Page 22 of Lifeline

Aidan flipped me the bird. “We drove out here, at y’alls direction, and we’ve been walking, so can we maybe, just maybe, find this guy?”

Mav glanced at me. “Does he…expect we’re just going to pull this random person out of thin air?”

“I think he’s hoping, not expecting,” I informed him wryly. “We’re in the right area, Aidan.”

“You sure?” he asked, looking around. “Don’t worry, I’m not doubting you…not seriously, anyway. But, like…it all looks the same.”

Mav sighed. “You get used to it.”

I checked the GPS in my hand and nodded. “We’re in the area. There were three different reports within five hours, and this is more or less the spot you estimated.”

Aidan peered over curiously. “How did you come up with that estimate?”

“Hmph,” Mav said, and I thought for a moment he was going to clam up and refuse to speak, but he sighed. “Based it on where the reports came in from and where they reported they’d seen the guy. Factoring in how long it had been since the reports and how far a person can walk and it’s…an estimate.”

Aidan looked at him. “No shit? Huh, I probably should have thought of that, because now it seems obvious. I’m guessing outside being a pretty face, you must be what…the better navigator and tracker out of everyone?”

Mav’s face went blank, and I was forced to turn away so neither man could see me trying to bite back a laugh. Of all the things Aidan could have said, I would have bet money Mav hadn’t been expecting that. And while I wasn’t willing to bet money on it, I wondered if Mav was a little flattered, if not pleased by the attention.

“We’ve already got a third of the area covered,” Mav grunted rather than give away anything that would give me my answer. “Take him with you and cover the second third, and I’ll get the last one.”

“How do you know the difference between each third?” Aidan wondered, peering down at the device in my hand.

“Magic,” I told him, but Mav groaned.

“We have a system for this kind of thing,” Mav explained and waved a hand between him and Aidan. “We don’t have time to explain it. Big Boss wanted you out on something easier than some of our calls, so you’re getting a hands-on. Good job on not pissing him off.”

And with no more explanation, Mav walked off, shaking his head, and I watched him go with surprise. After I nodded for Aidan to follow me, I snorted. “You got Mav to speak, bravo.”

“I…is that rare? I mean, I thought he talked to y’all, but not me because I was new,” he said nervously.

“He…talks, when the mood strikes him.”

“And to Carter.”

“Yes, and to Carter.”

“Hmm,” Aidan said as we walked. “So Mav and Carter seem to have buddied up. Jake and Reno are pretty much buddied up too. And really, it’s only been three weeks that I’ve been here, but does it seem like Colin and Xander have buddied up?”

I had noticed it and not thought much of it. Colin was a weirdly good balancing act for Xander, tolerating Xander’s abrasiveness but not a doormat by any measure. Xander was…different with Colin, just as gruff and occasionally rough, but he was never…I didn’t know how to describe it. “Yes, and before you say it, Xander is straight.”

“I wasn’t going to say it,” Aidan said thoughtfully. “Though now I think about it, there is a touch of romance there, isn’t there?”

“I…yeah, but considering Xander is going through a nasty divorce and again, straight…and don’t mention his divorce.”

“Hey, I might be slow reading the room, but even I noticed everyone mentions the divorce, but never when Xander could be around. So, I took a cue from that and decided mentioning something unpleasant, like a divorce, isn’t worth it around our decidedly cranky boss.”

“At least your sense of self-preservation is as strong as ever,” I said with a snort.

I chuckled, rubbing between his shoulder blades. His expression froze, and I realized what I’d done and pulled my hand back, taking a step away. Only to be reminded I had been standing on the narrow crest of a hill we’d just climbed and felt the wet earth give way, making me stumble hard. I stomped my heel down and…found it wasn’t nearly as stable as I thought.

“Mika!” Aidan snapped, reaching out to take hold of me, and I twisted to catch myself as I’d had to do before. Except I had someone else flailing to catch me, not knowing how to do it without making it worse, and worse was exactly what it was as we both tipped back and tumbled down the slope.

I tumbled and twirled, leaving me blind and helpless as I bounced and slid down the embankment, occasionally hit by the man who had tried to save me as he suffered the same fate. When we collapsed at the bottom, the wind was knocked out of me with a keening whine as I slapped my hand against the first solid thing I could feel: hard, wet, and yet somehow warm.

“Ow,” I heard him groan, and my eyes opened as I fought for breath and found I was weighted down. And then there were dark eyes above me, staring down into mine, so dark they could have been black, as if they sucked in everything around them and held it close.

“Get,” I gasped out finally, “off…me.”