62 |
62 |Holding Cell, Stockholm Arlanda Airport Stockholm, Sweden
Acton sat with Laura in a holding cell at the Stockholm Arlanda Airport. They hadn’t seen Reading in hours, though were being treated well. As soon as they had explained to their friend what had happened, he had spent much of the remainder of the flight on the phone with his partner in London, and his contacts elsewhere.
And yet despite that, they had still been escorted off the plane by Swedish authorities, though not until the rest of the plane had been emptied, saving them the embarrassment of yet more footage uploaded to the Internet.
Though there was still the footage from Dubai.
As soon as it hit YouTube, it would live on forever, and despite their antics during the arrest, it was still humiliating.
How am I going to explain that to my students?
He grunted.
Or Greg?
“What?”
He turned to Laura. “Just thinking of what Greg’s going to say when he finds out what happened.”
Laura chuckled. “I wonder what the Smithsonian is going to say.”
He sighed. “Hopefully we can get this straightened out.” He cursed. “If only I hadn’t put that guy in a sleeper hold. I think they’re going to say I tried to break his neck, but only stopped because that woman walked in and interrupted me.”
“Well, I’m the one who pretended to have a gun and threatened to shoot her if she moved.” Laura tossed her head back in frustration. “What was I thinking?”
Acton frowned. “We were both putting on a show for the Saudi cameras.” His shoulders slumped. “We’re both screwed.”
The door opened and Reading stepped in.
Acton leaned forward. “Please tell me you have good news.”
Reading dropped into a chair opposite them, the poor man looking haggard, as tired as Acton had ever seen him. “You two are going to be the death of me.”
Acton grinned. “You love us and you know it.”
Reading eyed him for a moment then shook his head. “Here’s what’s happened since I’ve been gone. Your friend, Professor Karlsson, arrived in Stockholm on a civilian charter.”
Acton sighed, exchanging an excited hug with Laura. “Thank God! That means the guys got out despite the bastards tricking me.”
Laura smiled. “We’re lucky BD had a better read on the sheik than you did.”
Acton frowned. “I was an idiot.”
Laura patted his leg. “Your instinct is to trust. That’s not a bad thing.”
Acton grunted. “With the number of untrustworthy people we’ve met over the past few years, I’d say I’m a fool for sticking with that habit.”
Reading leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. “And I’d agree. But lucky for you, the woman who walked in on you, who claimed you were trying to kill the guard, and that you”—he gave Laura a look—“put a gun to her back, is actually a grad student of Professor Karlsson’s, and once she found out what was really going on from him, she recanted her entire story.”
Acton’s eyebrows shot up. “Huh?”
Reading grinned. “She said she never actually saw a gun, and that she realized after the fact that the guard was already on the floor when she walked in on you. The guard has agreed to drop the charges now that he knows you were trying to save the professor.”
Laura gripped Acton’s arm. “So, what does this mean?”
Reading shook his head. “It means, thanks once again to me, that your asses have been saved, and you’re free to go.”
Acton threw his arms around Laura, giving her a hard hug, then rose to give Reading an exaggerated kiss.
The big man held up a finger. “Don’t you dare.”
Acton grinned then stepped aside. “Laura, kiss the man.”
Reading grunted. “Now that’s more like it.”