She stayed in the car for a moment after what would surely be the first of many police interviews, watching Lea in the rearview mirror. As with all police cars, Lea was safely locked in. A cage between them. Kalani didn’t know the woman in the back seat. Not anymore. Maybe not ever. She could have been a stranger. Some thug that the cops had picked up before rushing to the airport.

Kalani had asked permission to speak with her one last time. They were nice about it. In exchange, she had promised to try to get some information after the initial questioning had gone nowhere. But half of her didn’t care about the answers.

She watched in the mirror as Lea’s head drooped forward. She had a bloody nose that leaked down to her shirt. Handcuffed behind her back, she could do nothing about it. Even if Kalani could reach her to help with the bloody nose, she wouldn’t have. Let her bleed. It was the least she should suffer through.

Finally, Lea said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know,” Kalani said. “But I am.”

“Where are you going?”

“Anywhere away from this,” she said. “And away from you.”

Lea let out a sad little sigh. “No matter how far you go, or whatever you do, it won’t change the fact that I’m still your sister.”

It was enough to make Kalani almost retch. “Let’s stop talking for a while,” she said.

And they stopped.

The silence between them was welcomed.

She wondered how long she would need. Perhaps a lifetime. A lifetime would be okay.

Soon, a federal agent would be at the car to take Lea—and maybe her, too—away in cuffs. Soon, the silence would be elongated through distance, brick walls, and iron bars.

She refocused her attention out the windshield, watching the scene unfold. Her heart warmed when she saw a glimpse of Ethan walking by a space between two black SUVs. He had a serious look on his face but a casual lightness to his stride.

Her heart warmed even more when she saw Tucker being pushed in a wheelchair toward an ambulance. No more bag on his face. He was conscious and smiling up at someone next to him. Macy, his girl.

Tucker stood from his chair, without any signs of serious injury. He placed his hands on Macy’s shoulders.

The sight warmed away the chill that had been wrapped around Kalani for hours—perhaps days.

She looked away. They deserved privacy.

How long would it be before she’d be able to have some privacy of her own, with Ethan?

She looked for him in the crowd again.

They’d want to question him for hours, no doubt. Her, too. She was not looking forward to that part. But it would all be worth it, as everything leading up to it had been—worth it for their future. It hardly mattered where that future unfolded, only that it was with him. He’d talked recently of quitting the news industry. He’d become too sick of life, and she couldn’t blame him. The idea was to write fiction, little everyday escapes. Spy novels, he’d said. So a little reality pulled from past experiences, but a manageable, fun reality, where happy endings ruled the day.

The guy would get the girl. She’d be his.

Sitting in the car, Kalani thought more of happily ever after. She knew she would be happy.

It was just a matter of time for all the questions to be done with.

Deep in thought about their future, Kalani didn’t notice when Ethan was at the side of the car. He stood at her door, knocking on it. Smiling. He’d come from behind, from another of the many unmarked, black cars with impossibly dark tinted windows.

He opened the door and he waved her out. “Step out a minute?”

Two plainclothes officers were already at the back doors, opening them and offering polite instruction for Lea to get out, turn around, and lean against the car. It was time for her to switch vehicles. It was time for her to talk to the FBI.

Kalani barely heard her name when Lea called it again. She kept her back turned until the voice got quieter and quieter, and then disappeared.

Ethan squeezed her shoulder, and then with a muttered “Fuck it,” dropped his lips to hers, thrusting his tongue inside and taking what they both desperately needed.

She reveled in his touch, until the last of the chills were swept away, carried off in the strong breeze blowing down the tarmac. She finally broke away with a gasp. “What about the guy in the trunk?” she asked.

“Everything’s taken care of,” he said. “Everything except for you.” He took her hand.

She squeezed his hand back. “How will I be taken care of?”

Ethan grinned. He looked proud. And a little hungry.

“And who will do the caretaking?” She grinned.

The early morning sun fell on his stubbly, unshaven chin. “We’ll take turns.” He leaned again and kissed her, politely and sweetly that time. But she wanted more. And she wanted it much more private.

They broke from their kiss, but he still held her hand. He seemed to always do that, wanting to guide her somewhere. To just be with her.

“Everything okay with Tucker and Macy?” she said.

He nodded.

“And everything with the Feds? And Jackson?”

He nodded again, then pulled her by the hand, taking her away from the car and the unfolding law-enforcement scene. Lea tried calling out to her again, but the voice was foreign and muted. A cold nothing.

A little distance and time wouldn’t be the worst thing for their sisterly relationship. Maybe it could even be saved one day. But not today. Lea was finally going to answer for her entire life.

“I want to show you something,” he said, speeding up. Kalani almost had to jog to keep her shoulder from dislocating.

He was in a hurry.

And she liked it.

If it was with him, and heading somewhere opposite from a crowd of federal agents, then she preferred to hurry. In fact, she wanted to run. But he was leading. That was okay, too.

He led her up the stairs of Jackson’s private jet.

“No,” Kalani kept saying, not even comprehending what was happening. She kept saying no, but an escape was all she’d wanted. It was a tease, no doubt. At some point, reality would come crashing down. The plane would never lift off.

“I didn’t exactly get Jackson’s okay with this,” Ethan said, “but I really don’t care.”

“His okay for what?”

“He might be mad, but I guess he’ll just have to get over it. Besides, I’m not a full-fledged member of DARC just yet, so he can’t fire me. What are you doing?”

She had stopped at the doorway to the jet. It just seemed so crazy . . .

“Come on,” he said. “I’m serious about this. Come on and get in before they see us.”

“Won’t they kind of notice?”

“It’ll be too late by then,” Ethan said. “We’ll be off in the sky. We’ll be alone.”

She laughed nervously and entered the jet with him. The engine had been running the whole time and the circulated air inside was cool. Behind them, Ethan pulled back the stairs and shut the door.

They wouldn’t have much time to do whatever crazy thing Ethan had on his mind.

Were they really about to take off?

“He was nice enough to leave it idling in all the hurry,” Ethan said, moving up toward the cockpit. “Come on!”

She joined him in the cockpit, Ethan already sitting with the headset on, talking to a perplexed-sounding traffic-control agent. Outside the jet, on the ground below, she could see a few turned heads. She scanned for Jackson’s.

“Thanks, Control,” Ethan said.

“This is absolutely fucking crazy,” Kalani said. “And I’m loving every minute of it. Only I’m a little scared. You understand that, right? I thought you only flew crop dusters. I think there’s a little difference with a jet.”

“There is?” he said. Then he laughed almost hysterically for a few seconds. “Just kidding. This isn’t my first time.”

“He’s gonna kill you,” she said. Watching with pure glee with the precision and confidence he used working the instrument panel, moving the dials, talking to confirm takeoff.

The voice in the radio said, “You’re getting some flak on the ground.”

Ethan ignored it.

They had gotten flak last time, even without running away from the investigations and interviews. After Hawaii, they’d practically raked them over the coals with questions. They hadn’t even done anything wrong, but were treated like they were the ones to cause the tsunami and the destruction of evidence.

Screw it. If they were going to be mad, it was better to give them a reason. Better to actually get something out of it. In this case, some private one-on-one time.

She looked to him. “This thing has autopilot, right? In case we need to step away from the controls for a minute?”

Ethan grinned.

“It’s going to be one heck of a ride, Kalani. All of it. It won’t ever let up.” He reached for her hand. “Are you ready?”

She nodded. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

She thought she heard Jackson’s voice, probably inventing new swear words as it came dimly through the radio. Kalani didn’t care. She and Ethan were on their own. Finally.

The rest of her life was starting, and sitting there, in the peace and quiet, still holding Ethan’s hand, it was already wonderful.

Thank you so much for reading Kalani and Ethan’s story. to be the first to know when the next DARC Ops books is published.