Then pain crossed his face and he squeezed my hand and released it, sitting back in his seat. He’d remembered that we couldn’t, and why. JD.

“Showtime,” yelled Gina.

We were there.

20. Danny

20

DANNY

The helicopter descended, there was a bump and we were down. Bradan slid open the door and the wind rushed in, plastering us with snow and making everyone curse and cry out in shock. We’d known it was going to be cold but none of us had realized what minus thirty would actually feel like. It was unbelievably cold: each time I inhaled, it felt like the inside of my throat was freezing over and, when we moved, any exposed skin burned and ached. We all pulled our hats down low over our ears, but that didn’t protect our faces. Olivia had been right: we really could get frostbite. Thank God it was only a few minutes to the prison.

We climbed out and stood in a huddle, shivering, the wind whipping around us. Everyone looked at each other: we could all feel it, the hole where JD should be.

Then they all looked at me and my stomach dropped. Oh yeah. I’m the leader now. They wanted the little pep talk JD always gave before we went into action. They needed it now more than ever. But I wasn’t JD. What should I say?

I closed my eyes for a second, took a deep breath and just said what I was feeling. “None of us expected this,” I said. “We should be at home right now, sleeping off the homecoming party. Instead, we’re freezing our arses off, about to try to break into a fortress. JD’s not here. We all miss him. I know I do.” I looked around at their despondent faces. “But you know what? We’re going to pull this off. We’re going to do it for JD. He brought all of us together and made us a team.” I looked at Bradan and Gabriel. “He gave us second chances. He believed in us. So let’s make him proud. Let’s go get our boy back.”

To my surprise, everyone nodded and straightened up. “Gabriel, you take the lead,” I said. “Colton, you watch our backs.”

“You got it, chief,” said Colton. He always called JD boss. Maybe only JD could be boss.

We started crunching through the snow towards the prison. I glanced across at Erin and the panic suddenly hit me, full-on and brutal. Oh God, what was I thinking, letting her come? She was half the size of everyone else. She looked adorable, bravely marching through the snow with her glasses dusted with snowflakes. But this was no place for adorable. My chest was tight: I’d never felt this kind of fear before. I’d never had someone to feel it for.