He didn’t stay there for long. Dax raised a hand to him, and Zane tapped Jo on the shoulder before he went over to say hello. Everywhere she looked, groups of people were swapping stories or getting reacquainted. Some were laughing, as if they were caught up in the glory days of the past. Others were clearly irritated or even downright angry about what LIGHTS had become. A few of them smiled when they caught her staring, but no one approached, and Jo wasn’t sure what to do.She felt like at least a half hour had passed as the groups ebbed and flowed, people shifting to other parts of the room or disappearing into other parts of the house. No one said anything to her, which wasn’t too surprising considering she didn’t really know anyone save the people she’d arrived with--and Scott. From some of their expressions, it was clear she wasn’t necessarily we
Jo stared at Scott as he came to a stop in front of her. He took a step to the side and gestured for her to step forward. “Let’s get on with it, Little Mac,” he said.If Scott was willing to listen to her, then everyone else had to be, too. The others gathered around, and Jo tried to determine what would be the best place to start strategizing.There was a pool table in the corner. Jo moved toward it, and the others saw where she was headed. A screech of wooden legs against wooden flooring filled her ears as they moved the table and assembled chairs around it. “Do we have a paper map?” she asked Mila because she was standing nearby and had been there a while.She looked a little confused, but Mikali stepped over with the requested item. It was large, and he’d pulled it from the corner of the room where it had been propped against a bookshelf.“Thank you. I app
The sky above her was clear, a thousand foreign stars winking down at her. “Russian stars look a lot like American and Canadian stars, don’t they?”She knew it was Scott behind her before she turned her head. In fact, she’d known he was the one who’d come out even before he spoke. She couldn’t read minds like her aunt could, but she did sometimes get a sixth sense about things.It was odd how he’d been glaring at her earlier and hadn’t spoken a word to her until she needed someone to help her out with starting the meeting, someone the others would follow. Sure, Zane could’ve stepped up, but they didn’t know him any better than they knew her, and with a last name like his, chances were they wouldn’t trust him until he proved himself to them either.But Scott was here now, wanting to talk. Jo sank down on a roughly hewn log bench, and he sat at the other e
Somehow, Jo had ended up getting stuck with the Jeep riddled with bullet holes. After a big fuss where some of the team members yelled at others over who got to take the vehicle they’d rode to the cabin in together, she’d finally settled it by drawing straws. She was still shaking her head about it two hours later as Zane drove them deeper into the snow and ice, closer to the mountains. If all of their team members always acted like this, like kindergartners fighting over a toy, it was no wonder her dad always seemed to be on his last nerve.Ping and Leo sat in the back seat, neither of them saying much of anything. Jo knew now would be a great time to get to know them. It was important for her to be familiar with anyone who might have her life in their hands, after all, but they weren’t voluntarily speaking up, and she didn’t see the point in forcing them. Zane had tried earlier, asking a few questions about where they’d gr
The table in front of him was littered with poker chips and cards, coins from various European countries and a smattering of bills in the middle. The man in black ripped all of the money toward him, a grin pulling at one corner of his mouth as he wished his rivals a good day. The others tossed down cards, their cries of anger or disappointment evident even though Jo didn’t speak a lick of Russian and didn’t care to use her translator on matters that didn’t make a difference to her.Some of the others departed as she approached, either out of the game or leery of a woman dressed in black leather carrying more weapons than a gladiator. A few stuck around, possibly hoping for a show. Jo ignored them and waited for the American to look up from the cards he was shuffling, his winnings shoved safely into a pouch that hung around his waist.He was ignoring her. That much was certain. It didn’t take anyone that long to s