Mission: Christmas: The Christmas Wild Bunch / Snowbound with a Prince. Lindsay McKenna

fleas on a dog,” Dallas assured him grimly.

      Murdoch was more than pleased with her flight capabilities. The druggies began to jink back and forth, so they couldn’t get near enough to fire again. Both planes had descended to fifty feet above the desert floor. The air was rougher near the ground, for the risen sun was warming the soil and generating small updrafts. The smoke grew black and thick as it purled from the Cessna’s engine.

      “He’s gonna have to land that sucker anywhere he can,” Mike warned. “Back off a little. We’ll let him put down and then follow him in. If he crashes, we don’t want to be caught in the explosion or debris.”

      “Roger,” Dallas said, lips thinned. Sure enough, she spotted a flat, gravelly spot just ahead among the lumpy hills. There was plenty of cactus and brush growing there, but Dallas knew a plane like this could land if it didn’t run into anything with its tricycle gear.

      “Back off more,” Murdoch warned her. “The area they’re heading for has a rough, dicey surface. We’ve seen planes flip over when a wheel catches a big piece of brush, and you don’t want to be right behind them.”

      “Roger,” she repeated.

      The drug plane landed badly, then hopped back up into the air, plumes of dust flying around it. Then it hit the ground again. This time, the nose wheel plowed into a thicket of brush and collapsed. Dallas watched the craft skid, the propeller snapping off in pieces and disintegrating upon impact. The plane became enveloped in a huge, rolling cloud of dust as she landed their own Cessna, about four hundred feet away. The sand-gravel surface was solid in the stretch she’d chosen, thank goodness. Landing with a solid thump, she brought their plane to a quick stop by standing on the rudders, which acted like brakes for the aircraft. Before it stopped rolling, Murdoch bailed out the door, M16 in hand, and ran hell-bent-for-leather toward the crashed C-206 dead ahead of them. Smoke was pouring out of the smashed engine, and flames licked up here and there.

      Why hadn’t Murdoch waited? Dallas quickly stopped the plane, killed the engine and whipped off her harness. Before diving out the door, she grabbed her own M16, locking and loading it on the run as she sprinted toward the smugglers.

      Dallas saw Murdoch a hundred feet ahead, circling toward the pilot’s door. The Mexican kept hitting the jammed door with his boot until it finally yawned open, and he leaped out. Dressed in a pink shirt and jeans, he appeared to be no more than twenty years old. The kid from the copilot’s seat quickly followed. He had a shaved head and also wore a white T-shirt and jeans. The two ran in different directions.

      Murdoch fired several rounds into the air and yelled at them to stop. Both skidded to a halt, turned around with their arms high in the air.

      By the time Dallas got to them, Murdoch had both men lying flat on their bellies, their arms stretched above their heads. He was looking pleased.

      She grinned, sweat running from beneath her helmet and down her temples. “Good work,” she praised.

      “Thanks, boss.” Murdoch motioned for her to go to the Cessna, the nose of which was buried in about two feet of sand and gravel. “Let’s see what these dudes were carrying.”

      “Roger that.” She turned and peeked in the open door. The smoke and flames of earlier were now out, so there was no worry the craft would explode. Climbing into the cabin, Dallas peered into the back of the plane. The smell of marijuana was overpowering. Taking a quick count, she eased out again and turned toward her partner. Murdoch had used nylon cuffs to bind the suspects’ hands behind their backs and had them sitting on the ground when she walked up to him.

      “Marijuana. Looks to be about ten bales. What does that mean in pounds?”

      Murdoch gave a low whistle. “That’s probably a max load for this plane. We’ll get the contraband to the U.S. and weigh it, but I’d guess it will likely be around eight hundred pounds. Congratulations, Major. You’ve made a helluva bust on your first mission.”

      “Don’t you think we can call each other by our first names when we’re out here alone? Mine is Dallas.” She thrust her hand forward, and he took it without hesitation.

      “Mike. So long as you don’t use any more of your krav maga on me, I’ll call you Dallas.” Murdoch squeezed her long, slim hand. She had a surprisingly firm grip. After all, he told himself, she was a black belt in combat, so why wouldn’t she?

      But as he gazed into her dancing golden eyes, he felt helpless to stop the sexual attraction he was feeling toward her. What a hell of a fix he was in.

       Chapter 3

      “Damn, it’s cold,” Dallas griped to Murdoch as they climbed into their intrepid Cessna. The November winds whipped past them, spitting rain—life-giving moisture that was always welcome in arid countries. The sky was slate-gray, with shreds of white stratus clouds hanging low on the horizon.

      “Ah, you desert rats always have thin blood,” Mike teased as he pressed the Velcro closed on his Kevlar vest and harnessed up. He noticed Scotty waiting patiently, chocks in hand. It was 6:00 a.m. and barely light. But that’s when the bad guys took off, because they didn’t have all the radar to fly at night.

      Giving him a grin, Dallas settled her helmet on her head, strapped in and shut and locked the door. “Yeah, must be my Israeli blood showing. Israel is nothing but desert.”

      Mike handed her the preflight checklist and they quickly went through it. Everything was in order. When he took the list back from her, their fingertips met. Murdoch relished the chance to touch Dallas. Ever since he’d grabbed her on the tarmac and she’d thrown him to the ground with her krav maga techniques, he’d been both wary of and fascinated by her. It had taken two months for them to adjust to one another. They worked well together, like a team. But Mike couldn’t help wishing for more contact. For now, he pushed the thought from his mind.

      Dallas was pilot today. Since her first confrontation with Murdoch, he had cleaned up his act. He’d never again come on the tarmac drunk. He’d even stopped his hard drinking and partying in Nogales.

      Dallas watched Scotty give her the signal, then she started up the engine. The Cessna coughed and sputtered.

      “Even the plane is cold today,” she remarked, listening to the motor catch and take hold. The prop whirled, and she eased off the rudders, letting the craft trundle to the end of its short runway, then turn around, ready for takeoff. Dallas paused there, waiting for a sudden rain shower to pass.

      “Every plane has a personality,” Mike agreed. “You want some coffee after we get airborne?”

      “You bet.”

      He’d come to enjoy their intimate patter, their chance to be alone in the air. On the ground, Dallas was in charge. He couldn’t be caught using such familiarity. But here in the air, their professionalism facade dissolved and they’d become like best buddies. Mike wanted more, but she seemed immune to his subtle suggestions. He’d sometimes touch her shoulder when they were teasing one another, or he’d crack a joke, and she’d laugh huskily in return. Whenever his fingers met hers, a pleasant ribbon of warmth flowed up his hand and arm.

      The Cessna rolled down the runway after the squall had moved by. The aftermath of a hurricane that had started in Mexico on the Pacific side was making the skies dicey. In Arizona, the storm had already been downgraded to a low frontal system.

      Once they leveled off at three thousand feet, the air was much less turbulent. Murdoch pulled out the large metal thermos from the net pocket, quickly poured Dallas half a cup of steaming black coffee and handed it to her. Another chance to touch the beautiful, remote Dallas Klein.

      “Thanks,” she said, gripping the metal cup. The warmth felt good to her fingers.

      Mike dug into his net pouch for a second cup and poured himself some. Today, they were headed deep into Mexico, to Hermosillo. Mexican federales had located a secret airstrip outside the beautiful city, and the two of them were going to investigate.