♠ Come fly with me ♠

Then they were on the rooftop, with lots of hugging and mumbling and female fingers pointing in his direction and nodding and shaking of heads.

“You bringing in a chopper?”

Noecker scanned the horizon before he replied, eyes narrowed against the night air. “Can’t you tell what’s going to happen, sonny?” The old man almost smiled for the first time.

Connor almost smiled back. Battle fatigue. It must be. “Didn’t think you’d buy into that kind of thing.”

Noecker pointed across town at a flyspeck growing gradually larger. “I just do what I’m told. And I use what works. I don’t need to understand the laws of thermodynamics to call in a chopper.”

“Aerodynamics.”

“What?”

“Choppers use aerodynamics.”

Now Noecker did smile, tobacco-stained teeth making Connor wish he hadn’t bothered. “Then that’s two laws I don’t need to understand.”

He turned to the group huddled on the roof. “Ladies. Justin. Our ride is approaching. When they get here, we need to climb aboard quickly, with no fuss. Gertie, you’ll go first. Grab the first seat you see. Frankie, you’re next, with Agnetha.”

Connor spat. ‘Frankie’?

“Then Justin & me.” Noecker spat too. “If there’s any room left, my old black sheep here can squeeze in with us.”

Connor spat again, but realized it wasn’t as effective this time. “I’ll sit on your lap if I have to, you old buzzard.”

The last words were drowned out by an explosion from the street below. Justin moved to the edge of the rooftop. “Cop car. Probably booby-trapped.”

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Cheers.