Lightning Game (GhostWalkers #17) -Christine Feehan Page 0,130
it down. He was very good at that. He had backup this time. Several of Sean’s men were scattered among the trees with the same idea. They didn’t like that Chandler had one of their “brothers” in his hands, possibly torturing him to find out their intentions.
“I’ll set her down,” the pilot eventually agreed. “Will need two soldiers to accompany package to destination.”
Sean waited to see if the pilot gave him preferences. Rubin thought it was an intelligent move on his part. If the pilot did specifically name someone, that meant there were more traitors among Sean’s men. The plane was in sight now. Circling the meadow.
“You have anyone in mind?”
“Your best. I don’t want trouble on the flight back.”
The relief on Sean’s face showed instantly. He took a breath and let it out. The men in his unit were close, the way Rubin’s were. They were GhostWalkers, men set apart with nowhere to go, so they had to rely heavily on one another. To have someone turn traitor was abhorrent to them.
They were silent watching as the pilot circled the meadow low, looking for the best way to land the small plane. It was a large meadow and the grass was short. Most of the large debris had already been removed by the ground crew. The pilot circled once more and then came in low, clearly determined to set down.
“I don’t want him to see Jonquille until the last minute after he lands,” Rubin said. “We’ll take him prisoner and turn him over to our commander. We know he’s taking a cut of the profits. Once we take a look at all of you and hopefully get you on your feet and in good working order, Chandler can be dealt with. Any of the new soldiers can decide whether they’re working for the United States or for profit. The government will have to deal with that.”
He hoped what he said was true. Too often it wasn’t. If a Ghost-Walker went rogue, only another GhostWalker had a good chance of tracking him and taking him out. Fortunately, that wasn’t something that happened often.
Diego joined them as the plane made its way to the meadow. Rubin had to hand it to the pilot. He knew his stuff. He circled twice, coming in low, studying the terrain before he made his commitment to the actual landing. When he did make the commitment, there was no hesitation. He was a good pilot. The plane was controlled, steady, came in low, against the wind to help slow it, where the grass was short and the dirt was smoothest.
As far as Rubin could see, they could have already built a landing strip for the pilot. He set the plane down, turned it in a long circle and pointed it back in the direction he’d come, setting up to take off.
“He’s got skills,” Rubin acknowledged to Sean.
“Yeah, he does. Swamp Man taught him and then that son of a bitch betrayed him.” Sean was very clear about that. “You were the one to tell me he was well aware Chandler had taken Swamp prisoner and was most likely torturing him to find out why they wanted this ‘package’ where they were taking her. The lieutenant didn’t seem to mind.”
That much was the truth again. Rubin sighed. Sometimes the psychological testing done for the GhostWalker program failed to weed out the ones that shouldn’t be enhanced. If they had no empathy for others, being jacked up so much could turn them into beings who believed they were so superior to others they would torture and kill without a qualm. They had no morals. No code. They didn’t belong in a program like the GhostWalkers.
Sean, with Abel and Hudson on either side of him, walked toward the plane. Diego, with Rubin and Andrew, stayed in the shadows to cover them. The other squirrel men went up into the trees as a precaution. Sean walked with confidence, acting as if he didn’t think anything was wrong. Jonquille was seated in sight, at the edge of the meadow with two men on either side of her. She had only to roll into the woods and lie flat to disappear. Diego and Rubin were right there, close to her. Luther was somewhere close. Hidden.
The door to the plane opened and the pilot stepped out smiling, giving Sean a brief salute. He started forward and then suddenly veered to the side and dove under the plane.