Five Past Midnight
Page 39
"Me, helping you raise apples in rural America?" Katrin laughed again. "That's a crazy notion. Besides, I can just barely tolerate you."
"I grow on people." Cray grinned again. Goddamn that grin. "I can be a pretty good convincer. All we need is a little time together."
"I've already spent a little time with you. It seemed like half a century." But her eyes were pensive. He looked back at her. That optimistic and brash and compelling American face. That beat-up face. Someone who cared for her, even if he was crazy. And an American.
She exhaled suddenly, loudly, her mind running away from her, running into absurd territory. Those wild thoughts, and what they abruptly revealed to her about her heart, had a force that pushed her back into her chair, as if the plane were taking off rather than landing.
The plane touched down on the plowed field, and the ruts grabbed the wheels and guided the Skytrain along. The plane pulled up to the three men waiting for them, and the pilot shut down the engine.
The pilot was first out of the plane, and was immediately surrounded by the men, who were all grinning and who one after another shook his hand. Dietrich followed the pilot out of the hatch.
Cray had a foot on the ladder, about to climb down, but Katrin touched his shoulder. "What kind of apples, did you say?"
NOVELS BY JAMES THAYER
Five Past Midnight
White Star
S-Day: A Memoir of the Invasion of England
Ringer
Pursuit
The Earhart Betrayal The Stettin Secret
The Hess Cross