He settled the Stetson firmly upon his head and gave the announcement boards a closer look.Being here brought back too many bad memories.That was all.Just too many memories.And no man ever died from memories.
“Flight 1272 from Atlanta and New Orleans is now arriving at Gate Three.”
Buoyed by the announcement, Ryder took his bearings then started walking.Erica had claimed that Miles didn’t like to be kept waiting and God knows he didn’t have any desire to linger in the place himself.
* * *
Miles was hung over.His head throbbed and his belly kept lurching from one side of his rib cage to the other as he filed out of the plane along with the other passengers.Bile rose as he stared at the drooping diaper of the toddler in front of him.An all too pungent odor drifted upward, adding to the nausea he already had.That kid was carrying a load and badly in need of a change.When a sickly sweat broke out on his upper lip, he mumbled an excuse and shoved his way past them, desperately searching the waiting crowd for Erica.
He saw the Stetson first, then the man beneath it and groaned.Damn her, why didn’t she come herself?
“Here are my claim stubs,” he said shortly, slapping them into Ryder’s hand.“I’ll meet you in baggage.”
Ryder took the stubs without comment and waited beside the men’s room until Miles came out.
“I thought I told you I’d meet you in baggage,” Miles muttered.
Ryder gave him a pointed look.“Wasn’t sure you’d make it that far.”
Miles’s face turned red.
“Lead the way,” Ryder said, and Miles did.
Luggage was just beginning to come through the roundabout as Miles dropped onto a nearby bench.
“Rough flight?”Ryder asked.
Miles looked up from where he was sitting and belched.
Ryder cocked an eyebrow and stifled a grin.“Tell me which ones are yours,” he said, pointing toward the varied assortment of circling suitcases.
“Four pieces.Brown-and-green alligator.Can’t miss them.”
Ryder nodded and a short while later, pulled the last one from the rack.Miles watched with a bleary eye, unwilling to move until he had to.
“That’s it,” Ryder announced, and lifted a bag in each hand.“I’ll get these.You bring the rest,” and started toward the exit without looking back.
Miles sat with his mouth agape while blood thundered wildly through every minuscule vein in his head.He stared at the remaining two bags in disbelief.The nerve of the man!Expecting him to carry his own luggage!
Miles staggered to his feet and hefted a bag in each hand before following Ryder’s retreat.
“This just figures,” he mumbled, as he staggered out of the door.“You can’t get good help these days no matter how hard you try.”
When they started home, Miles began to relax, reveling in the cool, quiet ambience of the Lincoln’s spacious back seat.But that was before the car phone rang.After that, Mites’s homecoming took an unexpected turn.
CHAPTER 7
The car phone rang as Ryder was leaving the airport and turning onto the highway.He answered on the second ring.
“This is Ryder.”
When that slow, deep voice settled in her ear, Casey breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ryder, where are you?”
He frowned.“Casey, is that you?”
She turned away from the noise behind her, trying to block out the paramedics’ voices, as well as the police officer on the scene.“Yes, it’s me.”
