Savage Redemption - By Alexis Morgan Page 0,34
would be minimal. Once he dropped Conlan and Kat off, that would be the end of it. Besides, Lucius was smart enough to cover his tracks well enough to avoid the best efforts of the chancellors on Ambrose’s payroll for this long.
Conlan hoped Lucius’s luck didn’t run out now.
He double-checked the coordinates Lucius had given him when Conlan had called him after leaving Finn at the gate. They were almost on top of the spot. Just as Lucius had promised, there was a cluster of trees that would provide good cover for the transport. Conlan had already disabled the GPS chip in the vehicle, so it should remain hidden unless someone happened to stumble over it.
Under the cover of the trees, it would be almost invisible from the air, too. Besides, Rafferty didn’t have the manpower to search every inch of the area, so they stood a good chance of making a clean getaway.
“We’re here. Grab all your stuff. It’s unlikely we’ll be coming back anytime soon.”
She climbed out of the transport and pulled her pack out of the backseat. “Are we walking from here?”
“Not exactly.”
He pointed toward a black speck in the sky. “Our ride’s on the way.”
She leaned against the back end of the transport with a tired sigh. Shading her eyes with her hand as she tracked the helo’s progress. “How do you know we can trust whoever is piloting that thing?”
Conlan laughed as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched his friend’s approach. “What can I say? Lucius might be a thief and a complete rogue, but he has a strict code of honor when it comes to his friends. My advice, though, is never get on his bad side, because he carries a mean grudge. Rumor has it that people stupid enough to cross him don’t usually live long enough to do it a second time, not that the law has ever been able to prove that.”
He waited to see what Kat’s reaction would be, but she actually managed to surprise him.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “Sounds like a good man to have on our side. I can’t wait to meet him.”
Both of them ducked back under the trees as the chopper swooped in for a landing, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and debris. Conlan grabbed his pack and weapons bag and took off running toward the helicopter, leaving Kat to follow behind him. Trust Lucius to know they couldn’t afford to waste time on introductions. He kept the rotors turning as they tossed their gear inside and climbed in.
As soon as Conlan tapped the big man on the shoulder, the helo shuddered a bit and then lifted off. Once in the air, Conlan settled into the copilot seat and put on the spare headset, leaving Kat alone in back where the noise would prevent her from overhearing their conversation. For the first couple of minutes, Lucius kept busy entering coordinates and scanning local transmissions.
Finally, he grinned at Conlan, his teeth gleaming whitely against his black beard. “So far, no noise about us on the official frequencies. With luck, we’ll make the return trip without anyone noticing.”
“That would be good.”
Lucius jerked his head in the direction of the passenger compartment. “You didn’t tell me you had a new woman in your life. She’s quite a looker. Glad to see you’re finally over that bitch who screwed you over three years ago.”
Conlan winced. Given Lucius’s strong opinions on loyalty and friendship, this could get interesting fast. On the other hand, he wasn’t about to lie to him about who Kat was, either. Better to go with the truth while the man was busy flying. Hopefully the trip would take long enough for Lucius’s temper to cool off if he took this the wrong way.
“Uh, buddy, I hate to tell you, but she is the one who screwed me over three years ago.”
When Lucius jerked around to glare in Kat’s direction, the chopper did a sudden drop and dip that left Conlan’s stomach hovering somewhere near the ceiling.
“Prison must have seriously messed up your sense of humor, lawman, if you think that’s funny.”
“Do you see me laughing?”
“Damn it, Conlan, she almost got you executed! How mad are you going to be when I drop her over that lake up ahead? It’s what she deserves.”
“Maybe she does, but here’s the thing—there’s some heavy hitters gunning for her.”
“Yeah, so?” Lucius clearly wasn’t impressed.
His friend was still heading straight for that lake. Conlan needed