“Chase. Jeremy Chase,” the man said with a polite nod. “You’ve been rebooked onto another flight.” Jeremy held out a business card emblazoned with a star and clover logo Nic knew well. “I think you’ll find it a much more comfortable transport to San Francisco.”
Nic took the card, flipped it over, and read the note on the back. He couldn’t tell from the two-word order—Follow Jeremy—if the author was furious with him or not. Commands were her normal default. But there was no doubt that what she was offering, even if it came with a side of recriminations, would be more comfortable than Seat 25D. He pocketed the card, shouldered his messenger bag, and grabbed the handle of his carry-on. “The lady wants me to follow you, Jeremy.”
“The lady is best not ignored.”
One side of Nic’s mouth hitched up. “Too true.”
Jeremy led him out of the main terminal and into a waiting town car. They drove around to a separate terminal on the south side of the airport and directly into a hangar where a G-5 was being fueled and readied for takeoff. At the top of the jet’s stairs stood imposing, beautiful Melissa Cruz, in a dark pencil skirt and cream-colored shell. Formerly a Special Agent in Charge at the FBI and more recently Chief of Security for Talley Enterprises and bounty hunter on the side, she was definitely not a woman you ignored if you wanted to keep all your bodily bits.
“Price,” she greeted, when he reached the bottom of the steps.
“You gonna give me a lift?”
She crossed her toned brown arms, biceps flexing. “I shouldn’t after that disappearing act you pulled.”
Recriminations it was, then.
“But I’m the last person to judge,” she added. “You had your reasons.”
Jeremy, who’d finished loading his luggage, closed the hold door just as the pilot called from the side window, “Ms. Cruz, we’re ready to go.”
“Thank you,” she returned. Then to Nic, “Your reasons, as it turns out, were also well-founded.”
Interest and apprehension warred. “You’ve learned more?”
With a nod, she beckoned him to follow her inside, and Jeremy held out an arm toward the stairs. “Mr. Price, if you would, please.”
He climbed the steps into the luxury private jet, and Jeremy secured the door behind them.
“Anything else, Agent”—Jeremy paused, correcting himself with a smile that Mel shared—“Ms. Cruz?”
“We’re good, Jeremy, thank you.”
The steward, who must have known Mel from her Bureau days, disappeared behind the cockpit door.
Nic sank into one of the swiveling leather chairs and strapped in. “Where’d you find Alfred?”
“Stole him from commercial,” she answered with a smirk.
“Well done.”
Thanks to priority takeoff, they were airborne in less than ten minutes, and Nic was out of his coat and tie five minutes after that, tossing them into one of the other empty chairs. He stretched out his long legs, laced his hands over his middle, and leaned back in the plush seat, eyes slipping closed. There were difficult conversations to be had, Mel had intimated as much, but he couldn’t help taking a brief respite for himself.
Definitely better than commercial. “How are you, Nic?”
Respite over.
He righted his head and swiveled to face the couch where she sat, one knee crossed over the other, red-soled designer heel bouncing. “Tired but it was a good stint there.”
“You considering having your own office one day?”
“It’s tempting,” he admitted.
Being out from under Bowers’s thumb had been re-energizing. Having his own team, choosing his and approving the team’s cases, being able to direct efforts toward causes within Justice’s purview that were of particular interest to him versus merely trying to clear cases, had reminded him why he’d gotten into this in the first place. Besides his gift for arguing, as his SEAL XO had put it.
In five weeks, he’d made a difference, a bigger one than a single prosecutor’s caseload. There was no shortage of abusers to introduce to the full weight of the law and doing so at the opposite end of the state from his asshole boss had been all the better. But the opposite end of the state had kept him from the things he’d missed most—Gravity, friends, Cam.
“I’m not sure where my future lies if I’m being honest.”
