Changing the Rules (Richter Book 1)(67)

“Yeah. He let me drink on the plane, but as soon as we touched down in Texas, nope.”

“I remember him being such a hard-ass with you. Watching you needle him and making him crack, everyone noticed that. No one dared say a word, but man, that was great to witness.” Cooper drove onto the nearly empty freeway, thankful the flight was on a Sunday morning and not a weekday.

“Does it feel strange to you that he’s putting so much into this case?”

“How so?” Cooper asked.

“Most of the time it’s surveillance and protection. Part bodyguard, part house spy. Celebrity events, high-profile protection. A lot of which is quite boring, actually. But this is new. Exciting.” She rubbed his arm with the tips of her fingers. “Exhausting, but exciting.”

“It probably does feel personal to Neil. Emma looks like our JV girls. With all the girl parts pushing out and the boys taking notice. You know that’s gotta dig at the big man. A guy like him hears that someone in town is snatching up these kids and making them sex slaves. That would drive a normal man to kill, and we both know Neil isn’t completely normal. I mean, I trust him with my life, and I also know he’d take someone out who threatened his family.” Cooper turned his hand into hers and interlaced their fingers. “We’re his family.”

Claire squeezed his hand. “Is it strange that I jumped in with this family and never looked back?”

“Do you ever think about trying to find your real family?” he asked. He knew she’d been left at an orphanage door. Didn’t even have the parental respect of a real adoption.

She shook her head, then paused. “Maybe in the beginning. Right after I graduated from college. But it’s not a driving need in me. That might change someday, who knows. You know what Neil told me once?”

Cooper shook his head. “What?”

“Say the word and I’ll find the facts. But when you do, be ready to hear them.”

“I wonder if he already knows.” Cooper wouldn’t put it past the big guy.

“I’ve thought that more than once. But I’m not there. Sasha told me her search for her biological parents stopped her from living her life, and when she found them, it nearly killed her.” Claire stared blankly out the windshield. “I don’t want something to consume me like that.”

He lifted her hand to his lips, kissed the back of it. “You have people who care about you who will never let something take over your life.”

They used the valet lot associated with private charters and whisked through security. Their names and identification were their tickets.

Cooper couldn’t help but see that Claire belonged in this lifestyle. She handed off her luggage to an attendant at the bottom of the steps to the private jet like she’d done many times. Truth was, Cooper had as well. Neil didn’t travel domestic when they were on a case. And when he was with his family on the many trips back and forth to London, where his wife was from, a family plane was used. Come to think of it, Cooper couldn’t remember the man ever using a domestic plane.

Neil liked control.

And Cooper liked Neil’s style.

The jet could seat five people with full reclining chairs, a small galley, and of course a bathroom. The captain greeted them and introduced them to the copilot. He plotted out the flight plan and told them what to expect, weather wise, during their flight. After that he disappeared into the cockpit, leaving one attendant. A ridiculous service, as Cooper saw it, considering the flight was only three hours and they could pour their own coffee.

The attendant stowed their luggage and offered that preflight beverage, which they both declined.

Cooper double-checked the closet, where he found the “appropriate devices” one might need to protect a loved one.

Claire set a bag with her computer and notebooks in the seat she planned on using and disappeared into the bathroom.

Once they had everything in order, the attendant closed the cabin door. And in the time most people took to get through normal security, they were taxiing to the runway.

Their seats faced each other, keeping Cooper from touching her, but at least he could watch her.

“Are we going to work, or try and catch some sleep?” he asked.

“I need to formulate my questions. I didn’t give it much thought last night before I fell into bed.”

Once the flight was in the air, the attendant busied herself with preparing their breakfast. Cooper leaned over the table and lowered his voice. “I thought maybe she was a chaperone, but I don’t mind someone else cooking breakfast.”

“We’re on a private plane, and you’re impressed with the fruit cup and microwave omelet.”

He tapped his chest. “I’m a simple guy.”

While they watched the sunrise, sipping coffee and eating fresh fruit, and not the cup variety that Claire suggested, Cooper marveled at how she switched gears. Yesterday she was pretending to be a smart-ass kid giving adults a run for their money, and today she was the quintessential professional that looked like she could take on a courtroom without a law degree. And she could do it in five languages.

Claire vacillated between her options out loud, asking for his opinion on occasion. She’d write down notes on paper, and put others on her computer.

She picked at her food and drank that gallon of coffee she threatened.