Finding Love [1.5 Chase Davenport]

Chapter Three

I can still feel Emmie's arms around me from when she gave me a quick hug goodbye before my siblings and I departed for our mission. She had collapsed into my arms, and I heard her quickly breathe in before telling me to be careful. Based on her and Miss Key's near announcement earlier, there is something going on, and I don't think it's anything good. Hopefully, we can complete this mission quickly so I can get back to Emmie.

Facility X stands above our small group, surrounded by hills and valleys of white, blinding snow. Even if Adam parked underneath the facility, the garage door is wide open. A freezing wind worms its way into the area, wrapping around me, making me shiver in my mission suit. I look over at my siblings and say, "Our game plan is to do this the right way, but quickly." Eyeing the plane that's parked haphazardly, I point to it. "Knowing us, something will go wrong, so maybe we should move the plane away from the building."

Adam gasps, placing a hand on his chest. "Are you only saying that because of my parking job? I tried my best, and you know it! Plus, I had the help of Eddy, so it's practically perfect."

"I already explained this, Adam," I say, trying not to get frustrated with him. "Our track record isn't all that clean, so I want to move the plane away from the building to have something to go home in. It isn't that hard to understand."

"Before you two start going at it," Bree says, holding her hands up, "I'll move the plane." She gives us a glare while opening the door to the plane. A set of small stairs gracefully descend from the inside of the plane, and she disappears from my sight. 

I grab Adam by the arm, pulling him out of the way from the plane. The plane roars to life and starts taxing by us, heading back out into the snowy landscape. As it passes by us, I see the Davenport Industries label on the side. It's very surprising that Mr. Davenport allowed us to use his special plane, but it is Christmas Eve and I do want to be home by Christmas, so I won't question his thoughts. 

Once Bree is done moving the plane, we head up to the main floor of the facility. Even when we're inside the building, there's still a slight chill in the air. I bet the lead walls around us are always cold, so I brush my gloved hand across it. Cold prickles up and down my arm as the cold seeps through my leather glove. 

The three of us enter the main room of Facility X, and a crazy looking guy in a white lab coat and a Viking helmet lets out a sob of relief. This guy must be Dr. Evans, Mr. Davenport's chief scientist of Davenport Industries. His wild eyes look between the three of us as he says, "Oh, good, you made it."

Bree pauses beside me. "Uh, did we really just risk our lives to save a guy in a Viking helmet?"

"Oh, this?" He points to the Viking helmet on his head, and I notice that there is aluminum foil wrapped around the horns. "This is my TV antenna. When the ash cloud clears, I get great reception: all two Eskimo channels."

Ash cloud? What is he talking about? I'll admit, I wasn't really paying attention to Mr. Davenport or Leo when they were explaining about this mission because I was worried about Emmie. Something definitely did happen here, so I say, "Is everything okay here?"

"Well, the volcano really shook things up." Oh, a volcano erupted. No wonder there were tons of ash and cloud in the sky as we flew here. "Communications are down, and the pizza guy is four years late. But other than that, I'm good."

"Great," Bree says from beside me. I look over at her and notice that Adam is staring at his phone, his brows burrowed. His Santa hat hangs low in his eyes, but he flicks it out of the way to read something on his phone. "Another genius with bad jokes. Merry Christmas to me."

Adam's eyes flicker up and meet mine. There's a dark look in them, like he knows something that I don't. As soon as I give him a weird look, he slightly shakes his head. Okay, so he does know something that I don't. Is it about Emmie?