Page 27

With a deafening roar, the Moose shot past. Not a soul on a tire that he could see, not a person hanging from a sponson. John had about a half-second’s relief.
But then…hedidspot something.
Oh, no.He spun toward the woman. “You got binoculars?”
Her brows drew together. “Yes, but…”
“Give them to me!” By the time he was able to glass the plane, it was nearly at the end of the runway. Its nose was up and then the wheels were just leaving the ground. He focused the binos, spotted what hethoughthe’d seen.
No.His heart knotted.No, God, please no.
“John?”
A part of his brain registered Roni’s voice. He’d not even heard the rumble of her Humvee coming alongside. But he didn’t take his eyes from the Moose, which was well above the end of the tarmac and lumbering to altitude.
“John.” Roni put a hand on his biceps. “What are you?—”
“Ah, man.” Driver was glassing the plane with his own binos. “Yeah, I see them. Just above the wheel trying to get inside the well but…” Driver cursed but didn’t lower his binoculars. “Something in his way.”
“Got to be another person.” John couldn’t look away. “Someone already there who I didn’t spot. I didn’t see him. I just didn’t?—”
“What?” Roni had her own binos out. “Oh,” she breathed. “Oh, John.”
“Yeah, there goes one.” Daniel’s tone was grim. A second later. “There goes another. I think that’s it.”
“I missed them.” John’s mouth was dry. He was still glassing the plane. “I didn’t see them.”
“You couldn’t know, man,” Driver said. “They were probably way up in the wheel well already and then the second guy must’ve slipped on takeoff. We were all focused on the guys we could see. Still, only two people out of the hundreds who could’ve been hurt?—”
“No,” John ground out. “Notonlytwo.”
“What?” Driver brought his binoculars up again. “What do you?—”
“Lookabovethe wheel at the edge of the well,” John said. “See it?”
“What?” Roni peered through her own binos. “I don’t see anything.”
“Ido.” Driver let go of a soft curse. “A foot.”
HIS TEETH ARE THE BEST THING
NOVEMBER 2023
The only flighton Somon Air into Tajikistan from Istanbul arrived at six a.m. Other than the pilot and copilot, the plane was empty. Which made John wonder what everyone knew about flying into Tajikistan that he and Davila didn’t.
Mercifully, nothing fell off the plane; none of the engines exploded. After taxiing to the jetway, the copilot emerged from the cockpit and opened the cabin door and left. A second later, the pilot turned off the power and also exited.
John and Davila traded looks, and then John said, “I don’t think we’re supposed to clean the cabin.”
Grabbing their packs from the overheads, they went down the steps. The tarmac was deserted. No baggage handlers. No ground crew.
“This isn’t promising,” John observed.
“Let’s not panic yet,” Davila said.
“Me? Panic? I was only stating the obvious. This is just culture shock speaking. You wait, though, until I settle down and get my bearings.”
“What are you talking about?” Davila asked, still looking around for signs of life.