Cherished (Wanted 4)

I looked at Drake as he stared at me. “Belize?” we both said at the same time.

“Holy fuck. She’s not even in the country, Drake. She’s in fucking goddamn Belize. And who’s the guy she’s with?”

“Scott, she said she loved you. Wait—what time did that first call come in?”

I looked at my phone. “Right before nine.”

Drake smiled and shook his head. “She called you before me, Scott.”

“So? That’s supposed to make me feel better when all I can think of is how she has a friend helping her get over me?”

“No, you ass. She didn’t know yet about you and Chelsea. She must have either talked to someone else, or she figured it out on her own. Bryce said he’d called out after her. After thinking about it, maybe she realized it wasn’t your voice she’d heard.”

My heart started pounding. “Do you think? Fuck. I can’t wait until the twenty-ninth for her to come home. I have to get to Belize.”

“Did you not hear that they’re in the middle of a tropical storm? No airline is going to fly into that. Let’s just wait until morning, and we can call the airlines and see about flights to Belize.”

There was no way I could wait, but I nodded my head to reassure Drake. “Okay. We’ll wait until morning.”

I showed Drake up to one of the spare bedrooms and made my way back down to my room. I crawled into the new bed I had bought, and I lay there, looking up at the ceiling. I wasn’t going to be able to sleep. Drake had said Jessie was about to tell him where she was staying when the phone died.

I sat up in bed and grabbed my cell. I wrote down the number that Jessie had called from earlier, and I dialed another number. If there was one person I knew who could help me…it would be him.

I had already had four cups of coffee, and it was only six in the morning. I heard Drake walking into the kitchen. I turned and smiled as I held up my coffee cup.

“Want a cup?” I asked.

He looked down at my bag on the floor.

“You going somewhere? I checked the airlines, Scott. The storm knocked out almost all the power, and the airport is shut down. They don’t see it opening for a day or two, if that. How in the hell do you think you’re going to get to Belize?”

My phone rang right then, and I pulled it out. I smiled when I saw who was calling. “Lark, what’s the word?” I said as my heart started pounding.

Lark was my best friend from college, and he now worked for some hotshot guy who did business all over Central America and God knows where else.

“I can be there in two hours. Perfect.” I hung up the phone and quickly turned to rinse out my coffee cup. I reached down and grabbed my bag before making my way to the back door.

“Scott! Where in the hell are you going? Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Walk with me, Drake.” As I made my way out the door and over to my truck, I started to tell Drake my plan. “My best friend from college works for some guy. I’m not really sure what type of business he’s in, but Lark flies him all over the place. I gave Lark a ring and said I needed to call in a favor. I told him what was going on and asked if he could land a helicopter in Belize right now with the storm hitting. He made a call to his boss and asked if he could use the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter to make a run to Belize. I offered to pay for the gas plus some.”

Drake grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. “Wait.” He shook his head. “This guy—why in the hell would he let your buddy take his helicopter to Belize just for you to get to Jessie?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know…maybe he believes in love. I don’t really give a shit. I’m paying him enough money to probably buy a new fucking helicopter. I don’t care, Drake. I just need to get to Jessie.”

I jumped into my truck and shut the door. I started the truck and rolled down my window. “I should be in Austin in two hours. Lark is going to be waiting for me there. He said it was about a four-hour flight to Belize, not including one or two fuel stops. I’ll let you know when I get there and find her.”

“How are you going to land in Belize?” Drake asked.

I took a deep breath. I didn’t really want to tell him that I was going to stay at Lark’s boss’s house, which had a helipad. “Lark’s boss has a house in Belize. He

’s gonna land there.”

Drake started shaking his head. “What in the hell does this guy do, Scott?”

“I’ve got to go, Drake. Don’t worry, it’s not drugs.” I rolled up the window and took off down my driveway.

Okay…at least I hope it’s not drugs. A part of me wondered what in the hell Lark and his boss did for a living.