Recovery: V Plague Book 8 by Dirk Patton Read Free Book Online Page A

said, looking at Katie.  She nodded and sat down next to
Martinez, leaving me to wander into the kitchen to get us something to eat.
    Sometime
later we had finished our meal and Katie went to rummage through the back area
of the bar, hoping to find her favorite brand of Vodka.  Dog had inhaled his
breakfast and lapped up what had to be a quart of water from a silver-serving
bowl I’d filled and placed on the floor.
    “So, what’s
your thoughts on that Pave Hawk?”  I asked, taking a sip of the Tequila I’d
poured.  “Is it worth trying to get in the air, or are we better off to pump
the fuel into the Huey and stick with it?”
    “I’ve been
thinking about that,” Martinez said as Katie let out a small cry of triumph and
held up a bottle.  I glanced over at her and grinned.  “I think we should just
transfer the fuel to the Huey.  There’s too great of a chance that something in
the Pave Hawk is going to cause us a problem once we’re in the air.  Not that
the Huey isn’t older than my grandmother, but it seems to have been well
maintained and quite airworthy.”
    I nodded,
taking another sip and watching Katie walk towards us with a glass in one hand
and a bottle in the other.  I wasn’t wild about any of us drinking, me
included, but we were probably as safe and secure at the moment as we would
ever be again.  And all of us had earned a little break.
    Then I
thought about Scott, Irina and Igor out there somewhere.  They had gone out to
help me, and I doubted they were getting a break.  But I didn’t have a clue
where to even start looking for them.  The best idea I had come up with so far
was to get airborne in the Huey and start transmitting blindly, hoping they
would pick up our signal.
    Thinking
about them soured my taste for the alcohol and I pushed the glass away, drawing
curious stares from my two companions.
    “Thinking
about Scott and company,” I explained, pushing my chair back and standing up.
    “What are
you doing?”  Katie asked.
    “Going to
find us some clothes,” I answered.  “I’m guessing out of all those people in
the group that held you, at least some of them had some spare clothing with
them that will be clean.  Want to come with me, or do you trust me to pick
something out for you?”
    We all
looked toward the stairs when Dog whined.  He was sitting near the first step,
staring at us.
    “You’d
better walk your dog, first.”  Katie said.
    “I’ve got
him, sir.”  Martinez pushed her glass away and stood up.  “It’ll give me a
chance to check over the Pave Hawk one more time.”
    I nodded my
thanks and headed for the casino floor.  A moment later I heard the slap of
Katie’s flip-flops as she hurried to catch up with me.  When we pushed through
the door she wrinkled her nose at the smell from the bodies, but stayed right
next to me.
    “So what’s
the plan?”  She asked.
    “Find our
missing people and get our asses to the Bahamas.”  I answered.  “Nothing left
here for us and I hear the beaches there are topless.”
    “Down,
boy.”  She said with a laugh.  “You have a plan to find these people?”
    “I have an
idea, but don’t know if it will work.  Once we find them it should be easy
enough to locate a plane that Martinez can fly and we’re on our way.”
    “Then
what?”  Katie asked, reaching out and taking my hand as we walked.
    “Then… I
don’t know,” I said.  “I guess we live our lives.  I don’t know.  Haven’t
thought that far ahead.  I’ve been focused on staying alive and finding you.”
    “Do you miss
her?”  Katie asked after a few minutes, referring to Rachel.
    “Of course I
do,” I answered honestly.  “But not in the way you’re probably thinking.  She’s
my friend.  We walked through hell together.  I wouldn’t be here with you if it
weren’t for her.  But I’m where I want to be.”
    Katie tugged
on my hand and when I stopped and looked at her she stretched up on her toes
and kissed