Page 51 of Trigger Discipline
“Look, in a textbook situation, you’re right. Stealth is our biggest asset. And if it were just me—yeah, that would work. But hauling you two around will slow me down too much.”
“My leg is?—”
“Broken,” Judd said, his voice light, like they were arguing about what to have for dinner rather than a life and death situation. “Even if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be able to keep up with me.”
Blake wiped some sweat off his lip with the back of his hand. “Car might not be much faster,” he reasoned, trying to keep his voice neutral. “We don’t know what the roads look like.”
“So wetactically acquiresomething bigger. Capable of off-roading.”
Blake thought about the man who literally melted in hisarms. The cars and buildings that immolated the moment the alien’s ordinance struck.
“There might not evenbea road.”
“We need to try,” Victoria said quietly from behind him, her eyes narrowing at Judd. “Chicken Fried Steak is right. Speed is optimal.”
Judd waggled his eyebrows. “See, you think you just insulted me, but chicken fried steak is literally heaven. So thanks, Danger Tits.”
Blake stood up before Victoria could strangle Judd with her bare hands. Judd would probably just enjoy it.
“There.” He pointed to an older SUV haphazardly parked across the street. Two tires were up on the curb, and the rear fender had melted off. It looked bad, but drivable.
They took off across the road and Blake gritted his teeth as his fingers slid around the car door. Yanking, he breathed a sigh of relief when the door was unlocked. Throwing himself into the driver’s seat, he bit down on his tongue to keep from crying out in joy. The keys were dangling from the ignition.
Judd grabbed Victoria and bodily lifted her into the back seat. “No need to thank me, getting to touch you was all the thanks I needed.”
He grunted when she punched him.
Blake wondered if it was possible to get slapped with a sexual harassment suit in the middle of an alien invasion.
Judd jumped into the passenger seat and lowered the window, resting his gun against the opening. Blake turned the keys and winced as the engine rolled over. It sounded so loud in the still streets. Loud, but stable. Luckily, the damage was to the back of the vehicle. The occupants had probably panicked when it was hit, and abandoned the smoldering vehicle. Blake hoped they got away.
He started north. They didn’t have a precise destination, but he figured a massive force field would be hard to miss. On more than one occasion, he had to re-route, taking adetour around a destroyed street or when they saw a drone whizz by in the distance. Those were always the worst.
Leaning down, chin pressed to the steering wheel, Blake tried not to breathe. The car idled underneath him. Occasionally, the whole vehicle would tremor from the engine, forcing him to jump and his fingers to clench the wheel as he tried to keep his composure.
Eventually, Judd would gesture for them to keep going, and he’d ease off the brake, big toe gently pressing down on the accelerator as they rocked forward. Tires crunched through the debris with none of Judd’s finesse, moving them steadily through the streets. Technically, Blake knew this must be faster, but it felt so achingly slow.
“So,” Judd drawled. “You went to Top Gun?”
Victoria glared at him. “Yes.”
Judd whistled, leaning back in the seat to prop his foot up on the dash. “Damn. Knew you had to be the best.”
Unaccustomed to not wanting to throttle Judd, Victoria seemed to bristle with the compliment. “I’ve…worked very hard.”
Even in the wake of everything she’d been through, Victoria looked put together. Her hair was still regulation—if a little singed—and she carried herself with the stiff bearing that would make anyone flinch. If pressed, Blake would guess she used her steely exterior like a weapon. A way to beat through the asshole misogynists of the world who saw a beautiful woman and nothing else.
Judd’s helmet lifted with the force of his eyebrows rising. “Think your flying speaks for itself.”
“I got lucky.”
“Bullshit.” His drawl got heavier, dragging on each syllable as he turned in his seat to look back at the pilot. “Luck ain’t got nothing to do with it, and you know it. Save that humble shit for the brass. They love that.”
It was a clear stretch of road, so Blake chanced a look to see Victoria in the rearview mirror. She looked surprised, confused, and weirdly pleased. Her eyes were hooded, and she seemed like he was trying to bite back something.
“You…you served?”
Oh.Pride.