“Thanks.” She blushed, hugging him back. “I am glad that farmer keeps his plane in top-notch condition. This flight could have gone very differently if he hadn’t.” She blew out a breath, then turned toward her daughter. “Did you like your first small plane ride, Lucy?”
“Yes, but it was too loud.” Lucy climbed into the narrow space between the seats, her earlier fear of crashing seemingly abated. “Are we going to take another plane ride to go home now?”
Home. The word stabbed deep into Grady’s heart. He wanted nothing more than to assure the little girl that she would be safe. That nobody would grab her, the way the kidnapper had taken Ariel.
But he couldn’t. This recent incident had been another close call. He felt awful knowing that his connecting to the internet had led the gunman straight to their cabin.
Not anymore, he thought darkly. He was sick and tired of the gunmen finding them.
“Sit tight while I call Rex.” He pulled out his phone. “I’m sure he can arrange for us to get a ride out of here.”
Lauren nodded, holding Lucy close as he connected with Rex.
“What did you say?” his boss demanded. “Lauren flew you out of harm’s way in a crop duster?”
“That’s right.” He smiled reassuringly as Lauren arched a brow. “She’s an amazing pilot, and we were able to get back to Madison safely. I need you to arrange for another rental car since we had to leave the other one behind.”
His boss sighed loudly. “Okay, but the way you’re driving our expenses through the roof is eating into our profit margin.”
A flash of anger hit hard. Lauren’s and Lucy’s lives were at stake. He didn’t care one bit about Rex Grayson’s profit margin.
“Tell Rex I’ll reimburse him the additional expenses,” Lauren said calmly.
He shook his head, unwilling to pass that message along. What Lauren and Rex decided once the gunmen were behind bars wasn’t his concern. Right now, he just wanted them to be safe. A task that was proving to be more difficult than he’d anticipated. “You can take the cost out of my fee. I don’t care. Just get us another rental car.” When he saw small van driving away from the private jet, he added, “We’ll find a ride to the main airport terminal. There must be plenty of car rentals available there.”
“I’ll make the arrangements,” Rex agreed. “What else can I help you with?”
“Nothing at the moment.” He decided not to go into detail about how Griff’s tech expert Dominic had revealed they’d been tracked by the internet. “Thanks.”
“Yep. Stay safe,” Rex said, before ending the call.
He pocketed his phone and nodded at Lauren and Lucy. “Ready to get out of here?”
They nodded. He climbed out first, then held out his arms for Lucy. When they were on the tarmac, a small van rolled toward them.
He moved forward first, making sure they weren’t walking into a trap. When the kid behind the wheel looked barely old enough to drive, he gestured for Lauren and Lucy to hop in.
The first leg of their escape plan had worked beautifully. Now all he needed to do was to keep them safe long enough to get out of the city before the gunmen found them again.
* * *
Lauren wasglad that Grady hadn’t noticed how badly her hands were shaking. It wasn’t her first time flying a small plane; she wasn’t lying about having a pilot’s license. But taking a crop duster from a farmer, not knowing what sort of maintenance had been done on the engine, had been a gamble. Worse, because Lucy and Grady were with her. It would have been her fault if they’d crashed.
Thankfully, the farmer had kept his plane in good repair. She made a mental note of the plane’s tail number, something she hadn’t noticed before they’d jumped in to get away from the black SUV, so she could repay the owner and thank him for the role he’d played in keeping her daughter safe.
The van driver dropped them off near a private terminal. From there, they walked to the main airport. Grady took the lead in heading to the rental car agency. She’d felt bad hearing Rex’s comment about the expenses. For one thing, it certainly wasn’t their fault these guys were so determined to track them down.
Second, she would gladly pay for the extra expense. Why Grady hadn’t passed her comment along was puzzling. There was no reason for him to use his own money to pay the extra expense. Both men had to know there was nothing more important to her than keeping Lucy safe.
“I wish we could go home,” Lucy whispered.
“I know, sweetie. Me too.” She wrapped her arm around Lucy’s shoulders as Grady signed the paperwork on their rental. “Hopefully soon.”
Lucy leaned against her. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too.” She pressed a kiss on Lucy’s head. Her daughter had been through a lot over the past few hours. And the day was far from over.
At this rate, they’d never make it back to Chicago in time for St. Mary’s Valentine’s Day charity ball.
