Chapter 29

Half deaf and mostly blind, I felt around knees and feet for the rifle. The helicopter was still yawing madly, but I didn"t have time to wonder if Noah had lost control.

The goon was strapped into a seat that was barely large enough for one man. Much less two. I hated being naked while I was forced to crawl all over him. At least the lack of space meant there wasn"t much room for the jolting, jerking chopper to toss me around.

I was still blinking away dancing spots in front of my eyes when my fingers curled around a long object that could only be the gun.

Got it!

Twisting in the confined space, I poked the barrel deeply into his shoulder.

There.

If the shot made any sound, it couldn"t be heard over the sudden crash and boom of the loudest lightning strike yet.

Even though I was turned away from the window, I was blinking spots away again.

The helicopter was shaking even worse. Were we dropping? Had we been hit?

I blinked harder. Noah"s mouth was round from shouting something I couldn"t hear.

Already slumped in his seat restraints, the goon sagged like a dead man. He"s out of it. My own knuckles were white from clutching the rifle like a life preserver on the high seas.

Break it open. Put it down.

I did that very, very slowly. The last thing I wanted to do was to accidentally trank myself—or worse, Noah—while unloading the weapon. At last, I felt safe to let the pieces drop to the floor.

Noah said something else I couldn"t hear. I nodded as if I understood.

The goon had slid down but not a lot, thanks to the restraints. His head rolled around some on his chest. Feeling sick, I lifted his head to meet glazed eyes.

That did not look good at all. Swallowing a hard gulp of panic, I slapped a sweaty hand over his mouth and nose.

Did I feel it or did I hope to feel it?

Don"t spiral now. Don"t give in to the comedown.

He was fine, or as fine as we would have been if he"d tranked us. The hot, sticky air tickled my palm to tell me he was still breathing.

I hadn"t choked him as hard as I feared. There were bright red marks on his neck that would darken later, but he"d been close to resurfacing into consciousness. The tranquilizer shot put a stop to that. Made him sag down deep for real.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn"t want to kill anybody. I just didn"t want him killing us.

The helicopter didn"t seem to be shaking as much. Or maybe it was me. Maybe I was the one who wasn"t shaking as much.

No. We"re steadier. We"re not doing that sideways shimmy I noticed before.

It wasn"t a time for smiles, but I could feel one spreading across my face. Touchdown!

"He"s out." I had to shout and probably still couldn"t be heard. Grabbing the goon"s headphones, I took a deep breath as I settled them into place over my own ears. Where was the microphone? Ah. "He"s secure. We"ve got him. He"s not giving the orders around here anymore. So maybe land this thing before we get blown out of the air."

"I"m trying to." Noah was trying to smile too, but it looked forced. "What do you think I"m trying to do?"

Trying?

I may have whimpered. It had been a very long night.

"I"m not sure I ever practiced much with the landings," he said. "Mostly, the game ended when I got shot out of the air."