“I don’t know if we can.”
His fingers curled through mine. I watched the way they intertwined. Touching AJ was as natural as breathing. It always had been. I didn’t know if he was trying to comfort me, or convince me we were in this crisis together.
I hated him as much as I loved him.
“What’s controlling the plane?” he asked.
I’d never felt so hopeless. I closed my eyes. It was strange, but the first thing I pictured was the river. It was summer and I was eight. I was floating on one of those pink floats shaped like a popsicle and my dad was pretending to be a shark in the water. I’d squeal and giggle every time I saw him swim closer, knowing he was going to try to tip my float over.
“No! No! Don’t do it, Daddy!” I squealed just as he somersaulted me in the air with a powerful flip.
I knew he didn’t mean to scare me. He had no idea I’d be disoriented and fling my arms and legs to fight my way to the surface when I launched ten feet from where we were playing. But I couldn’t find him. I couldn’t find the sun. I couldn’t even find the sandy bottom to push myself up. I was lost. Spinning and spinning in only four feet of water. I started choking and sputtering. I took in one gulp of water just as I felt my father’s arms wrap around my waist and jerk me out of the river.
“Sydney, baby girl. Are you ok?”
I cried, throwing myself on his shoulders. He patted my back. “It’s ok. I found you. I saw you the whole time. Shh. Shh.”
“Andy, what happened?” my mother called from the pier. “Is she ok?”
“She’s fine, Pam. Nothing to worry about.”
He took my face in his hands. “You’re ok. Aren’t you?”
I nodded, wiping the snot with the back of my hand. “I was scared. I thought I was going to stay under there.”
“I wouldn’t let that happen. Never.”
I couldn’t get back on the float. Not after I thought I was going to drown.
That’s how I felt now. As if I were spinning sideways, trapped, unable to get to the surface. And AJ was the most unlikely hero.
I had to tell him. I knew it was a risk to trust him. To trust anyone. But I needed someone to help pull me up to the surface. I could do the kicking and the paddling. I just needed to find the way up.
“AJ.” I looked around us, keeping an eye out for Cindy and Jeff. If they heard what I was about to say, we’d lose any hope of surviving. “It’s not a device. But something has been planted on this plane.”
“Ok I think that’s good. I should be able to isolate any threat. I’m trained in at least fifty types of terrorist threats and combat techniques.”
I shook my head. “You can’t isolate this. It’s too big.”
“Come on, I’m trained. An air marshal would have been helpful, but we’re going to figure this out without him.”
“No. You don’t understand. It’s too much for you. Too massive.” I stopped. I had to push the nausea down to finish my explanation. “It’s the crew. The flight crew. All of them. They are the threat. They have compromised the flight.” My throat almost clamped shut. “Beechum and the co-pilot. We can’t trust them, AJ. They are answering to Jelly Bean Jack.”
It was the first time he didn’t have an answer for me, and the silence was deafening.
Chapter Twelve
I wasn’t reckless or spontaneous. It didn’t suit the design I had for my career or personal goals. On the other hand, I hated the thought of being labeled rigid. I considered myself a planner. A thoughtful architect of my life. Someone who was careful and considerate. A young woma
n who weighed her options with scrutiny. I kept a calendar and made sure it was synced with my phone. I returned emails and texts. I didn’t break plans or back out of them. There wasn’t room for whims and impulses in the life I had made.
But standing behind AJ Hart as he jimmied the lock of the vacant townhouse, I realized how ludicrous all of this was. I had thrown the core essence of who I was away the second I kissed him in that alley. He tugged my hand in his and led me inside, closing the door with a gentle thud. This was what it meant to be untethered from plans.
His lips found mine in the dark and I was instantly lost again in the heat of his mouth. His hands.
“This is crazy,” I whispered, knowing there was a chance I’d break the spell and reveal what a prude I really was. Maybe it was a blessing he didn’t remember the kind of girl I was in college. She never would have done this. Thought about it, of course. Done something about it, never.
“Breaking and entering isn’t exactly something I can brag about in training on Monday.” He cupped my cheeks with a firm grip, kissing me fiercely.