Page 52 of The Show

“Yes.”

“N.A.S.A.? Fucking, N.A.S.A.?!” I rubbed hard at my temples while Jupiter just stared at me. “Just to be clear, wearetalking about the space people?”

“Yep. The very same.”

I suddenly wished I had a Plan B as Plan A was slipping further and further away from me.

“Reeves, who is this chick?”

“She’s the key to getting me. And Shepherd, she can’t know any of this has come from me. I mean it.”

“Yeah… okay.” My eyebrows were so far up in my hairline I wondered if they were stuck. I stood up, needing to think, but I had nothing going round my head except thoughts of N.A.S.A. and how the fuck I was going to track her down. It wasn’t like their employee list was readily available, and it wasn’t like I had all the time in the world to figure it out. I had four weeks, tops. “I’d better get to work then.”

The enormous telescope caught my eye as I followed Jupiter back outside; its presence suddenly making much more sense. I think.

Jesus. N.A.S.A. What had I just agreed to?

“I’ll be in touch.” I slapped his arm, though I may as well have been slapping the trunk of a tree for how solid it was. “And I suggest you get packing.”

He murmured quietly, “I really do hope I have to, because then it means I’m one step closer to Marnie.”

“I’ve never failed at anything yet,” I told him, climbing into the car.

“Hey, Shepherd?” He held onto the driver’s door.

“Yeah?”

“Have you thought about taking the G.M. role? Furst is fucking up the team right now.”

My hand stopped halfway to the door handle. Since Murray had suggested the same thing a few days ago, it had been a constant, if slightly dull, grumbling in the recesses of my brain. However, my plans to get Jupiter had dominated my mind enough that I hadn’t had time to dedicate to anything else.

“Something to think about anyway.” Jupiter slammed the door shut before I could respond.

This time, he stayed and waved me off as I drove away.

I’d agreed to meet Lowe at the airport so we could fly straight back to New York. I got there on autopilot, too busy thinking about the G.M. role, or how I was going to find Marnie to pay attention to any part of the journey. She was waiting with Dylan and Decker as I arrived and pulled up to the hangar, and for the first time, seeing her was a soothing balm calming my mind. I wasn’t sure if it was Jupiter’s story about being without Marnie for fourteen years or what, but even with the turmoil I usually suffered in her presence, I’d rather go through that every day than never see her face again.

I got out and tossed the keys to Decker, who caught them mid-air, “How’d it go?”

I grinned with a confidence I didn’t quite feel. “Good. Got a few stipulations to iron out, but think it’s in the bag.”

“Holy fuck!” He pulled me in for a hug, with a big slap on the back. “That’s amazing.”

“Yeah.”

“Shit, can’t believe you got him! Now what?”

“Now we have ourselves a ballgame!” I smirked, ignoring the galactic sized hole in my plan. “Now we build a team.”

Dylan and Lowe were both staring up at me, their wide eyes filled with excitement.

“Wow! Congratulations!”

“L.A. is going to be pissed at you, Penny!” Dylan laughed.

“I know.” I grinned at her before leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Thanks for letting us crash with you.”

“Anytime. Guess we’ll be coming to some games now. Oooh, who wouldn’t want to see Jupiter Reeves in a Lions’ shirt? Yum yum…”

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