Page 31 of Protecting Vera

Another plane landed and pulled to a gate not too far away when the agents at her gate started calling for her plane to load. Because she’d flown so much when she’d first started working, she had permanent status on the airline, so she boarded in an early group.

The area was packed, so she had to fight her way through the groups of people congregating close to the gate just to get to a spot where she could show the airline worker her boarding pass.

With the pass scanned, she turned to enter the door that would take her down the ramp to the plane. As she turned, she heard someone call her name. Without hesitation, she spun, shocked to see Logan standing off to the side, his eyes narrowed.

Fear shot straight through her. She moved fast, heading down the gangway, praying Logan wasn’t on this flight. She was sitting in row eight, right behind first class. All the seats in first class had been full, so everyone who boarded had to pass beside her except for the few people in the two rows between her row and first. The plane wasn’t huge since this was a connecting flight to Phoenix so she didn’t have long to wait before the boarding doors closed.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Logan wasn’t on this flight. He must have been walking through the airport when he’d seen her. A shiver snaked through her. She’d been in the same place as he’d been. He could have done anything. Luckily, he hadn’t been close to her. She didn’t want to think about how bad it could have been if he’d found her earlier, like while she’d been eating.

When she’d first made arrangements for this trip, she’d been upset that she had to fly to Phoenix before catching a flight to San Diego. Now she was thankful Logan didn’t have information about her final destination.

Through the first part of the flight her stomach twisted in knots. About the midway point, she decided to head back to the bathroom and check each seat for Logan. When she was almost at the back, she saw a guy who looked like her ex, but when he raised his head and met her gaze, she realized it wasn’t him.

She entered the tiny cubicle they called a bathroom and let the tears flow. She’d messed up, but there was hope. Logan didn’t know she was flying into San Diego. He’d think she lived in Phoenix. She could live with him thinking she was in another city in a totally different state from where she lived.

Logan was shocked.He’d seen Vera in the airport. She’d been loading a plane to Phoenix. At the time he’d seen her, he hadn’t known the flight was going to Phoenix, but he sure as heck had looked at the board as soon as she disappeared down the gangway.

His first instinct was to follow her, but with airport security being what it was, there was no way he could talk himself out of the shit storm he would stir up if he raced after her. He was having a hard enough time convincing the detective investigating the fire at the apartment complex that he had nothing to do with it. Supposedly, they had evidence. He’d called the dude’s bluff, and of course, the guy had nothing to show him.

Now, he would need to head to Phoenix. But he was working for his father now, which sucked. He’d just come back from a trip to Lubbock. What a piece of shit town. He needed a shower to wash the stink off his body. The people out there were insane. He thought people from Austin were crazy, but Lubbock was weird.

He would find a way to take a break and head to Phoenix. His dad couldn’t force him to work all the time. He knew the jerk would eventually back down. Right now, he was having to do some menial jobs, running down people late on paying their bills. He did like the way he could boss old farts around. When managers saw him show up on their doorsteps, they made the mistake of thinking he was a pushover. He only had to punch one of them in his dealings to get them to pay, but it had felt good. That was the best thing about his job. He could flex his muscles, and no one called him out.

He would have to figure out where Vera was in Phoenix. Surely, there had to be a way to track her down. He didn’t have a photo of her with short hair, at least not one he could flash at people and discover if they’d seen her. Soon enough, he would be reunited with her, and she would never escape him again.

Worry still houndedher when she got home. It was sad that she felt relief because she hadn’t heard from Hop. He would be angry. She might even get kicked out. But what could she have done? She had to work, and her company had wanted her to travel. Pushing back might have kept her from traveling, but it could have caused problems at work.

Sleep wouldn’t come so she got up and vacuumed and dusted before cleaning the kitchen. When she finished, she dropped to the couch and stretched out. She woke to the sound of the front door opening. The scream ripped from her mouth as she fumbled to sit and stand at the same time. She ended up on the floor, staring up at Hop, who looked shocked and worried.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he set down his bags.

Tears slid down her face as she half crawled her way to standing and flung herself into his arms. She clung to him, the tears coming hard as the stress of her mistake leaked out. She’d screwed up so much, and he was going to hate her.

“Hey, hey. Is everything okay?”

She nodded, then shook her head, all the while sobbing against his chest. What was wrong with her? She could handle her shit usually, but not today. Maybe she couldn’t handle things, and that was why she was here in California. But Logan trying to kill her wasn’t shit easily handled.

Before Logan, she had a good life, a thriving career, and good friends. She hadn’t realized it at the time, but he’d alienated her from all her close friends. Frizz had always been someone special in her life, but they’d grown apart enough they didn’t get together as often as they had before. Logan not seeing her with Frizz had been the only thing that saved her relationship with Frizz.

She’d been stupid to call Frizz and put her in danger. It had been great seeing her friend and Justin, too. They’d laughed and had such a good time catching up. But still, it hadn’t been worth the danger she could have created for Frizz. She needed to be more careful. Seeing Logan at the airport had scared the crap out of her.

Hop pushed her to arm’s length, worry filling his gaze. “Did something happen?”

She closed her eyes, unable to look him in the face. She had to tell him, but she didn’t want to. If she could hide from him, she would. But he was home, and she hadn’t come up with a good way to tell him about the huge mistake she’d made. Now, she would have to live with the consequences of her actions.

“I’m so sorry.”

He hugged her close as another sob cut through her. She had screwed up so badly. “What happened?” He sounded so calm, but he was going to be pissed. “Let’s sit down and we can talk.”

She settled on the couch beside him, drawing her knees up to her chest. If she hugged her knees tight enough, she might be able to protect herself from the worst of it.

“I made a huge mistake.”

Hop sighed, and she heard a world of disappointment in that sigh. Anger about her actions and embarrassment filled her.

“What happened?”

She shook her head, thinking about getting up to pace, but she tightened her hold on her legs.

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