Saved by a Dangerous Man (7 page)

But by the time we arrived at the airport, paranoia had taken over. Impossible that Henry could know… but how else to explain his sudden contempt for me? After going through security, I changed into jeans and a sweater and wondered how concerned I should be.

Twenty minutes before our plane was due to start boarding, Henry got a message that made him jump to his feet. He walked away without looking at me.

I dug out Corbin’s phone.
Think I’m crazy but Henry’s acting strange.

Seconds later, he replied:
In what way?

I wrote:
Distant.

The messages vanished, and three new ones flashed up, yielding a paragraph of text.
Plugged the leak. Working on some secondary leaks and related problems. Huge headache but much, much bigger disaster averted. Those numbers helped more than you know. You, “anonymous field agent,” are a hero right now.
 

A moment later, Corbin wrote:
I’ll pick you up at the airport. Don’t let Henry take you anywhere.

I smiled, instantly giddy. I hadn’t expected he’d still be in town, hadn’t thought I’d see him for a month.
You miss me or something?

New message.
This is serious, Audrey. But yes, I do. Of course I do.

Sadly, that text disappeared along with the rest of them.
 

Henry returned, looking wan. When he sat, I squeezed his arm, then bumped his shoulder with mine. “What’s wrong?”

He shrugged, his jaw an angry clench. “Nothing for you to worry about.” The way he sounded, he might as well have been talking to a panhandler, not the virgin on a pedestal he’d been trying to sleep with for several weeks.
 

He dug around in his backpack and came out with a cable. My heart leapt as Henry plugged his phone into an outlet.
 

I stared at it, my mouth dry. This was my chance. Even though Corbin had said not to worry about the phone, I
knew
there was information on there that could help us. Help Corbin, rather. Henry had been on the phone all day, and something big was going down.

It was imperative that I get that phone.

“Henry? My head is killing me. Dehydrated, probably. Could you do me a huge favor and buy me a drink?” I massaged my temples and tried to look sickly.

“I have water,” he said, reaching into his backpack, but his hand hung there as he looked at his phone. He was even more distracted than before.

“A milkshake would be better.” I dipped into my purse for money. “Get one for yourself, too. My treat.”

He wasn’t paying attention at all. If this little trip had been a true romantic getaway, I would have been pissed.

“Never mind,” I said, standing. “I’ll get them. What flavor do you want?” Because if he wouldn’t go, I’d spill it on him afterward and he’d have to clean up.

Henry stood. “No, you relax.” He walked away without taking the crumpled bills in my hand.

“Any flavor is fine,” I mumbled. Good thing I didn’t have allergies.
 

There was activity near the gate, then the agent called for first class to board.

I scooted over so that I was next to the outlet. No one was watching me, but I kept my movements small and economical. I popped open the pencil box, evicted the pencils, then unplugged Henry’s phone and dropped it inside. I closed the top of the box, and a red light came on.

So far so good.
 

Passengers eager to board crowded the aisle, blocking my view of the concession area. It didn’t matter. Assuming Henry hadn’t encountered a wait, which was unlikely, it would still take a few minutes to make the shakes. I had plenty of time.

Still, my heart pounded in my throat.

“Excuse me!” Henry’s voice cut through the hubbub, and I felt myself blanche.

I glanced into my purse. Red light.
 

Nothing was ever simple. I squatted on the floor and messed with my bag, transferring things from my purse to my carry-on. Messing things up was more like it; my hands shook that badly.

Henry’s feet appeared. “What are you doing?”

I looked up into Henry’s face, smooth as a mask. “Just getting our stuff together.” I smiled, pulled the plug out of the wall and dropped it into my purse. “No milkshakes?”

“When I plug my phone into an outlet, it’s because I need to charge it,” he snapped.
 

He grabbed at my purse, but I shifted out of his reach. “We’re boarding. I didn’t want it to get forgotten.” Under the circumstances, nonchalance wasn’t easy, but I gave it my best shot. “Should I plug it back in?”

“Yes,” he said icily. “Isn’t that obvious? What are you, stupid?” His voice had only gotten louder since he had snarled at people to get out of his way, and now passengers were staring at us. A guy my age shot me a sympathetic smile, and I wondered if he thought Henry was my father.

I fumbled with my purse, snatched out the charger and practically threw it at him, then thrust my hand in, flipped the top off the box and pulled out the phone.
 

He grabbed it, stared at it hard. My mouth went dry. “What now?”

“It’s dead.”
 

I rolled my eyes. “Use mine,” I suggested as Henry jabbed at the power button, then plugged in the phone again. I silently prayed that the program had finished installing before draining the battery.

“Well, if you change your mind and want to borrow mine, you can. But I’m getting in line,” I said. “You can be grumpy over here all by yourself.”

“You can go now.”

I snorted and put some distance between us, then I sent Corbin a text to let him know that maybe the program was on Henry’s phone.

The plane was almost full and Henry was walking down the aisle when I felt Corbin’s phone vibrate with a text.

Henry leaned along the seat-backs in front of me, his face as untroubled as if he hadn’t made a spectacle of himself. “Sorry about your shake. Fifteen people in line ahead of me.”

“Thanks anyway. I’ll get juice after takeoff.”

He gave me a long look, then headed toward the rear of the plane. I exhaled. My shoulders felt like someone had used a crank to ratchet the muscles together. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get them to fully relax.
 

The flight attendant announced that the cabin door was closed. That meant that Henry couldn’t get up. I quickly checked my phone.

Just the one message, but it made my blood run cold.
Do not go home with Henry. He suspects. I will get you. BE CAREFUL.

“Need you to turn that off, miss,” the flight attendant said, a huge smile on his perfectly round face.

“But I thought the rules changed—”

“It’s up to the airline. Our company likes to keep things peaceful.” Bigger smile and a wink.
 

Rather than complain about the screaming babies on my last flight, I nodded and powered down the phone. It probably didn’t matter if I responded or not; a man who could make texts disappear was surely able to tell if I’d read them.

The flight was too long for me to be as keyed up as I was. Corbin wasn’t an all-caps sort of guy.
 

I sat still and stared straight ahead, afraid to turn around and see what Henry was doing. And unlike the flight out, he didn’t try to get my attention or give me food or ask me if I needed something to read.

And that scared me more than anything. Never would have thought I’d miss his pathological level of attentiveness.

When the plane landed, I jumped up with all the other passengers.
Just focus on walking away, Audrey,
I told myself.
 

I grabbed my stuff and turned to look as the rows ahead of me emptied. Henry was staring.
 

I waved goodbye and blew him a kiss and mouthed, “Thank you.” I mimed a phone call and waved goodbye again.

“Wait,” he called out as I turned. I pretended not to hear him.

A rotund woman a few rows up slowly backed into the aisle. She pulled her bag down from the overhead compartment, unzipped it, and started digging for something.

“Can I squeeze by?” I asked.

She mumbled something in a language I didn’t understand. Then I saw Henry coming down the other aisle. By averting my face, I managed to avoid eye contact.
 

The woman finally located her hat and gloves, zipped everything up, and bumped down the aisle, smacking her suitcase on every row of seats.

Henry and I reached the exit at the same time.

“Didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” I said brightly as we walked through the terminal. “How was your flight?”

“Would have been better if I’d been closer to you.”

I couldn’t tell if he meant it. “The guy I got stuck next to played video games with the sound turned all the way up,” I said. “That was fun.”

“It’s late. We’ll grab a taxi to my place—”

“Henry, I’m not—”

“And I’ll drive you home from there.” He slanted a reproachful look my way.

“Oh.”
Crap
. How the heck was I supposed to get out of that? If I insisted on going my own way, it would make him even more suspicious. If I claimed someone was coming to pick me up, he would expect a ride. “Actually, I need to get going. I’m not feeling so great.”

“That’s right. I forgot to ask how you are.”

Technically, he still hadn’t asked, and I didn’t think it was an oversight. I smiled weakly. “Guess I’m coming down with something.”
 

“Poor thing.” His tone of voice said something quite different. Something that rhymed with “you little lying bitch.” Or maybe I imagined it.

“My mom’s picking me up,” I stammered. “She offered, you know, last night when we talked. After the bar, in the room.”
Take a breath. Keep it simple.
“You go get your cab.”

Henry stared at me. Stalemate. “You came to Florida for me, didn’t you?” Something sinister flashed in his eyes. He blinked and it disappeared—if it was even there to begin with. “So I’ll wait with you.”

“You’re the best,” I said. “One sec.” I ducked into a bathroom, went to the stall the farthest from the door and turned on Corbin’s phone, holding it deep in the bag while simultaneously flushing the toilet so that Henry wouldn’t hear the startup chime.

Great. I was completely paranoid.

No new messages.
I can’t get rid of him,
I tapped.
Don’t come here.

I waited. Flushed again. Waited several minutes more. Nothing.
 

Just as I was about to walk out, the phone vibrated.
I’m already here. Do not go anywhere with him.

My hands trembled as I fixed my hair.

A tween girl I recognized from the plane walked in. She gave me a funny look, and I turned to the mirror. My face was a stressed out disaster.

No, I wasn’t cut out for this spy thing.
 

Deep breath. Now. One foot after the other.

Henry stood next to a trash can, hands deep in his pockets as he intently watched the restroom. No wonder the girl had seemed freaked out.

“Oh, good,” I said. “I worried you might have left.” It came out a little sarcastic; my forced peppiness was fading.

“I’ve gotten accustomed to your spending large amounts of time in bathrooms. You should talk to your doctor about that,” he said evenly. I wasn’t imagining the frightening look in his eyes.
 

Get a grip.
Despite what Corbin thought, Henry was just Henry Heigh, a man so boring that even the old ladies at the police station pitied me for going on a date with him. He was a former cop for heaven’s sake.

But all that meant nothing if he knew that I’d double-crossed him. And Corbin was somewhere in the airport. I had to ditch Henry. Fast.

“Aren’t you going to call your mother?” he prodded as he ushered me away from the gates.

Trapped
. I nodded weakly and dialed her. It rang forever, then went to voicemail.

No faking a conversation; Henry hovered so close that he could surely hear. So close that I couldn’t surreptitiously hang up.

“Uh, my plane landed. Call me so that I don’t get in a taxi if you’re looking for me.” Soon as I got a moment, I’d need to fix that. Could I duck into another bathroom? The intense look in Henry’s eyes… he would follow me inside.

Henry and I stepped onto the final moving walkway. After this, we’d have to go down to the taxi area, and I was fresh out of ideas.

We moved onto solid ground, and he grabbed above my elbow and steered me to the escalator. I pulled away and looked over the side as we rode down, desperately scanning the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Corbin before Henry did.

“Looks like a wait for taxis,” I babbled, glancing through the glass windows. “Why don’t you get in line while I try my mother again?” I parked myself on one of the cold, black metal benches, resolving not to get up again until Henry left.

Henry sat next to me. “No hurry,” he said. He leaned back and crossed his legs. “We’ve got all the time in the world, you and I.” Under the harsh light, his sharp features took on a predatory look, like a raptor about to swoop down on an unsuspecting songbird.

Not that I was anything nearly so sweet and innocent. I could see it from Henry’s point of view. He’d trusted me. It wasn’t like
he
was the one engaged in illegal activities. He’d been trying to catch a wanted criminal—his job—and even if his sources weren’t supposed to be talking to him, he could easily tell himself that the ends justified the means. I would have done the same; when a wife-beating loser jumped bail and was going after the person who had brought the charges, I had no qualms about bending a few laws.

Henry watched me out the corner of his eye, and I saw his face tighten with disgust.

Jesus,
I thought.
He knows about the program on his phone.
My heart pounded so fast that I thought I might pass out. He could have me arrested. I would have a criminal record, my dad would fire me, and I’d end up living on the street.

“Gonna give Mom a few more minutes before I try again,” I said, feeble despite my best efforts. For all I knew, police were on the way.

“Did you enjoy Florida?”