Shielding Gillian (Delta Team Two #1) - Susan Stoker Page 0,13

damn refreshing, she hadn’t even minded being forced to haul in all the heavy boxes.

But it had been the man at the top of the ladder that had given her the biggest boost. At first she hadn’t paid much attention to him, concentrating more on the slight breeze and fresh air. But when she finally noticed that he was paying very close attention to her, she took a second glance.

He had dark hair and his biceps strained the fabric of the one-piece jumper he’d had on. His gray eyes were piercing in their intensity, and she swore he was exuding confidence and positivity as if they were pheromones. But the thing that made her truly believe he was the man she’d been talking to on the phone was his lack of fear. The men who’d delivered the last batch of food and water had been falling all over themselves to unload the boxes and get the hell away from the plane.

This man, and his buddies, had given off the opposite vibe. Gillian had a feeling if Luis had made any threatening moves behind her, the man at the top of the ladder would’ve leaped into the plane and taken him out.

Feeling buoyed by the man’s confidence, she’d started using as many names of her fellow hostages as possible. If this was her Walker, she wanted him to know exactly who was onboard.

Her Walker?

Gillian shook her head in exasperation. He wasn’t hers. She had to get her shit together. He was just doing a job. Once this was over, and hopefully that would be sooner rather than later, he’d go home and forget she existed.

But a part of her didn’t want to believe that. She felt as if she’d connected with the man, but again, that was stupid. He was probably one hundred percent focused on the mission. Namely, rescuing all of the hostages on the plane. She wasn’t anyone special, and the sooner she got that through her thick skull, the better.

It was a ridiculous fantasy that he’d felt even a tenth of the emotional pull toward her that she did to him, but it was a hell of a lot better than thinking about her current situation.

She’d actually mouthed his name right before the hatch had shut, needing to know if it was really him. He’d nodded slightly…then Luis had grabbed her and manhandled her back inside the plane.

She sat on the floor with her back against the cockpit door, watching as Alberto and Jesus handed out water and food to the other women. Leyton, a Hispanic man who looked to be in his early thirties, was tasked with schlepping some boxes to the back of the plane for the men being held there.

Turning her attention back to the women, Gillian sighed. She’d hoped they would let Janet and her little girl go. Or even Alice, who hadn’t been dealing well since being separated from her husband. But instead, as promised, they’d only freed two of the women. Gillian hadn’t known them well; they were older and hadn’t said one word to anyone, as far as Gillian knew.

They’d also let eight men go. Mostly young men, who hadn’t even looked at the women they’d had to pass on their way out. It made a weird kind of sense to Gillian. The women weren’t as strong as the men, and were less likely to plan any kind of revolt.

The hijackers might see Gillian and the others as weaker than they were, but they weren’t. They just had to use different weapons than their muscles.

Gillian vowed right then and there to do whatever it took to thwart their plans, whatever they were. If they thought they were going to take off to safety, they were dead wrong. She’d have to find some way to sabotage the plane. She’d watched Luis close the hatch; maybe she could disable the door somehow. They couldn’t take off if the door wasn’t latched, could they? She didn’t know, but it was worth a shot. She’d also work harder to give Walker as much information as she could.

“I need my cock sucked,” Luis announced.

Gillian started badly. She’d been lost in her own head, thinking about Walker and how she might be able to fight back, when the hijacker’s words interrupted, loud and threatening.

She shrank back against the door and stared at him with wide eyes. He was standing in the middle of the aisle about six rows back, where the first-class cabin ended and the economy