“So Reecey, we got about two hours to Greece. What you wanna do? You ever done it with a soldier girl before?”
Carrera backed away to give her plenty of room. “Ah, I do have a girlfriend, Miss Myles. Otherwise…”
Alicia slapped him playfully on the bicep. It was like hitting a punch bag filled with lead. “Ach, naughty. I meant what we gonna cook together? You do like cooking, right? That’s pretty much all you ever talk about.”
She flounced past, heading to the onboard kitchen as if she owned the place.
Russo came next. “You’ll get used to her, Mr. Carrera. Some say she’s a bitch. Me? I’m undecided.”
Alicia heard Crouch muttering some apology, but once Caitlyn was inside and the door was shut Carrera headed straight to the kitchen.
As she’d expected.
“So, you like cooking?” Carrera grinned.
“I like lots of things, Reecey. Some involve knives, others forks and spoons. I’m a forward thinking kinda girl. Always ready for the next adventure.”
Carrera nodded as he washed his hands. Alicia couldn’t help but notice their size. The man could do great damage with those things, especially since he worked out at a gym five times a week. Strong hands, capable hands, she thought. Makes a girl feel all secure. Only one man in her life had accomplished that before, and only for a short time.
“You like linguini?” Carrera asked. “I make a spice medley all of my own. Makes it taste—” he kissed his fingers. “Fantastico!”
“Ya got corned beef hash?”
At that moment the pilot’s voice came over the intercom, asking for seats to be taken prior to take-off. Carrera’s odd look transformed immediately into another smile and he turned away. Alicia followed him, allowing her eyes to travel downward as he walked.
Russo watched her from the nearest window seat. “Having fun?”
Alicia plonked herself down beside him. “Got any ice cubes? I need to cool down.”
“You’ll have your hands full soon enough,” Russo said with a touch of irony. “Soon as we land we’re at war.”
“Have they found something?”
Russo nodded at Caitlyn. “She’s still tuned into the feed between Argento and SPEAR. All that bollocks about steam vents and electrical cables appears to have paid off. There’s a hidden underground bunker or cave just on the fringes of the national park.”
“Defended?”
“Well, not obviously but I’d say yeah. It’s close to the only main road in the region. They might also have camouflaged choppers that we can’t see and God knows what else. But we have the two best teams in the world, right?”
Alicia shrugged. “Maybe. If we swop you for that Agent Collins in LA, I’d feel better.”
“Piss off. Damn, you’re a confusing one. You run from one team to the next. Even a biker group. One boss to the next. And there’s always a… um, romantic angle. Somebody to be with. Then there’s the question of girls or boys — which is it that you like?”
“You asking for yourself or Caitlyn?” Alicia asked lightly.
“Maybe I’m asking and hoping for a serious answer.”
Alicia wasn’t ready for this. Not yet. What surprised her though was where the support came from — Russo. Big, strong, able to take the knocks. A support platform she could abuse endlessly when the time came to vent, to take back her life.
If it ever came.
“All right, Russo. You want serious? How about this… now isn’t the time. When the time is right and if you’re around I’ll tell you. I’ll use you. How’s that?”
“Good enough.”
The two sat in stony silence for a while as the jet climbed. In truth, Alicia wasn’t sure she even wanted somebody to help divert the course of her life. Maybe she would just die alone and skip all the pain of revelation. She’d made it this far.
Caitlyn turned around then. “They’ve pinpointed a location,” she said. “We’ll land in Larissa and then chopper in with the Greek Army and Special Forces. No holds barred, guys. If this is their weaponization factory it has to be wiped off the map.”
“No way of planning a stealth attack?” Healey asked.
“We have to assume they have an early warning system. Pressure plates, infra-red, whatever. We know Dudley at least is top-notch. The feeling is that the best assault is a blitz, and with the choppers they should only get five minutes warning.”
Alicia noticed as Caitlyn allowed her eyes to lock onto Healey’s for a moment, communicating a private message. The pair hadn’t yet managed that date and for that matter, Caitlyn herself still struggled to find a way through the pall cast by her recent past. Damn, our team’s even more fucked up than Drake’s.
Then she turned her attention to the job at hand, ignoring Reece Carrera’s questioning glance, and prepared her brain for hard battle.
There would be time enough later to set everyone’s problems to rights.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Drake cooled his heels on the tarmacked runway as Alicia’s jet came in to land. The SPEAR team had only emerged into a fresh morning fifteen minutes ago and thought it beneficial to wait for the world-class backup. Truth be told, he was looking forward to seeing his old sparring partner again. In the past the miles between them could never have been enough, but lately that was far from the case. Even Mai had grown to accept the turbulent, passionate heroine though Drake wouldn’t like to test that theory right now.
The SPEAR team were going in fully manned. Yorgi and Lauren would remain aboard the choppers, but were still an active part of the operation. The greater the number of people that monitored a mission’s comms the larger the amount of information could be gleaned from them.
The jet taxied around. The pilot barely had time to apply the brakes before Alicia opened the door and bounded down the hastily attached steps, a deadly, playful puppy with blond hair and a penchant for violence. Drake couldn’t be sure but he thought her eyes were searching for him, only him, because when they locked on a light illuminated inside them.
“Drakey!”
She came up to him, pushing Kinimaka aside with a mock angry face, and just stood there. “Been a while.”
“Not really, love. Three or four weeks, max. Ya missed me?”
“Like the modern age misses Attila the Hun, baby.”
Drake snorted. “Oh, so put you together with a wannabe historian and an archaeological treasure hunter for three weeks and you’re suddenly a soothsayer? Should have done it years ago.”
Hayden pushed by them as Crouch walked up. The pair shook hands, and then both teams were rapidly introduced. Drake had imagined a more momentous meeting place for two of the world’s most respected teams, but perhaps their first battle together would be more significant — on the slopes of Mount Olympus.
“We all set?” Crouch’s voice broke through the din of soldiers familiarizing themselves with new comrades they would soon fight alongside. “Anything changed?”
Karin broke free from Healey, the young man’s exuberance written all over his face. “No adjustments to the plan. We’re ready to go.”
The large team strode over toward the waiting choppers, squatting like black prehistoric birds on the runway, their rotors already turning. Five in total, two had been reserved for the new arrivals.
Alicia stopped with her foot on the skids. “Damn, two of you are gonna have to join us. Um, Torsty, would you mind?” With a flourish she maneuvered him onto their bird. “Drake?”
Mai was already there, giving Alicia the eye. “Thought I’d get to know your team. Do they know about the Taz moniker?”