Consuming Fire

Chapter 17

"No. Freaking. Way!" Zac-Joshua's eyes widened to the size of tomatoes and his face lit up with glee. "Chevie Pulicover!"

Chevie frowned. "How do you know that name, Iceman."

"No it's me, it's Zac!" With that, Joshua disappeared and instead a chubby boy in a tight shirt and suit pants sat beside Eli. "Remember me?"

Chevie straightened up and crossed his arms. "Huh, yeah I remember you. You were that fat kid from ICE who used to annoy the shit out of everyone."

Zac smiled proudly. "The one and only."

"What the hell are you doing on this plane?" Zac opened his mouth to answer, but Chevie whipped up a hand and silenced him. "Wait, never mind, it's not important. What is important is that we get the hell off this plane. Oh, and it's not Pulicover anymore. It's Barnes."

"Uh, how do you expect to get off this plane?" asked Jenny.

At that moment, the jet rocked and quaked through a quick burst of turbulence. The four of them gripped their seats tightly.

"That's our ride now." Chevie lifted his finger to his ear and listened, as if through an earpiece. Eli stared, not knowing what to do. He kept looking at Jenny for help, since Zac was only sitting there in awe. The plane tipped again.

"Our ride?" asked Eli as he glanced down at his feet. He was really sweating now.

"That's right. We can't be on this jet forever. And those agents will wake up eventually. I want to be gone by then."

"Where are we going?" asked Jenny.

Chevie gave her a dazzling smile and leaned so close to her, Eli thought he was going to kiss her, but he only unclipped her seatbelt. "You'll have to trust me, love."

Jenny didn't like the way he spoke to her at all and wrenched her arm away. "Give me one good reason why I should."

The stare between them was so heated, Eli almost expected something out of the ordinary to happen. Perhaps Jenny would slap him for calling her 'love' — which Joshua never would.

Either way, Chevie's wide, dimpled smile stretched and he straightened up.

"Do you have a sense of adventure, Miss Smart?"

Jenny's mouth dropped open. Eli, too, was shocked he knew her name. "Y-yes," she stuttered defensively.

"Then I implore you," he purred, "to trust me."

"Uh, guys?" Zac was glancing behind Chevie at the unconscious agents who were beginning to stir. "Should we ...?"

"Yes!" Chevie ran to the back of the plane. There were cubicle bathrooms on either side and a bank of cupboards full of utensils and food trays. "Hurry up!"

Zac followed without hesitation. Eli and Jenny looked at each other, listening to Chevie bang about and yell at Zac to help him open up a hatch. Before Eli could even comprehend how in God's name they were even openingthe hatch without the jet being torn apart, Jenny grabbed his shoulder.

"What would Joshua do?"

Eli shrugged. "Kill him?"

Jenny bit her lip and then decided they had no other choice. "Come on. If Zac leaves, we'll be stuck with the FBI."

"But if we go, we'll be screwed when they find us."

Jenny grabbed her backpack from the overhead carrier and managed to smile down at him. "What else is new?"

A sudden jolt rocked the plane and alarms blared inside the cabin. Agents all around them started to stir dizzily awake. Eli and Jenny snuck into the back wing where they were being shaken by the turbulence.