Dance Moms - Claudia (2) Sand and Wave

Chapter 12 : Sand

She was given four hours to make her decision, the exact flight time from the Moscow airbase to their destination.

Go or Stay? The question was all she could think about.

She stared at the screen on her tablet, at the landing spot of the stolen jet, her fists tightened.

JoJo's jet was now sitting in a hanger of the Baghdad International Airport, in the middle of the cursed world that once drove out her insanity, a place she swore never to go near again.

She ran her sweaty palm over her arm, her tattoos were removed and left her skin clean as before, but the scars were still there - nine slashes across the wrists, a reminder of the innocent lives she once took.

"Last chance." asked JoJo in her desert harness.

The Antonov was taxiing away from the landing strip, slowing making its way into a hanger. Everyone onboard began gearing into their desert armor. Tilly has switched her black arm shielding to a sand color set, matching her khaki outfit like everyone else.

"I'm coming too." Chloe got up and put on her own gear.

Like the rest of the team, she wore the ultra-light hard shields over her Kevlar long sleeves, attached the utility belt around her waist.

She carried a 443 Grach on each side of her thighs, a tactical knife on her chest, and her retractable batons in her sleeves. She never likes firearms, but this time she armed to the teeth. On top of everything, she threw on her new weapon - a tactical compound bow.

She has left her glass eye behind, wearing only a black eye patch over her right eye. She wasn't expecting any formality, the glass eye would only distract her.

The airport hasn't changed, she could still remember everything from her first arrival. She came a naive girl, and the place turned her into a monster.

The first thing they did was to locate the stolen Gulfstream, which was parked three hangers away. JoJo bribed the airport staffs for letting them in the jet, the girls made a thorough search, found nothing except some woman's clothing.

"Where will she be?"

"Maridi." Emira said without a doubt. "It's where all the black market antiques take place. My father used to take me there."

"Maridi is just a flea market." Chloe recalled.

"That's just a front to confuse the authority."

Chloe remembered the market like it was yesterday, highly populated, high crime rate, everything but a place for a young white girl.

"Chloe." JoJo took her aside. "Are you sure you're up to the task?"

"I am. Why?"

JoJo hesitated, thinking the Chloe they found two years ago, one that was an insane killer on a suicidal mission.

"I'm all right." Chloe touched the scars on her wrists, looking at the rest of her team. "I have my family with me this time."