Okay, But Try Not to Murder Anyone 8, page 13
“I know,” Elaine sighed. “I should expect the worst, after all I’ve seen from him.”
“Criminals gonna crim,” Mary said.
“Not for much longer,” I said, and then I tilted my head from side to side and cracked my knuckles. “Now, let’s get our plan of action down. Sammy, what intel do you have on security?”
The team spent the next several hours of the flight with our heads down and combing through every piece of information we had. Sammy managed to track down receipts from private security companies, so we knew to expect at least ten guards defending the property. Compared to the two we’d encountered in Morocco, it was clear Bannister had indeed upped his security in the wake of our raid. Couldn’t blame the dude, but a couple more bodies to get through wasn’t going to deter us.
Elaine revealed to us that while she was on the weapons run, she’d packed a few flash grenades and a couple smoke ones, as well. We had night vision goggles too, and Sammy had tracked down the location of the power supply to the lair. So, we devised a plan that involved Sloan, in her bird form, dropping heavy rocks on the cables and transformers to short out power to the lair. Once the power was cut, Laura and I would raid with the grenades and guns and clear the building. Ideally, we’d like to keep the body count to a minimum, so we would pack some ropes and zip ties with us to tie up the security guards while we raided the lair.
Since Bannister upped security at this location, it was safe to assume there was still an artifact stored at the lair. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered spending his precious money on the extra bodies. The artifact in Morocco had been stored in a safe in the research labs, so we operated under the assumption that it would be similar here. After we subdued all of the guards, we would sweep through the lab area to locate the artifact. By that time, Sloan would have joined us in the lair in her shapeshifted form, so we’d have a quick way out if we ran into any sort of problems.
Once we ironed out the details of the gear we’d be bringing and our planning session came to an end, we all leaned back in our seats with satisfied sighs. By now, it was early morning, and we were flying over western Asia, according to the screen on the wall.
“Don’t know about the rest of you, but that planning really worked up an appetite,” Elaine said as she rubbed her stomach.
As if on cue, there was a light knock on the doorway, and we turned to see the two flight attendants standing there with apologetic smiles and menus in their hands.
“I hope we’re not intruding,” Monica said timidly.
“Not at all, come in,” I said as I gestured them into the room. “We were just finishing up here.”
Laura and Sammy quickly started gathering all the paperwork together to make sure the flight attendants didn’t see any sensitive documents. Meanwhile, Mary stood up to meet the two women halfway as they held out the dinner menus.
“Thank you,” the curly-haired woman said with a sweet smile.
“We’ll give you a few minutes to decide,” Jessica said, and she turned her head away from the paperwork being shuffled around.
Of course, Jessica and Monica were no strangers to secret missions taking place on board the private jet. I was pretty sure they were compensated generously for their discretion, so they knew better than to try to snoop on anything.
“Thank you, ladies,” I said as Mary handed me a menu. “We’ll take our meal in the main lounge downstairs, if that’s okay.”
“Of course,” Monica said, and then the two women bowed out of the room.
“Do we have time for dinner and a nap?” Sloan asked as she stifled a yawn.
“Just,” Mary said as she handed out the last of the menus. “If we eat fast.”
So, that’s what we did. We took a few minutes to look over the menus, and then we packed everything away and filed down to the main lounge of the private jet. Monica and Jessica were already waiting for us with a selection of non-alcoholic beverages, so we traded our dinner orders for a drink, and then we all took our seats and waited for the meals to come out.
As we waited, the seatbelt light pinged, and there was a loud dinging sound before the pilot came over the speakerphone.
“Morning, folks,” the pilot said in a tinny voice. “Looks like we’re about to experience some turbulence. Nothing to be worried about, but if you could all take your seats and fasten your seat belts, that would be great.”
Sammy’s face paled as we buckled up, and the turbulence started shortly after. It wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t the worst I’d experienced, either. The plane shook, and the drinks rattled, but we held our position in the air and our speed, so I knew there was nothing to worry about.
Sammy, on the other hand, looked like he was about to pass out, and to my surprise, Mary didn’t mock him about it.
“That’s the worst of it, I’m sure,” Mary said kindly to Sammy as she patted him on the arm. “Just a bit of wind, nothing to worry about.”
“I’ll believe you when my feet are on solid ground again,” Sammy grumbled.
The fasten seatbelt sign went off, and moments later, Monica and Jessica appeared with our meals. Since it was morning, we’d all gone for a selection of breakfast foods, and I started to salivate at the sight of my stack of pancakes and side of bacon.
We all devoured our meals with the hunger of a pack of wolves. I didn’t care what anyone said, the mental work of planning a successful mission was almost as exhausting as the physical aspect of carrying out said mission. Brain power was still power, and we needed the fuel.
Once we finished eating, the flight attendants took away our plates and informed us that we had three hours until landing, and we all agreed to take a power nap so we were rested for when we landed in Nepal. Sammy waved to us and made his way to the second, smaller bedroom, and then the women and I returned to the bigger bedroom with the California King bed. We flopped down together, exhausted, and fell asleep pretty quickly.
We woke later to the loud dinging sound, followed by the pilot’s voice.
“Afternoon, folks,” he said. “Just a courtesy announcement here. We’ll be landing in about one hour, the local time in Phaplu is twelve thirty-two PM.”
The intercom buzzed static for a moment after the pilot stopped talking, and Laura reacted to the pilot’s words immediately. The blonde agent hopped out of bed with bright eyes, like she hadn’t been snoring on my shoulder less than thirty seconds ago.
“It’s go time,” Laura said with a mixture of excitement and professionalism, and she smoothed out her clothes while the rest of us scrambled off the bed.
“Finally,” Mary groaned as she stretched her arms high over her head.
“As far as overnight flights go, this was a pretty good one,” Elaine said with a smirk.
“True, I shouldn’t complain.” Mary giggled as we headed for the door.
“Best one I’ve been on, I think,” Sloan said. “I’ve always wanted to join the mile high club.”
“Maybe we’ll be recurring members on the journey back,” I joked.
“Yes, please!” Mary gasped.
“Mission first,” Laura said as she led us out of the bedroom and toward the front of the plane.
“Yes, ma’am,” Mary said, and the curly-haired woman let her face harden into a serious expression as she saluted Laura.
When we reached the main cabin, Sammy was taking his seat, so we joined him at the tables while the flight attendants strapped the drink carts to the walls.
“My favorite part,” Sammy said, and for the first time in a while, the bearded agent cracked a smile.
“Nerd,” Mary said, but she took the seat next to Sammy and started to buckle up.
“Coming from you,” Sammy fired back. “Played any Minecraft lately?”
“Minecraft is a national treasure, and I won’t hear a word against it,” Mary said with her chin in the air.
“Okay, okay, let’s focus, team,” Laura ordered as she straightened her back. “We need to prepare.”
“Haven’t we been doing that the whole flight?” Sloan asked with a flick of her nails.
Sloan was the newest addition to the team, and she was used to doing things her own way. I could tell she got a little bored with Laura’s overpreparing sometimes, but it was just the way Laura, and therefore our team, worked. I could also tell the beautiful Native American woman was really making an effort with the team, which I appreciated, so I shot the olive-skinned woman a smile that she promptly returned.
“I think she means to physically prepare,” Elaine suggested. “It’s going to be cold when we land on the top of the mountain.”
“Exactly,” Laura said with a nod, and she turned to Mary. “You packed up all the gear, right?”
“Let me go grab it,” Mary said, and she pushed herself up from her seat and made her way to the front of the jet, where the luggage hold was.
“I’ll help,” Sloan offered.
The two women disappeared for a few minutes, but we could hear the sound of the luggage being shuffled around. Then they appeared at the doorway again, laden down with bags.
“Parkas, gloves, and hats in these ones,” Mary grunted as she tossed three big bags down in the aisle.
“Boots, eye protection, socks, and underlayers in these ones,” Sloan added as she tossed her share of bags down.
The team descended on the bags like vultures on a fresh carcass. Within moments, the contents of the bags were tossed around the cabin, and we were shouting over each other to make sure the right person got the right size. It was all chaos until we sorted out the sizes, and then we started to dress. Sammy grabbed his clothes and scooted off to the bathroom, and Monica and Jessica pulled the privacy curtain for the rest of us.
The ladies and I quickly changed into the thermal underlayers and popped our own clothes on before we finally booted up. Then Sammy joined us, and we sat down and buckled up for the rest of the trip.
“Sammy, did you check the latest cameras in the cabin?” Laura asked as she clicked her seatbelt together. “All clear?”
“All clear,” Sammy confirmed.
The agent was able to remotely access the security cameras at the cabin where he, Elaine, and Mary would be staying while the rest of us raided Bannister’s lair. Laura, anxious agent that she was, made sure Sammy was checking the monitors to make sure Bannister hadn’t caught wind of our plan, and it was a good sign that there was no activity on the monitors.
“Good,” Laura said, but she twisted her hands together nervously.
“Hey,” I murmured, and I reached across the table to take her hand in mine. “It’s all going to be fine. We spent hours going through the plan, not to mention all the prep we did back in Chicago. We’re going to be fine.”
“We always are when Jonah’s on the case,” Mary added from the table across from us.
“This is true,” Laura sighed, and her face relaxed into a small smile. “It’s just pre-mission jitters. I know we’re prepared. And I’m ready to get in there and get this artifact. Then we’ll be one step closer to taking Bannister down once and for all.”
“Hell yeah!” Sloan banged her fist on the table in front of her, but when Laura jumped a little in shock, Sloan grimaced. “Sorry. I’m just excited to take this prick down.”
“Trust me, we all are,” I said somberly.
I spent a moment reflecting over all the strife Bannister had brought to my life since I’d learned of his existence. Not only had he taken out multiple hits on me and my ladies, he was also just a trash person in general. The bastard had no qualms about stealing, exploiting, hell, even killing if it meant he got his coin.
I felt the kinetic energy crackling beneath the surface of my skin at the thought of taking him down.
The plane started to descend, and my stomach dipped when the plane did. I glanced over at Elaine to see she had a hand on her stomach and a queasy look on her face, but she caught me looking and forced a smile.
“I’m okay,” she said in a reassuring tone. “Just a little woozy, nothing I can’t handle.”
“Good,” I said, and I wrapped my fingers around hers as the plane started to land.
I peered out the window at the ground that was fast approaching us. I had to admit, Nepal was breathtaking. Snow-capped mountain peaks scraped the blue sky, and rolling green hills guided streams of water across the land like veins. Where there were buildings, they were crowded together, and tiny people milled around their villages like ants. I knew we were flying into an airport large enough to accommodate our jet called Phaplu Airport, which wasn’t far from Mount Everest.
Or Bannister’s lair.
“Oh, damn,” Sloan said as she peered out the window. “I hope we’ve got the route mapped out. It looks cold out there.”
“Don’t worry, we took care of all that,” Mary said as she craned her neck to see out the window. “While you and Jonah were having all your fun together with the ring, we were downstairs doing the real work. ”
“Aww, is someone jealous?” Sloan teased. “I’ll let you try the ring if you want. Or are you jealous about my alone time with Jonah?”
“Two things can be true,” Mary said, but she stuck her tongue out at us playfully, so I knew the jealousy wasn’t a serious thing. “But like I said, we’ve got all the high tech, weatherproof mountain gear you could ever want. Perfect for climbing famous summits.”
“Maybe Jonah can take you to Everest for your one-on-one time,” Sloan continued. “Would that make you feel better?”
“Stop, you’re making it worse,” Mary groaned, and then she turned to me. “Jonah, promise me one day that you’ll take me to Everest and not for a mission.”
“I promise I’ll take you to Everest one day and not for a mission,” I parroted dutifully.
“Thank you,” Mary said in a satisfied tone, and she turned to the window again.
“Oh, Mary, you really need to train if you want to go to the summit,” Laura said with a stressed expression. “Do you know how many people have died trying?”
“Three hundred and ten and counting,” Mary fired back. “You all doubt me, but I know my mountain.”
“Okay, okay, we get it,” Sammy interjected. “It would be more useful if you knew the surrounding mountains, like the one where Bannister’s lair is.”
“No one knows that one,” Mary scoffed. “That’s the point. That Bannister has enough money and power to carve a secret lair into a mountain a stone’s throw away from Everest, and no one can stop him.”
“Well, we may be too late to stop him,” I said with a grin. “But we’re still going to ruin his day.”
“Again,” Elaine added with a smile.
The plane dipped lower, and the ground got closer and closer. I felt my ears pop as the cabin depressurized, and the ground shook beneath my feet as the wheels of the private jet were lowered. I glanced out the window again to see the airport below us was pretty much just a single, long runway on the side of a mountain. There were a few buildings dotted around, and there was a small village a ways up the mountain, but it was possibly even more secluded than the small Berber village in Morocco.
“Oh, joy,” Sammy muttered.
“Hey, quick mission,” Laura said in an upbeat tone. “In and out. We’ve got a beach party to get to, after all.”
“Ahh, I almost forgot about the beach party,” Sloan said, and she closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. “That’s where all our missions should be. Private islands somewhere with a lotta sun. I get enough of the cold in Canada, I need some heat.”
“Soon,” I chuckled. “But Laura is right. We’re on a pretty tight schedule here. We’ve been over the plan together dozens of times at this point. When we land, it’s mission first. Sammy, I assume we’re all set for the next leg?”
“Pretty sure that’s our helicopter waiting for us there,” the bearded agent replied with an unenthusiastic nod out of the window.
“Oh, my god, it’s so small,” Mary gasped.
“I’ll take your word for it,” I said since I couldn’t see it from my side of the jet.
“I also spoke to the pilot earlier,” Sammy said. “He’s going to take off straight after he drops us off. The private jet would draw some attention from the locals. When the mission is wrapped up, we can get the chopper straight to Kathmandu and get the jet back from there.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, but then the sounds of the jet drowned out everything else.
The plane started to judder, and the engines roared as they lowered the jumbo jet down to the lone runway. Our bodies jerked in our seats as the wheels touched the tarmac, and after a short taxi, the plane came to an abrupt stop. We reached for our seatbelts as Monica and Jessica jumped into action, and Monica started to open the door while Jessica began unloading our luggage.
“Thanks for all your help,” I said as I slid Jessica four hundred-dollar notes. “One for each of you, yeah? Can you make sure the pilots get their share?”
“Oh, Agent Patterson, that’s so generous, of course,” Jessica said, and she quickly tucked the bills in her chest pocket before she continued to help us unload bags. “You were a pleasure, as always. Already looking forward to the return journey.”
“Me, too.” I grinned as memories of what had happened early into the flight flashed across my mind. Not that I expected it, but I wouldn’t say no to another group session on the way back to the states. It was a great stress reliever, especially after a high-stress mission like this one.
Now that it was time to deplane, we all pulled on our thick jackets that were printed in white, mountain friendly camo.
“Welcome to Nepal,” Sammy sighed as he shrugged the comically large jacket on.
“Again, in and out,” Laura reiterated as she zipped up her own camo parka.
We bundled up in our parkas, hats, gloves, and goggles. Once we were suited up, we all grabbed two bags each and filed out of the plane, and we said our goodbyes to the flight attendants and the pilot as we went.
