Page 8 of Keeping Penny

Pyro’s mind wandered. He was also grateful to both Fred and his handler, Jennifer, but at the moment, he was completely focused on the here and now.

They approached the hangar, and the familiar smell of jet fuel greeted them as they entered. Usually Pyro didn’t think twice about it, but today, he wondered how annoying or overpowering the smell might be to a bunch of women who weren’t used to it. And they had to sleep in here. Would they end up with headaches? Would it do them lasting harm?

Of course, he’d never considered how the smell affected the men and women who worked on the aircrafts all day. He felt especially bad for not thinking twice about Laryn being in here with their choppers, as she got them secured for transport or readied them to be brought to the flight deck. Especially now that she was pregnant.

He made a mental note to ask Casper about that. If this environment was safe for the baby. Laryn would kick his ass if he did anything that forced her to take a leave of absence from work before she was ready, but Casper was as good as a brother to Pyro. And he’d protect his copilot’s woman and child from harm, just as he did his teammate while they were in the air.

“There’s the cots,” Edge said, pointing to their left.

Looking in that direction, Pyro saw several rows of cots lined up at the back side of the huge room. They looked tiny compared to the aircraft that were parked in the hangar. There were barricades set up around the cots, retractable belts keeping everyone away from the rest of the hangar for their own safety. But there was no privacy whatsoever.

The setup reminded Pyro of the old movie Revenge of the Nerds. When the nerds were relocated to the college’s gym after their house was destroyed.

Without hesitation, he headed in the direction of the cots. There were people milling around, others lying on their makeshift beds, some talking on phones. It was loud and chaotic, and it made Pyro feel uncomfortable just being there. He felt bad for the women and kids. While this situation was better than the one they’d come from, and safe, it wasn’t exactly cozy.

Looking around, he tried to find Penny and Bowie. He wasn’t pleased when he found them at the end of one of the rows of cots. They were sitting cross-legged, facing each other on one of the narrow beds, a plastic bag between them that they were currently digging through.

To his surprise, Penny looked up and straight at him as he walked toward her. He had no idea how she knew he was there, but the welcoming smile on her face made his heart do funny things in his chest. She leaned forward and said something to Bowie, who turned in his direction as well.

Then the little girl got up and walked straight toward him. Pyro was confused about how she knew where he was or how she had the confidence to leave the cot in such an unfamiliar environment. He picked up his pace and met the little girl about a dozen steps from where her mom was still sitting.

“Hey, Bowie,” he greeted as she neared, so she’d know he was there.

“Kylo-Pyro! You’re here!”

“Of course I am, squirt. We’re in the middle of the ocean, nowhere else for me to be.”

He squatted down as he spoke, and to Pyro’s surprise, she didn’t hesitate to walk right into him, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him an enthusiastic hug. Then she pulled back but kept her hands on his shoulders.

“I know that, silly. But you’re here-here. Isn’t this cool? Do you get to sleep somewhere awesome like this? It smells like gas, but a funny gas. And I can hear people working on airplanes. Sometimes they say bad words when they drop something.” She giggled. “Mommy doesn’t like me saying those words, but I can’t help it if I hear them. And we get to sleep in a real bed! I even get my own!”

She was talking a mile a minute, and it was adorable, even if it bothered Pyro that she thought being here was cool. And he didn’t miss her last statement about sleeping in a “real bed.” As if a military cot was a real bed.

He realized he was frowning and silently admonished himself…but a split-second later, he remembered that the little girl couldn’t see his facial expression.

“We’ve got our own room on one of the lower floors,” Edge said from behind him. “It’s definitely not as cool as where you get to sleep.”

Bowie tilted her head up and gazed somewhere over Pyro’s shoulder. “Who’re you?”

“I’m Edge. And I brought Chaos too. We’re Pyro’s friends.”

Bowie giggled again. “Your names are funny. But I guess mine is too, so that’s okay. I’m Bowie Burns. I’m here with my mommy.”

“Is your daddy coming to join you soon?” Chaos asked.

Pyro frowned at Chaos over his shoulder…even if he was secretly relieved he’d asked the question he desperately wanted the answer to.

To his surprise, the usual sunny child scowled, then violently shook her head. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders as she spoke. “No. He’s dead. He hurt Mommy and me and we’re glad he’s not here anymore.”

Whoa. Her response was vehement. But more than that, Pyro could hear the fear in the words. His body tensed, and he had to force himself to relax. Bowie said the man was dead, so whatever he’d done to the girl, he couldn’t do it anymore.

“Hi. I’m Penny. I’m assuming by what you’re wearing that you’re pilots like Pyro? Thank you for what you’re doing here. There’s no way we could’ve gotten out of the city without your help.”

Pyro stood, taking one of Bowie’s hands as he did so he didn’t break their connection. She tilted her head back and smiled up at him as her little fingers tightened in his grip. He realized a little too late that it probably didn’t look great for an almost-stranger to be so friendly with a child he’d just met, but thankfully Penny didn’t look alarmed in the least.

“Ma’am,” Edge said respectfully with a nod.

“Nice to meet you,” Chaos added.