Page 10 of Every Breath

Chapter Six

“I hearyou’re heading home, Doc. Probably best since there’s really not much for you to do here anymore, right?”

“Not for what I do, no,” I reply, seeing Larry walking toward me. He looks tired, still sporting a coffee stain on his collar from this morning’s breakfast. “That’s what you guys are here for.”

“That’s what I figured. So did you get to move your flight to today?”

“Not yet. There are no available seats. Just my luck, everyone heading to Taos today. All flights are full. And when there was an available seat, a damn employee took it.”

With my colleagues and I having completed all our interviews and collected all the samples we’d needed the moment we arrived until yesterday, from here on, everything we do is from a laptop, studying interactive maps and reviewing test results the moment we get them. There’s so much more, of course, but as far as my being onsite, as the head scientist, I’m pretty much done. Too bad all the commercial flights are full and I’ve been on standby for the last two hours.

I glance at my phone, the notification I’m waiting for about an available seat on any available flight to Taos or Santa Fe turning into wishful thinking with every minute.

It’s bad enough I lied to Sarah, telling her I would be offline for most of the day because I’d be with my bosses who’d flown in to oversee the whole operation. Bosses? I’m the damn boss in this operation and even she knows it. But somehow, she didn’t seem to catch that little lie.

Still, so much for all my planning. Why didn’t I just rent a car and drive down? I’d have been halfway there by now.

“I hear the snowpack’s really good right now at Taos Ski Valley,” Larry says, sitting across from me in the hotel lobby. “Does that mean you’re gonna miss spending Valentine’s with your woman?”

“Not if I can help it,” I mutter, checking my phone again for a notification—any notification—that there’s a seat available. Surely someone decided he wasn’t in the mood to ski today.

Around the hotel lobby, people are busy getting caught up in the spirit of the holiday, the bar filling up with lonely hearts hoping for a hookup. From a set of lounge chairs behind me, I hear a woman laugh at something her companion said. To my right, a couple is staring lovingly at each other. I glance at the clock on the wall. Three o’clock.

Shit. This is what happens when you become too overconfident, Benny Turner. You fucking fail.

I exhale, reminding myself to relax. “Keep me updated if you guys find anything new from the spill site, okay? I know we’re pretty much done and the samples are making their way to the lab as we speak, but you know the drill.”

“Yup, Doc, we all got the protocol you emailed us after lunch. In the meantime, we’re gonna stick to the original return schedule and just hang out,” he says, winking. “Maybe we’ll even get lucky like you, huh?”

I look at him, curious. “Like me?”

“You did call her, right? The woman who gave you her number?” He laughs, shaking his head disbelievingly at my reaction. “Come on, Doc, we all saw her hand you some napkin when you walked past her at the bar last night. It had her number, right? Don’t tell me you said no to that hot piece of ass? Fuck, she was hot for you!”

“So?”

“Tony saw her first though. Too bad she only had eyes for you.”

I don’t answer. I just shake my head as my phone vibrates and I excuse myself. If it’s another notification that there are no seats available, then I’m renting a car right now and driving like hell to Taos. It’s crazy, but that’s what happens when the universe decides to throw a wrench into your plans. I only hope the guys are holding their own against Sarah in case she gets annoyed at the whole adventure I’d planned last night.

What’s this I hear about everyone getting together tonight? I thought you were working on that Colorado spill.

I don’t need to see who the message is from for the tone is familiar. Dax must have told him.

I’m done here but all flights are fully booked. I’m about to rent a car. I should make it there in five hours.

Daniel Drexel: So when you asked me about it this morning, you meant to ask her tonight?

Benny: Yes.

Daniel: That’s short notice.

Benny: What can I say? It’s Valentine’s Day.

Daniel: And the snow pack’s amazing in the Valley. It’s probably why there are no seats available.

Benny: That’s what I figured.

Daniel: And you think you can drive all the way to Taos and make it in time?

---