Shiva by Carolyn McCray Read Free Book Online Page B

shiny fabric , no longer flew in front of her face . H owever , it looked like some sort of mutant white tulle creature growing from her head.
    She had been such a beautiful bride, for all of about two minutes.
    And this waiting wasn ’ t aging well on her. She bit at her manicure, ripping the polish off until she could chew at the nail itself. If she didn ’ t stop soon, she ’ d have nothing but bloody finger tips to show for it.
    Finally , it appeared that she couldn ’ t wait any longer. She unlatched her safety belt and pushed herself between Lopez and his copilot, Talli.
    “ We ’ ve got to do something, ” she implored.
    Equally frustrated , Lopez answered . “ Tell me what to do, Rebecca, ” the corporal said , turning to her , “ a nd I ’ ll do it. Anything . ”
    Rebecca threw herself back into her seat , knowing that Lopez was right. There was absolutely nothing else to do but wait. She must have known that flying around in circles simply wasn ’ t Lopez ’ s style , either.
    “ Wait, ” Levont said , pushing the tracking monitor toward them , “ I think it ’ s pinging. ”
    “ What do you mean think ? ” Lopez asked.
    Davidson looked at the monitor. Rapidly , the screen was realigning itself , s queezing the search grid down and down again. “ Something definitely is happening … B ut it ’ s not showing Brandt ’ s location. ”
    Rebecca leaned over, her stubby veil brushing Talli ’ s back. “ Why is the screen doing that? ”
    “ Doing what? ” Lopez asked, clearly agitated that , at such a critical juncture , he still had to fly the plane.
    Davidson watched as the map pulled in tighter and tighter , expanding the area covered to far beyond their search area. Then the screen took an abrupt leap to the right.
    “ Oh my God, ” Rebecca breathed out.
    “ What ? ” Lopez demanded.
    “ He ’ s gotta be… ” Levont started , then stalled.
    The little light flashed brightly against the blank blue background.
    “ Which way do I turn? ” Lopez begged, glancing over his shoulder.
    But given that the blip was coming from somewhere over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean , there would be no turning anywhere.
    Davidson took the map from Levont, readjusted it so that Lopez could see the coordinates , then put the screen in front of the corporal.
    His mouth opened , then closed as Rebecca sobbed quietly in her seat.
    “ Well, ” Lopez announced, starting his descent , “ g uess we are just going to have to steal a bigger airplane. ”
    * * *
    Bunny sighed and crossed her arms, forcing the pout of all pouts onto her lips. But the guy across from her seemed to care less. Weird. That usually worked on most guys. Perhaps Lt. Daniel Prenner didn ’ t bat for her side. After the repe al of “ Don ’ t ask, don ’ t tell, ” it was kind of hard to know.
    “ Brenda, ” the man c oax ed.
    “ It is Bunny , ” she replied. “ And I am telling you that you don ’ t have the clearance to hear my side of the story. ”
    “ Corporal Lopez and the rest have gone AWOL after being ordered to stand down, ” Prenner said as if that was going to surprise her. “ You ’ ve got to know how much trouble they are in. ”
    Really? After Moscow, Slovenia, and Jordan , she should be worried about Rebecca and the rest? Please . Running around the American countryside avoiding MPs was like eating breakfast — in bed. Which is kind of why she didn ’ t grab that repelling line from the helicopter.
    She ’ d grown to love Rebecca like a sister and Brandt like a brother-in-law, but chasing after the Disciples? That was sheer crazy talk. Whenever the Disciples were involved , you needed to run away — as quickly as you could.
    Prenner hit a key on his laptop that started cell phone footage of her and Davidson ’ s kiss. “ Clearly , you care for this man. ”
    Bunny shrugged. “ He ’ s grown on me. ”
    Which wasn ’ t exactly true. There was something there , but between his aborted court