61 |

Dubai International Airport
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

 

Reading sat beside his friends, both handcuffed, both sitting in silence as they all waited for the plane to take off. They had made it to the airport without incident, and his credentials and some phone calls on his behalf from his Interpol contact Khalil Zakaria, had greased the wheels enough to get them on an Emirates flight to Stockholm.

It had been hours since the firefight, and he was still expecting this to all fall apart. According to Zakaria’s last update, the sheik and his entourage were dead, as were over a dozen police officers. Acton’s “security team” had taken out most of the sheik’s men, but not before they turned their weapons on the police surrounding them. Nobody knew exactly what had happened, beyond a story apparently woven by Acton and the deceased satisfying enough people to delay things long enough for their escape.

Yet it wasn’t exactly an escape.

His friends were innocent of any crimes here in Dubai, though they were definitely guilty of something in Stockholm. He was dying to know what had happened, what they had been thinking.

Attempted murder? Armed robbery?

None of it sounded like his friends, yet here he sat, his friends in handcuffs, awaiting delivery into Swedish law enforcement’s hands.

The door finally closed and the jetway pulled back. He spotted Laura’s hand grip Acton’s, and he resisted the urge to give them an encouraging look.

For he didn’t have any to give.

He still wasn’t convinced they were getting away with this. In fact, he wouldn’t be until they landed in Stockholm. Until then, it was still possible they could be turned around, as it was an Emirates flight, under control of the UAE, not officials in Sweden who could be trusted.

The plane began to taxi and he gripped the armrests, praying for an uneventful takeoff. He felt Laura’s hand on his and he squeezed it, the entire plane vibrating as they roared down the runway. A sigh of relief escaped as the nose gear lifted off the ground and moments later they cleared the runway and roared into the night sky.

He opened his eyes and looked about to see who was within earshot, finding everyone concerned with their own business. He leaned closer to his friends. “Now, what the bloody hell happened that I’ve had to arrest my two best friends?”

Acton frowned. “You mean this is serious?”

Reading’s eyes widened. “You think this is a joke? This is dead serious. Those charges I said are real. You’re wanted for armed robbery and attempted murder back in Sweden. When this plane lands, I have to hand you over.”

Laura’s eyes bulged. “But that’s not what happened at all!”

Reading drew a deep breath through his nose. “Then what did?”

The story spilled out as they gained altitude, and when he had finally heard it all, his questions answered, he wasn’t convinced his friends wouldn’t yet see the inside of a courtroom.