At the airport, Griff learned there was an APB out for a petite woman with short dark brown hair traveling with a man, approximately 6'5", with black hair. Either Leon Roche’s recall sucked or the poor lighting in the room had made Griff seem bigger than he actually was. He definitely didn’t have black hair, and he was an even six feet tall. He let his guard down when he realized nobody was giving him a second glance.
After making sure the plane was fueled up and their departure time was still on schedule, he popped into the passenger lounge in the private charter terminal. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and cleaned and rebandaged the wound on his arm, before changing into a clean set of clothes he’d found on the plane that mostly likely belonged to Mitch. The pair of well-worn jeans were the right length for Griff but a size too small in the waist. On the front of the green t-shirt, big bold letters asked: “Guess What?” inside an arrow pointed to the backside of a chicken. It was silly, but classic Mitch, and Griff had gladly trashed the filthy clothes he’d worn in the jungle.
Scratching his scruffy chin on the way back to the plane, Griff wished he had time for a shave, but the day’s growth of dark-blond whiskers helped disguise his face.
His cell phone rang in his back pocket. He reached for it, hoping it was Bug. It wasn’t. His heart fell. Where the hell was she?
“Hey, Mitch,” Griff said into the phone.
“You wheels up yet?”
“Soon. Just waiting on Bug.” He left the charter terminal and stepped out into the warm, breezy morning. The sky was clear and blue. A perfect day for flying.
“We’ve located Christian,” Mitch said. “He’s being held inside an old, partially restored fort on a small island east of San Juan.”
“Why did they grab him? Basic KNR?” Griff jogged down the stairs and headed toward the plane. He’d left the rear passenger-side door unlocked so he could put the medical kit back into its place under the back seat.
“Not sure. My contacts on the island have their ears open, but nobody’s heard of ransom demands being made yet. Whoever is holding Christian could be waiting for instructions from someone else. We’re going to attempt an extraction tonight, and we could use your help.”
The idea of getting his ass shot trying to rescue Christian Saintervil galled him, but he wasn’t going to let Mitch and his former crewmates go into a combat situation alone. He leaned back against the plane. “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Give Bug a heads up too. We need her to do some recon. There’s an electrified fence around the perimeter of the fort except for one section where the original stone wall is still intact. Ax found a very small break in the wall he thinks she can fit through.”
Just then, the terminal door slammed open, and Bug appeared at the top of the stairs. Holding onto her floppy hat with one hand so it wouldn’t blow away and with his duffle in her other hand, she looked like she was about to topple over thanks to the enormous mound protruding from her billowing dress. Was it just the wind or had she somehow gotten bigger?
In any case, at the moment, she looked the opposite of small.
Griff chuckled.
“Something funny?” Mitch said.
“Sorry. No. Bug just got here. We need to get in the air. Anything else?”
“Nope. You two be safe.”
Bug’s flip-flop-covered foot shot out, feeling around for the next step. She went for it and lost her balance. Grabbing the handrail to catch herself, her hat flew away.
“Gotta go, Mitch. Talk soon.” Griff hung up and ran to help Bug before she tumbled down the stairs and broke her neck.
“What are you doing, woman? Trying to kill yourself?”
“No, but I’m thinking about killing you for coming up with this ridiculous disguise.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Standing in front of her on a lower step, he grabbed the duffle bag.
“Pretending to be a boy would have worked too,” she grumbled.
“Yeah, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as entertaining.” He took her arm and held onto her as she descended the steps. “I thought you would’ve given birth by now?”
“Kenny told me to leave it on. Too many cops in the vicinity of the airport.”
Reaching for the handle on the passenger cockpit door, Griff paused. “Kenny?”
“He gave me a lift. He sends his regards.”
Griff left the door open for Bug and smiled to himself as he tossed her backpack and his duffle into the back seat of the plane. He hoped one day he would cross paths with the old man again, so he could thank him … for giving Bug the ride to the airport, but also for the advice. His relationship with Bug might not have moved forward the way it had if Kenny hadn’t given Griff a nudge.
While he pulled the rear passenger door closed, Bug tried and failed awkwardly to climb into her seat.
“Need help?”
“I need to lose this damn disguise.”
He grabbed her waist from behind and lifted her up to the seat. “What are you going to do when you’re nine months pregnant for real?”
“I can tell you what I’m not gonna do.” She sat, then turned around and glared at him. “I’m not gonna be climbing into Cessnas and running from the law.”
He laughed and pulled himself up so they were eye to eye. “Well, I sure as hell hope not.” He leaned in for a kiss.
She put her hand on his chest to stop him. “Two security guards just came out of the terminal. They’re coming down the stairs.”
“They’re probably just making their rounds.”
“Anyone wearing a uniform in this town makes me jumpy. Can we just get in the air, please?”
It would be a little while before the control tower gave them take-off clearance, but if it made her feel better, he’d start up the plane. “It’s a good thing this isn’t real.” He patted her huge bump. “Mitch needs you small enough to crawl through a crack in a wall when we reach Puerto Rico.”
“Then I suggest you keep your dick in your pants until I can take my next birth control pill.” She grabbed the front of his t-shirt, tugged him closer, and crushed her lips to his. Slipping her arms around his neck, she pushed her tongue inside his mouth, dominating him as the kiss went on. His head spun and his heart pounded in his ears, and when she tore her mouth from his and lightly shoved him away, he blinked at her dumbly because all of the blood in his head had left his brain.
“Go,” she said, when he didn’t move.
“Right.” He blinked again, suddenly remembering he had a plane to fly.
Griff pulled himself together while he finished his pre-flight inspection of the plane’s exterior. When he climbed into the cockpit, Bug was pressed back in her seat, closely monitoring the two security guards who hadn’t moved from the bottom of the stairs in the past five minutes.
“Do you think we should be concerned about that?” she said.
“We’ve gotten this far. Let’s stay positive.” Griff radioed the tower requesting taxi clearance.
The security guards suddenly turned and climbed the stairs. When they disappeared inside the terminal, Griff let out the breath he was holding.
“Shit,” Bug said. “About time they left.” She whipped the tie-dyed dress over her head and yanked a huge bed pillow out from beneath her tank top.
“That’s why you looked bigger. Thought maybe you were giving birth to a baby hippo.”
“Ha. Ha. Funny,” she said without humor and tossed the dress into the back seat. She kept the pillow, fluffing it up and wedging it against the door as if she was intending to take a nap later. “If I had, she would have definitely taken after you.”
“She?” He looked at her curiously.
Bug ignored the question and put her headset on before reaching down to straighten her tank top. It was a men’s ribbed extra-small wife beater that hugged her slender torso and the sweet curves of her high, firm breasts, leaving nothing to the imagination. Her tight nipples were almost visible as they strained against the white cotton fabric.
“You gonna answer that?” She said, turning her head to look at him.
In his head set, the control tower repeated their taxi instructions, authorizing him to line up and wait for take-off clearance at runway nine.
He answered in the affirmative and then focused on taxiing to the runway.
When he was informed they were eighteenth in line for take-off, he plugged his cell phone into a USB port on the dashboard and scrolled through his music app looking for some in-flight tunes to fill the silence. Beside him, Bug had buckled up and settled against her pillow to take a nap.
He landed on the playlist he was looking for—an eighties rock mix. His and Bug’s favorite genre of music. He pressed play and the synth chords of an REO Speedwagon power ballad came through their headsets. He wasn’t sure Bug was still awake, but when Kevin Cronin’s sweet vocals began, Bug pulled an imaginary microphone to her mouth and started to lip-synch the words: “I can’t fight this feeling any longer and yet I’m still—”
The Speedwagon song cut out, disrupted by an incoming call. Griff didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyhow just in case it was someone from Mitch’s crew. “This is Griff,” he said into the headset.
“Griffin? Thank goodness I reached you!” A cold chill raced through his body at the sound of Hannah’s voice on the other end of the line. He glanced over at Bug, who could hear the call from her headset.
She sat up straight, and her head whipped around to look at him. An unreadable emotion flickered across her face before she schooled her expression.
“Hannah? I didn’t recognize the number.”
“I borrowed Ted’s phone.”
Griff squinted and shook his head. “Who’s Ted?”
“A nice old man I met at the hotel pool. I need your help.”
“What hotel? Where are you?”
“Aruba. It’s a long story, but I’m stuck, and there was no one else I could call.”
“What do you mean you’re stuck?” He glanced at Bug again. She was staring out the window.
“I mean I can’t leave. I don’t have money or my passport. I’m stuck!”
“Slow down and tell what happened.”
“It’s not important. Just say you’ll help me.”
“What do you need, money?”
“No, I need to get my things back. I can’t go anywhere without my passport. I know it’s a lot to ask, but can you come to Aruba?”
“What?” His grip tightened on the phone and his eyes shot to Bug who grunted sarcastically and shook her head. “Can’t you call someone from work?” He almost never refused Hannah anything, but this was a lot to ask even for her.
There was a long pause on Hannah’s end of the phone. “Did I reach you at a bad time?”
He pulled his gaze away from Bug and cleared his throat. If Hannah had called two hours ago, the answer would have definitely been yes. “I’m sort of in the middle of something.”
“Griffin, I wouldn’t have called you if I wasn’t absolutely desperate. I don’t know how else to get my stuff back.”
“I don’t understand. Was it stolen?”
“Not exactly.” She grunted in frustration. “Okay, I’ll tell you what happened. But promise you won’t freak out. My boss invited me on a work retreat. Turns out, the retreat was just for the two of us at this luxury resort in Aruba. I should’ve turned around and left the moment I realized it, but he’s charming and you know how much I really want that promotion at work. Anyhow, he said he wouldn't pressure me into doing anything I wasn’t comfortable with, so I stayed. The next thing I know, his wife shows up. I had to duck out of our room last night in just my bikini and cover-up. I thought he would get a message to me but nothing. I had to spend the night on a lounge chair beside the pool, while my boss and his wife have been holed up in their little love nest for the past twelve hours. I have crisscross marks imprinted on my cheek, Griffin!”
Bug guffawed and then quickly covered her mouth with both hands.
“What’s that?” Hannah asked. “Are you laughing at me?”
Griff shot Bug a warning glare.
She mouthed the word “sorry” and covered her mouth again.
“No, of course not. I’m actually in Martinique preparing for take-off.”
“You’re in the Caribbean?” Hannah’s voice rose with excitement.
“Yeah, an old friend asked me to fly his plane to Saint-Pierre to pick something up for him.”
“So you can come rescue me?”
“I’m not sure what I can do.” He drove his fingers through his hair and scratched the back of his head.
“Please, Griffin, I know I said I needed space, but you’re the only person I trust to get me out of this mess.”
“Mess is putting it mildly. Look, it’s a little late for me to be changing my flight plan. I’m gonna have to wait until I’m out over open water and change course on my own. When I get close to Aruba, I’ll request an emergency landing. Text me your location.”
“You’re my hero. Always my hero! I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Griffybear.”
He cringed at the term of endearment, mainly because he knew Bug wouldn’t let him live it down. “Sit tight, Hannah. I’ll be in touch.”
He disconnected the call and glanced sideways at Bug. “She really needs my help.”
“So does Christian.”
“Christian has a team of former Tier One operators getting ready to rescue his stupid ass.”
“Rescue? Did Mitch find him?”
“Yeah, that’s why he called again. Ax located him. They’re planning to extract him later tonight. That gives us plenty of time to swing by Aruba and help Hannah.”
“Do you think she knew you were in the Caribbean?”
“Unless she’s psychic? No. There’s no possible way she would’ve known I was here. I didn’t even know I was coming until I met with Mitch two days ago. Why do you ask?”
Bug shrugged. “I guess it’s just a big coincidence then that she also ended up in the Caribbean and needs your help.”
“Bug, are you jealous?”
“No,” she said quickly. “Absolutely not. I’m pissed that you didn’t think to ask me if I wanted to go to Aruba to rescue your fiancée.”
“Fiancée? She’s not even my girlfriend.”
“You plan to marry her one day, so what’s the difference what I call her? Next time you decide to change our plans midstream, I’d appreciate a heads up. I don’t like being dragged somewhere against my will.” She flipped open a cubby on the control panel where a bunch of odds and ends were stored and pulled out a box of ear plugs.
“Come on, Bug. That’s not what this is. Hannah is clearly in trouble. What was I supposed to say? No? You know she’s the only family I’ve got left.”
“Not the only family,” Bug said sharply. Then she shook her head dismissively. “I’m exhausted from last night, Griffybear. Wake me when we land.” With that, she pulled off her headphones, stuck a pair of ear plugs in her ears, and flopped against the pillow.
Sometime later, when they were cruising at 30,000 feet on a course for Aruba, Griff glanced over at Bug and saw she was fast asleep. He reached over and took her left hand, entwining their fingers. She didn’t wake and pull away, but instead rolled toward him, resting her other hand against the inside of his forearm.
Things were getting complicated.
He felt an obligation to Hannah. Hell, he still loved her and probably always would, but he had romantic feelings for Bug now too. New, fragile feelings he had only just begun to acknowledge. He didn’t want to screw things up for them, but Hannah was family. There was no possible way he could ignore her when she needed his help. End of story. Bug would just have to understand.
He’d do his best to wrap things up quickly in Aruba. Mostly because he was eager to get back in the air and reach Puerto Rico, where he and Bug could continue exploring their new relationship.
And, yes, help rescue Saintervil, blah blah blah.