Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“In a quarter of a mile, you will reach your destination.” That generic, generated voice came from the speaker of Aria’s phone, and in the distance, we could see the metal buildings rising on the left. A few evergreens poked up around them, and in the emerging morning light, a small prop plane took flight, its low whine filling the air as it slowly ascended.
“Do you think this is going to work?” Aria asked, fidgeting with the hem of her sweater.
We couldn’t take the chance of booking a flight on a commercial airline. No way we could leave evidence of us flying across the country. Not after I’d broken Aria out of that facility and the pictures on the news of her had been easily identifiable—not to mention the fact that we’d left a trail of bodies behind us.
“Don’t know. Hopefully, if you’re convincing enough.” I quirked a teasing brow at her. A slight prodding question.
She huffed. “I doubt that I’m much of an actress—but I’ve had to tell plenty of lies in my life, so I suppose I’m pretty good at it.”
I reached over the console and took her hand. “The lies you told were never malicious, Aria. They were told for your survival. Both for yourself and the ones you love.”
“I know,” she whispered.
I slowed as we approached the entrance to the regional airport, and I took the left onto the short path that led to a squatty building with a slightly pitched metal roof. It was fronted by glass and two double doors. There were only four cars parked in the lot. We took the fifth spot, and I killed the engine before I shifted to look at Aria. “Are you ready?”
She gave a clipped nod. “Let’s do this.”
She tossed open her door at the same time I did mine, and I rounded to the trunk, grabbed our two bags, then followed behind Aria, who was already jogging toward the entrance.
A slight edge of hysteria was wound into her demeanor. I doubted she had to dig too deep to find that facade, her anxiety from last night easy to exploit.
She burst through the door and went straight to the counter, since there wasn’t a single person in the lobby except for an older woman behind a desk. She was dressed in jeans and a floral button-down top, her thin gray hair cropped at her chin.
Aria and I both kept our sunglasses on so that we wouldn’t have to deal with the negative strike of setting someone on edge at the sight of our eyes, though they were likely to feel it anyway.
The woman lifted her head at Aria’s approach. Concern immediately twisted her expression. “Can I help you?”
“I’m so sorry to bother you, but I’m hoping you can help me.”
“Well, that’s what I’m here for. My name is Madge.” The woman had a tenderness about her as she stood from the desk she’d been sitting at and came up to the counter.
I could sense it. There wasn’t a bad bone in her body. I let go of a fraction of the tension.
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
Aria’s tongue stroked out to wet her lips. “My husband and I . . .” Aria glanced back at me in a flurry of exasperation before she turned back to the woman. “We’re on our honeymoon. Touring both Chicago and Indianapolis. I got a call last night that my mom was rushed to the hospital with a heart attack . . .”
Aria croaked it, then stammered for a beat before she rushed on. “She lives in Portland, and we immediately purchased tickets to get back to her so we can be there for her surgery, but this morning, we found our car had been broken into. Our suitcases we’d packed, to be ready for our early flight, and my purse were stolen . . .”
Madge gasped in outrage. “That’s horrible.”
Aria pressed the heel of her hand to her temple as she wheezed, “God, I was so stupid to leave it sitting on the seat for them to see it. I was just asking for this to happen. But I was so flustered I wasn’t thinking straight.”
She swiped the single tear that had slipped down her cheek. “We couldn’t board our flight because my license was in my purse. And we have all this cash that we got from our wedding. Luckily, my husband had it hidden in his duffel bag that we had in the hotel with us, and we just were hoping there was someone here who could help us.”
Looking helpless and forlorn, Aria spread twenty hundred-dollar bills out on the counter. “It’s probably not enough, but when we get there, I’ll be able to go to the bank and transfer the rest. I promise. And my sister is working on getting me a replacement ID, but said it was going to be at least forty-eight hours to overnight it, and I really need to be there for her surgery today.”