Tailspin(107)

“Yes.”

He snorted. “Then you’re not safe.”

“On the bright side, I could be on the lam with the Hendrix boy.”

“By comparison, that hoodlum is looking a lot better.” He sighed. “Leave the car key in the ignition. It’d be a lucky break for me if somebody stole the clunker.”

“Bye, Dad. Thanks again.”

“Brynn? Call me. If you ever get a hankering to.”

“If you’ll stay out of trouble.”

He laughed. “Fair terms.”

He had taken a baby step toward reconciliation. To protect herself from heartbreak and disappointment, she wouldn’t plunge headlong into reestablishing a relationship with him. She would approach with caution. But it was a start that made her smile as she disconnected the call and placed his key ring beneath the driver’s floor mat.

Rye asked, “Has he nabbed any shoplifters today?”

“Three so far. By the way, he thinks I would be better off with the wild Hendrix boy.”

“He’s right.”

“He’s concerned for my safety.”

“He should be. I about had a heart attack when you took off running down the hallway of that hotel. You should have given me warning.”

“What would you have done?”

“I don’t know.” Holding her gaze, his aspect changed. He reached across and stroked her cheek, then pressed the pad of his thumb against the corner of her lips. “You also should have given me warning about forgetting a condom the second time.”

She took a small, swift breath. “Yes, I should have, but I wasn’t thinking of—”

“Me, either,”

“—that. For the first time ever.”

“Me, too.”

Neither moved or said anything, only looked at each other with searching eyes, a taut silence stretching between them.

The spell was broken by two quick toots of a car horn. Jake had pulled in behind them. They had no choice except to brave the rain. Rye held the back seat door of Jake’s car for her; he got in front. Shaking rain out of his hair, he thanked Jake for meeting them on such short notice. “How was your flight?”

“Business as usual.”

“I didn’t know if you’d be back this early or not.”

“Barely. Haven’t been home yet.” He was still in uniform, except that he’d loosened his necktie.

“You up for a quick round-trip flight to Knoxville?”

“Now?”

“Soon as we can get wheels up. We’ll pay you, of course.”

“It’s not the money,” Jake said. “Hell, I would do it gladly. But I have to fly again this evening. Rules say I need eight hours in the sack.”

“I know all about rules,” Rye grumbled. “They’re killing me.”

“I could provide taxi service if you still need it.”

Rye shook his head. “No, if you can’t fly us yourself, what I really need is your Bonanza.”





Chapter 33

7:49 a.m.



Jake was taken aback, but he didn’t respond to Rye. He concentrated on getting them out of the congested parking lot. He sped across a heavily trafficked boulevard and pulled up to a restaurant that didn’t open until five o’clock. They had that lot to themselves. Jake put the car in park but left the motor running.

“You need my plane? You got it.”

“Not that simple.” Rye looked at his wristwatch. “This negotiation needs to be quick, but let me emphasize that you should think hard before agreeing.”

Then Rye laid out the basics of the situation. “We need to fly to Knoxville. I’m omitting the details for your own protection. Less you know, the better.”

“I picked up on that last night. Save the explanations. You’ve got the loan of my plane. You only had to ask.”

“Not a loan. I pay you.”

“Cover the gas, that’s all.”

“If you don’t let me pay for it, no deal. It needs to be a charter.”

“You can return me a favor sometime.”

“I’ll do that anyway, but I’m paying you.” He paused. “Shames me to say it, but the FAA and NTSB are on my case.”

“What the hell?”

“Nothing official yet, but they’re conducting an investigation.”

“Into what?”

“What I consider to be a minor crash. Their opinion may differ. I wasn’t drunk, wasn’t using drugs, wasn’t running drugs. I’m not breaking the law now, only outrunning it to avoid a tie-up that Brynn doesn’t have time for.”

Rye looked over his shoulder at her before continuing. “I know your offer to help is earnest, Jake, and I appreciate it. But these aren’t small considerations. If lawmen come looking for us, don’t stick your neck out. Tell the truth. I was licensed, instrument rated, my money was good, and that’s all you asked. Tell them you sensed we were in a jam, you just didn’t realize how serious it was.”

“How serious is it?”

“Serious. Because here’s the other thing. We’ve crossed swords with people in high places, and they have knee-crackers and throat-slitters at their beck and call. I shit you not.” He held up his left hand so Jake could see the cuts across his knuckles.