Page 71 of GAF Factor

I closed my eyes in mortification. I hadn’t meant to basically piss all over him just because his ex…lover—or whatever she was—came into the picture. I turned and gave him a sweet smile. “Did you need something?”

The way his eyes roamed over every inch of my body told me exactly what he needed, but this was a small plane, and there wasn’t nearly enough privacy for what he had in mind.

Another man came shoving between IKE and IRIS, pushing them further into the plane. “Alright, if we’re gonna get this rustbucket in the sky, take your seats and strap in tight. Oh, and uh…I’m gonna need all your vomit bags. I left my spares at home.”

I frowned, glancing around at the others. What was this guy talking about?

“Scottie, it’s a plane. Keep her steady and everything will go according to plan,” IRIS said.

“Really?” Scottie glared at him. “Really? Everything will go according to plan? Since when in the history of us working together has that ever panned out? Name one fucking time!”

“Um—”

“See, you can’t fucking do it!”

“You didn’t give me a chance to answer!” IRIS snapped.

Scottie jabbed his finger in the man’s face and snarled. “I have been accident-free for almost two years now, and I will not let you ruin that record with your superstitious sentences and your unhelpful advice.”

“How is it unhelpful to tell you to keep her steady?” IRIS argued.

“Because it’s common sense. Of course, I’m going to keep her steady. Did you think I was going to steer her side to side and hope for the best?”

“Well, sometimes I wonder when I’m sitting in the back and you’re vomiting in front.”

“I’m vomiting because you put me in a reckless situation!”

“Name one!”

Scottie’s nostrils flared in anger. “When is it ever a good time to bring a bomb on board a plane?”

IRIS opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. “Okay, yeah. That’s a good example.”

“Now, sit your ass down and don’t fucking bother me.” Scottie snatched the puke bag out of IRIS’s hands and stormed to the front of the plane. IKE walked over and took my elbow, guiding me to a seat.

“We should probably buckle up.”

“Because your pilot is likely to crash the plane?”

“That’s debatable.”

I snorted. “Well, that’s comforting.” I buckled in, making sure it was extra tight, then took a deep breath. When I glanced to my right, Jane was doing the same thing. If we were going to make it through this trip, I was going to need a major distraction.

“So, you were in love with a serial killer. What’s that like?”

18

IKE

I grabbedthe last of the bags, then loaded them into the back of the waiting SUV. Jane came running around the back, pushing me aside as she reached for her own bag.

“Sorry, I just need my laptop.”

I frowned, looking at all the extra bags that were in the way. “Why don’t you put that up front with you?”

“Well, then I wouldn’t have leg room.”

“It’s in the way back here.” I started pulling out bags, sorting the weapons bags from luggage. It was ridiculous how much bullshit we didn’t need.

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