Top Gun Guardian

“No. I live in Dallas now, but I still have my folks’ ranch in Oklahoma. I figure I can protect Malika there.” He patted the empty co-pilot’s seat next to him. “Do you want to join me up front? You were getting good at flying before…”

Before she’d taken off like a scared rabbit once he mentioned marriage, family and forever. Raven had never had an example of any of those things in her life. Her wealthy family had lived abroad, dropped Raven off at boarding schools and stashed her with nannies.

Obviously not wanting a trip down memory lane, Raven scrambled from her seat and lurched toward the cockpit. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Nothing. Relax and enjoy the view.”

After fifteen minutes of companionable silence as the Jetstream cut through the night sky, Raven tapped his shoulder. “Why didn’t you settle in Oklahoma? It’s all you ever talked about.”

It’s all he’d ever talked about? No wonder he’d scared her off.

He lifted the shoulder where her hand still rested. “Wasn’t ready.”

Once he retired from Prospero, he’d discovered all his plans for the ranch had become meaningless without Raven. And all the women he’d met since lacked Raven’s spunk, her beauty, her sexiness, her…

She squeezed his shoulder. “Well, you’ll get there one day. I know the ranch meant a lot to you after your parents died.”

The transponder beeped and Buzz flicked his radar screen. “There’s another private plane in the area. We’re too low for a commercial airliner.”

Raven slouched to peer out her side window. “Is it close enough that we’d see it? It’s clear out here.”

“It’s behind us. You might be able to see its lights if you went to the back of the plane, but it’s okay. He’s not going to run into us or anything. We both have transponders.”

Buzz tried to contact the other plane on the radio, but the pilot didn’t respond. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and he clenched his hand on the steering wheel.

Raven’s gaze took in his white knuckles and the straight line of his mouth. “Are you sure it’s okay? Could that be the CIA after us?”

He shook his head. If it were the CIA, the pilot would be all over that radio giving him orders. If it were…someone else, the pilot might want to follow him silently.

“Buzz, you never told me what a commercial airline pilot was doing at the U.N. during President Okeke’s address. And how did you get so chummy with the president that he’d let you fly off with his daughter?”

Buzz blew out a breath. He might as well tell her the rest. “Jack Coburn is missing.”

“Jack?” Raven gripped the arms of her chair. “What happened?”

“We’re not sure. He took a job as a hostage negotiator after Prospero. He disappeared in Afghanistan while on a job trying to negotiate the release of some doctor.”

“What does President Okeke have to do with Jack’s disappearance and why are you involved?”

“It’s Jack.”

She hugged herself, hunching her shoulders. “I know you guys would do anything for each other, but how is his disappearance related to President Okeke?”

Buzz rubbed his eyes. “It started with a drug deal between a Mexican cartel and a group of terrorists out of Afghanistan. Jack’s name came up in the chatter. Riley was able to link the terrorists with an arms dealer.”

“Riley Hammond, the Navy SEAL from Prospero? I thought he was taking tourists out on a dive boat in Cabo?”

“He took a detour to help out. We all did. Ian Dempsey located the weapon the terrorists bought with their drug money—turned out to be a biological weapon.”

Raven covered her mouth with her hands. She’d worked with them at Prospero for a time, so Buzz felt sure not much shocked her. She’d been tough…and brittle since the moment he’d met her. The brittleness—that’s what had sabotaged their relationship.

“If Ian had something to do with locating that weapon, it must’ve been in the mountains. Did he leave his job leading mountain-climbing expeditions?”

Buzz cocked his head. She sure knew a lot about his former comrades. “We all dropped everything as soon as we got the call from Colonel Scripps.”

“I’m sure you did. And what’s this third link? What does the biological weapon Ian recovered have to do with President Okeke?” Her eyes widened. “You don’t think he’s in the market for this biological weapon, do you?”

“I wasn’t sure—” he glanced back at the slumbering Malika “—because it was rumored he had ties to some terrorist groups, but after I met with him I think he’s clean. The Agency also believes Okeke has the means to deliver a virus, weaponize it.”

Raven hugged herself. “That’s scary.”

“That might be what the rebels are after, or maybe someone is using the rebels to get to Okeke. The region of Burumanda, before it was a country, was a hotbed of terrorist training activity. A lot of terrorist groups around the world wanted to keep it that way.”

Pressing her fingers against her temples, Raven closed her eyes. “Why isn’t anyone else looking for Jack? Why is it up to you guys? None of you is even on active duty anymore.”

Buzz ground his teeth together. This was the hardest part. “The CIA thinks Jack turned. They think he leaked information to the terrorists, is maybe feeding them intelligence about the delivery method for this virus.”

Raven’s eyelids flew open. “No way. That’s not possible.”

“That’s exactly why I’m here.”

“I-is the CIA, I mean, are they going to suspect you kidnapped Malika to get information about Jack?”

“Kidnapped isn’t the right word.” He scratched his chin and yawned. “I took her with her father’s permission, but I’m sure they’ll suspect I did it for my own reasons.”

“And did you? You’re not using that little girl, are you?”

Buzz shook his head at Raven’s sharp tone. She’d become very protective of Malika in a short space of time. Must be because she’d saved her life, or at least saved her from a kidnapping. “You know me better than that, Raven. I’m the kid-friendly one around here. If I didn’t think I could do a better job of keeping Malika safe than a bunch of by-the-book spooks at the Agency, I wouldn’t have taken her.”

“You’re right.” She sighed and pushed her hair back from her face. “I’m still on edge…and I missed my date.”

“Aww, I’m sorry. Let me guess. Broadway show and a hip new restaurant? Or a tapas bar and some club in the Meat Packing District?”

“It all sounds so shallow when you put it like that, Buzz.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid from her copilot’s perch. “But a helluva lot more fun than sitting on a porch sipping lemonade and watching horses run around. Now I’m going to try to get some sleep before we arrive in Nowheresville, Oklahoma.”

Six hours later and with no other planes invading his air space, Buzz landed his Jetstream safely at the small White Cloud municipal airport. The morning sun streaked across the broad expanse of sky like a runny egg yolk. His stomach rumbled and he figured their first stop would be breakfast at the Arapaho Café.

He taxied to a stop next to the hangar and completed his post-flight check. Rubbing his eyes, he turned in his seat to face his sleeping passengers. Raven had reclined both seats, and her long legs were stretched out in front of her while Malika was curled into a tight ball, her head resting on Raven’s shoulder. At least she wasn’t drooling this time.

He should get a picture for blackmail purposes.

Hunching forward, he entered the cabin and nudged Raven. “We’re here.”

Raven started and grasped the arms of her seat, digging her long nails into the leather. “What? Already?”

“We’ve been flying for six hours. It’s morning, or almost.”

Raven stretched out a hand and touched Malika’s cheek. “Malika? Time to wake up.”