Page 103 of Longing for Liberty
Well, shit.
“Once we’re in the air, we’ll take turns showering.”
Showering? That sounded nice.
The shower was glorious. Hot water the whole time. It felt good to be clean and to change into new clothes. Back at my seat, I draped the blanket over me and kicked out the footrest. I didn’t dare look over at Jeremy in case Amos was watching from somewhere, but I felt his eyes boring into me. Finally, I glanced quickly and saw him frowning at my throat. I brought my fingers up to cover my lower neck. Shit! I’d forgotten when I put on the lower cut, loose dress, and the bathroom mirror had been foggy.
A flash of Roan’s face turned my stomach, but I tried to give my husband a reassuring ‘I’m okay’ smile. It didn’t work. His entire body, neck, and face were tight. He was livid as he finally turned his face forward, probably imagining all the ways he would kill whoever touched me.
After we’d all showered, the flight attendant brought out trays of hot food. I couldn’t help but peek at Jeremy again as his eyes widened when she set the meal in front of him. Chicken in a savory gravy over rice. Side salad with vinaigrette. A fluffy roll with butter. A fudgy frosted brownie. The guard stood up and walked forward, plucking the roll off Jeremy’s tray and tossing it in the air, catching it and smirking.
“Give that back,” I said.
I didn’t mean to.
The guard went still. Jeremy’s face swung to me, pursed with warning. I locked eyes with the guard.
Oh, no.
I had a choice to make. Apologize and back down or stand my ground.
“Give it back to him,” I said in a lower voice, menace rolling off me.
He let out a huff of laughter. It had probably been years since a worker-class citizen questioned him. But I wasn’t just any worker.
“What are you gonna do?” he asked. “Tell on me?”
“Yes,” I said plainly. “Fitzhugh’s quite fond of me.” I gestured to the plane and watched his eyes narrow.
“You think he’ll be happy to know you’re sticking up forthis man?”
“That man is practically starving compared to you,” I pointed out. “It’s one thing to uphold the law and another thing to be cruel.”
He chuckled again, clearly in disbelief. “Whatever.” He slightly crunched the roll in his fist and threw it onto Jeremy’s lap, then stomped past me, whispering under his breath a word that sounded like, “Jezebel.”
I should have that word written on my tombstone someday.
In my peripheral vision, I still felt a warning glare coming at me from Jeremy, but I ignored it and began to eat, feeling relieved that I’d kind of won that small battle. As soon as I was finished eating, I angled my body toward the window, away from Jeremy, so I wouldn’t be caught on video gazing at him.
This was really happening. With each mile that we flew farther away from North America and closer to our children, my internal phoenix cawed as it soared, a shrill and deafening call of freedom. I hoped wherever the resistance was right now, and whatever they were doing, they could also hear that call. I only regretted that I didn’t have Roan at gunpoint for them.
FORTY-EIGHT
Despite what feltlike a good sleep, I was extremely groggy when the flight attendant woke me with a breakfast tray. A quick glance at Jeremy showed him eyeing a cup of coffee with something akin to wonder, and it made the back of my eyes burn. It would be his first cup in over six years. He had no idea I’d been drinking it for weeks now. I felt an overwhelming sense of excitement for him.
My body let me eat, even though my nerves were on high alert with so many questions and unknown factors. Weirdly, I wasn’t nervous for myself as much as Jeremy. I needed him to be able to get away from this guard, but the fact that we’d flown private, allowing the guard to keep his firearm, was a problem. Knowing Jeremy, he would want to fight him, even with the gun, but the guard was well-fed, and State Force was known for their regimented workouts to stay fit. Jeremy hadn’t fought in years. If he got shot?—
No.
Don’t let your mind go there.
I pushed down the panic. I hated that Jeremy was six feet away from me and we couldn’t discuss or plan anything.
We landed at another tiny airstrip, this one in the middle of rolling fields. Two cars awaited. My heart was in my throat as we deplaned. I wasn’t sure at what point I’d meet up with Amos; I’d been hoping it would be at the house, but to my surprise, he stepped out of one of the vehicles wearing jeans, a polo shirt, and a plain baseball cap with no logo.
Fuck.
I didn’t want Jeremy to have to see us together. But I couldn’t not step into Amos’s open arms. I made the hug quicker than it should have been but managed to smile up at him.
