Road Tripped (Satan's Devils MC Utah #1) - Manda Mellett Page 0,42
directed at the ground.
“What the fuck is he doing?” I get out, directing my question toward Swift again.
But it’s Snatcher who answers me, his lips curving. “He’s praying that the plane stays in the air, lands where we want to, and then flies us back home again. He always prays before a flight, it’s how he picked up his name.”
My sympathies go out to the man who clearly likes flying as little as I do, though I doubt having faith in a deity I can neither see nor touch would do much to keep me safe.
Reaching the top of the steps, I’m pleasantly surprised to see the inside is better than I expected—rows of seats in a formation of two on one side, one on the other, and an aisle between them. I quickly add them, it looks like it could seat around twenty.
“I don’t want to waste time,” Preacher warns us. “Get in and buckle up.”
Why’s he instructing us?
When Preacher disappears through a door at the front, I start to get a bad feeling. “Who’s the pilot?” I ask Swift, my voice laden with concern.
She startles as though I should have already guessed, but tells me anyway, “Preacher.”
The man who was just praying for a safe journey?
I don’t know the man. So far he’s done nothing in particular to impress me, and now I’m putting my life in his hands.
“Does he know what he’s fuckin’ doing?” I hiss, easing over Swift to seat myself in the vacant seat next to her.
Rascal, taking the single seat on our row, chuckles. “He’s ex-air force, so yes. Preacher cut his teeth on jet fighters, so yeah, if it’s got wings he can probably fly it. Anyway, there are parachutes if we need them. All modern conveniences here.”
The thought of parachutes chills me more.
“If you’re not belted and seated, then get your ass sat down now.” Preacher’s voice booms through the loudspeaker as the plane starts to move. “Ready for take-off.”
My gut feel is to make a run for door and make a swift exit, but the small plane quickly picks up speed. I wasn’t aware that I’d squeezed my eyes tightly shut, but I obviously had as my first indication that we’re airborne is the change of sensation when the bumping over rough ground becomes a smooth feeling, and the engine makes a deafening roar. Then my stomach drops as the plane loops around, heading off in what I take is the right direction.
I risk opening one eye, seeing objects on the ground receding, and close it again, fisting my hands and just hoping that I’ll get to feel my feet on firm ground again.
“Road?” Swift taps my tightly fisted hand. “Snatcher’s going to want a meeting.”
I open my eyes to see men around me standing and stretching. Honor belches loudly.
“Okay.” Snatcher leans over one of the front seats. “Rascal, you’re on equipment. Make sure it’s all handed out and that all cuts are off and stowed securely.” He waits for Rascal’s nod.
I finger my cut. I hadn’t been sure whether it was a similar crime to wear one on a plane as it is in a cage, but as others had left them on, I had as well. But it seems I won’t long be wearing it. I hate being parted with the leather bearing the patch that had cost blood and guts to earn.
“Okay,” Snatcher continues. “Update from Duty—he’s got all the info and is sifting through. He should be able to get a rough location for the origin of the call demanding the ransom using triangulation. That’s where we’ll be heading to once we’ve landed. He’s got transportation set up. We’ll be in two SUVs. Any further updates come in, I’ll let you know.”
He moves down the aisle and stops next to us. “Swift.” That’s all he says, just her name.
“Snatch?”
“Time to go quiet,” he tells her in a gentle voice, his eyes softening. “Else you’ll be no fuckin’ good to us when we land.”
“But I was going to brief Road.” I notice Swift’s voice sounds pained.
Snatcher shakes his head. “I can do that.” He walks off down the plane.
It’s the look in her eyes when she turns to me that does something strange—it brings my protective instincts to the fore. “What is it, Swift?”
“The noise,” she confides. “I, er, I gotta turn my hearing aids down.” The engine noise isn’t overly loud, but it drones on. As