Starting Point - Elle Aycart Page 0,37
dinosaur.”
“Hey, don’t insult Adele. She can hear you.”
He was wearing sunglasses, so she couldn’t tell for sure, but she would have bet good money he was rolling his eyes.
Next, he produced a day pack. “This is your emergency kit. Always keep it in your trunk—which, by the way, you can open with the screwdriver too.”
She peeked inside. Mylar blanket. Three flares. Emergency flags in red and white. Jumper cables. De-icer. Bug repellant. Sunscreen. First-aid box. Windbreaker. Hat. Food rations. Lighter. Carabiners. Bottled water. Oh, and a piece of rectangular metal. “This?” she asked, pointing at it.
“Snow is a bitch. You drop something like your keys and you’ll never find them again. This magnet will attract anything metal.”
Impressive. “Thank you.” The first present he’d ever given her—of course it had to be an emergency kit. “But something’s missing.” At his frown, she went on tiptoes and hugged him tight. “This was missing.”
He wrapped her in his arms and spoke into the crook of her neck. “You’re welcome. You free, boss?”
“My schedule is wide open, why?”
“I thought we’d pass by Marc’s before going to grab some lunch at the diner.”
She lifted his sunglasses and stared at his eyes again. Nope. Nothing that shouldn’t be there. She was so relieved. She kissed him on the cheek. “Great. I’ll get to see Elastigirl too.”
She released him and was walking to the driver’s door when he grabbed her by the arm and hauled her back. Cupping her face with both hands, he kissed the daylights out of her. “Now we can go.”
Dazzled, she opened the car door. She heard a loud snort. “Not in that.”
“Don’t listen to him, Adele. I’m very glad you’re back.” She kissed the palm of her hand and placed it on the hood.
“Why the fuck does your car have a name?” Alec asked after they both got in his truck.
“All the heroines in TV shows name their cars. Except in K-dramas. K-drama heroines don’t have cars. They ride buses and fall asleep all over Seoul.”
He shook his head but didn’t reply. It was a sunny day, and she enjoyed the ride. They reached the farm pretty fast. As soon as Alec turned off the engine, Marc came out, Cage and Wolf with him. “Oh, your whole crew is here!” She jumped out of the cab and waved. “Hi guys!”
Marc and Wolf hailed her back. Cage just nodded.
“Do you mind if I visit Elastigirl?” she asked Marc.
“Go ahead,” Marc said. “We’ll be in the backyard when you’re finished.”
Megan dashed into the barn. Elastigirl was still with Fiona, but she wasn’t the fragile, wobbly-legged calf Megan had helped deliver a couple days ago. She was darting and jumping around her mother.
“Wow, girl, you are kicking up a storm,” Megan said, leaning on the fence.
Elastigirl came close, smelling her. Curious. She even let Megan touch her head before going back to her mother.
Given that it had been her first time assisting in a delivery, a difficult one at that, Megan was pretty pleased with herself. She couldn’t imagine what the feeling of accomplishment would have been like from delivering a human baby. That had been her dream.
She shook her head. It was far too late to cry over spilled milk.
She checked around the small barn, the smallest from the three she’d spotted at Marc’s place. There were cows on one side, pigs in the other. No little silos full of beetles anywhere she could see. Good. She’d steer clear of the other barns, though.
She made it to the backyard in time to see Marc bringing a big tray full of deep-fried tidbits. “You want a snack?” he called.
“Ha! No way, buster. Heather warned me.” Then she noticed there were several platters already on the table. She took a step back. “Crap.”
“I prepared a tasting. That’s why they came,” Marc explained, indicating Cage and Wolf.
“Marc sells the…” Alec was probably searching for a word that wouldn’t freak her out. Too bad he wasn’t going to find it. “…protein source from which his bigger clients produce bars and powders. Others use it to add to rations. He experiments with recipes to enhance the flavor.”
Oh God. “You mean disguise it, right?”
The crew didn’t seem horrified at all. Standing around the table, they sampled from every tray. Several times.
“How can you eat that?” she demanded.
They shrugged in unison. “We ate far worse things on some of our deployments,” Cage offered, to murmurs of agreement. “The menu selection is pretty limited when you’re crossing enemy lines. At least these