Protection

by Jay S. Wilder

  “Good. I don’t know when I’ll be back here, Nick, but it’ll be cool to hook up again if I do?” She blinked slowly, and before he could complete a ten-count in his head, she was sound asleep.

  He propped her up in the seat and set the pillows and blankets around her.

  Gloria came to retrieve the plates and put her finger over her mouth to show she was quiet. Nick smiled and stowed Nicole’s tray table. He made sure her seatbelt was securely fastened for when they finally began their descent into New York.

  He brushed back the loose strands of her hair from her forehead and planted a soft kiss there.

  “I’d enjoy seeing you again, too, but not in this life, Nic. We can’t. We had our moment.”

  21

  Nick

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be touching down shortly in New York. Please bring your seatbacks upright and stow your tray table and any items you may have brought on board.

  Nick had already made sure he had all of Nicole’s things – her purse, her bag, and her suitcase. Since he was in the very front of the plane, he could exit off with all of it immediately and fade into the crowded airport and off.

  He’d watched Nicole sleep the rest of the way. He’d considered not going through with his plan to take her stuff and ditch her. However, she’d gotten herself in way over her head. She was smart, he could tell, but she had a lot to learn. She had told him way too much about herself, her life, her job, everything. Then, she’d let her guard down and let him take her in the bathroom. Worst of all, she fell asleep and let him take everything she had.

  Three drinks and one good fuck, and it was mission accomplished.

  If she had any Terratech data on her, he had it now. And, because he had her passport and ID, she was now stuck in the US. As much as she wanted to escape, she was shit out of luck, and he was free and clear of his assignment. He’d turn the rest of her stuff into the nearest lost and found station so she could get it back. After he was through, though. It wasn’t like he was stealing it or anything. He was merely borrowing it to protect her against herself and to keep his client happy.

  At least, it sounded good in his head.

  He’d thought this assignment would have been more of a challenge. Now, all he had to do was turn over the data, walk away, and never see her again. He hoped it was that simple. In his opinion, he had mitigated the threat, so the Company shouldn’t take the extra step of ordering him to get rid of her. That would be a shame.

  He shook his head and cursed.

  This was the first time he actually hoped he wouldn’t receive those orders.

  Dammit.

  One good fuck, and now he was way off his game.

  They’ll probably ask me to kill her, but I’m almost sure I can’t.

  Now that I’ve had a taste, she’s mine.

  He wasn’t supposed to care. Compassion was dangerous in this business. Yet, here he was, thinking he could tie this up with a bow without having to kill her like he did so many others. But, Nicole Hunt wasn’t a criminal or a murderer. She was just a young girl trying to get by, do a good job, and have a life.

  Stop thinking about her.

  The Company didn’t pay him to care, or to think, for that matter. He got his orders, and whatever they were, he made shit happen.

  End of story.

  Maybe in another life, they could have had more than just a moment on a plane, but in this one, the best thing for him to do was make sure she didn’t get on that plane to London and then disappear from her life. He’d never met someone who was so experienced and so innocent at the same time, so savvy, yet naive. That was Nicole to a tee.

  He glanced at her, then let his eyes shift to look and out the window. They were about to land, with the ground closing in fast. Before he knew it, the rumbling bump of the big jet kissing the tarmac jostled him back and forth. He expected Nicole to wake up, but she slept fully through the landing. He impatiently tapped his foot while the plane crawls to the gate. Finally, he heard the aircraft door open, and he knew it was time to split. Before Nicole, before anyone else, and certainly before Gloria, the flight attendant, realized the nice fiancé left his lady all alone and passed out.

  Nick didn’t wait for anyone else to begin to disembark. He grabbed her things with his and stepped right out of the plane first, moving swiftly up the walkway. He kept his head down and his focus intact.

  Inside the terminal, Nick ducked into the men’s room, into another handicapped stall, and plundered through her things. He withdrew her wallet and passport and tucked them away. He also dug through her other bag for anything else, other clues, more drives or discs or what have you. There was nothing else from what he could tell, so he dumped the contents in the restroom trash can, and took the empty bag to another stall, rolled it up, and then slid it behind the toilet tank before returning to the terminal.

  A text came in acknowledging he had landed. Yes, his every move was always tracked. That was how it was. The Company didn’t just mess around with ordinary tracking or GPS. They knew all.

  Another text followed reading: Data and intel handoff. Gate 12. New York Rangers hat and a leather jacket.

  So, that’s what Nick would be doing. Hand over Nicole’s passport, the USB, and then he could get out of here. He wondered if he’d have any down time to go to his cabin, but he was sure to have a brand new assignment come at him immediately. Besides, for all The Company knew and was able to find out about everything, ironically, they knew nothing of his New York property. He’d love to take a few days off to himself and flush the memory of Nicole out of his mind.

  He hated that the rendezvous point was so close to where his flight had landed. He wanted to put as much distance between him and Nicole as possible. He certainly couldn’t afford to bump into her now. He needed to make the exchange and disappear before she got off the plane in a pissed off rage over him being nowhere around and her stuff being gone, as well.

  By now, she’d know he had conned her. She’d be looking for him, he was sure.

  Thankfully, he found the other operative waiting at the gate. He approached gate twelve, and sure enough, there was the man in the Rangers hat and leather jacket. The guy wasn’t a normal-looking hire of The Company. Something about him bothered Nick immediately. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he figured he needed his own trump card just in case.

  Nick sat beside the man, and without looking, he let her ID and passport slip to the floor. The other guy leaned down and picked up both items. He put them in the pocket of his jeans and sat back again.

  A clean drop.

  “Anything else?” the man asked. “I was supposed to collect something more.”

  Nick took matters in his own hand. “Must have been bad intel. It wasn’t with the rest of her things. I went through everything. She must have it on her. Either that or she never had it in the first place. Or she found a way to hide it back in California.”

  Why he felt compelled to lie about the USB drive he had no freaking clue other than pure gut instinct. Maybe it was because he didn’t like the look of this guy. Probably, it was because he was subconsciously still trying to be a buffer for Nicole and anyone sent to do her harm.

  “That’s unacceptable,” the man said. “You need get your facts straight and retrieve it.”

  “There’s nothing to retrieve.”

  “Orders are to deliver the USB drive.”

  “That’s not the precise assignment. Besides, I don’t take orders from someone at my pay grade…or below.”

  Without looking at him, the man folded over a newspaper as if to read another subject and said, “Orders change. You, of all people, know that.”

  “I was told to gather intel only.”

  “Is that what you call it?”

  How the fuck?

  Did this guy know? He couldn’t. No way. He was trying to rile up Nick, although he wouldn’t let it work. He wouldn’t give too much away and wouldn’t simply part with something so many people wer
e after. Maybe it was to save Nicole’s ass or maybe it was because Nick was trying to figure things out on his own. He’d gone to too much of an effort as it was to get the drive and stash it away. He wouldn’t easily be parted with it, or even let anyone know it was in his possession.

  “Get it,” the man said.

  “If it exists.”

  When Nick went to stand, the man stopped him and handed him the folded newspaper. “Here, take this, as well. You’ll need it.”

  “For what?”

  “X29 will message you with further instructions.”

  A weapon? Why would he need this now?

  Something wasn’t right.

  “Throw me a fucking bone, would you?”

  “As I said, your handler will send new instructions when you get the data drive. Everything hinges on that drive.”

  Without another word, he got up and he walked away, blending in with the crowd. Nick stood up and then ducked into a corner. They’d armed him, Goddammit. Right here at the airport. Right under the nose of TSA and near undercover federal marshals.

  That meant one of two things: either The Company expected trouble or he was about to get orders to neutralize Nicole Hunt.

  He hoped like fuck it wouldn’t come to that second option.

  One thing he knew for sure, that data drive was staying with him.

  22

  Nicole

  JFK Airport, New York City

  The last time Nicole fell asleep, she’d awakened to an erotic dream followed by the live action version. This time, she was in the middle of a conscious nightmare.

  Sitting straight up, Nicole didn’t hear the whirling hum of the plane slicing through the air or the bouncing of landing on a tarmac. Other that a few stragglers and people taking forever to get their bags from the overhead bins, Nicole was one of the last people on the plane. The first class cabin was completely cleared out. Peeking out the small window, she saw the baggage handlers retrieving cases from the belly of the aircraft.

  They’d landed?

  Oh yeah… and Nick was gone.

  Had he tried to wake her up, was unable, and gave up?

  Maybe he had a connecting flight he had to get to, but then he’d told her he was actually coming here to visit property nearby that his family owned. JFK was his final destination.

  So, what?

  Nick just… left?

  An emotional rush overtook her and the sudden desire to cry like a baby threatened her. After what they’d shared, she’d hoped to maybe continue it at another time – when she was passed what she was embroiled in and when he was back in San Francisco. But, wait… had he even told her he was from the Bay area? Or, had she simply assumed that bit of information due to his point of departure?

  God, she felt stupid. Then again, it was her own fault she hadn’t gotten his number before she passed out, which was a damn shame. She could use another dose of Nick… geez, she never even asked him his last name.

  Anger seethed through her, bringing her fully alert and awake. She guessed she couldn’t be too mad at a hot guy, though, for having a semi-anonymous casual encounter with a stranger on a plane. It had all been her idea, as it was. She supposed she couldn’t be too angry at him, although, she was. What a jerk. He could have left a note, his number, a “thanks for the great sex,” or anything.

  No. He’d simply disappeared as if he’d never existed.

  Nicole knew damn well she hadn’t invented him. Her body still sang out and slightly ached in places she hadn’t used in awhile. That was not imaginary.

  “Are you okay, dear?”

  It was Gloria, the flight attendant.

  “Yeah, I was dead asleep and missed the landing.”

  Concern crossed Gloria’s face. “Wh-wh-where is your fiancé?”

  Nicole wanted to set her straight, but what was the point? She shrugged it off, not wanting to piss off the kind hostess who had given her so many liberties.

  “Oh, um… he went ahead to get our things. We’re meeting at baggage claim.”

  The older woman smiled. “What a sweetheart. Can I help you at all? Do you need a wheelchair escort due to your… condition?”

  Nicole shook her head. You would have thought she was the first “pregnant” person Gloria had ever run across. All the same, Nicole could take care of herself. She had to. And always did. It was paramount she get out to the main counter and purchase her ticket for London as soon as possible.

  “I’m good. Thanks. Now that most everyone is off, I can go. I didn’t want anyone waiting on me, you know, holding them up.”

  “Well, all the best to you two,” Gloria said and moved forward into the galley to clean up.

  Nicole stretched and stood up, careful not to bump into the overhead console. She went into the aisle and reached overhead for her roller board. She pulled it down and jerked the handle up so she could tug it along. She remembered she had put her backpack with her purse and computer under her seat and turned to reach down to grab it.

  It was gone.

  “What the fuck?”

  She scrambled to search under the other seat and beneath the one where she was sitting. Nothing. Fuck, fuck, fuck. It wasn’t in the overhead compartment, and it hadn’t shifted into another section.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  Someone had taken her stuff.

  No, no, no… was it?

  Nick?

  That asshole had run off with her pack!

  She ground her teeth together and threw her hands up. Everything was in there, including her wallet, generic debit card, her ID, money, passport, and the bloody goddamned thumb drive with all the TDE-5X specs and the Terratech visitor log info from Saturday morning.

  Her proof. Her safety parachute. Her life preserver.

  That fucking prick.

  It couldn’t be anyone else. They were in first class, for Christ’s sake. Not exactly the scum of the earth surrounding them at the hefty ticket price. Somehow he knew what he was doing, had masterminded it all, and had gotten away with what she had to save her own ass. Had he even arranged for her to sit with him in first class or was that merely a coincidence?

  She’d been had, plain and simple.

  In more ways than one.

  God! She was so much smarter than that, had been trained by her father not to be so gullible or trusting of new people and their motivations. How could she have allowed this to happen?

  Nicole’s mind whirled, calculated, subtracted, and divided and she came up with the same concluding solution. She spun around in utter panic, not knowing what to do next, or where to even turn. Her world imploded all around her, yet only she could see and feel it.

  She had no escape. No viable means of getting out of the country.

  She had no identification.

  No… anything.

  That fucking prick.

  She couldn’t even hole up in an airport hotel until this all blew over, if it ever did.

  Slowly plodding off the plane and up through the jetway, she stifled the tears. These tears were of irritated frustration this time. Mostly, she was pissed off at herself for being so stupid, so open and trusting, and for not being more diligent, paying attention, or protecting herself, even at thirty-five thousand fucking feet.

  This was the second sexy, conniving bastard who’d screwed her over. In every fucking interpretation of the word screwed.

  You’d think I’d learn my lesson.

  Exiting into the brightly-lit terminal, life went on all around her. People rushed from one gate to the other, lining up for coffee or burgers or the bathroom. Flight crews skittered about in their quest to get to their next assignment. Mothers navigated baby carriages through the mélange of people rushing about. Businessmen oblivious to anyone’s needs but their own, marched through on cell phone calls making offers and closing deals.

  Oh, how Nicole envied all of them.

  She just stood there, dumbfounded, trying to figure out how it had all gone so wrong so fas
t.

  While other passengers continued along all around her, she was paralyzed in place.

  Because, while they were enjoying their normal life, hers might well be over.

  23

  Nicole

  This was total bullshit.

  Everything. All her stuff. Gone.

  No phone. No computer. Not a cent to her name.

  “It was taken off the plane,” she told the airline customer service rep.

  “By our cleaning crew?”

  “No, by another passenger. It doesn’t even matter who did it at this point. I need to get to London on the evening flight.”

  The man scowled at her. “We have to report your ID missing to the police and your passport missing to the State Department. None of that is timely, so I’m afraid whatever flight you had planned for this evening won’t be an option for you.”

  Nicole pounded her fist on the counter and growled out loud.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” the airline rep said. “I’m doing my best, but we have procedures.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment. “It’s not your fault. I’m just… upset, as you can imagine. I appreciate all you’re doing.”

  Fuck it all. Her documentation could be replaced. What freaked her out the most were the facts that she had no money, no other way to pay for anything, or even her phone to make a call to her father. But worst of all, the fucking data drive was gone. It was her bargaining chip in case she needed to negotiate for safe passage. I was the means to keep breathing.

  “I can offer you one night in the Sheraton JFK while you wait for the police to get a copy of your California license and for the State Department to issue a new passport to you.”

  She sighed long and hard. “That’s really thoughtful, but I don’t want to stay here. I need to get to London. Immediately.” She widened her eyes and emphasized the urgency by lowering her voice. “It’s life or death.”