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It wasn’t like she wanted to spend another night under her parents’ roof. And Gabriel was either going to run or dig up something useful. If she had the money to bet, she would choose the first option.
And so, with a long, weary sigh, she turned up the next road—which looked like all the others, carving through the corn fields—and followed the squiggly purple line leading her on the GPS to the airfield.
She’d have to get hardware when she landed. And private planes would keep her off the FBI radar. She still had enemies back at the bureau but also friends.
Still, on a mission like this, she’d be completely alone.
And in a way, that’s how she liked it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Cora supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised when she reached the private airfield, and she recognized the lingering helicopter. This time, instead of a skimpily clad woman spray painted on the side, the thing had been completely repainted, now displaying a shark flinging out of a tornado.
She rolled her eyes, glanced back towards where she’d parked the truck behind the tree line, then rolled her shoulders and approached the waiting vehicle.
This time, the pilot was outside the helicopter, busily wiping at the front of the bird. He was wearing the same straw bonnet she remembered from last time. His face still had that patchy tan from a spray canister she also remembered.
At least this time, he was wearing clothes. The last time he’d flown her out over a storming sea, he’d been wearing only his bright pink underwear while the rest of his clothing had dried in the back.
As she drew near, he glanced up and suddenly grinned, flashing bright, white teeth.
“Cobra!” he called out, extending his arms as if to embrace her.
She promptly waved.
He lowered his arms, completely unperturbed by the mild rejection. “Ready for the trip?” he said.
Cora nodded. “Good to see you Skyler.”
“Umm, no,” he said awkwardly, shaking his head. “Stan. Stan Johnson.”
She frowned. “You changed it again?”
He chuckled. “The heart wants what it wants. Alright, well, hop on in if you’re good.”
Cora nodded slowly. She slipped into the open door of the front passenger seat, entering somewhere in the vicinity of the shark’s open mouth. The door shut, hiding the objectionable paint job. A second later, Skyler—aka Stan—joined her.
He was whistling as he placed headphones on over his bonnet, crumpling the brim. He’d done the same on their last excursion.
He was a bit older than she’d first thought. The last time they’d met had been under far more heart-pounding circumstances. And in the light of day, with the helicopter currently sitting dormant, she realized that Stan had a thin prickle of white hair and a wispy, pale beard, neatly trimmed. The neat, pale hair reminded her somewhat of her old partner, Saul Brady. She missed him. Out of everyone at the FBI, he’d been the one person she’d actually considered a friend.
And after her firing, he’d called to express both his disappointmentandhis support for her. She wouldn’t soon forget it. It was, perhaps, the reason she had used him to help round up the traffickers. She checked her phone quickly as Stan began to adjust knobs and buttons, preparing to put them in the sky.
As the helicopter blades began to pick up speed, Cora studied her phone closely and frowned. A couple of articles hinted at an FBI raid that had cleared out a nest of traffickers. She nodded to herself in satisfaction.
At the same time, she cycled to news from Miami. She enteredJanice Lochhead.Johnny’s sister.
But no hits. She frowned.
If the woman really had been murdered, why was there no traction? Not even a small line in a local newspaper?
She shook her head, feeling her stomach jolt as they began to lift off the helipad and cut through the sky. Flying by helicopter would take a good deal longer than plane but would be easier to skate by without drawing much attention.
And for now, low key was exactly what Cora was going for.
“Next stop, Miami!” exclaimed Stan Johnson. He gave her another million-dollar grin as they took to the clouds.
Cora glanced back at the idyllic farming town and felt a pang of longing. She frowned and looked up, refusing to give in to the sudden emotion.
