Page 72 of Air Force One (Miranda Chase #16)

A radio crackled to life, and he heard a faint voice.

Mike grabbed his off the bar. “Holly! Holly! Can you hear me?” Nothing. He tried again. Still nothing.

Max looked at him oddly.

“What?”

Max looked down with some surprise and reached into his own pocket, pulling out a tiny radio as if it might explode. Then he keyed the mike and asked, “Holly?”

“Hey, Max. Did you get them?”

Mike grabbed for the tiny radio and Max let him have it. “They got us. Where are you? Ready for us to come get you?”

“Uh, not quite.”

“Why not? What’s up?”

“From here? Not much. Maybe a thousand meters of glacier.”

He looked at Max. It didn’t make any sense.

“She’s still high on the mountain.”

Mike looked back at the radio. “Why?”

“Nothing better to do.”

“Holly, goddamn it. Give a straight answer for once.”

“For a couple crooked people like us, I think that’s cheating.

No, I really have nothing better to do. There’s a major whiteout blizzard going on.

I’m dug in. I’m safe. My other radio battery is dead.

So I’m going to turn this one off to save it until the weather clears.

I delivered the pilot. You deliver Inessa. ”

“I already did. I had Clarissa send a plane. Andi is going to get Miranda to escort her in to see Sarah. I want you to check in every twelve hours.”

“Good boy. This storm is going to last a lot longer than that. Love you, Mike. Over and out.”

“Love you too.”

But he got no reply.

Max took the radio from his nerveless fingers and inspected it. Then he reached under the bar, grabbed a charger cord, and plugged the radio in.

“But— Did she just say goodbye?” The last word out tried to choke him.

Max was shaking his head. “You know she’s got skills, right?”

He nodded because he couldn’t speak without whatever pain was choking him blasting out.

“With our kind of training, hers and mine, if she says she’s dug in safe, it means just that and no more.

She delivered her man, assessed the weather, the state of her comm gear, and chose to shelter in place.

Was even in good enough shape to remember that little radio I gave her.

She’ll also know that the Russian presence on Mount Elbrus is going to heat up high for the next little bit.

You won’t hear from her until she decides it’s safe to emerge.

Waiting sucks, but at least you’re warm, fed, and know she’s alive. ”

Over the next four days of silence, that gave Mike exactly seven and a half seconds of comfort.