Page 115 of Black to Light

“France.” Nick’s voice sounded harder now, but also less defeated. “Paris, specifically. But that was months ago. There was also that thing in Istanbul I told you about, and a possible sighting in Cairo. I don’t have anything concrete for the past month. But last I knew, they were using Paris as their home base. Everywhere else was short-term.”

Before Black or I could speak, Kiko poked her head in through the glass door.

“Dex thinks they’ve got him,” she called out. “Satellite caught them at take-off, just like you hoped, and we think we’ve mapped their current trajectory.” Her voice remained all business. “One hour lag, but they’re definitely heading east over the continental U.S.A.”

“Where?” Black asked.

“We don’t know for sure, but they’re pretty high up. Dex says likely New York, Boston, New Jersey, D.C. Somewhere in that area.”

I couldn’t help noticing she very studiouslydidn’tlook at Nick.

“Dex is on hold with Grant Steffans of Homeland Security,” Kiko continued. “They’ll let us know as soon as your plane starts coming in for an approach at any of the airports, includingsmaller, private ones. He’ll have to refuel if he plans to continue east past New York.”

I glanced at Black, and he met my gaze with a scowl.

I knew now why Jem took Black’s plane, versus someone else’s.

We couldn’t exactly climb onto a commercial flight to follow them if we had absolutely no idea where they’d be landing.

“Oh, I’m working on that, doc––” Black muttered under his breath.

Kiko beat him to the punch.

“We’ve also secured that plane you asked for, boss,” she added. “The fastest we could get was ninety minutes to lift-off, but it can cross the Atlantic if we need it to.”

“Good,” Black grunted.

He glanced around at the rest of us, his eyes stopping on Nick.

“I want everyone who’s coming ready in thirty-five minutes. Cars loaded and leaving the garage in forty-five.”

No one said a word.

We all just rose to our feet and began filing out of Black’s office, including me.

27

THE CHASE

We left exactly when Black said we would leave.

The Rucker case had practically been forgotten, other than how it related to Jem.

Everything was about Dalejem now, and getting back Angel, Javier, and Aura.

Cowboy didn’t say a single word as we boarded the plane Black got from somewhere, probably on loan from one of his billionaire pals, or maybe someone he knew from back in his military days. Wherever he got it, it was bigger than Black’s Gulfstream, closer to a small commercial jet than the sleek, black and white animal I was used to.

The interior was also markedly different, more like a “eighties sex pad,” as Ace muttered under his breath than the quietly expensive but relatively stripped down interior Black preferred. I ended up on a fuzzy green armchair that Kiko joked I probably shouldn’t look at under a black light. I grimaced, and a few others laughed.

I knew we were all whistling in the dark, at least to a degree.

Nick came with us, because of course he did.

Cowboy, Ace, Mika, A.J., Jax, Kiko, Holo, Dog, Alisha, Reuben, and Dex came, too.

Black also brought three more seers: Rafe, which made sense, as he often got paired with Dex, also Sully and Zach, both of whom had a decent amount of military training. The sheer number of seers on the plane gave me a pretty good idea of how worried Black was about bringing Jem in without having to shoot him.

It also hit me that almost everyone on the plane was close to Jem.

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