“Simple answer? It’s an out-of-your-ever-lovin’-mind no.” Jack MacKinnon spoke calmly into his cell, surprised that he could keep his tone and volume in check with his partner’s suggestion. “Did you hear me, Wade?”
“I heard.”
“But...?” Good or bad, there was always a but with Wade.
“I haven’t asked a favor from you in a long time, Jack. I wouldn’t be begging now if it wasn’t important. There’s barely time.”
His partner wasn’t attempting to talk him into changing his mind. There were lots of pauses and a tension he hadn’t heard since they’d been in the Department of Public Safety patrolling the border. The feel of the call made Jack uneasy.
“Are you in trouble?”
“I’ve got everything handled—”
“Except the one little favor. I would if I could get away. You know what week it is. What my father expects. I don’t have any extra time to babysit.” Whining wasn’t his thing.
Or at least it hadn’t been. But he recognized the words. Recognized the tired sound of his own voice. Recognized how busy he was dealing with the mundane while his partner got into...what? He didn’t know what trouble Wade’s intuition was getting him into. Most of the time he didn’t even know if it was an approved operation or not.
“I thought I could make her flight and be there when she left the airport, but I was...delayed.” Wade’s voice shook. It never shook.
“Dammit, was that a gunshot?” Jack asked, but he recognized weapons firing. “Hang up and call for backup. Now.”
No response. There was shuffling, heavy breathing like his partner was running. If Wade was in trouble and had still taken time to ask for a favor, then Jack didn’t have a choice. He had to say yes. “You owe me, and not just anything. I decide what and when.”
“Bergstrom Airport. You should get going. I’ll text details as soon as I get...um...free. Gotta run.”
The line disconnected.
Wade probably meant that last word literally. But running from whom? Or what group? That was the part that bothered Jack the most. He didn’t know which. All he could do was hope his partner was on the right side and not risking both their careers.
He jerked open the drawer with his keys and stared at the ring next to his holstered weapon. Yes? No?
One little favor...
It never hurt to be prepared. He scooped up both.
“You’re going to owe me, Wade. And this time, I intend to collect.”
Paranoia shimmied up her spine, pinning her to the tight airplane seat. A genuine fear kept Megan Harper where she was while most of the passengers paraded slowly up the aisle.
Carefully gathering her things, she waited. For what? A flight attendant lifted her bag and dropped it next to her. “This yours?” he asked and moved toward the back of the plane, checking seat pockets.
The forty-five-minute flight from Dallas to Austin had been a little bumpy, but not enough to make her feel this way. She’d barely finished three paragraphs of the book she’d spontaneously purchased before they left the gate.
Her breathing was still fast, her pulse still racing. She still felt like something was...well, wrong. She’d felt this shakiness since she was dropped at Love Field.
Thinking back, she realized that was when the apprehension had begun. Not about flying or plane crashes or anything to make a traveler feel anxiety. This was different. Something she hadn’t felt since she was at the San Antonio Police Academy.
That had been ages ago. She’d barely been a cop before transferring to the State Fire Marshal’s Office. But still...the sense that she was being watched—Check that. She knew she was being watched. It bothered her that she couldn’t pin down the person doing the watching before she’d boarded.
“Miss, is there a problem? Do you need assistance leaving the plane?”
“Oh, no. Sorry.”
There was no one left to watch her leave. The unrest should have subsided.
But it didn’t.
The anxiety grew with each step up the jet bridge. Alone by necessity for her job, she had no hand to squeeze for comfort. She really hadn’t been the comfort-seeking type—even in her childhood.
What was wrong with her? She threw her hand against the wall as a wave of dizziness overtook her. Catching her breath, she straightened her laptop-bag strap and continued. The faster she got to her house, the better.
Strangers were lined up at the gate, ready to fill the seats for the next flight. None of them watched a crazy woman who expected someone to jump out and...and... Do what?
This is ridiculous. Shake it off. Nothing’s wrong.
“Megan Harper?”
She looked up toward the man who’d called her name. When their eyes met, it was clear he’d been waiting for her. He wasn’t asking—he already knew who she was. She quickly glanced around, trying to find a free airport employee, but no one would look her way. She changed directions to get closer to the gate, to give herself time to assess the threat. She sprang past the man, toward the security exit.
How he’d gotten to the gate was a question