Jessica’s fears showed in her voice. She swallowed a bite of her own bar before asking. “Do you think they’re hurting my dad?”
“No.”
Jessica angled her head up to face him. The flashlight cast enough of a glow that she could see his firm jaw already shading with the hint of whiskers. “Don’t tell me the nice version. Be honest. I can handle it.”
“Honestly,” he angled down to meet her gaze. “He’s seventy-nine years old, and whatever they need from him cannot and will not be gotten through force. He’s a stubborn man and the kind of torture it would require would kill him. It would be a total failure when there are simpler ways.”
Jessica narrowed her eyes. “Like threatening his only child, conceived late in life through a miracle intervention?”
His expression turned even grimmer. “If what they want is even his to give.”
“What else could it be?”
He looked at her, his gaze prodding her to understand. “What if it’s you they want? First generation born with TERA, genius ability and the experience of working with your father and the miracle drug?”
Her brows twisted in her confusion. “I thought this attack was politically motivated?”
Reid shrugged. “His allies want him on the speaking circuit. His detractors don’t want a martyr catching the sympathy vote with his last wish. You weren’t supposed to be on the jet. They already have your father, but are still searching for you. In force.”
She nodded, resting the side of her face on his chest as she stared into blackness. “You’re right. It doesn’t add up.”
“Do you have any idea why they would want you?”
“TERA is already widely available to anyone who wants it. I might be first generation, but I am far from the only one born with it inside me.”
“What are you working on now?”
She shook her head. “That’s clearance-only. Top level.”
“Which means you and your father know, and who else?”
Jessica bit her lip, considering. “Our assistant, Sally. She is the one who encouraged me to go with Dad on this trip. I was worried about the stressful pace of the speaking engagements. Dad’s very healthy.
TERA helped him through heart malfunctions when I was in college, but he’s been working hard and burning both ends for most of his life. It takes a toll.”
Reid squeezed her close for a moment. “It’s completely understandable that you would worry about him.”
“Falcon, this is the Aerie. Over.”
The sudden blast of speech made them both jump. The signal was clear, hardly any static.
“Hello, Aerie. This is Falcon. The fledgling and the eyas bated safely, but the flight was more turbulent than planned. Over.”
Jessica frowned. If her father was the “fledgling”, then she was the “eyas”. She was not a downy baby chick, even if it made sense in falconry terms.
Reid grinned at her, running her ponytail through his fist as he listened.
“State your status, Falcon. Over.”
“The fledgling and his dirt hawker are caught in a bow net.”
A trap. Jessica nodded.
“Status. Over.”
“The falcon and eyas are safe and laying down. Over.”
“Wait on. Over.”
“What does that mean?” Jessica frowned at him. “They want us to just sit here?”
Reid nodded. “For the moment, while they consider our situation.”
“Why do they have to consider anything? You and I can just—”
He laughed. “Dr Sweetheart, if we want everyone to make it out alive, then we’ll need reinforcements.
Or, at the very least, a ride home. We just need to wait a minute.”
Jessica huffed, glancing around their dimly lit cavern. The little flashlight was already fading and she dreaded attempting to crawl out of the cavern in complete darkness. Besides, the cooler air was no longer a pleasant break from a steamy morning, and with her wet jacket off and her skirt still drenched, it was getting downright cold. She shivered.
Reid reached between them and unzipped the front of his already dry suit, and then pulled her close, sharing his heat with her. “It won’t be long.”
Jessica huddled back against him, his undershirt soft against her cheek. She hadn’t been this close to a man in a long while. Most of her relationships happened after a scientific breakthrough, when her work didn’t consume her every conscious and unconscious thought and there were celebrations and fun to be had. Which meant her relationships were very few and far between.
Out of those few, not one had smelled quite like Reid. With him, there wasn’t the overwhelming, cloying musk of cologne, or the too-sweet smell of scented laundry soap, or the grisly scent of sweat. He just smelled comfortable, safe, and she could almost imagine his arms belonged around her.
The voice from Aerie spoke, and she jumped. Reid responded with a complicated mix of military shorthand and falconry that barely made sense. All she caught was “wing over”, “dho-gazza”, and “slip”.
Jessica blinked in the dimness; the flashlight had faded even more. She looked up at Reid’s face, waiting until he signed off. “I didn’t follow all of that.”
“They want us to change direction. Instead of racing for the rendezvous, they want us to set a trap that positions all of us to get rescued.” He sounded too grim for her peace.
“What kind of trap?”
“The kind where I let you get caught.”
Seven
The kind where I let you get caught.
Really? Jessica shoved the tail end of her hair out of her face and stormed back down the small tunnel to the outside – “stormed” as in carefully placed her knees on the rocks as she crawled as rapidly as possible, holding the nearly dead flashlight with her teeth. Reid was behind her because she’d refused to be left in that tomb-like cavern alone for even a nanosecond. Besides, if anyone was waiting for her once she emerged from the cave, it would all work out perfectly. She was supposed to be caught.
She didn’t disagree with the plan, exactly, but something about it felt wrong. That ephemeral sliver of feeling left her irritable. Reaching the opening to the tunnels, Jessica slowed down, sliding through the water so she wouldn’t make a loud splash.
When she emerged, she quickly pulled a pair of pajamas from her bag and slid them on, removing her wet skirt and shirt. She couldn’t stand her soggy clothes another minute.
Reid finally crawled out of the cavern and retrieved his signal booster. “I still don’t understand why this plan bothers you. It’s a much more efficient way to find out where they are holding him.”
“Yes, much more efficient. Are you ready?” She met his scrutiny with a detached impatience she’d had a long time to practice.
His square jaw firmed so hard he had to be grinding his teeth. “In three minutes, I will be. Be careful. I will be watching over you, but be careful anyway.”
He started to walk away when she grabbed his arm and raised her gaze to his. “I know you will, but watch your back, too. They want something from us, so my father and I are relatively safe.”
“If any of our assumptions about what they want are wrong, then we should assume they blew up the helijet with the intent to kill you.” His grim expression underscored his words.
She nodded and looked down.
Which is why he caught her by surprise with a quick, hard kiss. She knew heat, firm lips, a slight scratch of whiskers, and then nothing, as he turned and walked away.
Jessica huffed and shook her head. “How like a man to be so dramatic.”