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“Weston,” Dane called over the cacophony of the approaching emergency vehicles. “Where are the motherboards?”
He looked blankly at Dane. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Sonofabitch.It was all over. Weston was going to get away with it if they didn’t find those motherboards. “No fucking way.” Dane hauled ass into the burning airplane.
“Dane, brother. What the fuck?” Koa yelled.
Dane went to the back of the plane and looked in every bin and under every seat. The smoke was getting thick, and he couldn’t hold back a cough.
Nothing. Where the hell could they be? There was no way Weston would’ve put them in the cargo hold. He looked around again. Only the emergency lights were on, and with the smoke, it was getting harder and harder to see. There was nowhere else to look.
“Dane, get your ass out of there now. That’s an order,” Cain instructed through his earbud.
He stayed silent. Come on.Think.Then it hit him. He went back to the bathroom and ripped open the cupboards. There was the case. Beside the toilet. He ripped a curtain off the side of a window and used it to pick up the box. But as he tried to move, he stumbled and fell. Pain pierced his back like an ice pick, burning hot and weirdly cold. He coughed hard as he struggled to breathe. He rolled to his hands and knees, feeling like every muscle in his back was being ripped apart. Keeping his head as low as possible, he sucked in a huge breath before he stood and limped down the aisle. He made it to the open door before he took another breath.
“Here,” he thrust the curtain-wrapped box toward Jace.
“Got it,” Jace said. He moved away from the airplane.
Koa and Cain reached up and helped Dane out. Supporting him under his arms, they ran with him all the way behind the fire trucks. When he stopped, he started coughing again. An EMT brought him over to an ambulance and stuck an oxygen mask over his face.
“Jesus, Dane,” Cain said. “That was risky and stupid. Don’t ever pull that shit again.”
Dane just coughed and pulled in oxygen.
“But the admiral is pleased you got the motherboards. He’s not so happy about the exploding airplane.”
Dane met Cain’s gaze, and the two of them broke into laughter until Dane started coughing again.
Once he stopped coughing, he pinned a stare on his team leader. “Where’s the Senator?”
Cain gestured behind them. “He’s sitting in the back of an ambulance. I have Cass and Tac watching him. If he moves, they’ll arrest him. The EMTs have already been told not to transport him anywhere. The admiral is trying to find someone to take him.”
Sinclair came over and stood beside them. “People are coming from Pearl for the motherboards and the senator.”
Dane stared at him. “Shit. Will they do the right thing, or is this gonna get swept under the rug?”
“If I had to guess?” Sinclair shrugged. “The latter.”
Dane’s stomach dropped. All that work. Everyone whose lives had been torn apart, or ended by this… All for fucking nothing. Bile rose savagely in his throat.
Cain’s voice came through the earbud. “Jace, you still have the motherboards?”
“Roger that.”
“Sinclair, who do you trust to lift some prints?”
He smiled. “I know just the person. I’ll give her a call. Get your people on the road. We’ll get this done and then the guys from Pearl can have them.”
“Jace, take Tac with you and head to Sand Island. Go to the CGIS building. A person named—” Cain looked at Sinclair, who responded with, “Miranda Hill.”
“Miranda Hill will meet you at the doors. Go with her and keep the motherboards in sight the whole time.”
“Roger that,” Jace acknowledged.
“Cass stay focused on the Senator.” Cain grinned. “Shoot him if he moves.”
“That would be my distinct pleasure,” she replied.
