Chapter 17
"Oracle to Batman, come in." Oracle's voice shattered the tension between them. They studied each other, neither moving. Breaking eye contact, he walked purposely to the Batcomputer to answer the call.
"Go ahead, Oracle," he said, his deep voice steady as a river.
"I've found something on Jamie Nguyen. Records show she worked for the agency that provided temporary security guards to the museum."
"Let me guess - she was working at the Museum the night of the robbery and no one has seen her since," Batman said, crossing his arms across his chest.
"You're good at this game," Oracle joked.
"Too bad the real Jamie Nguyen had been dead for nine days the night the burglary took place. You got a picture of the woman who used her identity?" he asked.
"Working on it."
"She's the one who called the police," Selina said.
"And retrieved the biotoxin from the fake ruby," he said, punching keys on the computer console. "Any more information about the biotoxin, Oracle?"
"Nope. But I can tell you that the government keeps meticulous records on the types of test tubes it orders."
"Keep me posted. Batman out."
Uncomfortable silence filled the cave. He leaned against the Batcomputer and studied Selina again, arms still crossed across his chest.
"I leave in 20 minutes. Be ready or I'm leaving you here."
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"Bludhaven?" she asked as the late model black sedan with illegal blackout tinting entered the city limits.
"Ra's will be watching everything out of Gotham, even the private airfields. I don't want him to know I'm coming.
"We're. We're coming," she corrected him, looking out the window at the rusty chain link fence surrounding an abandoned airfield. A "No Trespassing" sign lay in the dead weeds lining the road. The cold moon cast long, deep shadows onto the cracked asphalt.
"This is the last time I let you pick the restaurant," she said. Reaching a dilapidated airplane hanger, he pressed a button in his computer gauntlet. The hanger swung open like a garage door and the car disappeared from view.
He threw the car into park, shut off the engine, and jumped out of the driver's seat. She sighed and unbuckled her seatbelt.
They hadn't spoken about her revelation in the cave. No denials, no questions. Just moving forward like she hadn't revealed she knew who he was. She suspected the only reason he relented and brought her along was because it was easier for him to keep an eye on her while he figured out what to do about her newly-revealed knowledge.
Why had she told him? That was knowledge she could have chosen to use later, maybe to keep herself out of jail the next time he caught her. Except she suspected he'd rather out himself to the world than to be blackmailed, simply because he was stubborn and wouldn't take to kindly to blackmail.
Rolling her eyes, she kicked herself for choosing this over going after the real ruby. She should have parted ways with Batman the minute she recovered from the gunshot wound. But she hadn't. And now she had to know why she had gotten roped in to a long con orchestrated by Ra's al Ghul.
When she emerged from the car, she saw they weren't alone. A tall, dark-haired man with a chin like granite stood staring up at a old cargo plane.
"You know, usually I agree to help you out with these things because you've got neat toys. But this? This barely qualifies as an aircraft."
Batman pressed the screen of the computer again and the nose of the cargo plane slid away to reveal a small, sleek jet.
"New Javelin?" the man asked.
"Next gen prototype."
"I knew you'd come through."
"Get in the plane," Batman growled as he pulled his canvas bag from the trunk of car. The man in the bomber jacket turned, his eyes landing on Catwoman.
"Well, hello there," he drawled. His brown leather bomber jacket creaked as he extended his hand. "Hal Jordan, United States Air Force."
"A military man. Color me impressed," she said, flashing a sexy smile as they shook hands.
"Look at that smile," he said, flashing her a grin of his own.
"Knock it off. Jordan, in the plane. Catwoman, get onboard or I'm leaving you here," Batman barked.
"Cranky," Hal said, winking at Catwoman.
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Hal taxied the Javelin prototype onto the old airstrip. Batman sat in the co-pilot's chair.
"When you called and said you were bringing a colleague, I didn't think you'd be bringing along the notorious Catwoman. Though, I can't blame you. She's scorching hot," Hal said.
"Shut up."
"Touchy."
"When we're airborne, hit this button. It'll cloak us from radar. Once we arrive in Georgian airspace, keep us below the flight ceiling. And Jordan - she doesn't know about your other job. Don't blow your cover by pulling out your ring. Or anything else," Batman said, his nose in the air.
"Roger that," Hal said, a knowing smirk on his face.
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His cape swirled behind him like a thick fog as he strode to the back of the plane. Catwoman was strapped into one of the seats, her legs crossed, her goggles pushed onto her head.
"I didn't know you had friends. Handsome, uniform-wearing friends. Should've introduced me sooner." Playful sparks flashed in in her eyes as she gazed at him through thick, dark lashes. He was familiar with this game - women pretending to have an interest in another man just to give him a hard time, to make him jealous. He'd seen it all before. But this time, it worked.
"Jordan hasn't been in the Air Force in years," he said, throwing himself into the seat across the aisle from her.
"As long as he still has the uniform I'm interested," she drawled. "Are you going to tell me where we're headed?"
"I'm resting," he grumbled.
"I suppose I can try to get it out of your handsome friend up there," She playfully pulled her zipper down a few teeth, her actions a perfect mimicry of their ill-fated encounter on the roof.
"Georgia."
"The state?"
"The country. I have it on good authority that Ra's is in the Caucasus mountains. You don't mind snow, I trust."
"As long as there's no repeat of that river incident, you'll get no complaints from me," she said with laughter in her voice. The corner of his mouth twitched upward in a grin.
"Get some rest. We'll need it."