‘Ready?’
Kate blew her nose on a tissue she found in her skirt pocket. ‘Come on then,’ she said. ‘What are we waiting for?’
There really was a private plane, a six-seater Hawker light jet normally used for whisking high-ranking government officials around the country. Harley sat on his own, up near the cockpit, leaving the rear of the cabin to Kate and Paul. Neither of them could sleep. Kate’s brain was abuzz, wondering if she was doing the right thing leaving Jack with Vernon, worrying about what lay ahead. She had no idea how quickly the virus was spreading or how long they had. Scientists don’t like to work against the clock. Fighting viruses was a long, slow process, small step after small step, and Eureka moments were few and far between. She had so many questions and, like viruses, they multiplied until her head was bursting with them.
She watched Harley remove his shoes and recline in his vast leather seat, stretching out his legs. Tension had been coming off him in waves on the plane across the Atlantic, and now she saw his shoulders sink quickly into an enviable sleep. She realised that, despite everything, she liked him. He had an old-fashioned quality, a stoic, take-it-on-the-chin Britishness that made her think of army officers in black-and-white war films.
Her thoughts of Harley were interrupted by a hand squeezing her leg. She looked around, surprised to see Paul sitting there with the sort of naughty grin on his face she hadn’t seen for quite some time.
He gestured towards Harley. ‘He’s asleep and the stewardess is nowhere to be seen …’
‘Ye-es? And?’ Although Kate suspected that she had already guessed.
Paul leaned in, whispered in her ear, then took her hand. They ran into the toilet together, giggling like newlyweds. Paul slammed the lock into place and pushed Kate up against the wall. She breathed in the familiar musky scent of his skin and they kissed deeply.
‘What if he wakes up? It’s a bit bloody obvious where we’ve gone!’ she said, breaking off the kiss. She ran her hand down Paul’s hard belly towards the bulge in his jeans. He shrugged. ‘I’m sure we’re not the first, and we won’t be the last. Are you a member of the Mile High Club?’
‘Not yet,’ Kate said, unzipping him and sliding her hand inside his boxers. ‘You?’
‘Nope,’ he replied, lifting up her skirt and pulling down her knickers. The beige moulded wall of the plane’s small bathroom felt cool against Kate’s hot flesh.
‘Oh, darling,’ Paul said, kissing her neck and slipping a finger inside her, groaning when he felt how wet she was.
Kate felt tears fill her eyes and she held Paul tightly as he pushed his hard cock into her. ‘I love you,’ she whispered, before losing herself in the sensation of his thrusts; gentle at first, then becoming faster and harder. He lifted her up so she was sitting on the edge of the basin, and she leaned back, putting a hand on either side of it to steady herself as the movement increased in speed and intensity. They were both panting.
Over the engine noise, Kate heard a sound right outside the bathroom. ‘Stop!’ she hissed, and they both froze, their eyes wide, like guilty schoolkids caught in the act. There was a soft knock and the sound of a woman clearing her throat.
‘Everything all right in there?’ the flight attendant enquired drily through the door. Paul gave another gentle teasing thrust and Kate had to press her lips together to stop herself from either giggling or moaning – or both.
‘Just a minute,’ Paul called, with as much dignity as he could muster. ‘I think she’s on to us,’ he whispered to Kate, resuming his activity with renewed vigour.
‘Yes, well, when there are only three passengers on
a plane, and two of them suddenly vanish, I think it’s a fairly safe bet as to what they’re up to,’ Kate said, digging her fingernails into his back. ‘We’d better get back to our seats …’
Paul groaned. ‘Not yet.’ He slid out of her. ‘Turn round.’ She did what he asked, bending over the sink, biting her lip as he pushed deep inside her. She could see his face in the mirror, his eyes screwed up tight, and she thought how beautiful he was, and how beautiful his cock felt, and then she closed her own eyes and threw back her head, spiralling with him into an ecstasy made all the more intense by the uncertainty of what lay ahead.
By the time the plane landed, Kate was exhausted. But despite the doubts and the fears, her curiosity was burning, adrenaline still fizzing from the amazing sex. Fortunately Harley seemed to have remained asleep throughout. Kate squeezed Paul’s hand. We’ve still got it, she thought. That chemistry.
As they walked down the plane steps, Kate saw that they had landed in a small airfield, half a dozen hangars dotted around a single runway. Beyond the airfield there was little to see – no signs of civilisation, just an arid ochre landscape populated with spiky trees and tumbleweed. In the near distance, rocky hills blocked the horizon. The sky was sheer blue, the sun a white ball of fire that hurt her eyes, even at six thirty in the evening. The heat swept over her and she had a moment of dizziness. Paul grabbed her arm
as she swayed on the steps.
‘Steady,’ he said tenderly. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes, just about.’ She turned to Harley as her feet touched solid ground. ‘What is this place?’
Harley had taken off his jacket and sweat had already begun to darken his shirt beneath his armpits. ‘Lone Pine Airport,’ he replied. ‘We’re in north-east California, about a hundred miles from the state border.’
‘The border with Nevada?’ Paul asked.
‘Yes. We’re between Death Valley to the east, and the Sequoia National Park to the west. That’s where the research lab is based.’
‘In a national park? But I thought we were heading to LA.’ Kate noticed a pair of black BMWs parked outside the closest hangar, three men standing beside them, one black, two white. They were wearing dark suits and inscrutable expressions.
Harley spotted them at the same moment and raised a hand in greeting. The men opened the doors of the two cars, got in and started to drive slowly towards them through the heat haze.
‘FBI?’ Paul asked.
Harley nodded, then cleared his throat. ‘There have been some developments.’
‘What do you mean?’ Paul exchanged a worried look with Kate.
Harley didn’t reply.
The two cars drew up beside them and the black agent got out, walked round the car and opened the back door. He had broad shoulders and a shaved head, and was carrying a little too much weight around the middle.
‘Dr Maddox? Your carriage.’ He gestured for Kate to get into the car. She ducked inside, glad to get out of the heat.
Paul made a move to follow her but the agent stepped into his path. ‘Uh-uh. Not you. You’re not coming. Just Dr Maddox.’
‘What the hell?’
Harley said, ‘Sorry, Paul – like I told you, there have been developments.’
Paul tried to push past the agent, who blocked his way, placing his hands on Paul’s chest. At the same time, Kate got back out of the car. ‘Hey, what’s going on?’
‘Get back in the car please, Dr Maddox,’ the agent said. The other FBI agents had emerged from their car and were standing watching.
‘Harley, can you please tell us what’s going on?’
‘OK, OK … Listen, there’s no need for all this aggression. What’s your name?’
The agent who had blocked Paul’s way looked at Harley