I approached Gale, and we exchanged keys for food. Lowering my voice in case someone was lingering around the corner, I said, “I can’t stop thinking about last night.”
“Me neither.”
“No regrets?”
“No. Unless you count falling asleep in your bed by accident.”
“That was risky, but we got through it.”
Alerts flashed across the iPad screen as Gale followed Olivia’s car out of town, our destination being a smaller storm cell where Gale predicted a strong chance of a hook echo. The other system, a larger cell to the north, the one that had been breaking apart,seemed to be developing a minor, although unstable, hook. Although it interested us, it would take another fifteen or twenty minutes to get there.
I monitored the screen, but felt a stronger pull to the smaller system nearby, which was where the team was headed.
As we closed in on our destination, Gale leaned forward and examined the sky from the windshield. “What’s the radar say?”
“No hook echo yet.”
“It’ll happen.” He pointed to the sky, indicating the shifting patterns of the clouds. “Look at that. It wants to catch that current. You can almost see the forming horseshoe. Trust me.”
“Oh, I do.” I had a sixth sense about these things. My bones vibrated and rattled promisingly. Gale was right.
Over the radio, Maggie’s staticky voice reported a touchdown in the northern cell. “We’re detouring,” she said.
“What is she talking about?” I checked the iPad, but the alert system we monitored wasn’t broadcasting a tornado. I did quick math in my head. It would take upwards of fifteen minutes to get there.
I thumbed the radio button, hoping Vern could hear me since I knew he and Roe were the ones making decisions. “Where are you getting your information? Even if you’re right, she’ll be dead by the time we arrive. I vote we stay on course. This supercell is stirring. Look at the rotation ahead. I have a feeling it’s going to be huge.”
Olivia cut in. “You aren’t the navigator, Oz.”
“Vern,” I shouted into the radio. “You know I’m right. That tornado will be gone by the time you arrive. Stay the course.”
Vern’s voice came through a moment later. “Nothing is happening here.”
“Read the radar, for fuck’s sake.”
“We have a touchdown in the northern cell. We can be there in five minutes.”
“We can’t.”
Olivia’s brake lights came on as Lex turned the bug onto a new road.
“You fucking idiot,” I said to no one, punching the dashboard.
Gale slowed, flashing his attention from the road to me. “What am I doing? Am I following?”
I threw the radio aside and looked at the green-black, promising sky swirling on the horizon. “Fuck. I don’t know. If we don’t follow them, someone will have my ass, and I’m too tired to argue.”
Gale turned, keeping pace with Olivia’s car. More than once, he glanced out his side window at what we were leaving behind.
“Are you smiling?” I asked, noticing a distinct upward twist in his lips.
He moved his attention to the dashcam and shook his head.
“Liar.”
“You’re tired? Didn’t you sleep well last night?” he asked with all the innocence in the world. “That’s too bad.”
“Ah. I see how it is.” I rested a hand on his thigh and squeezed. “Hey, Gale?”
