tipped his ear to the wind and listened to the approaching chopper. Yes, an MH-60, just as he expected. And making good time. Less than two hours had passed since Misty and Flynn had rushed out to the hot springs retreat.
Any thoughts of romance and winning Sunny over with tantric sex had been put on hold. Thanks to the senior Everett’s satellite phone, Wade had been able to make contact with his base directly, speaking with both McCabe and their OSI contact who’d first questioned Sunny. Then Misty had forwarded all emails to a secure address via a secure cell phone link provided by the OSI.
The pieces had slid together quickly and neatly.
They were now racing against time to stop an attack on a major power plant on the Alaska Peninsula. Some group in this community was involved in making a statement in a very dangerous manner. Local police had been alerted and a military helicopter would transport them for on-site questioning.
A piercing light from above split through the dark. A searchlight from the approaching helicopter strobed over the crowd of people, some still wearing their pajamas under parkas. The helicopter banked toward the open patch of ground, a park beside the frozen river.
Sunny shivered in spite of the layers of clothes she wore now. She’d twisted her damp hair up in a knot and covered it with her hood, insisting she didn’t want to waste even a second—or be left behind while they made the call.
He slid his arm around her shoulders. “Hang tough. Help is on the way.”
“It’s not that. I know we’ll have the best of the best protection. I understand this is what needs to happen.” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest as the chopper settled into a hover. “I just feel like I’m in the middle of that old movie about aliens, the one called something like Close Encounters. There’s a big scene where the spaceship from another world comes in and everyone is staring up, gawking.”
The roar and wind of the choppers beating blades cut the air louder, louder still, until Wade had to duck his head to her ear in order to be heard.
“Aliens are not going to take over your town.” He held her closer. “This is about keeping people alive and stopping an attack on a major facility.”
“I know this is bigger than my worries about a changing way of life. I just can’t believe I’m in the middle of such a horrible crime.” She shielded her eyes against the searchlight. “I just want life to be good old boring and normal again.”
The military chopper descended, the rotor wash of air stirring a ministorm. Snow swept outward, flakes and flecks of ice biting into his skin.
As Sunny grew paler beside him, he thought it was probably best not to tell her. For him, this was normal.
Chapter 17
Sunny felt as if she were in the middle of an old war film.
Strapped into the cavernous hold of the helicopter, she wore a helmet plugged into the central intercom system. At least three different conversations buzzed through. The pilots went back and forth about air speeds and headings. Something called “command post” added in weather and cautions. And then there were the people in back periodically piping in with everything else, yammering up the air waves. Roaring helicopter engines capped off the whole cacophony.
Like in the movies, all the big guns to save the day were geared up and ready for action. She felt… superfluous. She couldn’t stand the sense of helplessness. She wasn’t that kind of person. She needed to be able to do something. She had to contribute, to help put a stop to the horrible thing that had been planned right under her very nose for God only knew how long.
Her head was already spinning after how quickly things had happened—the helicopter landing, loading up her, Wade, Misty, and Flynn. Apparently people in her community, people she’d known and trusted, wanted to blow up a power plant and were hours away from making that happen.
She looked around at the packed webbed seats and recognized Wade’s PJ team from the mountain rescue when Deputy Smith had tried to mow them down. And the agent from the air force’s OSI who’d questioned her was at work with some handheld device, scrolling and typing. She struggled for his name… Special Agent Lasky.
Bracing against the inevitable chill, she reminded herself he was one of the guys in white hats now. Could her brother