Grounded (Flight for Life Book 2)

by Elaine Meece

  “How will I know when to meet you?”

  Annie shrugged. “I’m still working on it. The first couple of nights, they’ll probably keep a close eye on me. By the third or fourth day, if I’m convincing enough, they may ease up. First chance we get, we’ll leave.”

  “What if you can’t?”

  “Don’t wait for us.”

  He sighed. “There’s got to be a better way. Are you sure there’s no phone service there?”

  “That’s what Megan said.”

  They bounced around ideas involving radio communication, but none of it seemed doable since they’d probably check her and her belongings for devices.

  “They’ll search the local roads and highways. They won’t be expecting us to have a plane waiting,” Annie said. “With nothing but desert behind the commune, I doubt they’ll even consider we’d go that way with the temperature being a hundred and twenty-degrees.”

  “Any place to land that’s closer?”

  “No. Too many large sequoias and rocky terrain. Besides if it were clear, they could hear the jet”

  “Promise me, if you can’t escape with them, you’ll get yourself out of there and meet me. If you don’t, I’m not sure I’m willing to go through with this.”

  Annie gave him a blank stare. Would she really be able to leave Megan and Libby in that hell hole?

  Chapter Eighteen.

  “I promise.” Annie hated lying, but she had no intentions of leaving without her sister and niece.”

  She tried to recall all the things Megan had said about the commune. It would be vital in planning an escape. She had no idea what she was walking into. There was a possibility, they’d keep her separated from Megan and Libby.

  “Your plan has more holes than Swiss cheese. Ask Mrs. Craven if there’s any way she can get the map and one more message to Megan.”

  “I’ve already asked. She said they have been watching them carefully.”

  “Annie, I just thought of a better plan that’ll work. A GPS. Gabe has one that he wears when we’re on vacations or in a large crowd.”

  “If it works off of phone towers forget it.”

  “It doesn’t. It works from a satellite. It’s small enough you should be able to hide it. Actually, I can borrow Gabe’s. It’s small. Another thing is the meeting point. You’ll need supplies there in case you make it before me.”

  “You’ll be monitoring us with the GPS. I doubt we’ll be there long before you pick us up.”

  “Something could happen to prevent me from getting there. It could be something simple like the Internet at the motel not working or maybe I’m asleep when you arrive there. You’d be stuck at the edge of a desert waiting.”

  “So, what do you suggest?”

  “We’ll land there first. It’ll give me a trial run landing on that runway. Then we’ll set up a make-shift camp and leave enough supplies for a few days. Doesn’t it make sense to be prepared?”

  Annie thought before answering. “Actually, it does.”

  Brice turned on his side, gathered her in his arms, and kissed her. “I don’t want anything happening to you.”

  She smiled. “Any particular reason why?”

  “I care a great deal for you. I know that sounds simulated since we haven’t known each other a long time.”

  “I feel the same way about you. I experienced some kind of weird connection that first day. I think that’s why I spilled the coffee.”

  Annie had hoped for a little deeper commitment. Maybe it was best they stay away from the word love.

  During the night, they ended up coiled together and eventually made love again. It made Annie feel better. She still feared he’d go running back to Shea.

  Sometime in the early morning hours, Brice left her room and returned to his.

  The next morning, Annie arrived at the airport ahead of the others to prepare a light lunch and snacks. She’d picked up fresh pastries and fruit on the way. The smaller jet didn’t give her as much room to prepare anything major.

  She tidied up the jet and made sure the bathroom was clean.

  A taxi dropped Evan off. He hurried to the cockpit and started the preflight check. “Morning.”

  “Morning.” Annie ate a pastry and drank a cup of coffee while waiting for the others. It’d be difficult being around Brice without the others realizing there had been some monkey business between them. Evan was right; they would fire her instead of Brice.

  The limo drove up, and Tristen climbed out first and held the door for Cynthia. They approached the jet.

  Where was Brice?

  Was he staying behind?”

  Cynthia entered first, then Tristen. She took her seat while Tristen headed for the cockpit. He stopped beside her. “Brice took a commercial flight this morning.”

  She tried to hide the internal panic running through her. “Is everything all right?”

  “His ex-wife called. She had some kind of emergency, and he felt he needed to be there.”

  Annie’s heart dropped to her stomach. She’d spent most of the night with him only to have him dash off for Shea. If they eventually married, would he be at his ex-wife’s beck and call. Annie needed to rethink her relationship with Brice. Not only was her heart on the line, so was her job.

  She wouldn’t say anything until Megan and Libby were safe.

  ♦♦♦

  Brice hated leaving without speaking to Annie first. But Shea had sounded so frightened. Knowing he was with Annie while his family was in danger weighed him down with guilt. Once he landed in Atlanta, he sped to Annie’s house and whipped into the driveway, then jumped out and ran to the door. He pounded on the door, hoping it wasn’t too late.

  Shea casually opened the door. He’d expected her to look terrified, instead, she smiled. “I’m so relieved you’re here.” Before he could stop her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I knew you still loved me.”

  “You said a car was parked in front and you were fearful for yours and the boys’ lives.” Brice glanced behind him and didn’t see any cars. “When did the car leave?”

  “I fell asleep. I’m not sure.”

  Brice entered the house and closed the door. “Has Hayden tried to contact you?”

  “No, but that could’ve been him parked out front.”

  “Did you call the police?”

  Before she could answer, the boys entered the room and ran to him. “Daddy, you’re here,” Gabe said. His son clung to his leg. “Where’s Annie?”

  “She’ll be here in a little while.”

  Shawn hugged him tightly and smiled up at him. “Mom said we’re going to Disney World.”

  He turned to his ex-wife. “Why’d you tell them that?”

  “Who would look for us there? And we need a good family vacation.”

  “I have a new job. I can’t take a vacation week.”

  “Then how are you flying Annie to Phoenix?” Shea asked.

  “I’m taking my computer. I’ll be working from a hotel room. Besides, we should be back in a couple of days.”

  Shawn looked disheartened. “But I want to go to Disney.”

  “Your mom can take you.”

  “I want you to go.” Shawn made his pouty face.

  Gabe nodded. “Me too.”

  Brice knew Shea had scripted this and instructed Gabe and Shawn on what to say. He figured there hadn’t been a car parked out front the previous evening. Their lives had never been in danger.

  She gave her sons a sly smile.

  “It can’t happen until I return from Phoenix. I’ll have to ask for a week off.”

  Her grin grew into a victorious smile.

  “And I’ll have to see if Annie can take that week off.”

  Her smile crashed into a frown. “I was hoping we could go back to the way things were. This could be a reconciliation trip.”

  “Things will never be the same. You made sure of that when you divorced me and took up with Hayden.”

  S
hea nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “Where will we stay when Annie returns?”

  “If Hayden is out of the equation, you can return home.”

  “If he’s not?”

  “Maybe that vacation idea isn’t so bad. Take the boys and go somewhere safe. You can stay at one of the Disney resorts. By the time you return, maybe the FBI or U.S. Marshals will have Hayden in custody.”

  “I’ll need to make a trip to the house for our clothes.”

  “Not alone.”

  “I’ll be fine. You stay with the boys.”

  “We’ll drop them off at my sisters.” He glanced at his watch. “I need to call the office and let them know when I’m coming in.”

  “I appreciate this.”

  “Let’s go.” He glanced back at the boys. “Grab your things and get in your mom’s car.”

  Once they were on the road, Shea twisted toward Gabe. “Where did you put your special watch?”

  “It’s in Daddy’s car.”

  “Can we go back for it?” Shea asked.

  “Actually, I need to use it,” Brice said. He explained about Annie wearing it to the commune. “Pick up another one for Gabe.”

  After dropping the boys off at his sister’s house, he drove to their house. In the car, he reached under his seat and pulled out a Smith and Wesson 9mm semi-automatic with a full magazine. He slipped it in his inner jacket pocket.

  “I doubt you’ll need that,” she said.

  “Just a precaution,” Brice replied.

  He raised the garage door and parked. Shea unlocked the door and entered the house with Brice following.

  Everything seemed quiet and untouched.

  He missed this house. For a moment, he tried to imagine himself moving back. That part he could see. What he couldn’t see was loving and trusting Shea as he had before.

  “I left his belongings on the patio. They’re gone.”

  “Grab what you need. Make it fast. I have to be in the office for a conference call by two.” He figured by now, the Conners had returned as well. Had Annie returned home to find them gone?

  Shea set her purse on the counter and hurried upstairs.

  He decided to text Annie to let her know where he was and what he was doing.

  “Brice, I need some help,” his ex-wife shouted from the stairway.

  Anything to get them packed and to the airport.

  He climbed the stairs. “Where are you?”

  “In our room.”

  He walked in and froze. His fortune would read.

  Many naked women in your future.

  “Get dressed, Shea.”

  “Remember how good we were together. Let me give you a sample of what you’ve been missing.”

  “Don’t do this.”

  She stood and walked over to him, pressing her naked body against him. “You can move back home and be with the boys. The boys need us to be a couple again. Shawn hasn’t done as well in school. He’s unhappy. Gabe wets the bed and cries because you’re not here. We could have a little wedding with just them attending. Maybe, on a cruise ship.”

  “You disgust me. You gave up everything we had for a two-bit gangster. I don’t want Hayden, the pool cleaning gangster’s leftovers. You didn’t know anything about him yet had him around our sons. I love Annie. It’s over between us, Shea.” He stepped back from her. “Get dressed. I’ll pack the boys’ things.”

  Shea’s eyes filled with tears, but her face showed anger. “Screw you, Brice.”

  Brice left the room and walked down the hall. In the boys’ room he opened drawers and pulled out shorts, T-shirts, and briefs for Shawn, then did the same for Gabe.

  “You stupid bitch!” he heard Hayden shout, followed by a loud crash.

  “Hayden, let me explain,” Shea said.

  “I knew you’d have to come back here eventually.”

  Brice pulled the gun from his jacket and slipped quietly into the hallway.

  “You tipped the cops off?”

  “No, I didn’t. I swear. Brice had you followed.”

  “I’ll deal with him after I take care of you. Nobody fucking walks away from me.”

  Brice crept behind Hayden. “Drop the gun and kick it away.”

  “You’re bluffing.” Hayden stood with his back to Brice and his gun pointed at Shea.

  In a quick motion, Brice jerked the slide back and released it, chambering a round. “I don’t bluff.”

  Hayden fired at Shea, then spun around and fired on Brice.

  At the same time, Brice shot back, hitting Hayden.

  A look of horror and disbelief flashed on Hayden’s face before he crumpled to the floor. Blood soaked the carpet.

  “Shea!” Brice ran to her and grabbed her wrist. A faint pulse drummed through her veins. He grabbed a towel and held it over the wound. “Stay with me, Shea. The boys need you.”

  He jerked his cell phone from his pocket and dialed 911.

  An ambulance and the police arrived quickly. “Sir, we need you to step aside. We’ll take it from here,” a paramedic said.

  He rose from Shea’s side and joined the officers waiting to question him. While giving them the details, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Shea as they worked to stabilized her.

  It wasn’t until, the paramedics had Shea on a stretcher that he realized he’d been hit in the shoulder. Blood ran down his arm. He’d been so hyped up he hadn’t felt it.

  One of the police officers stared at his arm. “We need to get you to the emergency room.”

  “It’s a flesh wound,” Brice said. “I’ll live.”

  ♦♦♦

  When Annie arrived home, Brice’s car was parked in the driveway. She opened the garage but didn’t see Shea’s car. Had she and the boys left?

  Annie anxiously parked and turned off the engine, then rushed to her back door and unlocked it. With his car there, she expected Brice to be there. Her house was totally quiet other than the ice maker dropping ice and running water.

  “Brice,” she called out. “Brice!” Annie walked through the house. “Anyone here?”

  None of their belongings remained in the bedrooms.

  Brice had to be with them.

  She pulled out her phone and turned it on. No text messages. She had one voice mail on her phone and hit play.

  Hayden shot Shea. I killed Hayden. Self-defense. I’ll be with her at the hospital once police are done with me.

  Feeling disorientated, Annie had to sit down. She called Cynthia.

  “Annie, I was about to call you. Have you heard about Brice and Shea?”

  “Yes, that’s why I’m calling. His car is in my driveway.”

  “I’m glad the boys weren’t with them,” Cynthia said.

  “What happened?”

  “I think they were at the house doing a little kissing and making up when that man showed up. I called Tabor to see what he could tell me. Seems Shea was naked when Hayden walked in the bedroom and shot her.”

  Annie swallowed back her anger. “Where are the boys?”

  “With his sister, Pamela. The police have ruled Hayden’s death self-defense, so they didn’t detain Brice. He said Shea’s in ICU. Though I offered to postpone tomorrow’s board meeting, he insisted I didn’t. He plans to attend.”

  After disconnecting the call, Annie tried to envision what had happened but couldn’t. Were they in bed together when Hayden walked in? If so how did Brice get the upper hand? For a moment, she thought she was jumping to conclusion, but why else would Shea be naked in the bedroom? Cynthia seemed to think they were being intimate.

  Intense sadness overwhelmed her.

  She wondered how this would affect the Phoenix trip. Would Brice be willing to leave Shea?

  Annie recalled how determined he’d been when they first met to remarry his ex-wife and move home. Cameron on the other hand had never seemed interested in getting back with his ex until two weeks before their wedding.

  Surely, Brice would call her. What if he didn’t? Whethe
r he helped her or not, she planned to rescue Libby and Megan. But she’d have to come up with a new plan.

  Annie spent the rest of the day in bed. She dubbed herself the guest of honor at her very own pity party. She cried a little, cursed a lot, and ate an entire half gallon of Turkey Hill Dutch chocolate ice cream.

  Nothing smooths a broken heart like ice cream.

  ♦♦♦

  Megan had tried to find a way to reach the mailbox. Ruth had shouted orders like a Marine drill instructor all morning. Megan hadn’t been able to find a time to sneak to the road. Dan had gone with some of the other men to a cattle auction.

  After hanging the last shirt on the line, she lifted the basket and turned to see workers driving up the driveway. They stopped long enough to hand Ruth the mail, then drove on.

  A large manila envelope protruded from the stack of mail. Ruth carried the bundle into the house. Megan knew it’d be left on Dan’s desk.

  Her tiny bedroom backed up to his office, but there wasn’t a door between them, only a thin paneled wall. The two rooms had been a small dining room. The living room across from his office had also been turned into a bedroom. Ruth occupied that room.

  The front hallway separated Ruth’s room and his office. With her being so close, it was impossible to leave through the front door or to enter Dan’s office without disturbing her.

  Also, downstairs was a full bathroom they shared. But Megan preferred the toilet and sink located in the laundry/pantry room. She only used the shared bathroom for showers.

  They served most meals at the large farm table in the kitchen. A family area with sofas and chairs branched off the kitchen. The other two women and their children had upstairs bedrooms and a bath they shared.

  She had to find a way to enter his office without being seen.

  That night Dan and the other men didn’t return by dinner.

  At the table, Ruth sighed. “I guess Dan won’t make it back tonight.”

  Megan shot Libby a look from across the dinner table.

  Her daughter acknowledged it with the slight lifting of her brows.

  “So long as he doesn’t bring a new wife home,” Emma said.

  “Amen to that,” Ruth added.