to head for home, and laptops were closed and cell phones put away. No one said anything on the short flight. It seemed as if only minutes passed before he felt the plane descending from thirty thousand feet. Then they were on the ground and saying a quick goodbye to Saint.
“Stay ready and alert,” Blaze told him when they deplaned. “Get something to eat. We’ll be taking off for DC in a couple of hours.”
“Got it. You all just be careful.”
“Always.” ‘Careful’ was their watchword.
“Be sure we all stay in touch.” Rocket waved his cell phone. “Regular texts?”
Blaze nodded. They definitely needed to maintain contact and share information. Then he and Peyton were in his car and pulling away from the hangar.
“Where to?” Peyton asked.
“Home first to shower and change. Then I thought we’d stop by and see Brianne before we grab some lunch on the way back to the plane.”
“Good. I need to lay eyes on her.”
“I know. That’s why we’re doing it.”
They had reached the townhouse by now and he wheeled the car into the garage and killed the engine. Unfastening his seat belt, he turned toward Peyton and took one of her hands in his.
“Keeping a lid on my rage has been the hardest thing for me. I’ve actually had dreams about catching up with Sulzberger and taking him apart with a knife one cut at a time.” He paused. “But…”
“But?” she pressed.
“But I’d be the only one satisfied, and it would be momentary. I could always walk away from my partners to keep them out of the mess if I had to. But this…this plan is ingenious, if we can pull it off. I can watch him suffer for a long time.” He put a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face toward him. “In two days, you’ve made a greater impact in my life than anyone else in the past twenty years.”
“It’s been fast,” she commented. “But…”
“But?” he encouraged.
“But I’m getting the same feelings. Once we get the information, I’m going to pull whatever strings I can to make it happen.”
He cradled her face between his palms and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn’t a hot kiss. More like a sweet one, and full of promise. He just hoped to hell he was reading her right.
“You know,” she said, when he broke the kiss, “for a change, I think my life might be moving in the right direction again.”
“I damn sure hope so. Okay. Let’s get moving.”
They took the showers they hadn’t had time for that morning, dressed for the coming meeting and headed back to the hangar.
“I’m glad we’re stopping to see Brianne. I feel terrible. I haven’t seen her since everything began to happen. Up to now I never missed a day. I keep praying she wakes up. Soon.”
He reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze. “Maybe when she does, we’ll have good news to tell her.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
Despite the two muscular male bodies camped in Brianne’s room, it didn’t seem crowded. While Peyton moved to sit in the chair next to the bed, Blaze checked in with the two men in folding chairs against the wall.
“All quiet,” Alan Wagner told him. “We triple-check everyone who comes in here and it’s not making us any friends. I think they’d toss us out a window if they thought they could get away with it and if your brother hadn’t vouched for us.”
“It may be overkill,” Blaze admitted, “but the people who’d harm her are desperate and I wouldn’t put anything past them. Just be alert.”
“Not to worry. We’ve got this.”
He moved over to where Peyton was sitting, holding Brianne’s hand and speaking softly to her.
“Hate to do this, but we need to get moving.”
She looked at her watch, nodded and leaned over her sister. “Hang in there, sweetie. I know you’ll come out of this soon.”
* * * *
When they pulled into the parking space by the hangar, they saw that Saint already had the plane on the tarmac.
“A little busy today, are we?” He nodded as they hurried up the stairway then retracted it and closed the door. “Well, have a seat and buckle up. We’ll be taking off shortly. Oh, and no refreshments this trip. Sorry, but I didn’t have a chance to pick anything up, and between yesterday and today, you guys drank up all the coffee.”
“That’s okay. I don’t need anything.” He looked at Peyton. “You?”
She shook her head. “I’m nervous enough already.”
Flying time to