Page 21

Kathleen Drake stretched her legs out in front of her.

She was slightly hung over from the wedding yesterday and feeling stiff.

That would teach her. She wasn’t a twenty-something anymore.

Hell, she wasn’t even a thirty-something.

Time to start behaving like it. Still, the wedding had been beautiful, and everyone had been so happy.

And she’d been thrilled for them, but secretly, she’d found the whole thing slightly… depressing.

Where was her knight in shining armor? Not that she needed rescuing, at least not anymore.

Her brother and Spencer had come to her rescue, for which she was profoundly grateful, but with her son happily ensconced at university, she was all alone.

She’d been thrilled when she and Spencer had set up the network to help abused women safety and secretly escape.

But now everything was in place, and as her people pointed out to her, she and Spencer weren’t exactly unknown people since they were linked to her brother.

They brought the danger of undue attention to the project, which would be the whole thing in jeopardy. That was the last thing she wanted.

She opened her purse and dug around inside, finally pulling out a bottle of Advil.

She quickly put two in her hand and dropped the bottle back in her purse but not before noticing that the handle of her bag was broken.

“Shit,” she mumbled. For the amount this bag cost, she would have thought it would last forever, or at least a year.

She popped the pills in her mouth and swallowed them with a few gulps from her water bottle.

Truth was, she didn’t even like the purse.

Jamie had gotten it for her, and she’d felt obligated to take it.

But it was super expensive, and it was one of those bags that wide open at the top.

She liked her bag to be closed all the time.

A zipper with a flap was her purse preference, but she’d take just a flap in a pinch.

This open business or a single snap… not her thing at all.

And it was big. Too big. She could pack for a weekend in this purse.

She glanced at her watch. Where was the captain? They were supposed to be wheels up for Paris shortly, but the man was nowhere to be seen. He’d texted her that they were doing some kind of check on the plane, so it would be a few more minutes, but that had been quite a while ago.

She snorted. Look at her getting annoyed that her jet wasn’t on time. She shook her head. Stupid. It certainly didn’t take long to get used to the nice things in life, but she knew better. It could all disappear in a heartbeat. All of it. Better to just enjoy it while she could and be patient.

Humming tunelessly to herself, she studied the FBO.

The commercial aviation hub at Teterboro was quite nice.

They’d put some effort into decorating the surroundings, and the chairs were comfortable, but there was no mistaking it was still an airport, even if it was for private jets.

The sound of jet engines firing up caught her attention.

The plane making the noise was not hers, or rather, her brother’s, but someone else’s.

She glanced at her watch. She figured she had time to hit the restroom.

It wasn’t like the plane would leave without her, the only passenger.

She grabbed her purse but left her luggage. It would be safe, as she knew from previous experience. No one was likely to try and take anything here. Her stuff wouldn’t be nearly as nice as theirs anyway.

She made her way to the restroom and was coming out again when a man and woman bumped into her, knocking her purse off her shoulder. “Oh,” she exclaimed.

“Sorry, sorry,” the young woman said. She offered a smile. “I wasn’t looking where I was going. It’s just so lovely in here, I was totally distracted.” Her accent was southern, and her big, wide blue eyes made her seem all the younger.

Kathleen smiled. “No problem.”

The man handed her her purse, and the two of them went on their way.

Kathleen walked back toward her seat but glanced over her shoulder.

The man had looked so familiar, not that she saw much of his face.

He’d had his ball cap pulled down pretty low.

Still, it was odd. She gave a mental shrug.

Maybe it was someone from the wedding yesterday.

She’d been thinking how surprised she was that she hadn’t run into anyone yet.

“Ms. Drake?” a man said.

She turned. “Captain Stoddard.”

“I’m sorry for the delay,” he started. “There have been rolling protests and strikes in Paris, so they delayed our departure time a bit. But we’re good to go now.”

“Great. I’m glad there’s nothing wrong with the plane.

” That was always one of her greatest fears.

She wasn’t a big flier or at least hadn’t been in the past. Jamie, Jameson, she corrected herself.

He would always be Jamie to her but he was all grown up and Jameson was more fitting.

Jameson was always trying to get her to go places so she wasn’t bored, but honestly, the shine was wearing off travel as well these days.

She needed to find something to do. Something meaningful. She sighed.

“If you’ll just follow me,” he said, reaching for her luggage.

Once she was safely buckled in, the plane was taking off. As soon as they reached their cruising altitude, a flight attendant, Yolanda, asked her if she would like anything.

“I’m good for the moment, I think.”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Drake.” The captain was suddenly standing in front of her again.

“Yes?”

“We might have to land at Orly, instead of the FBO at Charles De Gaulle. The strikes are wreaking havoc.”

“That’s not a problem.” The captain started to head back to the cockpit, but she called him back. “Actually, is it possible to change the destination altogether?”

“Of course. Is there somewhere else you would like to go?”

She’d only picked Paris because that’s where everyone said she should go for some new clothes, but she didn’t care as much about her wardrobe these days. “When I was waiting, I read a magazine article talking about Lake Lugano in Switzerland. Could we possibly go there?”

“Absolutely. Let me log a new flight plan, and we’ll be on our way. The flight time will be similar.”

“Thank you,” she said with a grin.

For the first time, this trip suddenly seemed like it might be more fun.

She settled back in her seat and started to doze when they hit a pocket of turbulence.

Her purse fell against her and woke her up.

She righted it and then froze. She leaned over and looked more closely.

The handle of her purse wasn’t broken. She was sure it was broken when she noticed it at the airport.

As a matter of fact, that’s why she noticed it.

She looked more closely. It looked like the same bag.

Pulling it into her lap, she opened it wide and looked inside.

There was her wallet. Thank God. She put a hand to her throat.

She’d been so worried. Next, she confirmed that her passport was still there.

Yes. She was looking for her Advil, thinking maybe she would take one more, when her hand hit something hard.

She stared. Then she pulled the thing out of her purse. It was a statue of some kind. It looked kind of like a garden gnome with a fat little belly and a weird hat.

“What the hell?” she murmured. Was this some kind of joke? Did Jamie put this in her purse for a laugh? But this wasn’t her purse. So really, what the hell?

She shook her head. She had no clue what she was supposed to do with the little guy, so she tucked him back into her bag and stowed the purse at her feet. She glanced up and caught Yolanda’s eye. “I would love some lunch, if it’s possible.”

“Absolutely. I’ll bring you the menu.”

Kathleen leaned back in her seat and put her feet up on the seat across from her.

If someone had told her she would be flying all over the world in private jets, she would have told them they were crazy, but here she was, and she was grateful to Jameson for it.

Might as well enjoy the ride, she thought as she closed her eyes.

Hide and Seek, the newest story in the Callahan universe is coming soon.