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How Michael had gotten somuch equipment so fast was beyond me, but the plane I boarded was state-of-the-art and huge. We were taking off from a small private airport in NewJersey. The guys had their gear stashed under their seats, and there was an entire wing of the plane that would be used as a makeshift airport if need be. The pilot’s name was Buck, and I hadn’t learned the co-pilot’s name yet. It was going to be a fifteen-hour flight. I’d been on longer. It took over a day for me to get to Australia, and I’d been a bunch of times. Plus, I’d visited Bridget a lot. Still, long was long. I was glad to have my Kindle app.
Quickly, and before I could overthink it, I shot out a text to Bridget and Layla.Love you.
It was really all there was to say. I put my phone on airplane mode and resolved not to turn it back on Wi-Fi until after I had Tim. Then I’d message them again.
“I’m going to message your brother-in-law that this is happening about two seconds before we take off. Then I’m not going to look at that phone again until later.” Michael sat down in his seat. “He’s not going to be happy about this. He might fire me, but you were going to do this anyway, and I know these guys. I trust them.” It looked like we’d had the same kind of thought.
I nodded. “I know I put your back against the wall.”
“You Radfords know how to do that. It’s in the blood.” He smiled at me. “You’ll be safe here. We won’t let you off this plane until the fighting, if any, is over. Plus, it looks like you’re going to have your own bodyguard.”
What?That was news to me. “How does that work?”
“Well, here he is.” A man climbed into the plane, and Clayton closed the door behind him, essentially sealing us inside.
I gasped and sat forward, my brain trying to deny what my eyes could clearly see.Max. He is here. On this plane. Heading for Slomestikan. How was that possible?
He plopped down in the seat next to me, still not making eye contact with me or acknowledging my existence, and Michaelexited his seat, leaving us as alone on this plane as it was possible for two people to be.
“What are you doing here?” I kept my voice low.
He lifted his eyebrows. “If you are doing this fucking stupid thing, then I am doing it with you to keep you safe.”
Now which one of us is being ridiculous?“You can’t do this.”
“I can’t?” He looked left and right. “Looks like I am.”
That wasn’t what I meant, and he knew that. “How can you leave the restaurant?”
“Anna has it.” He stashed his bag under his seat and stretched out his legs. “Her mother is good with Eric, who is recovering well, and this is going to be fast. In and out. I’ll be back in three days. I’m paying her really well to cover for me. When I explained to her that I was trying to keep you alive, she was all for it.”
I put my head in my hands. “You didn’t have to do this. I told you, we are done.”
“Hope.” He said my name, and then waited until I looked at him. Like a force connected us, I had no choice but to lift my gaze and meet his. “I want to apologize for what I said in the hall. It was completely uncalled for. I was mean, and I didn’t mean it.”
Well, what was I supposed to do with that? I swallowed. “I’m not self-destructive. Not at all, actually. Most of the time, I hide in my house. I am ridiculous, that is true. Like a walking caricature or someone to be mocked in literature. I get it. I might be ridiculous, but I try to do the right things. The next right thing. Day by day. Maybe someday, someone will appreciate that about me.”
He squeezed my hand. “You’re not any of those things. I mean it. None. And I appreciate that you care about your fellow humans more than you’ll ever know.”
“Did you come here because you felt guilt about what you said?”
The plane took off fast, and I closed my eyes against the onslaught. Other people loved this moment, but it was my least favorite part of travel. The anxiety passed quickly, and I opened my eyes.
He waited to speak until I did. “I told you, I came here to keep you alive. You get the kid, and I’ll make sure you’re still intact when you do it.”
Max closed his eyes like he was done with the conversation. In turn, I stared out the window. The coastline disappeared beneath us, and a hush fell over the guys. They were all going to sleep. I wondered if that was part of the training they’d all had from whatever they’d done before—sleep as much as they could, whenever they could, in preparation for whatever might come next.
It was too bad I was an insomniac. It still applied to planes.
Max, however, seemed perfectly content to sleep right then.
He was there, and as much as I was still sore from what he’d said, his apology helped. Plus, just his presence was an incredible gift. He cared about me enough to do this incredible thing for me. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone else had been willing to go so far for me.
Maybe it was weird—our relationship that wasn’t one, really. I didn’t understand it myself, and right then, I didn’t care if I ever did.
Sometime about halfway through the trip, while I was playing my fifteenth game ofBitLife,Max opened his lids to regard me. “Sleep at all?” He kept his voice low, and I shook my head as an answer. He frowned. “I don’t sleep much, but you take it to a new level. Was I snoring?”
I smiled at him. “Totally. So loud, the whole plane complained about it.”
