Page 36 of Burning Secrets

“Maybe.”

“I might be sick. I waskidding.And never mind what Jer has on his brain—no, it’s not even a topic of conversation.” He turned back and put the truck in Drive.

“Crew!”

“You have a job, JoJo. One, if I am correct, you’re AWOL from.” He shook his head over and over as he drove.

She touched his arm. “Calm down, Crew.”

He glanced at her, molars tight again.

“Okay. I get it. But I just…I can’t but feel like if you go back there”—and her stupid eyes filled again—“you’ll get killed.”

He drew in a breath, his mouth tightening into a grim line. “Maybe that’s all a guy like me has to look forward to.”

“What?”

He shook his head again and turned onto the dirt road leading to the base.

“Crew—”

“I don’t want to talk about it. Where do I drop you?”

She turned back, folded her arms, her shoulders rising and falling with her breaths. “Up here, at the administrative building. I need to check in.”

They drove up the dirt road, the grass mowed on either side—the handiwork of one of their dispatchers who hated being indoors.

Cutting through the middle of the camp, a runway held a couple jump planes waiting for action and a chopper. A number of Quonsets sat on the other side of the runway, by the vehicle depots and the chopper pads, along with the mess hall and the hangar, which held equipment and attached to their parachute bay.

Cabins and RV parking lined up along the road, a firepit in the center. As he pulled into the parking lot in front of the admin building, JoJo spotted Tori walking from the building to the women’s cabin. A couple hotshots sat on the porch steps of the men’s cabin.

“A lot different from the SOR base. We had something like this before you guys blew it up.”

She looked at him. “Us guys?”

“I didn’t meant it that way. But it was less…rustic. After it was…blown up…the SOR scattered.”

“How many more compounds are there?”

“I don’t know. Which is why I need to go back, JoJo.”

And they were back to that.

He parked and she got out, held the door open. “Come in. Meet Tucker.”

He glanced over at her. “Why?”

“So if we have to blow up one of your compounds again, he knows you’re one of the good guys.”

His mouth opened. And she didn’t know where that’d come from, but—“Sorry.”

But he blinked at her.

And then he put the truck into Park, turned it off, and got out.

Came around.

“Really?”

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