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following direction anyway, I believe I shall have to wing it. He waited for her to laugh at his pun.
Too subtle? Or too soon? Okay, so perhaps now wasn t the time for levity. The mountain
seemed to be winning the race when it came to who-will-we-crash-into-first. Time to do something.
Anything.
Out of the mess of dials, flashing lights, and buttons, he did recognize one thing a steering
wheel.
His male gene kicked in as he grasped the wheel and the theme for Top Gun hummed through
his mind. He should note that, when he d watched it, he rooted for the other side because it drove his
sister crazy, especially since she had the biggest crush on Tom Cruise until she found out how old he
was in real life.
Given the mountain loomed fast, he yanked hard on the wheel. The plane shuddered, and
something metallic screamed as the plane tried to go vertical. Shit. He pushed down on the wheel, too
hard again, and Teena let out a yell as they began to plummet, the nose of the plane aiming right for
the ground.
Gentle. I must be gentle.
Brute force wasn t the way to fly this thing. Keeping that in mind, he pulled the wheel again,
softer this time. At first he wondered if it would work, but gradually, their angle corrected until they
were on a somewhat even keel, that wobbled and was still headed straight for a bank of mountains.
 Um, Dmitri.
 I know. I can see them.
Slowly, he pulled down on the wheel, angling their ascent, but the mountain was still fast
approaching. He angled some more and felt beads of sweat pop on his forehead.
Him, nervous? Never. Just like he would never admit he held his breath as they just cleared
the top of the first ridge.
 Aha. See. Nothing to it.
Before she could reply, the radio crackled.  Head Hunter to Fang. You re coming in low,
please advise.
Dmitri looked in vain for a reply button.  How the fuck do I answer?
 Answer? Are you crazy?
 Only one sixteenth from my mother s side. Although there apparently might be some
psychosis on my father s.
 I was being rhetorical.
 I wasn t. Now where is the communicator? I am in the mood to speak to the person in
charge.
 No talking for you. You, my crazy husband, need to concentrate on flying this thing. I will
take care of our callers. Teena pulled a receiver on a curly cord from her side of the dashboard.
 Head Hunter, this is Peeved Lioness. Fang is indisposed. Over.
Dmitri could have kissed her for not having hysterics. He could have seduced her for being so
calm and sexy. He could totally love her for being perfect.
 What happened to Fang? Who is this?
 This is peeved lioness, and might I add you chose the wrong plane to hijack?
To add weight to her words, and because it was so much fun, Dmitri held out his hand and
asked for a turn. She wasn t the only one who enjoyed meting out a good threat.
She handed him the handset.
Depressing the button on the side, in a low tone the one his sister called his  Oh shit. Hope
your will is in order  Dmitri said,  I am death. Run. Run fast and far now because I will be coming
to kill you.
And then he hung up.
He kind of expected the person to call back, or retort, but the communication line remained
clear.
Before he could decide if that was good or bad, Teena said,  Do you think that was wise?
 It is only fair to warn my prey that I m coming. At least then it provides a little sport.
 But you don t even know what the guy was guilty of.
 If he was working in cahoots with those who kidnapped us, then he is guilty by association. I
do not tolerate threats to me and, most especially not, my wife.
 You and my daddy have a lot in common.
Argh, compared to her father. Just what every potential lover wanted.
About to retort, he bit the words as something caused the plane to tilt. Then the windshield
cracked as something hit it.
 Dammit, someone is firing at us.
Would the trouble plaguing them never end? A man liked a little action and adventure to get
the blood flowing, but this was getting beyond ridiculous. How was he supposed to properly woo and
bed his new wife if shit kept happening?
More slugs hit them, or so he could only assume as the pitch of the motor changed. A faint
whiff of smoke came to him, and the dials on his dash went crazy, spinning, flashing, in general
conveying a not-good vibe.
 I think we need to land. She suggested it, and he had to agree.
 Land? No problem. Hold on, little kitten. This might get a little rough.
Chapter Fourteen
Apparently his idea of a little rough and hers weren t the same.
As Dmitri angled the plane downward, the very air seemed to fight them. The craft bucked and
wobbled and jerked, but she could handle that motion. It was the visual of the treetops they were
heading for, visible even through the spiderwebbed window, that had her gripping her seat tightly.
There was nowhere to land. Trees were everywhere, their tops reaching high and clustered
densely. No room for a small plane and its occupants.
But they didn t have a choice. The smell of smoke grew thicker, the whining pitch of the
motors almost painful.
The belly of the plane dipped lower, low enough that it scraped the tips of the tallest conifers.
Dragged and snapped the tops of more. A good thing she wore a belt because the forest seemed
determined to claim them, their speed going from rapid rush to bouncing, jerking, slowing halt.
From side to side, her head snapped, and she couldn t stop a few screams. But screaming was
good. It meant she still lived, for the moment.
When they finally came to an abrupt stop, it took her a moment to release her last breath. Was
it over? Had they truly survived?
She cracked open an eye and peeked. She noted the appearance of branches outside the
window. The trees had cushioned their fall.
 We made it? She couldn t help the surprised query.
 Of course we did, Dmitri announced with brash assurance.  I told you I m lucky.
Crack.
 You just had to tempt Murphy didn t you, she grumbled.
 I spit in his face, whoever this Murphy is.
The whole plane shuddered and groaned as it tilted.
Good thing she was still buckled in because the plane now tilted at a very steep angle and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]