just sitting in an office or being a drunk like his loser dad, but he needed to know it was his own decision.
‘You’ve always got a choice,’ said Johnny. ‘You decided to take up skydiving. You decided to take on Jake when he killed the rigs. You decided to save Kat. You’ve been making the decisions all along. If anything, you’ve selected yourself.’
‘I guess so. In a way . . .’ said Ethan thoughtfully. ‘But it’s what I’ve selected myself for that’s the problem. I’m not sure I understand exactly what it is.’
‘I’ve told you everything I can,’ said Johnny, ‘but if you want a word of advice from a friend, forget thinking, forget trying to weigh up the pros and cons. Just go with what your gut tells you!’
Ethan sat back in his seat and, despite a strong urge to just say Count me in, decided to play devil’s advocate. ‘What if I say no? What then?’
‘We drug you and you wake up back home, stinking of booze.’
Ethan frowned. He couldn’t tell if Johnny was bullshitting or not.
‘Eth, mate,’ said Johnny seriously, ‘none of this is a joke. I – we – are asking you to join us because we want you to be a part of the team. But if you want out, you’ve got that option.’
Ethan already knew he wanted to be involved. He wanted it more than anything he’d ever wanted in his whole life. But he needed to be sure he’d thought it over fully. What he decided now would change everything. This was no longer just a hobby; something fun to do that sounded cool and sexy when you told girls about it. This was a career, a whole new life – important, exciting and very, very dangerous.
‘Ethan—’ Johnny began.
And then the words were out before he had a chance to stop them. ‘Fuck it,’ Ethan said. ‘I’m in.’
24
Johnny stood up. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new team member!’
Luke was the first to respond. ‘Nice one, Eth,’ he said. ‘Glad to have someone on board who actually takes things seriously.’ He looked at Johnny, and they both smiled.
‘Cheers,’ said Ethan; then he winked. ‘But I’m only in it for the girls.’
Luke and Johnny laughed.
‘You made the right decision all the same,’ said Natalya. ‘I am pleased you have joined us.’
For the first time Ethan saw a genuine smile on her face. It suited her, he thought.
‘Don’t think Jake could call you a rookie now,’ said Kat. ‘Pity we can’t tell him – it’d be worth it just to see the look on his face.’
‘You’re over him, then?’ said Ethan.
‘Was never on or even under him,’ she joked.
‘Enough of the emotional stuff,’ said Johnny. ‘Let’s get down to business. Luke?’
Ethan listened up. So did everyone else.
‘The situation is this,’ Luke began: ‘an encrypted hard disk has been stolen. It contains sensitive information that, were the encryption to be broken, could prove damaging to certain parties.’
‘If it’s encrypted, what’s the problem?’ asked Ethan, hoping he didn’t sound like a total knob. ‘Isn’t that supposed to mean no one can read it unless they’re the right person with the right code or something?’
‘Yup,’ said Johnny. ‘But Gabe reckons this was an inside job. Which means there probably is someone with all that. Sam was sent in to recover the disk before the encryption could be broken and the info sold to the highest bidder.’
‘So where’s Sam now?’ asked Kat. ‘Why call us in?’
Luke went on, ‘The person suspected of stealing the disk was tracked to a small island off the coast of France. Sam was HAHO’d in a few hours ago to get the disk back. But he’s now communicated that the situation has changed and is critical. He needs urgent support to complete the mission.’
‘Which is where we come in,’ said Natalya. ‘Right?’
Johnny nodded and looked at Ethan. ‘Like I said, the skydiving competition was the perfect cover for Sam to leave the country and for us to follow on in case it turned into a full-on shit-storm – which it has.’
‘So eloquently put,’ said Kat, shaking her head.
‘So we were sent to the competition just in case Sam needed us?’ Ethan asked.
Luke nodded. ‘No one would suspect a thing,’ he said. ‘Gabe got the communication from Sam as we left FreeFall. The jet was being held in reserve, just in case this kicked off.’
The more Ethan heard, the more unreal it all seemed. He’d just found out he was a member of a special