The Collective

Chapter Seven

     I forced myself to keep my eyes on the trail. If I looked back at her, if I saw her, that was all it would take. I wasn't going to see her again. I couldn't. It was a nice Thanksgiving, and that was as far as it was supposed to go.

     But, then she called. Three weeks later, and for some insane reason, I said yes. And, it was the single most selfish thing I'd ever done. I knew it wasn't fair to drag her into my life, especially because she didn't know what she was getting into. Because I couldn't tell her. Because it was classified.

     It didn't matter. After this, she never had to see me, ever again.

     "You lied to me." Max snapped, the minute we were out of earshot.

     I ignored him. I didn't lie. I just didn't tell him. Because it was never supposed to go farther then Thanksgiving. But then, I heard her voice, and it all went out the window. Besides, it was absolutely none of his business. It never was.

     Max jerked the door of a black Jeep open. "Does she even know what you do?"

     "Yes, Max. I just met this girl and I told her all about my super exciting life as a spy." I pulled the passenger side door closed. I didn't particularly like Max's driving, but giving him this might just be enough to distract from Alex.

     Max careened off the trail. He went flying down the mountain. "The second you tell her anything, she's going to end up in WitSec, away from her life, unless... unless you marry her?" He covered his mouth with his hand, scandalized.

     I shook my head. I never wanted to get married. I never wanted to drag anyone down with me. I stopped dating two months after I joined the army. I lived alone, because it was better that way. Max, on the other hand, had multiple cover stories, each more tragic than the last, that he used to break multiple hearts in multiple countries. He wasn't stupid though, it was all just one, maybe two, night stands.

     "Why didn't you tell me?" Max demanded.

     "Ow, jeez! Eyes on the road." I rubbed my head, wedging myself between the seat and the door, trying to stop the bouncing.

     Max floored it. "It'd be one thing if you didn't love this girl, but you and I both know that's not true. It's like that time in Colombia, with the coffee plantations. You remember?" He plowed through tall bushes. "I didn't tell you about the change in plans, and everything went sideways." A small airplane lied on the edge of a bare, dirt runway. He put the Jeep in park. "And, I'd appreciate a heads-up before you ruin everything we've worked for."

     "Max..." I trailed off. This wasn't a change in plans. This wasn't up for debate. This was my life. I didn't want to survive. I wanted to live, and Alex was everything that was good in the world, and everything that I wanted. If that meant leaving all of this behind, I was totally fine with it.

     I took over the cockpit. My dad taught me how to fly before the accident. We were planning on flying around the world on my 18th birthday. The plan was to start in Colorado, and hit Winnipeg, and then New York, and then Australia, but that was as far as we got. It'd been 10 years since they died, and it still felt like it just happened. Alex was the first person I told outside of necessity. She was the first one who cared enough to ask.

     And, I was thinking about her again. Maybe I needed another dog. Maddie could use a friend. I didn't have to take her back to Alex's parents' house. I never had to speak to any of them ever again. One, small problem, just the thought of that made me want to throw-up. Which was not helpful, 30,000 feet in the air.

     I shook it off, focused on heading in the right direction. If Oversight would give me the budget, I would fly everywhere. The sky was so quiet. Rarely, did you have to worry about crashing into somebody. There was significantly less planes in the sky than there were cars on the ground. But, the whole point of Covert Ops was being sneaky. There was nothing sneaky about flying.