Rogue (Book 2) (The Omega Group) (6 page)

Mirissa took a deep breath. “No problem. Let’s go stop a jet
engine.”

Steve recognized the look on his daughter’s face. It was the
same look she had before every seemingly insurmountable challenge she’d ever
faced. She was ready to kick some ass. He gave Greco a nod of thanks.

Mirissa positioned herself in the aisle so she could see
both engines out of the windows to her sides. The visual probably wasn’t
necessary, but Steve didn’t want to risk breaking her concentration by saying
so. She shook out her arms, then raised them to her sides, in line with each of
the engines.
Also, probably unnecessary.

The strain on his daughter was evident. Her jaw was clenched
and the muscles in her forearms strained against her skin.

A moment later, the pilot called back over his shoulder.
“It’s working! We’re slowing down.”

Steve kept a careful eye on his daughter. She was pushing
herself hard and had already broken into a sweat.

“Three seventy-five.”

“Come on, sweetheart. You’re doing great.” She was beginning
to shake with the exertion, and Steve wasn’t sure how much longer she could
keep it up.

“Three fifty.”

A small trickle of blood dripped from Mirissa’s nose. Steve
reached for her, only to be stopped by Greco. “She’s okay. This has happened
before.”

Before Steve could say anything, Greco moved behind her and
wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’ve got you, Mirissa. We’re almost there.”

His daughter stopped shaking almost immediately and Steve
decided to rethink his aversion to the two dating.
Maybe.

“Three fifteen. A few more seconds and I’ll engage the
reverse thrusters.”

Steve ran to the hatch in the floor and told everyone to get
ready. When he returned to Mirissa she looked even paler than before.

“Brace yourselves! I’m engaging in three … two … one.”

Steve was knocked to the floor when the thrusters fired up.
It wasn’t an immediate stop, but more like the jet ran into a huge rubber band.
He looked to Mirissa to make sure she was safe and found her lying on the floor
in front of him, still cocooned in Greco’s arms. “Get down below.”

Mirissa looked a little shaky as Greco helped her through
the hatch, but the smile she gave Steve told him there was no serious damage.
Scrambling to his feet, he made his way to the pilot. “Has the pressure
equalized?”

“Yep. We’re good to go.”

With a nod, Steve went through the hatch to join the others.
“We’re ready. Everyone grab hold of something. When this blows it’s going to
get windy down here.” Once they were secured, Steve nodded his head and Myrick
detonated the charges he’d run in the shape of an oversized door.

The roar of the wind was almost as deafening as the
explosion, and Steve had to scream to be heard. “Wait for my signal. As soon as
we’re below two hundred knots, go.” He scrambled back up to the cockpit and
checked in with the pilot. “Are we good?”

“So far. We’re down to two thirty and she’s holding
together. You’ve got quite the impressive daughter, there.”

“Don’t I know
it.
”

It felt like an eternity before the speed finally hit two
hundred.

“It’s time to go, Captain.”

When they reached the hold below, Steve saw the look that
briefly crossed the pilot’s face when he saw the hole they’d blown. “Don’t
worry. We’ll get you a new one.” He clapped him on the back and addressed the
team. “Let’s do this. One at a time. Remember to count to three before you open
your chute.”

One by one, the Omega Group team, pilot, and flight
attendant disappeared out the back of the jet, their chutes drifting peacefully
in a lazy row. When it was only Myrine and Steve left, she leaned in for a
quick kiss. “We can be lovebirds, too, you know.”

Three seconds later the jet was empty.

By the time Han and Jackie walked into the Cameron Trading
Post, it was early afternoon. The smells coming from the restaurant made Han’s
stomach growl in anticipation. They’d missed both breakfast and lunch and were
more than ready to make up for it.

“Do you see her anywhere?”

Jackie nodded toward a woman sitting alone by the window in
the back corner of the room. She was dressed in her park ranger’s uniform,
reading the contents of a manila folder sitting in front of her.

“Let’s go introduce ourselves,” Han said and led the way to
her table. “Ranger Christner? I’m Han Li, and this is Jackie Barns. Sorry we’re
late.”

The ranger stood and shook their hands. “It’s no problem.
Did you have any trouble?”

Although Han knew she was probably only asking if they’d had
any difficulty finding the place, he couldn’t help but smile. “No, ma’am. No
trouble at all.” The truth was probably more than this woman wanted to know.

After their little adventure on the trail, they’d spent the
rest of the morning hiking to the hilltop. Hitching a ride was more difficult
than anticipated, so they used their sat phone to call up the closest rental
car company. The tip required to get someone to drive the car to them was
astronomical. Finding the ranger was even more difficult. She’d taken a leave
of absence, and getting her cell phone number from her colleagues was like prying
for state secrets.

“Do you mind if we order some lunch? We’ve been kind of busy
today and haven’t had a chance to eat yet.”

“Of course not. Try the Navajo Taco. It’s a local
specialty.”

Once their orders were placed, Han got down to business.
“So, Ranger Christner, you’ve had some weird things going on around here?”

“Kell.”

“I’m sorry?” Han was perplexed.

“You can call me Kell. It’s my name. And, yes, we’ve had
some strange things happening here. But I have a question for you before we get
into all this. Why are you here?”

Han and Jackie exchanged a confused look. “We’re here to
find out what’s been going on. You did ask for help, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did, but no one ever took me seriously. I’ve
been filing reports for months now, but nothing ever comes of them. Then you
guys show up. So, I’ll ask again. Why are you here?”

Jackie, who was much better at handling this sort of thing
than Han, took over. “Because
someone
took your reports seriously, Kell.
And they sent us to investigate.”

“So, you’re like Mulder and Scully?”

Although Jackie looked confused, Han let loose a loud laugh.
If she only knew how close to the truth that was.
“Yep, that’s us.
X-Files
all the way. What have you got for us?”

For a moment, Kell looked as though she was trying to decide
whether she was about to be made the butt of a joke, then tossed her file
folder across the table. “Everything’s in there. It all started about four
months ago. A small group of hikers didn’t show up at their campground for
dinner so their friends called us. We found them wandering Point Imperial Trail
around midnight. Not all that unusual in and of itself. What was weird was
their story. They had no memory of the day at all. None of them. We brought
them to the clinic and had them checked out, but, physically, they were fine.
They just lost about nine hours of their lives.”

Han interrupted. “Where is this Point Imperial Trail?”

“It’s on the east side of the canyon, before you get to the
Navajo reservation.”

“Is that near where the Yavapai are staying?”

A puzzled look crossed her face. “Someone’s done their
homework. The Yavapai are settled a little further south, but yeah. It’s pretty
close.”

“All right, what else have you got?”

“There have been two other instances of lost hikers showing
up hours later with no memories. And, before you ask, there doesn’t seem to be
any pattern as to where they show up.”

“What about the auras?” Jackie asked.

“That’s a little more difficult to pinpoint. We’ve only had
two reports of auras, but they weren’t documented with photos. Both were called
in about five months ago. The second call came from a couple of tourists
staying at the Desert View campground. They saw what they called a golden glow
coming from the far end of Kaibob National Forest.

Han interrupted. “You said that was the second call. What
about the first?”

“That one came from a pay phone here but was mostly ignored.
The guy was obviously drunk and wouldn’t leave his name. Kept saying that
aliens were landing.”

“But the camper’s call would have corroborated his story.”

“Yeah, if they’d called it in right away. Cell service out
here is spotty at best so they waited until their vacation was over and they
were back in town before they made their report. It was almost a week later, so
no one put the two calls together.”

“Until?” Han knew there was more to the story.

Kell smiled. “Until a fight broke out in the parking lot of
this place last month. A group of locals were accosted by some drunk. He
accused them of being—wait for it—inhabited by aliens. The authorities were
called, the drunk was brought in, and his statement was taken. His story was so
crazy that it was a frequent topic of conversation for all the law enforcement
officers involved. That’s how it came to my attention.”

“Have you interviewed him yet?”

“Nope. He had no I.D. on him and gave a fake name when he
was put in the drunk tank, so I haven’t been able to track him down. I’m still
working on it, though.”

“I thought you were on a leave of absence,” Jackie said.

“I am. My bosses don’t think there’s anything to all of this
stuff so they pulled me off of my investigation. But I know I’m on to
something. There’s just been too much unexplained stuff. I was due some
vacation time so I took it.” Kell motioned to her shirt. “The uniform just
makes it easier.”

Han couldn’t help but admire this woman’s tenacity. She’d
get in a lot of trouble if her superiors found out she was conducting an
off-book investigation. His opinion of her skyrocketed. “You got any theories?”

“None that you’ll believe.”

“Try us,” Han and Jackie said in unison.

Kell shrugged her shoulders in a “what have I got to lose?”
motion. “My family’s lived here for generations. In that time, there have been
persistent rumors about people with
special
abilities. There’s an old
story about a tribe here called the Havasupai. It’s been said they can
shape-shift. I’m not saying I believe that stuff, but the stories have been
around forever and, well, let’s just say that nothing in this canyon would
surprise me.”

Han tried to sound skeptical. “And you think these current
events have something to do with magical natives?”

The flash of anger that crossed the ranger’s face almost
made Han feel guilty. “Of course not. I’m just saying that strange is kind of
the norm around here, and I won’t rule anything out.”

When the waitress appeared with their lunch orders, Han was
thankful for the distraction. “The rest of our team will be here shortly; we’ll
keep you posted about what we find.” He almost dropped his forkful of lunch
when Jackie kicked him under the table. Although he was more than accustomed to
keeping secrets, for some reason he was finding it difficult to do so with
Kell. “I’m sure there’s a boring explanation for everything.” His smile was
forced for reasons beyond his now-bruised shin.

“There are more of you coming?”

“Yeah. They’re flying in from Jacksonville. In fact, they
should be landing any time now.” Han counted off the hours in his head.

“They weren’t flying a Global Express jet, were they?”

The look of concern on the ranger’s face had Han’s gut
clenching. “Yeah, why?”

Kell’s eyes lowered to the table. “I’m so sorry, but
something happened. It was all over the news. I can’t imagine how you missed
it.”

“Just tell us.”

Han saw the color drain from Jackie’s face as Kell told the
story. His own complexion fared no better.

“Now this is more like it!” Han spread his arms and spun
around like a child in a toy store.

Mirissa couldn’t contain her giggle at his outburst. He’d
been sporting an ear-to-ear grin since the team’s helicopter landed at the
Grand Canyon airport. Despite her mother’s reassurances over the phone that
they were unharmed, he’d apparently needed visual confirmation. Although his
best friend was still missing, learning that the rest of his team was safe
after their jet crashed seemed to lighten his mood.

“This place is way nicer than our last lodgings. And the
people working here don’t hate us—always a plus in my book.”

They’d just checked in to the El Tovar Hotel, and its swanky
European style had everyone smiling. The suite they were currently in,
Mirissa’s mom and dad’s, had a sitting area overlooking the southern rim of the
canyon and was large enough to comfortably hold the entire team.

“Don’t get used to it,” Mirissa’s mother said. “This is a
one-time treat, courtesy of Julian, to make up for his inability to save the
jet. I’m pretty sure he hacked their reservation system.”

“We need to get Carter back quick so he can see this place.
He’s gonna love it.” Han had spent the last half hour insisting that Carter was
fine and would be with them again soon. Mirissa understood his reasoning—the
shooter chose to use tranquilizer darts instead of bullets—but she was less
optimistic. Regardless of their ammunition choice, someone had taken Carter by
force. In her experience, that kind of thing rarely had an altruistic motive.

“So, where do we start?” As far as Mirissa could tell, they
really didn’t have any leads.

Jackie was the only person to offer anything even resembling
a plan. “Our best bet is the Yavapai. The shooter at the airport when we landed
was definitely part of their tribe, and they did attack us last night at the
Havasupai village. That moves them to the top of my suspect list."

“Mine, too,” Han said, all joviality gone. “Carter has a
history with them. It makes sense.”

Myrine nodded. “All right. We’ll check them out first. Do we
know where they live?”

“Yeah,” Han answered. “Kell gave us the location where
they’re staying. It’s not their home, but they’ve been there for a while.”

“And Kell is …?” Myrick asked.

“Kell Christner. She’s the park ranger who’s been
documenting everything that’s happened here,” Han answered.

“She might be a bit of a problem, though,” Jackie continued.
“She’s taken a leave of absence from her job and is conducting her own
investigation. I don’t think she’s gonna back off.”

Myrine thought for a moment. “All right. If she becomes a
problem we’ll deal with her. For now, let’s go find Carter.”