Page 121 of Once a Hero

Read a book.

Read two books.

Watch the news.

Read more books.

Maybe keeping busy would take his mind of Beatrice. He wondered what she was doing and thought of texting her as he had done occasionally in the last six months since they had put Molyneux away.

He tried to see her face in his mind. Her smile.

Jake could hear her voice. Calm, quiet, unassuming.

He smiled as he recalled the times she had saved his life.

Calling Helen when he was drowning in the fishing vessel at sea outside France.

Pulling him to the ground so he didn’t get shot in San Francisco.

Rescuing him and Earl in the redwood forest. He did return the favor by keeping her safe later on.

Rescuing him again in her dad’s cabin when Molyneux’s men beat him up and tortured him.

And fighting off Molyneux before she could blow them all up to kingdom come.

Being rescued so many times made Jake feel like he had only been a hero once. Of course, he had come through when duty called, but she did more things for him than he had done for her.

The flight took off for Atlanta, and he dozed off for the entire flight without eating anything. An hour and forty minutes later, he disembarked and boarded a bigger plane.

All around him, people wore masks again. Just as well because his own mask hid his face from view.

Jake found his seat, and once again, the aisle seat was empty.

He moved over and buckled in. He tried to go to sleep sitting up.

“You’re in my seat.”

Jake’s eyelids sprung open so wide that his eyeballs were going to pop out. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask, so no one could see his jaw drop.

He was hearing things, surely.

He blinked. Looked to his right.

Big brown eyes above a floral mask smiled back at him. He could recognize those eyes anywhere. Her hair was hidden beneath a baseball cap.

“Bee…uh… What’s your name?” He almost gave away her name in front of all these strangers.

“Sandra. And you are?”

“Matt.”

“Well, Matt, you’re in my seat.” She waved her phone at him.

He thought he was looking at an e-ticket, but the message said, “Hello Jake.”

Jake’s heart swelled, and he unbuckled his safety belt. He returned to his original seat.

“Thank you.” Beatrice sat down. She was carrying a small crossover satchel to match her mask.

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