Flight Path: A Wright & Tran Novel by Ian Andrew Page A

was strictly confined to work. Although once, a long, long time ago, they had tried to sleep together in a drunken haze. That night, a singularly shared secret, never revealed to anyone, had ended with them laughing at each other in their naked awkwardness. They’d resolved then and there to be like brother and sister as opposed to lovers. It was that underpinning stability which allowed them to be so effective.
    Kara had first worked with Sammi and Chaz back in 2006, a few months after the tour in Iraq when she had met Tien. Three years later, they had all worked together, along with James ‘Dinger’ Bell and Aidy ‘Taff’ Jones, in Afghanistan.
    Shortly after that tour, Sammi and the three guys, who were always referred to as Sammi’s crew, left the military and joined the world of freelance consultants. As the O’Neill brothers were always Kara and Tien’s first choice for security, so Sammi and Chaz were their first call if they needed reliable, specialist intelligence back-up. Taff and Dinger had operated as Sammi’s embedded security team, until December 2014 when Taff was killed in a mortar attack in Kabul. Since then, Sammi and her crew had tried to confine themselves to less hazardous locations and take life easier.
    “Dinger says hi, but I doubt he’ll be joining us,” Sammi said, flopping down on the couch next to Chaz and Tien. “It would be a difficult ask to convince his new fiancée that leaving her in Lanzarote while he comes to Amsterdam is a great idea.”
    “A fiancée? Wow, how much did he have to pay her?” Kara asked from the kitchen.
    “I know. The great loutish jock seems to think she’s with him for his good looks, personal charm and subtle Gaelic ways,” Chaz laughed.
    “Aww, don’t be mean. Dinger’s lovely,” Tien said.
    “Yeah, but you wouldn’t go out with him, would you?” Chaz asked.
    “Well, no, but that’s ‘cos he’s Dinger, isn’t it?” Tien said, “I mean I wouldn’t go out with you either. You’re equally weird.” She laughed and poked Chaz in the ribs, causing him to recoil in mock pain.
    Kara, standing back and observing them, noticed Jacob wasn’t joining in. She knew he had only worked with Dinger once before, so probably didn’t feel as comfortable slagging off a recent acquaintance. That was quite decent of him, but needless in the present company. “Hey Jacob, what do you reckon?” she called.
    “Well, that’s hard for me to say. I don’t reall-”
    Chaz cut him off, “Ah don’t be shy. The great lug looks like an albino Viking and talks like a drunken Glaswegian on steroids. Just agree. He’s not here anyway.”
    Jacob shyly glanced towards Tien before saying, “He seemed like a nice guy to me. I mean, he’s not my type but I’m sure someone out there likes him.”
    “Ha, love it,” Chaz said. “Yep, he’s not my type either. Geez, that poor girl.”
    “Have you met her?” Kara asked.
    “Yes, we have,” Sammi answered, with a faked glower at Chaz. “Eloise is lovely. Bright, intelligent and charming. She’s a lawyer in Dundee.”
    “Oh,” Tien said. “She’s Scottish too?”
    “No, she’s German, but she’s been over here,” Sammi paused and corrected herself, “over there I mean, for ages. Beautiful diction.”
    “Much better than Dinger,” Chaz teased again.
    “You’re not exactly textbook BBC yourself,” Tien said, “I mean I’d much rather have Jacob’s Essex than your Manc’ accent. At least I can understand him. With you, I get about one word in three of that Northern twang,” she said laughing and putting her hand out to Jacob’s knee.
    Kara saw Jacob blush a deep red. She was intrigued by the intensity of the reaction and aware, from a raised eyebrow, that Sammi had seen the same. She thought about teasing Jacob, but something in the back of her mind warned her off. Besides, it was time to move things along. “Right, let’s leave Dinger’s dalliances in Lanzarote. Toby might be joining us in a