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“I don’t know.” He shook his head and shrugged. “Something’s changed between us. I can’t figure out what I did, but I don’t think she likes me anymore.”

“Hmm.” Like I was one to offer advice on girls. Still, I tried. “You ask her if she still does?”

“Are youserious?” He half-choked. “What if she says she doesn’t?”

“Then you call it quits before you get hurt any worse. But,” I looked at him over the top of my shades, “what if she said she does?”

“Harker!” Clem barked. “What’s our first move?”

“Huh?” I turned to look at him.

“You’re our leader. What do we do first?”

“Meet your scout?” I guessed.

“Good.”

#

Clem’s scout was waiting for us outside the larger of the two hangers. I sized him up, noting he had brown hair, was about Jax’s height with a slender build, and looked to be only a couple of years older. Clem shook the guy’s hand, then introduced him to my team.

“This is Mike Spinelli. He’s going to return to the Sanctuary as soon as the plane’s ready, so let’s get out of the cold and hear what he has to say.”

“Call me Spin.” He smiled. “Everyone does, except this old man.”

We all entered a building that looked like a super-sized shed with a long antenna and a small twirling radar unit on the roof. Inside, there was a counter, a bank of equipment against one wall, a card table, and a few folding chairs. I saw a paper map spread across the table and looked around for Gemma. She was chatting with Spin, though, and I didn’t want to bother her.

As I put my hands on my hips and tried to understand what I was looking at, someone came up to my side. I looked over, then down, and met Maddy’s brown eyes.

“It’s a topographical map.”

She explained how to read it in a way that I could understand.

“Thanks. I’ve never seen a map like this.”

I didn’t tell her I couldn’t remember ever trying to read a map, period. It was bad enough she’d known right away I was lost looking at this one.

“Unless you’re a backpacker or geologist or cartographer, you wouldn’t.” She shrugged. “You don’t normally use this kind of map outside of hiking, geocaching, or a profession.”

Travis came to stand on her other side and pointed to a red dot in one corner.

“Look. Here’s where we are.”

The others came over, too, and I noticed that Gemma was next to Spin, which didn’t bother me.

The look on his face did.

When I realized a growl was building deep in my chest, I rammed my fists into my jacket pockets and fought to calm down.

“Easy,” Jax murmured. “What’s wrong?”

I blinked and turned my back to the others.

“I don’t like how he’s looking at her.”

“Dude. She’s not gonna run off with him.”

I rolled my eyes with a huff. He didn’t understand.

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