Page 108 of Viral Justice

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ali’s stomach churnedas she ran for the entrance of the building and its wide windows, Max a few steps in front of her. The rest of the team, what there was left of it, crowded around the windows when they reached the trashed reception area.

The smoke from the crash was easily visible down the valley, but that was all they could see.

“We need to get higher,” she said to Max.

“Take Jessup with you,” he said, pinning her in place with a gaze that was one part horror, one part fear and all the way angry. “I want a report in ten minutes.”

“Yes, sir.” She glanced at Jessup, who nodded at her.

“You know a good spot?”

“Yeah.”

“Lead the way, Kemosabe.”

“Call me that again and I will kick your ass,” she said in a mild tone most women would use to chastise a four-year-old.

His lips twitched, but he managed not to smile. Good for him. She was in the mood to kick some more ass. She looked at Max again and had to force herself not to react to the change in his face.

Before, he’d been all military, concerned for the team and for the situation. Now, there was a heat in his gaze that made her want to crawl all over him. If there’d been any chance to do it without an audience, she’d have done it.

Instead, she had to stuff her need to reassure him that she could do this—was in fact, the best soldier to do this—and hope he read between the lines.

“Ten minutes,” she said, her voice huskier than was professional. “I promise.”

His nostrils flared and she knew he wanted to say something, but he looked so damned combustible she was afraid anything he said would blow up the fiction that they weren’t involved to smithereens.

So, she left before he could comment. Left with Jessup on her heels and a single-minded focus on getting the intel they needed and back again as fast as possible.

Despite the speed of her departure, she hadn’t sacrificed stealth, making sure no one was following them as they worked their way up the mountain. It took only four minutes to reach the spot she’d used before for reconnaissance. Only a few seconds to determine that the news was all bad.

“Does that look like a drone aircraft?” she asked Jessup as she sighted down the scope on her weapon.

He was doing the same. “Yep, one of ours.” He paused for a moment, then asked, “When is that drop supposed to happen?”

“About thirty minutes.”

“This couldn’t be that plane, could it?”

“Maybe this one was taking pictures for the desk pilots at the base.”

“Fuck, I hope so.”

They both watched armed men swarm the smoking wreckage, then walk away with pieces of the machine.

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