Page 123 of Secret Mission

“Not crashing.” I check the instruments. “We’re good, but we need to get to your father’s fast.”

“I’m ready to drop,” Justice says as he slips on his black tactical vest.

Suddenly, there’s a new voice in my head.

“Beast here. We’re tracking the father’s jet, they’ve got a good tailwind. ETA reduced by twenty minutes. Over.”

Fuck. Not good. We’re being squeezed from all sides. “Copy, we will be landing at the estate in five minutes. And in other news… we have the father’s chopper. Over.”

“What the fuck? Over.” Beast voice rattles my brain, causing my headache to spike.

“We needed a fast ride.”

“Jesus, you two. I’m going to have to put you and JT on a leash.”

“Good luck with that. Over,” Justice chimes in.

Beast doesn’t laugh.

“Look, guys, I gotta fly this thing. Over.”

I lower the chopper down, skimming along the grassy field to the south of the estate property.

This has to be fast so no one thinks we landed.

Another gust hits, making it harder to hold steady. “JT, you’ve got to be quick, man.”

He is all freaking smiles. Classic Justice. “Walk in the park.”

“Is he crazy?” Allison wheezes from the back.

“No more than me.”

Beast growls in the mic from where he is—probably Vandemora. “I don’t know whether to love you guys or hate you.”

“Dropping.” The side door swings open, Justice disappears without a backward glance, jumping to the ground, and I push the bird forward and into a climb.

“Oh, my god! He just jumped.” Allison presses her face to the side window of the chopper, trying to see below us.

“And he’s going to be running like fuck.”

“I don’t know how you guys do this kind of stuff.”

How can we not do it? That’s the better question. Once you do, it’s hard to go back.

“It’s in our blood now. How about you, feeling nervous, babe?”

“Completely.”

Wishing I could hold her, soothe that worry, I have to settle for distraction. “We’ll be back in that plane and taking advantage of the king size bed in no time.”

Justice’s voice comes through the intercom in my head. “I can hear you two!”

“So can I!” Beast shouts.

“Sorry,” I say with a chuckle and no real apology. But I wince as my laughter shoots a pain through my head. “JT, you’ll get your turn one day, even if she’s an AI model.”

“Fuck you very much, meathead. You can’t even tell she’s a machine,” Justice says between huffs of air.