“Come on.” Maya nudged Sean with an elbow. “This is our ride.”
The door opened. Cain stood in the entrance, dressed in his signature white suit. He waved them inside, patting each of the team members on the shoulder as they climbed aboard.
Sean stopped in front of him. “How is she? Where is she? I need to see her—now.”
“Shortly.” Cain tilted his head toward the cabin. “Get in.”
Two rows of three reclining chairs faced each other. The interior boasted leather-padded walls and a plush carpet. Joss lifted the armrest between two seats, lifted Clelia onto his lap, and stretched the seat belt around both their bodies. The man was so tall and broad he took up two seats anyway. Cain sat next to them.
“Better buckle up,” Maya said with a smirk. “It gets rough.”
The craft hovered with a silent hum that hinted at a smooth ride. She was no doubt yanking his chain, but he took a window seat next to Maya and Lann and secured his seat belt like the others. Since a panel separated them from the pilot seat, he couldn’t see who was flying the craft.
Once the door was closed, Sean was surprised at how quiet it was inside. They wouldn’t need earphones to communicate. The craft took off without warning. They lifted so fast Sean was certain his gut had stayed behind on the ground. He swallowed down queasiness. If he wasn’t good in water, he was worse in air. The only place he felt safe was on solid ground.
Lann rested his head against the backrest. The glasses gave him a geeky look, but with those yellow, seemingly dead eyes, he appeared like a very dangerous if not otherworldly geek.
Catching Sean staring, he said, “I’m out of contact lenses.” His slightly pointed ears lifted in what could be a friendly gesture, but it wasn’t a smile.
Sean forced himself to look away.
Joss speared his fingers through Clelia’s hair and pressed her cheek to his chest. His voice was raw when he said, “I thought I’d lost you back there, witch.”
Sean’s heart contracted at the possessiveness he recognized in the team leader. He felt exactly the same way, and he wouldn’t feel better until he had Asia in his arms, until he could see for himself that she was alive.
Clelia placed a palm on Joss’s jaw. “Xavier was going to get away. I had to stop him.”
Joss closed his eyes briefly before taking her hand and kissing her palm. “We’ll talk about this later.”
A flush worked its way up Clelia’s neck. Sean could only guess how their talking would play out.
He turned away from the intimate sight to stare through the window. A rainbow arched through the sky. Anyone looking on would think below lay nothing but a beautiful stretch of white beach and palm trees. He knew differently. He knew of the ugliness hidden beneath the soil, like the darkness that lurked in the soul of humanity. He knew that no one would ever be safe, not as long as Godfrey was around. Most of all, he knew with painful clarity that Asia had almost paid with her life. For that, he’d never forgive Cain.
As if reading his mind, he felt Cain’s stare on him. Of course. No doubt Cain had probed his thoughts.
“News?” Sean asked tightly as he met Cain’s gaze.
Cain crossed his arms. “She’s stable.”
He inhaled deeply, the tension in his muscles easing marginally. “Where is she? Tell me now.”
“With her family in a safe house. They’ll stay there until Juan’s operation is completely wiped out.”
“I need to see her.”
“We’re on our way. Maya said you took out Juan. There was no body. I need your confirmation that he’s dead.”
“He shot Asia,” Sean said with cold hostility, “so what do you think?”
“In that case, Joss,” Cain said, “you don’t need to do damage control with the media. There are no bodies, no evidence. They’ll assume he perished in the plane crash.”
The team leader nodded. “Got it.”
Sean turned his attention back to the window. The land was no more than a distant topographical map below them now. Another few meters, and they rose above the clouds.
“Fuck.” Maya gripped the edges of her seat. “I hate this part.”
Joss tightened his arms around Clelia. Cain tested the resistance of his seatbelt. Only Lann’s body went slack. Sean looked between the team members. What was with the sudden stress?
The next moment, the helijet shot forward with a force that pushed his back hard against his chair. The momentum kept his body in a vise. He couldn’t as much as lift a finger.
“Told you,” Maya said with a grin. “We’re flying at four thousand miles per hour, six times the speed of sound.”
Within seconds, they were low enough again for him to make out land. They didn’t descend over Cartagena as Sean expected, but diverted south instead. When the skyline of Colombia made way for coastline and then blue ocean, Sean asked, “Where are we going?”