“No. It’s fine. I want everything to appear normal. My neighbours don’t know what happened, so let’s keep it that way,” I replied.
“Won’t they think that you’re back early?” Dad inquired.
“No, I told them I was visiting you. Only family and Kristal knew we’d been on the Titanic of the Skies. And Kristal has promised to keep her mouth shut. She’s devastated and is blaming herself for not tearing the tickets up,” I said.
“Poor kid. Tried to do something nice, and this horrendous nightmare occurred. Kristal’s got to be feeling terrible,” Dad responded thoughtfully.
“Yeah. She is.” I couldn’t offer Kristal comfort. We’d spoken when I was released from the hospital, and she’d sobbed downthe phone. On one hand, Kristal was relieved that I’d survived, and then, like me, she was guilt-ridden and grieving that Natasha died.
“Okay, we’ll watch you go in,” Dad said as I undid my seatbelt.
“Love you,” I said, kissing both of their cheeks. I exited the car and headed inside. The front door was key-locked, and it took me a few moments to realise I didn’t have my keys. Shit.
“Here’s a set I got cut,” Dad said from behind. “Forgot to give them to you.”
“I was just about to panic,” I admitted with a rueful smile.
Both Dads had spare sets for my place. Dad kissed the top of my head and walked back down the four steps. Papa waited until I opened the door and then drove off with a honk of his horn.
Wearily, I headed upstairs and let myself into the apartment. Heading straight for the bedroom, I collapsed on the bed and curled up. Sobs tore from me as I hugged a teddy bear that Natasha had bought me for my twenty-first. It would be a long time to heal from her death.
???
“Hello?” I asked as my buzzer sounded in my apartment, letting me know someone was requesting entry.
“Amy, it’s Vortex. This a good time to visit?” I stared at my answering machine in surprise. Vortex? Visiting me? I glanced around my immediate area to check that it was tidy.
“Amy? I can leave,” he offered.
“No. Come up. I’m on the first floor,” I said and pressed the release button to let him in.
I quickly checked my living room and spotted the time. It was half-past six in the evening. My stomach growled, reminding meI’d not eaten, and I winced. There wasn’t much to eat in the apartment as I’d run everything down for the trip.
Damn. Maybe Vortex would like takeout? There was a knock, and I answered it. Vortex grinned when I did and held out some bags.
“Hungry?” he asked, and my stomach made its complaint known.
“How embarrassing,” I muttered. “Come on in.”
“I was passing and thought I’d stop and see how you’re doing,” Vortex said.
“And you brought food on the off chance?”
“Well, if you’d said no, I’d have had leftovers for tomorrow,” Vortex replied with a grin. His eyes raked my face, settling on tear tracks before moving on. “How are you doing?”
“You don’t want to be asking that,” I muttered, leading him into the kitchen and pulling crockery and cutlery out.
“Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t mean it,” Vortex retorted.
“One minute I’m falling apart, the next I’m trying to figure shit out. The feds have contacted me and want to speak with me again. Don’t know why. There’s nothing different or new from the last time I spoke to them. The news reported tonight that there was a bomb onboard. It was bad enough thinking it was an accident, but to know someone did this on purpose…” I exploded and bit my lip.
“Let it out, Amy Wright, my brave girl. Everything must feel like it’s piling on top and trying to drag you down.”
“I want to scream and scream and not stop. A bomb, Vortex—I just saw it on the news. Nobody had mentioned that possibility until today. Everyone thought it was a tragic accident. My dads couldn’t have seen the report, or they’d be on the phone by now. What do I say to them? Why do the Feds need to speak to me again?”
I slammed my hands on the worktop as tears threatened again. For fuck’s sake, I was tired of crying. Angrily, I dashed them away, then face-planted into a broad, strong, and very muscled chest. Vortex’s hand moved on my back as his arms held me close.
“It’s okay to be angry, Amy, I’d be fuckin’ furious. You thought you’d survived a very tragic and upsetting disaster. Now you’re learning, somebody deliberately blew the Titanic of the Skies up, and you’ve no idea why. You’ve every justification to be pissed off. Someone took your best friend away from you for some petty asshole reason they justified in their head.”
