Chapter 42 #2
Myles slithers up the front steps like a shadow and catches Drew before he hits the ground.
I follow him, stowing my gun in my parka pocket.
I pull the keys out of the door and tuck them into Drew’s blazer before drawing his arm over my shoulder.
Myles takes the other side. We carry the limp weight off the porch and onto the driveway as Ten brings the SUV up behind Drew’s car.
Max meets us at the car’s boot and helps hold open the body bag as we maneuver Drew into it. Myles zips up the bag and closes the boot.
In less than two minutes, we’re out of the cul-de-sac, heading back to the airfield. Ten follows us in his truck.
After a quick stop at the place where we picked up food so that Max can do something nefarious, we arrive back at the airfield.
We part ways at Myles’ plane. Ten assures us that he’s okay to drive back to New York on his own but says he’s going to visit a friend in Boston for a few days first as cover.
He leaves as we’re loading the body bag into the plane’s luggage compartment.
After a short pre-flight, we lift into the clear night.
“Pink ring around the moon,” Max says, looking out a window. “It’s going to snow.”
Snow’ll cover any tracks.
“How long do you think it’ll be before anyone looks for him?” I wonder aloud, not really directing the question at anyone.
“Doesn’t matter,” Myles answers from the cockpit a few feet away. “Cause no one’s ever going to find him.”
That ends the discussion. Once we’re at altitude and Myles tells us we can move around, we distribute the rest of the food from the paper bag and eat silently.
Max sits next to me and offers me a strange phone with a black antenna sticking out of it.
I check the time and see with relief that I’m not late calling my baby doll.
I keep it short and just confirm that everything’s fine and I’ll see her soon.
I can hear the tears in her voice as she tells me she loves me but she speaks clearly when she asks if Livvy can sleep with her tonight.
I’ve read about co-sleeping with kids and generally view it with dread but agree just for tonight so Emmy’s not alone in our bed.
Max leans in to joke that he and I slept together last night, which gets a small giggle out of Emily before I say goodbye.
I hand the phone back to Max so he can call Cynnie.
We land just after midnight, flying low over winter-seared fields to an airstrip that’s barely more than a cross in the darkness, lit by faint green lights.
We taxi to a hangar with a black “C” painted on the high, white wall.
A black SUV with tinted windows idles next to the hangar, the exhaust pluming exactly the way we couldn’t let ours do in Maine.
Myles tells us to wait on the plane. He lowers the stairs, leaving the door open, and greets two men who emerge from the SUV. They’re both bearded. One wears sunglasses even though the airfield is barely lit this late at night.
The two men help Myles move the body bag into the boot of their SUV. After quick hand-shakes, the SUV drives off and Myles climbs back aboard the plane.
“We can sleep here or in New Jersey,” he says.
“Are you going to actually sleep?” I ask.
“Probably not until we’re in New Jersey.”
“New Jersey,” Max says firmly. “I’ll tell you knock-knock jokes to keep you awake and you can fart at me.”
“Fuck off,” Myles responds but his tone is affectionate.
Max joins Myles in the cockpit. I listen to the low murmur of their voices as we climb back into the night sky, although I don’t hear any knock-knock jokes. I tip my head back against the seat and let their voices wash over me as I drift.
A few bumps as we land wake me but not for long. Max pulls me out of my chair and onto his sleeping bag pile. I’m nearly asleep again when Myles settles into the messy pile behind Max.
“Stay away from my ass,” Max mutters at him.
“Your arse is safe from me,” Myles retorts. “Might make use of that smart mouth in the morning, though.”
“Only if you want tooth-marks on your dick,” Max responds.
Myles chuckles. “Stop thinking about my dick.”
Myles grunts and I surmise Max has elbowed him. I roll away from the two idiots as they wrestle, pull a sleeping bag over me, and give myself over to my exhaustion.
We stay in New Jersey for a day to establish our alibi.
Myles sleeps heavily. Max sets up his array of electronics, pinging and proxying and doing whatever he does to keep us safe.
I’m able to check his app. Lucy’s fine but Cappa’s graphs are still flat, which tells me he hasn’t left Fleur’s bedside.
I text Javier and Maude from a phone Max assures me is okay to use.
They both respond to say they’re with him and are making sure he gets rest breaks and regular meals.
Despite Fleur’s vitals continuing to rise, she still hasn’t woken.
As Myles sleeps into the afternoon, Max sets up a call with Cynnie and reads to her from a book on his phone. Since I’ve missed Storytime for two days, I get Max to conference Emmy in and listen to her and Livvy giggle together as Max reads.
The giggling wakes Myles. After he eats the last sandwich from the bag and rubs his face blearily for a while, he asks, “Ready to go home?”
“No encounter with a tree branch?” Max asks. “I’m still willing to take one for the team.”
“I think we’re good. No reason to think anyone saw us or reported the cars. Has F confirmed disposal?”
Max nods, handing Myles a phone. Myles thumbs through the messages. “Car in Maine’s been disposed of, too. No issues. I don’t know about you, gentlemen but I’m ready to go home.”
Max and I nod.
After a short flight to the private airport upstate where Myles keeps his plane, we pack everything into his waiting SUV. The three of us sit in the back with the privacy screen up between us and the driver. As we roll back toward the City, Myles says quietly, “I want your permission.”
“For what?” I ask.
“To be a daddy. I know I have a lot to learn. I know you doubt me. Just don’t poison anyone at the playgroup or Blunts against me. Particularly not Fleur and Cappa.”
“Neither of them are little,” I point out.
“I’m not convinced of that,” he responds. “Not after watching them with the other littles before . . . what happened. I won’t push. I won’t do anything to undermine their recovery. But when they’re ready for a caregiver, I want it to be me.”
I don’t have to think about it too hard. Not after the past two days. “You have my permission. You’ll need a mentor. Maybe more than one. I know Bravo would be happy to mentor you.”
“I appreciate that but I want you to mentor me.”
That surprises me. “Why?”
“Because your dart hit first.”
I don’t have any response other than: “Okay.”
“Bravo can be backup,” Myles says. “I know you have a lot going on.”
I do. But this is something I’ll make time for.
The City’s bright lights and constant sounds welcome me back as we cross the bridge into Manhattan. I’ve got nothing against the quiet places of the world but they’re not home. Not like this City is.
When we arrive at my townhouse, there’s a crowd waiting at the door. Cynnie rushes down the stairs into Max’s arms. Emily and Bren stand in the doorway with Mac peering over their shoulders. Emily has Livvy in her arms and a smile as brilliant as Christmas morning on her face.
Before I head up the stairs to them, I pull Myles into a hug. He stiffens for a second before patting my back.
“If you have any nightmares, call me,” I say to him and Max, remembering how Max suffered for months after the deaths we caused and witnessed in the service.
Max smiles at me over the head of the woman held tightly in his arms. “I’ll sleep well tonight. If you have any nightmares, call me.”
I nod at him but there’s no darkness in my mind. I’ve done what I needed to do. I’ve protected those who couldn’t protect themselves.
I look up at the people waiting at the entrance to my home. I think I’ll sleep well tonight, too.