Page 64 of Call Sign: Thunder
The pilot grinned, holding out his hand for a friendly shake. “Welcome aboard, Newb. Happy to give you a lift, but you’ll have to pry this brand new baby,” he said waving his arms around to the interior, “from my cold, dead, hands.”
Ryder plopped down into one of the comfortable seats as he warned, “Yeah, well if we aren’t off the ground in five, that could be arranged.”
The pilot leaned in, whispering plenty loud enough for his boss to hear him. “He talks a big talk, but I’m here to tell you — he can back up every single threat he makes so don’t push him too hard.”
“You say that, but then you dawdle. Are you wanting me to make an example out of you?”
“Naw… I just know we can’t leave until Doc gets here. She called upset that you’d left The Bunker without her and warned me she’ll cut off my balls if I take off without her aboard. And no offense, she scares me every bit as much as you do.”
Ryder growled something under his breath before adding. “Fine, she has five minutes too. Then we’re out of here.”
Four minutes later an out of breath Doc ran up the stairs to board the plane just in time, dragging a small rolling suitcase behind. A flight attendant Zach assumed was the Angel Crash had mentioned, welcomed her and initiated closing up the cabin while the doctor collapsed into the seat opposite her boss.
Before she could speak, Ryder deadpanned, “It seems like you might need to add a few more cardio workouts in next week, Doc.”
“Screw you,” she spat, gasping for a deep breath before continuing. “You know damn well I had to run all the way from my car out in the far lot. My car isn’t approved to park in the hangar, which is why I distinctly told you to wait for me so I could ride over with you.”
“Oops… my bad,” Ryder said, a small smile playing at his lips.
After a few more gulps of air Doc cautioned him. “I think it’s time for your quarterly reminder that Santa Clause hired me, not you. I may not be able to influence who you hire, but I do have complete discretion to red-tag anyone from active duty.”
Ryder sighed just as Zach felt the plane start moving toward the now open hangar doors.
The King pinned Doc with a stern glare that would make most men cower. “And this is your reminder that I have complete control over all hirings… and firings, and that includes those hired by Santa Clause before I came on board. I’d hate to have to replace you with someone more… flexible.”
Zach wondered who the mysterious Santa Clause might be as Doc held her own in their argument.
“You don’t want flexible. You want someone with a rubber stamp, and that will never be me.” Doc took a few seconds to buckle her seatbelt before pinning Ryder with another glare and adding. “Despite what you think, I really care about our team members. We do important work, but it isn’t easy and it sure as hell isn’t healthy for anyone whose head isn’t one-hundred percent in the game.”
As Ryder and Doc continued their stare-down Zach felt increasing like a third wheel, but considering the pilot was taxiing onto the runway, now wasn’t the time to take a stroll to explore the plane in order to give them privacy.
It wasn’t until they were a few hundred feet off the ground that Ryder relented, finally breaking their intense gaze to glance out the window as he spoke.
“I appreciate your concern, Gretchen, I really do. But you’ll just have to trust me on this. Wrath is in a much better head space when he’s on active duty than when he’s sidelined with nothing but his nightmares for company.” Ryder returned his gaze to the doctor sitting across from him before adding, “He’s the only brother I’ll ever have and despite his problems I trust him with my life.
“I appreciate that you want to help him, but there are just some real-life tortures too horrific to escape. If I thought for one minute sidelining him would bring him peace, I’d be on board with you, but I know him. He will never give up hope and that means he’ll never give up the hatred that fuels him. The day you succeed in taking away his anger is the day he’ll die.”
It was impossible not to be moved by Ryder’s passionate speech. Zach didn’t even know who the hell Wrath was, but it sounded like he’d had one hell of a shitty hand dealt to him in life.
“I’m not trying to take away his anger. I’m trying to get him to a place where he can go one day without fighting the urge to wrap his truck around a tree trunk. He loves you. He’s shielding you from his darkest demons.”
“You think I don’t know?” Ryder shouted. “Why do you think I fight to keep him busy? The only thing making him put one foot in front of the other is killing bad-guys and saving innocent people… doing for other families what he failed to do for his own. You take that away from him and it’s game over.
“So feel free to keep beating your head against the wall if you’d like, but Wrath stays on the job. Period.”
“Stubborn…” Doc cut herself off before saying what Zach suspected she wanted to say, plunging the cabin into another awkward silence.
When a soft ding announced they’d reached cruising altitude, Ryder unbuckled his seatbelt and shot to his feet.
“I’m gonna go make some calls and lie down.” He turned to the flight attendant and added, “Wake me up when we’re thirty minutes out from The Ranch. We’ll need to eat something before we land because there won’t be time once we hit the ground.”
“Yes, sir,” Angel acknowledged.
Ryder turned to Zach next and ordered. “You should nap. We’ll be out all night.”
“Got it,” he replied, already knowing that from the planning session at The Bunker.
Before Zach could relocate to the couch, the beautiful attendant approached with a tray full of drink and snack options. He nodded toward Doc to give her the first choice before grabbing a simple bottle of water and bag of chips from what remained.
