The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)(9)

Cruz stared back at me. From what I remembered of the ring, he’d never backed down from a challenge. “I am very serious,” he said. “I want to be a part of it. I mean, that’s why you kidnapped me, hijacked the feed, and broadcasted your little message, eh? To get people to help you fight the Matrian invaders? Well, I listened. I want them all to go back to where they came from and stop destroying my country. I’m already here, and I want to help.”

“And me zip tying your hands to a pipe didn’t leave you with any hard feelings at all?” I said, letting my skepticism leak into my voice.

Cruz raised his eyebrows. “My personal feelings about that incident put aside, I can forgive a few mistakes here and there, Croft.”

I stiffened automatically. Even though the message was conciliatory, the remark grated on my pride, and Cruz knew it. But I was controlling my alpha male urges right now.

“If you were to join us,” I tested, “what help could you offer us?”

Cruz smiled. “Well, for one thing,” he said with complete confidence, “I can tell you that the way you are going about controlling this fire is completely mad.”

Now that was interesting. “How do you know that?”

“I see you were not paying attention to my tour earlier today.”

“I had bigger things on my mind.”

That shut him up for a moment, but his mouth did not remain closed for long. “I helped put out the fires in Patrus when they started. When everything started. I learned much from it.”

I would listen to his idea, even if I found the man himself irritating. “Do you have a suggestion?”

“First, we need to dig a trench around the house. About… as wide as my arm, and as deep as from my finger tips to my elbow.”

“That’s a lot of work,” I said dubiously. “We might have some time, but not that much.”

“If you want to keep this under control until it goes out, it’s the only way. But hey, have no fear, my friend! I saw a big digger over there by the farm. I’ll just start it up—shouldn’t take long at all.”

“You know how to drive a digger?” I asked. The question went straight to his back, as he was already jogging toward the barn. He raised his hand, flashing me a thumbs-up sign, and I rolled my eyes. I wanted to see this idea at work—I wouldn’t deny that it could be useful—but if Cruz stayed, this discipline thing was going to have to be addressed. I wandered back over to Lynne, deep in thought.

“I’m sorry about that one,” I said to her.

She turned to me, empty bucket in hand, and smiled. “It’s okay. I thought he was kind of sweet. It’s hard to explain why… Maybe because he’s just confident or something, but he’s got a certain... charm.”

“I thought he was kind of a jerk, myself.”

Lynne laughed, unaffected by my grumpiness. “A lot of people are jerks when they’re threatened. And I’m sure you have no idea why any guy would be threatened by you, Viggo.”

I shrugged and crossed my arms, choosing not to rise to that bait. “He’s going to have to work with me a lot if he joins up. So he’ll have to get over it.”

“Well, he seemed sincere in wanting to help,” Lynne said thoughtfully. “Maybe we just need to give him a chance.”

I thought about this. “You’re probably right,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be cautious. He was working with the Matrians not too long ago. He gained their trust enough that they let him walk around the station unattended. And that worked out very poorly for them. I can’t just trust him blindly. Too much riding on it.”

The woman nodded. “That’s true.”

For now, if he got the digger working and helped control the fire, I would keep the guy around. But he was going to have to prove himself. Not just to me, but to all of us.

“Thanks for your input, Lynne,” I said. “I can’t spend too much time on this—gotta catch up with Ms. Dale. Can you just watch him for me for now?”

“I got you, Viggo,” she replied, giving me a warm smile. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Thanks,” I said sincerely.

She gave me a mock salute and then turned to the rest of the men, who had been keeping the wet line going behind her, already telling them to take a break—they had another plan to implement. I turned and headed back to where Ms. Dale was standing in front of the bound emergency crew, the light of the video causing their faces to glow. It was nearing the end of the message, from what I could tell. Sure enough, she reached down and clicked it off.

“I’m sure this is a shock to you, and I understand that. Give it a minute to percolate. And while you do, I want you to consider this: in a few minutes, I’m going to let you go. You’re free to take your vehicle and go wherever you want. You can also feel free to alert whoever you want. We won’t be here when you get back. However, if you believe in what you just saw in that video, then you’ll know we’re not your enemies. We’re here to help. You have the choice to stay with us, if you want, but we won’t force you.”

I stopped, content to let Ms. Dale continue with this crucial job; she had this under control. I moved away as she continued to speak, heading for where Amber, Thomas, and Jeff were standing near the front of the ambulance. “Any word from Tiffany?” I asked, referring to our spy still in the city.