Page 72 of Wayward
Somewhere I have no idea about.
We’re in the air for a good hour. I’ve been eyeing a tablet in the cubby in front of us. Haley nods toward it, then looks back at me. Holloway, Collins, and the other guard are scattered throughout the cabin, but it’s been about an hour since takeoff, and none of us have broken any rules. There’s no touching, no talking.
Behind me, Dante snores louder than the engines.
Since I have the window seat, I take the tablet while Haley leans forward, blocking any view of what I’m doing. I nest the tablet between my body and the cabin wall.
It’s already connected to the plane’s Wi-Fi, and there on the screen is our course.
My heart seizes.
I can’t believe where we’re heading.
Chapter 32
Turn About
Haley
My eyes widen when Zane turns to me. “London. We’re going to London. FAM, that’s the private airport south of the city, right?” I ask Zane in a whisper.
Hope soars—even after everything they’ve said, after the negotiations between us, Sam, and Z, and despite all that’s still uncertain, it feels more like home. Like maybe . . . maybe we have a better chance of slipping away.
How deep do the Zambrano family’s ties run? I can’t imagine what’s going through Zane’s mind right now. It really is his home—or almost. Birmingham’s only a few hours away. His mum, his sister . . .
My heart squeezes for him, and I hold his hand, hiding it from the guard behind us.
Our eyes lock, and I try to communicate as much sympathy as I can without saying a word.
We’ve got a lot of hours before we get there. Zane tries the tablet, checking to see if it’s unlocked enough that we could actually send a message. I regret now that we didn’t do more—something, anything. But I was still so hopeful that Stella would really help us.
Instead, she and her fiancé sold us out.
I wonder what kind of family favors they’ll receive for their loyalty to the Zambranos. That’s how the rich operate. It’s all about networking—who you can help so they’ll help you later.
It’s disgusting, and I hate it.
It makes me never want to associate with anyone like that again.
Maybe I need a new job when all this is over.
That’s the weird thing. I love what I do—so much that I can’t imagine ever doing anything else, even after everything that’s happened.
Maybe there’s something wrong with me.
“You doing okay, Little Bird?” Zane whispers.
There’s a grunt from behind us—from Collins. I don’t know what he has against Zane. The rest of the guards seem indifferent.
I don’t want to fall asleep. I feel like every second we get closer to London, something could happen.
But that’s ridiculous.
I convince myself that sleeping now is for the best and recline the large leather chair and pop up the footrest. It’s not quite flat, but it’s damn comfortable—way better than the economy seats I usually travel in.
The flight’s not as long as the one from Miami when I first went to meet Rocky and Candy. Back then, I thought I was going to be touring Asia and eventually helping reprovision the ship for a world cruise. Rocky and Candy were supposed to be popping in and out as the ship changed locations.
It feels so long ago now.
