Let's Hunt Her (Book #2)

₵Ⱨ₳₱₮ɆⱤ ₮Ɇ₦

Sehun and I emerge from the woods in the back field of San Farms. We hug the trees around the perimeter of the open field and a pack of coy-wolves howls in the distance. Old Mr. San told me himself that the coyotes in this part of Gangwon are huge because they mated with wolves a long time ago, and over time most of the coyote genes got bred out. Who knows if it's true, or if he was trying to keep us kids from sneaking into his hayloft, with tales of almost-wolves? But it gave me a healthy fear f coming here after dark. I frown at the memory of being scared of such a simple idea, mourning the girl I was before I went to the Academy, before I knew too much.

I look at Sehun, following me silently through the dark, our breaths billowing out in front of us. There are so many things I want to tell him, things I want to explain. But until we're out of Jeongsan, and out of the path of the Strategia who are hunting me, neither of us is going take an easy breath.

I lead Sehun to the barn and we slink around it, staying close to the shadows. We do a full lap of the building before he stops at the padlock that holds the wide double doors closed. He taps on the knife secured to my belt loop and I pull it out, my hand unsteady. Sehun slips the key into the lock and opens the door about two feet, It's pitch-black in the barn and we remain still and silent, assessing our surroundings. Everything is quiet and there are no sighs that anyone else is in the building. The only sound is the wind howling through the bare trees.

Sehun strikes a match and my eyes widen.

I almost choke as I take in the large metal frame occupying most of the barn. "A plane? I thought if we were lucky we might find a backpack or something with information, but a freaking plane?"

"A private jet," Sehun says, smiling for the first time in what seems like forever. "A nice one. Whoever that assassin was in the woods, he must have been important."

Sehun passes me the box of matches and I put my knife back in its holster. He blows out his match as it nears his fingers, and I light another. Now with his hands free, Sehun starts removing the wooden blocks that stabilize the wheels.

"Hang on. What are you . . . You're not thinking about taking this thing?" I say, my words dripping with disbelief.

"Absolutely," he says like it's the most obvious conclusion in the world. "Unless you would rather fly commercial and risk being detected? This is actually best-case scenario."

"But who's going to fly it?" I ask, unable to wrap my mind around this plan, which is galaxies outside my comfort zone.

"We'll just have to wing it," he says, tossing the wooden blocks up into the plan and pulling the barn doors completely open.

"We're definitely not winging it," I blurt out.

"Relax, Suzy," Sehun says with a good-natured smile. He's suddenly his usual easy self and somehow I've gotten more uptight. "I've been flying planes since I was eight. And with something like this, it practically flies itself."

He heads up the stairs and turns on the lights.

I follow him. "Holy . . .," I breathe as I look around the small plane in awe. There are two recliners with a big flat-screen TV, a small dining table, and a bed. Maybe Sehun was right; maybe this is best-case scenario.

Sehun goes right to the cockpit and turns the plane one with ease. While he's pushing buttons he hands me the padlock from his pocket. "I'm going to roll this plane out of the barn, if you wouldn't mind locking up. Just make sure to wipe our prints off."

I nod, taking the cold metal lock and climbing back down the steps. I look up at the old hayloft I used to play in, barely visible in the moonlight, and I sigh, overcome by a pang of sadness. Goodbye Chichu. Goodbye, Jeongsan. I suddenly wish it were light so that I could log the details of it better. But the tail of the plane clears the doors and there is no more time to consider what this moment might one day mean to me. Instead, I pull the barn doors shut and wipe the lock down, careful to erase all signs that we were here.