17. Chapter 14 – Nikki #2
“I don’t have any memories before the crash, Ambrose. My last memory is driving to the airport for my turnaround shift.” Her cheeks flushed a rich rose pink, the same color as the familiar velvet drapes in my childhood sitting room.
This admission was haunting her, I realized. Her gaze held a sharp note of determination when she continued.
“I don’t know what happened, why we went down, or why I ended up in the cabin instead of the cockpit.” She tapped the side of her temple. “I don’t know if it’s trauma, or a concussion, or if I’ll ever get those memories back. I can’t tell you what happened because I legitimately do not know.”
A sad smile pulled at the lips I’d one day kiss.
“What I do know is that my passengers’ safety has always been my top priority.
I have logged over 1400 flights in my career.
Captain Adams and I have been flying together for five years.
Whatever you’re thinking about competencies, we are not an amateur operation.
Less experienced pilots wouldn’t have left survivors. ”
No, they would not. Score one for Marley. And Jameson.
Jamie Adams had landed the plane, that much we knew for sure. Wherever our friend was now, whatever he was mixed up in, we needed to find him.
“Aileron is a small company, but they won’t ignore an ELT,” Marley continued, unaware of my inward spiral.
“Whether they get to us tomorrow or the next day, we will be rescued. We just need to survive these few days together. You’ll get compensated by insurance once they submit the audit, and you can move forward with your life.
Depending on what they uncover, I may never get to fly again. ”
The ELT. Damn it. We needed to be rescued, of course we did, but what would happen to us if the drugs were found?
Would we be arrested? In Colombia, of all places?
I drew in Madman’s ferocious visage, even in this moment of calm.
A man of my stature was not built for prison, not without the madmen of the world providing their protection like he was now.
A violent shudder rattled through my muscles and deep into my bones. We had to hide the drugs. It was the only way to ensure our innocence.
Marley tapped her head again. “I’d like to think I followed every procedure, but I don’t remember it.” She huffed a caustic laugh. “And really, it’s irrelevant. People lost their lives, and I wasn’t able to save them. That’s on me.”
“It is not on you,” I muttered darkly, thick anger rising in my chest at her insistence on being the martyr.
She dismissively waved her hand. “I know how you feel,” she confirmed gently, “and this is how I feel. Nothing you can say will change that, Nik.”
We’d see about that. I stifled my frustration by turning my attention to Ambrose. The man’s poker face was admirable. Not a single muscle had shifted in those perfect, rounded cheekbones as he listened to her. But he was listening, I’d grant him that.
Madman shifted his position from the edge of the fire and stood beside Marley, squatting down on his haunches to stare into her eyes.
She remained seated and poised, refusing to cower under his scrutiny.
I was learning every day she had balls and beauty in equal measure, and hiding my attraction was becoming an impossible task.
“Without you, Captain, I would be dead or in the hands of someone who wishes to purchase me like a dog.” Madman’s tone held no inflection, and yet the words were unbearably chilling. “You have saved my life. My debt is yours.”
Ah. His odd, stoic statue routine now made sense. An intriguing display of loyalty. Would he protect us in a Colombian prison if it came to that?
The rescue plane could arrive at any moment. We had to get rid of the drugs tonight.
“You owe me nothing, Madman,” she whispered, raking her fingers absently through the dirt beneath her seat. “But thank you.”
He glowered into the fire before rising to his feet. Folding his arms across his chest, he peered into the darkness once more, faithfully watching. Protecting.
If the scariest, most dangerous brute of a man in the whole of South America wanted to protect me, I was graciously accepting, not questioning what I’d done to warrant it.
A muffled thump caught my attention from behind my position by the fire, and I stiffened.
The primal sweep of icy pinpricks through my bloodstream set my entire body on edge.
With a bravery I did not feel, I whipped my head toward the plane, but could see nothing.
Layers of specialized glass blocked any light from penetrating.
Had I imagined the sound? Another errant piece of luggage—or drugs—dropping to the floor, perhaps?
No one else seemed to notice. Their attention remained firmly affixed to Marley. I shrugged off the sudden chill in the damp heat of the night, in a shoddy attempt to convince myself it was nothing.
Ambrose finally spoke. “That doesn’t explain the drugs, or why you’re out here in the middle of the night.”
Marley’s gaze flicked to mine, as if seeking permission to speak the truth. It was our secret, I supposed. Our crew. Dipping my head once, she mirrored the gesture and pursed her lips, contemplating her next words.
After what seemed like a full waltz at one of my grandmother’s dinner parties, she spoke.
“I am telling you this out of transparency, but I’m asking you to keep this to yourself until we find out more.
” She held up her hand at Ambrose’s lip curl.
“I don’t want anyone else to panic, okay?
Our passengers have been through enough.
They deserve to be rescued without another thing added to their plates. ”
Reluctantly, Ambrose nodded.
“Our copilot, Jameson Adams, is missing.”
Madman shifted and his brows knit together in a heavy frown. Ambrose was the opposite. His delicate brows reached toward the loose tendrils of his chestnut hairline. When neither of them spoke, Marley continued.
“He’s not in the cockpit, and we haven’t been able to find a body.
We came back to get answers, and we came back at night because we didn’t want to worry the others.
When we saw the cargo door open, Nikki investigated.
That’s when we found the drugs. And a trail of blood, but we haven’t been able to track where it leads because you two showed up. ”
My ears pricked, the familiar freezing sensation stiffening my spine once more.
Was that another thump? Or was I just so thirsty, my mind was determined to play tricks on me?
I fingered the tiny vodka bottle in my shorts—for comfort, mostly.
We needed to speed this up. We needed to throw the drugs in the jungle and clear off back to camp before the devils in the night took us, somewhere I could take a nip and we could rest until morning.
“Whereas Marley has no memories leading up to the crash, I do.” I pointed out, rising to my feet to get a better sense of the sound.
No sense worrying them if my imagination was getting the best of me.
“At no point did she, or I, allow a drug shipment onto the plane. Nor do we know its final destination. We were stopping in Panama for fuel. That could be its destination, or Mexico City. Unless we find Jamie, we may never know.”
Marley bit her lip, a thoughtful expression flashing across her features. “Madman, I’m sorry to ask this, but could your transport and the drug shipment be connected? Does your gang run drugs?”
Ahh, my brilliant pilot. I hadn’t considered that possibility.
“If there is a connection, I don’t know of it.
” He tilted his head in consideration before rubbing his hand across the stubble along his jaw.
“Clube de Morte does not run drugs. We trade secrets and contract hits. Offer protection for a price. How people choose to cope with their lives is not my concern.”
Huh. Was this a gangbanger with a conscience? Drugs bad, hits for hire, good? The man continued to surprise me.
“You’re going to believe what you want, Ambrose.” Marley’s subdued smile glowed yellow as she leaned closer to the fire. “Nikki and I will search for Jamie in the morning. It’s our duty at this point. A rescue will come, and I can’t leave him behind, not if he’s still alive.”
She drew a shaky breath and pulled herself up to her knees, a spine of steel taking the place of her quiet confidence. “I won’t let him die out here, alone.”
Staring into the embers, she spoke her next words so quietly I almost didn’t catch them.
“No one should ever have to survive the woods alone.”
Thump.
My imagination was not imagining anything.
That was most definitely the legitimate sound of something living hitting against something else, and I scrambled to my feet to face the plane head-on.
Irrational fears of stumbling animated corpses raced through my brain, and I fingered the gun in my pocket, hoping like hell I wouldn’t need to use it.
Madman was immediately by my side, and I could feel two more bodies at my back. Another thump. Two more, the sounds dull and muffled, yet akin to a sonic boom. It was a miracle I could hear anything at all over the pounding of my heart.
Shuffling backward and skirting the fire, I sought a better view from farther out. The noises were coming from inside the plane, that I was sure of. Could we dodge around it and run like hell toward our outpost?
I’d choose my life tonight, and drug cleaning tomorrow, should I have the option.
Before I could voice the thought or move a muscle, a sinewy spotted body, long and lean, slid through the passenger door opening to the ground and a wide round paw hit the earth with an almost silent thwack, followed by three more.
The thud of my chest ebbed completely as I peered directly into the amber eyes and bloody maw of a jaguar.