Page 66 of Fourth Point Of Contact

“I was the pilot,” he shrugged.

“And not a very good one. We crashed.”

“Right, but there were extenuating circumstances. We were being chased.”

“Yes, but the plane was in the air when we crashed. No one was chasing us then.”

“True, but it was also my first time flying. Considering I even got us off the ground was a miracle.”

That didn’t make me feel better at all. In fact, my stomach was swarming with butterflies the further we got into the airport. “I don’t think I can do this. I’ll ride in a car.”

“You don’t have a driver’s license.”

“Then you can drive,” I choked out, desperate to get away from the airport.

“‘Fraid I can’t. Bum leg.” He patted the cast and grinned at me.

My stomach rolled as we pulled to a stop. I stared at the plane and shook my head wildly. I couldn’t do this. There was no way I was getting on that plane. “Nope. Sorry. I’ll hitch a ride or something.”

“Piper, you’ll be fine. Here, I’ll give you some medicine.”

My eyes widened as he shook out a few pills. “What? You’re going to drug me so I can get on the plane and not panic as we go down? I can’t do it again! You can’t make me!”

“Piper—”

But I was losing it. I was one hundred percent positive that if I stepped foot on that plane, I would die. And this time, there would be no one to save me.

“No! I can’t do it!” I cried. Tears streamed down my face as I shook my head, backing away from Patrick. My breaths started coming in short pants as my chest closed up on me. I knew there was no way this would ever work. Not even if he drugged me. I’d fight him tooth and nail.

“Just take this to calm down and?—”

My hand struck out at his, shoving the pills away from me. They went flying to the ground and I scrambled for the door handle, yanking on it to open, but the stupid childproof locks wouldn’t let me out. I started banging on the window and screaming at the top of my lungs. It was only when the car came to a screeching halt that I was finally able to get the damn thing open.

The moment I tumbled out of the car, Patrick was there beside me, hauling me into his arms and holding me tight. His voice was quiet as he rubbed my back and tried to tell me everything was going to be alright. I wasn’t sure I believed him,but he didn’t try to force me back into the car or shove any more pills at me.

“Hey, we won’t fly, okay?”

I nodded against his chest, feeling like a complete idiot for losing it in front of his friends, but when I stepped back, he was the only one around. “Sorry,” I hiccuped, wiping my arm across my face.

Talk about feeling like a total idiot. He’d just seen me freak out, and I’d never done anything like that before, but the thought of getting on that plane…

“How the hell are you so calm?” I grumbled.

“Well, I’ve actually done this a few times before,” he grinned.

“Flying or jumping out of planes?”

“Both. You’d be surprised how many times it’s happened.”

That was the second time he’d said something like that. I just stupidly thought that it was a joke or something. Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself together and stepped back from him, noticing now that he was leaning heavily on one foot and his crutches were nowhere in sight.

“How did you get over here?”

“I hopped like a bunny,” he grinned. “Aren’t I cute?”

Rolling my eyes, I wiped my face again. “So, what do we do now? I’m sure your friends weren’t planning on driving all the way back to New Jersey.”

“It’s not that far. They’ll survive.”

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