Page 54 of Training Rain
She looked up at the other man as if he were a cherry lollipop she couldn’t wait to get her mouth on. Licking her lips and running her hand down the side of her breast. That same hand disappeared beneath the folds of the jacket she had disregarded at her side.
The soldier leaned over her, nearly climbing into the same seat as he dipped his head to taste her full lips.
Jess’s fingers were balled so tight they began to cramp. If he’d made a mistake… No, she could handle this.Trust her.
The soldier absently put his gun on the table. His other hand clutched the back of her seat. His body descended slowly and nearly touched hers.
The familiar crackle of electricity sounded in the airplane cockpit. The merc stumbled backward and Rain moved forward with him, holding the Taser’s head flush against his neck. He jerked several more times and collapsed on the floor.
A wave of extreme pride washed over Jess. “Great job.”
She winked, pulled the knife out of the sheath on the soldier’s belt and cut Jess’s restraint. “Now what?”
Jess took the Taser, found an extra battery in the compartment where Rain had gotten it and slapped the new charge into place.
“See if he has any more restraints on him and secure him to something. Check him for additional weapons. I’ll take care of the pilot.”
He stepped toward the door. This would have to be quick.
“Wait, can you fly this thing?” Her expression, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, was comical.
He grinned back at her. He wondered if she noticed the hesitation in his smile. If she did, she kept it to herself and worked to immobilize the merc.
A second later, his full attention was on the door. He opened it. The pilot was relaxed, watching the instruments while the autopilot flew the plane. His mouth opened as if to ask a question of his partner and Jess put the Taser to the side of his neck. His body went rigid and he collapsed. Jess dropped the weapon and unbuckled the inert body of the pilot before dragging him out of the cockpit and pulling two handguns off him.
Rain came forward with additional plastic restraints and helped secure the pilot to the table base.
She stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans as if she was soiled from touching the enemy. Jess wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him. “You were amazing.”
Her arms wrapped tightly around his back. “Thanks. I’m glad you know this plane and all the things Will has hidden here.”
“There’s probably a full arsenal in the pantry. Will’s a bit of nut when it comes to collecting firearms.”
Gently, she pulled away from him and he reluctantly released her. “I can go and check that out, but can you land this plane?”
She hadn’t missed his hesitation. “I’m going to be honest with you. I’m not the greatest pilot and I’ve never flown anything this fancy.”
“So that’s what, a maybe? I’m not that keen on jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.”
Neither was he. Plus, he had a feeling that they were headed for a pretty populated area and when this aircraft plummeted to the ground it would not be good. Maybe he could adjust the autopilot to dump someplace out in the Atlantic. “I’m going to try to call Tessa and see if Joshua can talk us down.”
If it were possible, her eyes got even wider. She released her breath slowly. “Okay. You go call for help and I’ll see if we can put up a fight when and if you get us down from here.”
“You’re calmer than I expected.” In fact he’d begun to wonder if she understood the seriousness of the situation.
Leaning forward, she gave him a quick kiss. “I have faith in you. Besides, I expected to be killed back in Yellowstone. What’s one more emergency after what we’ve done in the last forty-eight hours?”
“Does this mean I’m forgiven?”
“Of course not.” She grinned, belying her words. “But if we’re going to die in the next few minutes, I’d better stop being pissed off at you.”
Jess sat in the pilot’s seat and strapped in. The digital flight deck blinked colorfully in front of him. The plane was state of the art with touch-screen navigation, traffic and 3-D surface views. He was out of his league. Worst-case scenario, he knew where the parachutes were. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“Where are you?” Tessa practically screamed over the phone.
He pulled the microphone away from his ear. “At the moment I’m in Will’s airplane, but I don’t know where Will is.” He checked the navigation screen and looked out the window at mountains and clouds. “I’d say we’re over North Carolina heading toward Washington D.C.”
“What happened?” He could hear the concern underneath her all-business demeanor.
