Chapter 12
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As soon as Tricia shut down the engines, she got up, stepped into the back, and noted Rubin was still sound asleep. She looked over at Hayden, who shrugged.
“When he goes under, he really goes under.”
Tricia smiled and gently shook Rubin awake. He frowned at her, yawned, and asked, “Are we almost there?”
“We’ve landed,” she confirmed. Just then Hayden opened the door, dropped down the stairs, and motioned at the people walking toward them.
“Our ride has arrived. I got us here in one piece. You’re welcome.” He reached out and snagged her into a big hug, surprising her. After a quick mental adjustment, she hugged him close. She tilted her head back and looked up at him, her heart beating in rhythm with his. “So now what?”
“That’s easy. We’re meeting a team here.”
He walked her to the open door and then on down the stairs. Once on the tarmac, she waited for the private car to join a couple people standing here, waiting. When someone exited the vehicle and joined the other two, the three of them walked over and completed a transfer of IDs and paperwork.
Rubin turned to her, with a gentle but firm smile on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and said, “So, I guess this is goodbye. Try not to steal any more planes.”
She blinked at him, shock in her gaze. “What?”
He gave her a gentle hug and added, “You’ll be fine from here. We’ve been ordered to hand you over to these men.”
“I don’t think so.” She frowned at him, then grabbed his arm. “You need to come with me. I’m not going alone.” She looked at the other men and didn’t trust any of them.
“They’ve been vetted, and you’re on an American airbase here. You’ll be fine now. They’ll take you back to the US.”
She glared at him. “So, you’re just dumping me?”
*
He knew this was going to be the hard part. Trying to keep his tone, neutral, informative, Rubin stated, “This is as far as our job goes.”
“I don’t care about your damn job,” she muttered, as she glanced at Hayden and rolled her eyes. “You too, huh?”
Hayden smiled at her. “It’s been good,” he told her, “and I’m happy we got you this far, but this is where you need to go. They’ll take care of you.”
She snorted, then snapped, “I doubt it.”
There was a hint of her temper that Rubin just loved. He hid a smile because he knew her bravado and temper were just hiding her fear.
Rubin watched as the three men led a very stiff Tricia to the back seat of the big car, and she continued to stare at him, frowning. As the car pulled away, she placed a hand against the window, and he waved goodbye as well. As soon as they were gone, Rubin turned to Hayden. “This really sucks.”
Hayden nodded but didn’t say anything for a moment. “I know it does,” he agreed, looking away, “but it is for the best. You know that.”
Rubin shoved his hands in his pockets as the two of them walked toward the hangar. They had their own debriefing to go through, but he liked absolutely nothing about this. “It seems wrong to just let her go from here.”
“What do you want to do?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Did you get the okay from Mason on this?”
“Yep, that’s exactly where it came from,” he declared, “but feel free to register some disapproval about this process.”
“But what can I say?” he asked in a disgruntled tone. “I don’t like this.”
Hayden nodded. “Send him a text. First confirm it’s not just your heart saying it but your gut.”
Rubin asked Hayden, “What’s your gut saying?”
“My gut says it sucks to have the rest of the team coming in now with intel. Apparently Arlene Cuddy’s been picked up, but her boyfriend hasn’t.”
“Interesting,” Rubin muttered, frowning at him. “I would feel a whole lot better if he’d been picked up.” He pulled out his phone, found Mason’s number, and sent him a text. I don’t like this.
Mason sent back, Neither do I.
He showed Hayden, and his partner’s jaw worked for a moment as he glared at the text, then back at him. “Well then, what the fuck will we do about it?”
He sent a text back to Mason. Change of plans?
No …
Yet he was thinking it over, and Mason was generally a quick thinker. Something was rotten to the core in all this.
Then a response came through. Get on the same plane. I want you there with her, while she’s in transit.
Hayden pocketed his phone and searched around the hangar.
“We have to talk to the group who just left.” They stepped inside the office and approached Corporal Lemming, his name tag clearly visible.
He glared at the two approaching, his blue eyes blazing, a scar over the left one, and barked at them, “Identify yourselves.”
They immediately did so.
“What do you need?”
“We just handed over a package,” Rubin began, “but we have new intel and orders that we’re to be on the same plane to accompany her back to the USA.”
Corporal Lemming stared at him. “I don’t have any such orders.”
Rubin kept his voice smooth but sharp as he replied, “They’re coming in right now.”
The corporal glared at them, walked around his desk, and sat down, just as his phone rang.
Looking at the two of them, he picked it up, and his demeanor completely changed.
He gave a series of affirmative responses, and then he ended the call and continued to glare at them.
“How you guys managed that is beyond me, but you’re on the damn plane.
” His tone was different, not really stern, but his face clearly showed how he felt about their worming their way in.
“Plane leaves in”—he checked his watch—“two hours and forty minutes.”
“What hangar?”
“This one,” he stated. He stepped outside the small office and pointed to a sleek jet off to the side. “That’s your ride. Don’t be late, or you’ll miss it.”
“We won’t,” Hayden replied.
“They won’t hold it for you,” Lemming added, with a smirk in their direction.
Rubin and Hayden both walked toward the plane. Rubin checked the plane’s numbers and then scrolled through the flights that had been filed. “I don’t see any sign that this plane is going anywhere today.”
Hayden looked up at him sharply. “Something funny is going on.”
“Yeah, you’re not kidding. Something really shitty is going on all of a sudden and it’s all—”
The two shared a look and immediately walked back to the office where Corporal Lemming was supposed to be. As they walked inside, he was long gone, and somebody completely different stood there.
“We were told to be on a flight on that jet in two hours and … twenty minutes,” Rubin began, providing the flight number they had been given. “I want to confirm that is the same flight that a package we just delivered earlier will be on.”
The sergeant stared at him, shaking his head.
“I don’t know anything about a package. I don’t know anything about that flight, and I can tell you that the flight number you just gave me is inconsistent with our system here,” he declared.
“So, I’m not sure exactly what you’re trying to pull, but that won’t wash here, gentlemen.
Now, who the hell are you, and what are you doing here? ”
Rubin stared at him and asked, “Then who was Corporal Lemming who was just in here?”
“Corporal Lemming retired,” he declared, staring at them. “Are you on something, soldier?”
They looked at each other and both cursed at the same time. Rubin reached for his phone and called Mason.