Mickey’s saliva caught in the back of her suddenly dry throat. She covered her mouth and coughed. Allison grabbed a bottle of water from the black tote hanging from her arm and handed it to her. “Thanks,” she said as she unscrewed the cap and chugged half the bottle. Her nerve endings sparked with electricity and she swore a sign on her forehead read,I slept with a pedophile. But even if she did, no one could judge her as harshly as she judged herself.
“Are you alright?” Vanessa asked. “I know it’s upsetting to think about someone involved with that on one of our flights.”
Mickey pressed her lips together and shook her head.
“It probably happens more than we realize,” Allison said, her voice thick and low. “You can never let your guard down these days. You never know what kind of creeps are lurking around under your nose.”
Vanessa shivered. “I’ll have my eyes open from now on. If a guy like that can get on a plane, and then try to crash it, what other sickos are we serving every day?”
Mickey bit into her tongue to stop from saying anything. What Allison and Vanessa said was true, but it’s a lesson she’d already learned. Even if it was too little too late.
People drifted to the gate and sat down to wait until it was time to board. The door to the walkway opened, signaling it was time for her to board the plane and start preparing the cabin. Her chest tightened and she glanced at her friends. Fear lurked behind their false bravado, but they straightened their spines and hardened the lines on their faces.
“Are you guys ready?” she asked.
They both nodded.
Mickey turned on her black heels, stepped through the door, and walked toward the plane. The last time she’d done this, her life had been normal. It had been just another day, just another flight. But now everything was different. The last plane she’d been on had almost crashed into the ground. She never imagined she’d prefer that nightmare to the one she was currently living. At least on the plane she’d had a brave knight to help her take down the villain.
Now she had no one fighting in her corner, and the monster was a whole hell of a lot scarier. He knew everything about her, and he held the most precious thing in her life in his hands.
As she stepped onto the plane and took in the familiar sight, relief washed over her.
She could do this.
She could get through this flight, and the next one. And then she would do what she needed to do to find the sonofabitch and push a dagger through his heart.
She had no other options.
10
His damp clothes clung to him like a second skin. Cold air blasted down from the vents in the elevator and a shiver ran down his spine.
All he wanted was a hot shower and change of clothes. If the old man pressed against the corner of the elevator was any indication of how he smelled in his day-old clothes, a shower couldn’t come fast enough.
The elevator stopped at his floor, he nodded to the old man, and walked to his apartment. Fatigue pulled at him. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, not with all the notes he had to pore over, and then the memory of Mickey’s soft lips on his. After he’d left her at her apartment earlier this morning, he hadn’t had time to stop at home. He had too much to do and not enough time to do it.
He’d talked to the mothers of two of the missing girls. The notes in their files had been extensive, but he wanted to see things for himself. Now he needed to talk to Suzi Stanley again, but he had to take a small break to fuel up and regroup. The best way to do that was with a quick bite to eat after washing thegrime from his tired body. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten all day.
Stepping into his apartment, all the tension of the past two days eased away. He sighed, rubbing a hand over the rough whiskers on his chin. His gaze flitted around his familiar surroundings, and all he wanted to do was sink into the brown leather couch and shut his eyes for a few hours.
But there was no time to rest. His long strides took him past the kitchen and living room and into the bathroom. He opened the glass door of the shower and turned the nozzle. Hot water sprayed down, trickling down his forearm, and steam clogged the small room. He shook the water from his arm before he pulled it out of the shower and peeled his wet shirt off his chest. He threw it in the corner where it landed with a loudplop. Stepping out of his pants and boxer briefs, he sighed as he added them to the mound on the floor, and then stepped into the shower.
Warm drops of water pelted him from the large showerhead mounted on the ceiling. He quickly lathered shampoo in his hair and soap on his body. The water sprayed down and the suds swirled around the drain before disappearing. He leaned a forearm against the marble wall and let the water pelt the back of his neck.
One minute…just one minute to close my eyes and let the weight lift from my shoulders.
One minute stretched into two and the warm, wet air erased the tightness in his muscles. He allowed himself the small luxury of closing his eyes and blew out a long, slow breath.
Ring, ring, ring
And just like that, all the tension snapped back in his muscles like a rubber band stretched to its limit. He yanked the nozzle, turning off the water, and jumped out of the shower. Drops of water dotted the tiled floor, forming small puddles. He reachedfor a white towel and wrapped it around his waist before he grabbed his phone from the pocket of his discarded pants.
“Agent Grassi.” The interruption of his short moment of peace soured his mood, turning his words hostile.
“It’s Harper. I want to know your progress on the Bogart case.”
Graham swallowed down his irritation. He didn’t need to be reminded he’d messed up in Austin by Harper micromanaging him. Harper’s constant checking in and refusal to offer extra support only fueled his desire to close this case.
