One battle at a time.
Quinn's hands shook. "Fly the plane. Now!"
This guy was too wired. It wouldn't take much for him to lose control of that trigger finger. Tanner's temple ached with an all-too-real reminder of Quinn's unpredictability.
"Chill, Quinn." Tanner held up his hands. "I'm not going anywhere. I just want to talk for a minute."
"Why would I want to talk?"
"Because you don't want anyone to get hurt. You may be a crook, but unless I miss my guess, you're not a murderer."
"I wouldn't bet on it, big guy."
Tanner didn't figure he would, either, still he needed to keep Quinn calm.
But then maybe it would be better to just end it now. All he needed was one fast jab to Quinn's jaw and it would be over. Sure, Quinn would have time to give Tanner a sucking chest wound, but Kathleen would have the crucial second needed to take out Quinn. No doubt she could do it, too.
Except how would she land? Worse yet, if the bullet went astray and blew a hole in the plane…
In spite of all that steely will firing from her eyes across the control panel, she was far too mortal.
Control. Think. No blasting in, half-cocked.
Tanner eased back. Some of Kathleen's logic would serve him well now. "You're a smart guy, had to be to pull this off for so long. I'll bet you have a cushy retirement planned."
"I just want my money. That's all I've ever wanted. I've had enough of being an underpaid, undervalued government employee."
"You were only in it for the money. You didn't want all this grief."
Quinn kept his gun steady in one hand, his eyes glowing like a jet jock sharing war tales. "I figured the scam was minimal risk for a big payback. How could I pass up the chance when I realized Randall liked to keep loose hours? So I ran half the tests and pocketed the money for running the other half. If half the tests went well, stands to reason the other fifty parts should work, right?"
Not hardly. "Now that you have your money, you're going to want to stay alive and enjoy it." Tanner allowed every ounce of anger to seep into his words. "And I'm telling you, pal, as long as Kathleen's around, there's a damned good chance we're gonna have a shoot-out. I'm feeling edgy. Yeah, I'm trying to control it, but if it looks like you're gonna hurt her, even just a little bit, I'm gonna lose it. Then I'm gonna go after you. Sure, you might get me."
Tanner canted forward. "But I might get you first."
Quinn's gun wavered.
"Are you willing to risk it? Why not just let her go and focus all your attention on me?"
"Let her go?"
"Let me go?" Kathleen's horrified voice ripped his gaze off Quinn and onto her. "Not on your life, you big—"
"Parachute out." Tanner let his eyes linger on Kathleen for one selfish moment. Convincing her would probably be tougher than persuading Quinn. "Do it, Kathleen. Use that awesome brain of yours. I'm not leaving without you. And I stand a helluva better chance at making it out alive if you're not here distracting me. I'll throw you out the hatch if I have to." He fought dirty and fought to win. The stakes were too important. "Doc, it's time to be a team player."
"Damn you," she whispered, just a small, eloquent whisper, but one that said so much coming from his restrained warrior goddess.
He'd won. A hollow victory if Quinn didn't go along. "Well, Quinn?"
Clouds whipped past the windscreen for what seemed like miles before Quinn slid the gun from Kathleen's head. "Okay. We've made it over the border. I can afford to ditch her."
The kick of relief punched the air from Tanner's lungs.
"But…" The silver-haired aviator steadied his gun. "You're gonna follow us to the back. I don't relish the idea of you jerking the plane and knocking me out."
"Fair enough." Tanner leaned to the control panel and opened the load ramp.
The plane glided along on autopilot while they descended the stairwell into the cargo hold. Red lights filled the belly of the plane with a hellish glow. The back of the plane yawned open into the abyss of an opaque night sky broken only by a smattering of stars.