Chapter 14 #2
Zenko looked at him sharply before shoving the weapons bag in with the rest of the gear.
“Do all you fuckers read minds?”
“Nope.” Griffin gave him a grin as he reached for another bag. “You’ve checked your nonexistent phone about twenty times since Rock told you Shaun was safe. Either you’re waiting for a booty call, or you’re wondering where he is.”
“I don’t have a fucking phone.”
“That was kinda my point.”
Zenko flipped him off before carrying the bag onto the plane.
They were airborne before Zenko’s body finally began demanding payment for the last several hours.
He rested his head against the seat and closed his eyes, hoping exhaustion would finally knock him out, but sleep refused to come.
His muscles fucking ached, his neck was stiff, and every position he tried seemed more uncomfortable than the last.
Somewhere during the flight, he must have slept because the change in the engines dragged him awake.
Zenko blinked at the dim cabin, rolled the stiffness from his neck, and glanced toward the nearest window.
Darkness still covered the ground below them, but clusters of lights were beginning to appear as the plane descended toward Croatia.
Shaun is down there somewhere.
He stared through the glass as the lights grew closer and tried to decide whether he wanted to punch the asshole or drag him into the nearest room and make damn sure he was really okay. Knowing Shaun, Zenko figured he might end up doing both.
He unbuckled his seat belt as soon as the small plane touched down at a tiny airstrip in a small town about forty klicks from Zagreb. “How far to the safe house?”
“About fifteen to twenty minutes depending on traffic.” Griffin towered over Zenko’s seat as he pulled weapon bags and gear from the overhead lockers and started tossing them to their owners.
He grunted when the weight of his ruck landed on his knees and leaned around Griffin to look at the gear bomb that had exploded all over the interior of the plane. Holy shit, these guys traveled with a lot of weapons.
“You are sure our guys and Shaun are already at the house?”
“Yup.”
He noted the quick smile Griffin threw over his shoulder at Rock when the other man’s hand landed on the small of his back, urging him toward the door of the plane.
He didn’t miss the way Rock leaned down slightly as if he was breathing in Griffin’s scent.
Working in a combat zone with the one you loved most must be fucking amazing and terrifying in equal measures.
Because fuck, with them at your side as you went into battle, you could protect them, but you were also there to watch them fall if the gods decided today was their day to die.
Zenko shuddered. Could he really fight beside Shaun and not lose his mind? Nope, he decided, probably not. He wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself, or he would want to drag Shaun behind him to protect him, and there was no way the man would go for that.
Dumbass, you don’t even know if this thing between you is real or if now that Shaun is back with his team, it’s done.
“Move it, Zen.”
Noble’s voice had him pulling himself out of the seat. Shit, he was last out again.
“Fuck.” Groaning as he stepped onto the floodlit tarmac, he spotted a couple of dark SUVs parked off to one side next to something that could only be described as a toy car. He eyed it doubtfully. “You assholes better not expect me to fit into that fucking dinky car.”
Rock snorted from his spot at the bottom of the steps. “Nope, that belongs to our pilot, but she’s not ready to leave yet.”
“She?”
“Yeah, Noble.” Rock moved his feet apart as if bracing himself. “She.”
“You brought my fucking cousin?”
“Shut it, Noble.”
Zenko spun around at the familiar voice behind him, his hand automatically reaching for the weapon he normally carried at his back before his brain caught up with the movement.
“Shit, I could have shot you,” he muttered as the small, dark-haired woman dressed in a flight suit patted his stomach and smiled while squeezing past him.
“Nah, you wouldn’t have, because then Noble would have to kill you, and we all know how pissed that would make him.”
“Damn it…”
“I said shut it, Noble.” The woman stood at the top of the steps with her hands on her hips and glared down at Noble and Rock.
“You might think you are fricking Jesse James with your band of outlaws, but I have news for you, cousin dearest. You are not the boss of me, and you don’t get to tell me what to do. ”
Zenko folded his lips together to stop himself from laughing out loud.
Snickers and suppressed laughter came from Rock’s team, and from their reactions, they obviously knew the pilot well enough to know she could look after herself and had no problem standing up to Noble.
Zenko damn near lost the battle when Noble pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, looking like a man using every ounce of control he had to keep himself from throttling his cousin.
“Oh, fuck.” Griffin looked at Rock. “There are two of them.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zenko watched Noble lose his grip on the temper he’d been famous for back when they were both in Teams. Noble grabbed Griffin’s shirt with both hands and dragged him close until they were almost nose to nose. “There are not two of my fucking cousins.”
“Whoa.” Griffin brought his hands up between Noble’s and broke the hold on his shirt. “She’s like Shar number two.” He pushed Noble in the chest, forcing him to take a step back. “Back up, dude, personal space and all that.”
“Take your fucking hands off him right the fuck now, Noble.”
Rock’s growl made even Zenko take a step back. “Holy shit, I’m not getting in the middle of that.” His mouth fell open when Noble immediately released Griffin and stepped back. “Holy shit,” Zenko repeated.
Noble turned and scowled down at the woman. “Allie, what the fuck are you doing here, and where the fuck is Lexi?”
“Her father has taken her to see my family in Tennessee.” Allie planted her hands back on her hips. “Between you and my brother, I get no chance to have some freaking fun.”
“Allie, I just spoke to my momma two days ago, and there were no plans to visit mentioned.”
“Don’t be so fucking ridiculous, Noble, they’ve been there a week already, and they left the day I flew Rock here.”
Zenko watched the back and forth as the situation slowly started to make sense. Fuckballs, Noble was going to lose it. He thought the sun rose and set with his cousin’s kid, Lexi. If her father hadn’t taken her to visit her grandmother, then where the fuck were they?
Allie suddenly wobbled in front of him, and Zenko’s hands shot out to steady her. “Fuck.”
“Give her to me.”
“I’m okay.” Allie slapped both their hands away and pulled out her phone, hitting a number before putting it to her ear.
Zenko looked at Rock and Griffin, who were having a harsh, whispered conversation off to the side of the vehicles. He frowned when Rock pointed a finger at Griffin. Whatever the Ghosts’ leader wanted him to do, Grif appeared just as adamant that he wouldn’t.
Fuck, that can’t mean anything good.
“What’s going on, Zen?” Roman asked from his place behind Zenko, where he and one of the Ghosts had taken overwatch to ensure they were still secure.
“The pilot is Noble’s cousin, and her kid was supposed to be with family in Tennessee for the last week,” Zenko told him as he watched Allie pace back and forth, waiting for the call to connect. “Kid wasn’t there when Noble spoke to his mother two days ago.”
“Fuck.” Roman added a few other swear words in there, too. Zenko wasn’t sure if one was Russian and maybe another Dari. “Does that mean we are heading stateside?”
“We follow Noble’s orders,” Zenko reminded him. “Where he sends us, we go.”
“Yup.”
“Load up, people!” Rock’s yell had everyone moving toward the vehicles. “We’re moving.”