Yet, Annabelle could see real concern in the girl’s blue eyes. She could empathize with that. Annabelle was worried about the girls too.
But it wasn’t Jack’s fault, and she was about to say so when Beatrice sighed loudly.
“Cor, dammit Jack.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, as if staving off a headache. “Can’t the chin wag wait? ”
Now it was Jack’s turn to sigh.
But whatever he’d been about to say was put forever on hold when Alex interrupted him. “Mr. Thane, we have company.”
Jack turned to face him and the black-haired man gestured toward the terminal doors a hundred feet away, where detective Chen and her partner were holding up what looked like photographs and questioning airport security.
Jack swore softly under his breath and ran a hand through his thick blonde hair. With a meaningful look toward Alex, who nodded, he leaned over and took hold of his ex-wife’s upper arm and pulled her from the seat. “We have to go, Bee.” He turned to fix his daughter with the same meaningful look and she, too, nodded.
As Jack, Annabelle, Trinity, Cassie and Beatrice made their way hastily in the opposite direction from where Chen and Robinson stood amongst men in button-down white shirts and name tags, Clara and Alex spoke with each other hastily, blocking the aisle as much as possible with Clara’s bags.
Annabelle glanced back just in time to witness what appeared to be a lover’s spat break out between Alex and Clara, shoving and all, as Jack’s group disappeared more deeply amidst airport travelers, eventually obstructing Annabelle’s view entirely.
All she heard as they rounded a corner and joined a mass of people who were headed out into the taxi-laden streets was Clara’s voice, raised in faux anger, spouting obscenities at Jack’s employee, who, according to Clara, had cheated on her with an American bimbo from Texas.
Up ahead, two airport security guards received radio calls and headed in the opposite direction of Jack’s group, passing Annabelle without a second glance. She knew, right away, that they’d been called to help break up the fight that Clara had started. The decoy provided just the right amount of time and distraction for Jack to lead them out into the Minnesota night and into the closest parking garage.
When they were amidst cars and shadows, Annabelle moved up beside Jack, keeping pace with his long strides. “Is she going to meet us somewhere?”
“She’ll try. She knows the drill.”
Jack didn’t say anything more. His posture was tense and his expression was troubled. He had a lot on his mind. So, Annabelle didn’t ask him how his daughter had been dragged into his messy line of work. Maybe it wasn’t any of her business anyway. And, maybe it wasn’t all that hard to get dragged into your father’s business… After all, Annabelle had found herself amidst it and she and Jack weren’t even related.
Annabelle walked quickly beside Jack and glanced over at his ex-wife. She was mostly being held up by her ex-husband, but she managed to get one foot in front of the other, even if her eyes were closed most of the time. Annabelle wondered if she knew too. She wasn’t demanding to know why they’d suddenly gotten up and departed in a hurry, leaving her teenage daughter and a thirty-year-old stranger behind to fight loudly over a big-titted Dallas blonde who didn’t really exist.
So, maybe she knew after all. Maybe this wasn’t the first time Jack had put his family through something like this.
Maybe, Annabelle thought, that’s why she divorced him.
Jack glanced over at that moment and caught Annabelle’s gaze. She blushed. She felt almost as if he knew what she’d been thinking. She tore her gaze away to find that they’d managed to make it all the way back to the limo.
Jack pressed a button on the key fob in his pocket and the doors unlocked. Annabelle took Beatrice’s arm, gently pulling the woman out of Jack’s grip. He let her go and made his way to the front of the car, claiming the driver’s seat. The rest of the crew piled into the back. Cassie helped Trinity with the twins while Dylan put his hand on Beatrice’s head to help her duck into the cabin of the car.
When all of the doors were shut and everyone was safely inside, Jack pulled out of the lot.
No one spoke for a long time.
And then Cassie took a deep breath and blew it out in a loud sigh. “So, I guess we’re going to New York.” She turned to Annabelle and fixed her with a meaningful gaze. “Kind of a long drive, Ann.”
“That’s why we’re flying,” came Jack’s voice over what sounded like an intercom system that had been wired throughout the car.
Annabelle narrowed her gaze. “Like hell we are.”
Chapter Eleven
“No, Jack. No way. No how.” Annabelle put her hands on her hips and stared Jack down. She was standing in the back yard of a two-story house on a quiet neighborhood block in Ham Lake, a suburb city north of Minneapolis. Only she and Jack were outside, the rest of the group having congregated around the refrigerator and bar in the open kitchen and living room on the other side of the sliding glass doors. The night air was cool and the grass was wet with dew.
“You know it’s our only option, Bella. We need to get there before Max’s killers get there and we can’t go without you.” Jack stood opposite her, his hands likewise on his hips, his expression pleading.
“I said no.”
He tried to reason with her. “You would let everything Max and his wife died for fall into the wrong hands just because you are afraid of fly- ”
“No, Jack. Not afraid – terrified. Planes make no sense, for Christ’s sake! Big, heavy metal objects with little bitty wings that don’t even flap! How the hell does it even stay up there! No. Not me. Not now. Not ever.”
“You could get plastered.”
“Not plastered enough.”
“Take your Vicodin.”
“I’d still know, Jack. I’d still know that the engine could die at any minute and that you can’t just pull the frickin' plane over on a cloud and hop out and peek under the hood like you can a god-forsaken car, Jack!”
“Yes, but you wouldn’t care.”
Annabelle glared at him. She took a slow, deep breath and exhaled through her nose.
Jack took the opportunity to target her soft spot. “Dylan is depending on you, Bella. He’s lost both of his parents. Are you going to let him-”
“Oh, don’t even go there, Jack!” Annabelle let out a sound of frustration and threw her hands up. She turned away from him and pinched the bridge of her nose. Jack didn’t say anything else, but then, he didn’t have to. Annabelle knew he was right. Even if Jack didn’t really care about Dylan Anderson, the truth was, Annabelle did. Jack had hit her where it hurt.
When she turned back around to face him, he was waiting expectantly, his hands on his hips, his blue eyes blazing. She sighed, but it came out shaky.
“I don’t know if I can do this, Jack. I might freak out on you mid-flight.”
He considered her words a moment and then sighed as well. “Not a problem, luv. I think I’ve got just the thing.” He offered her his hand, and she hesitantly took it, feeling as though she was tentatively taking the hand of the devil. He smiled a smile that didn’t help assuage that notion and then led her into the house.
When they closed the sliding glass door behind them and re-entered the kitchen, Annabelle was surprised to see Clara seated on the edge of the kitchen counter, her shoes propped up on one of the stools, Dylan seated across from her on the counter beside the fridge. Annabelle’s brow lifted.