Page 47 of Solid as Steele
Owen figured if anyone could do this it would be the Veritas team. “Mind if I use your SAT phone to call my parents?”
“Help yourself.”
Owen picked up the phone and made the call. His mom answered in her usual cheerful greeting, and he got a lump in his throat. He cleared it. “I’m getting back late tonight. Might not be until eleven. Mind if I stop by for a few minutes?”
“Always glad to see you no matter the time.” She truly meant it, and that was never in doubt. “Of course, your dad will be sound asleep in his recliner. Just resting his eyes as he’ll say when we wake him.” She chuckled.
Owen felt like a traitor, knowing about Cassie but not telling his mother. “I’ll see you then.”
He quickly ended the call before she questioned him. A heaviness settled into the vehicle, feeling like an oppressive, muggy day.
“Guess with you two gone,” Ryan said, “it means I’m free to eat the rest of the cake.”
Mackenzie laughed, and Owen appreciated Ryan lightening the mood before Owen moved into a dark place and brought everyone down with him.
Mackenzie leaned forward again. “You can spend the night, Ryan. Raid my food supply or even go home. But we’ll be coming back tomorrow, so be sure to tell me where you leave the key.”
He glanced at her. “You want me to stay on?”
“I think our tracking’s done,” she said.
Ryan lifted his gaze to the mirror. “I’m not talking about tracking.”
“Then what?” She batted long lashes. “Oh that. My safety and all. Nah. Owen’s a detective and I don’t have to worry about him.”
“I figured him more for a bad guy.” Ryan chuckled.
Mackenzie laughed with him. Owen surprised himself by laughing along with the pair, but he knew with the mission ahead it was likely his last laugh for the day.
11
Mackenzie scanned through the clear night to the Portland lights coming into view outside the helicopter window. She and Owen sat on one side of the chopper facing Sierra and Kelsey. So far the flight had been smooth, and Kelsey had gone to sleep right after takeoff, her head resting on Sierra’s shoulder.
Before they’d departed, Mackenzie had arranged for her youngest sister Ryleigh to pick her and Owen up at the heliport where Coop would put down. Sierra and Kelsey had left their vehicle at the heliport and had offered a ride, but Mackenzie didn’t want to keep them out later when the point of Coop flying them back to Portland was to get home earlier.
“Told you she was tired,” Sierra whispered through the headsets they all wore, including Coop. The sets allowed them to communicate with each other over the loud beating of the rotors.
“ETA five minutes,” Coop announced.
Owen sat up straighter. Maybe he’d drifted off too, but Mackenzie had purposefully avoided looking at him. She couldn’t bear to see his anguish, which had to be growing with each passing mile, and not be able to do anything to help him other than sit with him and pray.
She even regretted asking to come along. She’d been far too pushy. She shouldn’t have butted in at a time when Owen had to deliver such hard news to his parents. But she’d already come to care for him, and she wanted to be available—not halfway across the state—if he decided she could help.
“You’ll see the helipad below.” Coop’s deep voice came over the headset. “But don’t freak out over how small it is. I’ve never missed yet.” He laughed.
This was Mackenzie’s first trip in a helicopter, but she liked adventure and hadn’t been concerned.
Until his comment.
She looked out the window. Tall evergreens circled what looked like a postage stamp-sized clearing.
“Oh, I don’t like this,” she said.
“Relax.” Sierra waved a hand. “The helipad is bigger than it looks from up here.”
Mackenzie wanted to believe Sierra, but she had to start tapping her leg to release her jitters. She’d once been such an adventure girl and had turned into a wuss over the years. She really needed to get out and do things before she found a guy and settled down to have a family.
Family. Wow, was she really thinking about that?
