Page 32 of Running Scared
“That plane meant a lot to Bird,” Dean said softly, and Marcus scowled and shook his head.
“So should Bird’s life,” he said.“It bothers me when people yell at you.”
“People yell at me?”Dean asked.He didn’t often register that.He assumed part of it was his lack of social awareness that he’d never noticed.
“Sometimes,” Marcus said, shaking his head.“Let’s say I’ve grown a sudden tenderness for your feelings and leave it at that.”
Dean stared at him.“What?Why?”Then, with horror, “You’re not… notin lovewith me, are you?”The absurdity of even asking that question left him gasping.
“No,” Marcus said, with such absolute finality that Dean gave a sigh of relief.“But I doloveyou.You may have brothers coming out your ears, but I only have one, and I don’t like him disrespected.Is that okay with you?”
Dean gave him a smile.“That’s fine,” he said happily.“Idohave brothers coming out my ears, but that doesn’t mean people get to be mean to you either.”He paused.“Except me.I get to give you shit at any time.”
“Oh, of course,” Marcus said, nodding.“Goes without saying.”
They didn’t need any other words as they went back to gathering and organizing, and after another grumpy, pissed-off moment of mourning the plane, Birdie stood to help them.
Twenty minutes later, as Birdie prepared to mount behind Dean on the motorbike, Dean heard a rusty voice proclaiming, “Thanks for not letting me die, you arrogant fuckhead.”
“Anytime, Bird,” Dean said, meaning it.“Keep an eye on the compass.Seriously, Marcus and I knew where we weregoing,but we have no idea where we are now.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.Sangrino del Corazón isn’t really found on maps.”
Dean grunted.“We werehopingto find the town before we found the compound.I’d leave you in the town, Bird.You could place a call for exfil, and Marcus and I could go do our thing.”
“Wait a minute,” Birdie said, forestalling Dean from hitting the kick start.“What’s your thing?I don’t know your game plan here.What aren’t you telling me?”
Dean shot an unhappy glance at Marcus, who against what they both knew about being all alone in the middle of fucking nowhere, glanced around them as though scorpions sporting recording equipment were a common occurrence.
“I’m not gonna say it,” Marcus told him.“I mean,Iknow what we’re doing, but the less we actually say what we’re doing, the more we can pretend we weren’t planning to do it.”
Birdie stared from Marcus to Dean and back.“Wait.Did I justcrash my planein an unsanctioned action?C’mon, guys.The FBI is going to replace my plane, right?”
Dean nodded, no doubt in the world.“Of course they are, Bird.We’ve got recon near the US-Mexico border totally cleared.You were in perfectly legal airspace when Corazones de Sangre opened fire on you.You’re good.”
Birdie blinked.“What are you two chuckleheads not telling me?”the pilot asked flatly.
Dean regarded his old partner in adventuring with a level gaze.“Right now, Birdie, you can call our supervisor from town, and they will send a copter to pick you up in exfil.And when they ask you what we’re doing, you can say that was never part of our deal.”
Birdie’s mouth opened a little, lean and lined and a tad vulnerable, and then closed again.“And what if I want payback?”Birdie asked suspiciously.“Those fuckers shot down my baby.”
Dean and Marcus met eyes again.
“Either way,” Marcus said to Dean alone, “we’ve got to get going before somebody starts checking to see where our chutes went.”
Dean grunted.“My boyfriend’s a witness to a Bratva murder,” he said.“The same hit men who’ve been cozying up to Corazones de Sangre.We’re gonna head toward town to drop you off, and I want you to think about the one thing that would keep my boy and his family and nowmyfamily safe, and when you come to a conclusion, then you can let us know if you want to come with us.Until then hold tight, Bird, and keep your helmet and your goggles on.”
The diminutive pilot nodded firmly, and Dean and Marcus kickstarted their bikes.The two-stroke engines roared to life, and they hauled ass in the general direction of the town.
“What happens,” Birdie yelled at him as they hit their stride, “if we get to the compound before we get to the town?”
“I guess you won’t have much of a choice to make then after all!”Dean shouted back, and then kept his mouth shut because he didn’t like eating bugs.
The Handoff
THE NAPwas surprisingly refreshing, and so was the stop out in the middle of nowhere for a pop-up barbecue pit.They ate on battered picnic tables with vinyl-covered red-checked tablecloths under an ocean of black sky, and cleaned up with about sixty-dozen wipes, and every one of them moaned and made free use of the antacids Val Royal passed around afterward.
And secretly craved more but didn’t want to look ridiculous in front of the other travelers.
