Not Quite Enough(43)

“I bench press more than you weigh.”
“Oh, now you’re just bragging.”
He lowered her to the blanket and didn’t let go when she squeezed his shoulders. The ambient light of the phone gave him the proof he needed about her pain level. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was biting her lip. “Where are those Motrin?”
“Backpack,” she said between her tight lips.
He removed the phone from her grip and fished through her things until he found a ziplock bag with medicine inside.
“Which ones?”
“The orange ones.”
He plucked them out of the bag and handed them to her with a bottle of water. She took them without complaint and handed him the water after barely a sip. “Thanks.”
The phone indicated they still had an hour before any sun would filter through their skylight. After making himself comfortable beside her, he shut the phone down, determined to save the battery for as long as he could.
“I think Mr. and Mrs. Howell were the fortunate ones.” He continued with their conversation. “The happily married couple stranded on an island together.”
“All the money in the world and no way to spend it.”
“All the clout and no one to care.”
“Puts life in perspective. And here I thought it was just a sitcom. Thirty minutes of mindless entertainment. Guess I was wrong.”
Trent ran his fingers down her arm, giving her a little massage.
“That’s nice,” she told him.
“Take your mind off your leg?”
“It helps.” Translation: not really but don’t stop. There that smile was again on his lips.
“Do you think they’re looking for us yet?” Monica asked.
“I do.”



Chapter Fifteen



Jack tried to talk her out of coming but there was no way she was staying in Texas when her sister was missing on an island in the middle of the Caribbean.
“There aren’t any hotels to stay in,” Jack had argued.
“I don’t care. I’ll sleep on the plane. I’m not staying here.”
Katie and Dean flew to Houston with their young daughter, Savannah, and were staying with Danny at Gaylord’s ranch. Jessie’s father-in-law, Gaylord, was notified of Monica’s disappearance but he was in Tokyo on business. His plan was to meet Jack in Jamaica to aid in the search.
Then there were Trent Fairchild’s brothers. Between Katie and Jessie, they’d already learned where the Fairchild men lived and Katie had obtained a business phone number. Jack spoke with the local authorities and ascertained a phone number for Jason Fairchild, Trent’s oldest brother.
The phone call Jack delivered to Jason was just as difficult as the one they’d received earlier that morning.
Jason and Glen Fairchild were en route to Jamaica and would be arriving within the same hour Jack and Jessie were due.
The pilot informed Jack and Jessie that they were on their approach, and to fasten their seat belts. Jack sat beside her, holding her hand firmly in his. “We’ll find her,” Jack kept saying.
“I know.” She wouldn’t lose hope. She couldn’t even consider the alternative. Yet when the island appeared in the window, and the rough edges of the land displayed evidence of the tsunami that had destroyed much of it, a tiny bit of that hope chipped away. She swallowed the shock and simply stared out the window as the plane landed.
Before the pilot rolled the plane to a stop, and before the door was opened, Jack turned to her and captured her head between his hands. “Promise me something.”
“What?”
“If there is any threat to you, to our child, that you’ll stay here with Roy.”
“What kind of threat?”
Jack pushed a lock of her hair from her eyes. “There are sanitation issues and illness is spreading because of… because of the dead.”
Jessie wanted to argue. Instead, she said, “She’s my sister, Jack.”
“And we’ll find her. But she wouldn’t want you to risk yourself for her. Our baby needs you healthy.”
Suddenly it felt like an inopportune time to be pregnant. “We’re not leaving here without her.”
“We won’t.”
Jessie nodded her agreement and the two of them exited the safety of the plane.
Jason Fairchild met them inside the pilot’s room by the control tower. Jessie watched as Jack shook Jason’s hand and introduced her.
“This is Monica’s sister, my wife, Jessie.”
Jason stood about an inch taller than Jack, his dark hair was nearly black and his gaze could only be described as guarded. He nodded in her direction and skipped a handshake. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”
Understatement of the year. “Have you talked with anyone here yet?” she asked Jason.
“We just arrived. Glen is checking the status of the helicopters so we can search from the air.”
“Glen’s your brother?” Jack asked.
“That’s right. One of the security guards said that Reynard will meet us here to bring us up to date.”
Jack ran a hand through his hair. “So we wait?”
Jessie didn’t like the sound of that. “What about the physician who called us last night?”
Jack turned to his cell phone and used the number the doctor had given him the night before. “Dr. Eddy, it’s Jack Morrison… we just arrived.” He paused and both Jason and Jessie were staring at Jack as he spoke.
“OK. We’ll find a ride. No, we’ll come to you. Thank you. I don’t have to tell you to call. Right. Bye.”