Page 81 of Hot Pursuit
Don’t be silly.
Jo took a deep breath and tried to force her unease to the side. That man couldn’t possibly have any idea what was on that drive, what she had taken, what her family had done. These were her fears, her insecurities, the ones she’d tried to suppress all day, coming out of hiding, plaguing her in plain sight, no longer willing to be ignored.
The man was just a man.
He was probably leering at the sliver of skin exposed by the slit in her long dress. No doubt wondering how she ate what she ate and looked the way she looked—Jo had questioned it herself a million times. Good genes and a six-mile run every day was all she’d ever come up with.
She let her head fall to the other side, gaze slipping out the window. The skyline of New York was visible beyond the wing of the plane. Her mind wandered to the men she’d left behind. Nate. Thad. Two opposite ends of the pole. One no doubt dealing with the painting they’d stolen the night before, on his way to make a delivery before slipping off the grid for a few days. The other no doubt with his team, torn down the middle by his heart and his head, by the trust he’d given her and the trust he owed to his colleagues, his partner, his family.
His father, Jo thought with a sigh, munching on another nugget, salty this time, buttery and tangy, a jolt to her system, just as Nate had been. Her heart pinched as she remembered the story he’d confessed the night before, words she somehow knew he hadn’t told anyone else. The promise any boy would make to his father, but only a man like Nate would fight his entire life to uphold. A good person. A loyal one. Someone who followed through on his word. Someone Jo wasn’t sure she deserved.
I promise.
The two words haunted her.
I will do what’s right. I promise you, I will.
The plane started to move.
To turn.
New York slipped away.
But the memory lingered, grew, expanded.
They shot down the runway. Jo’s promise shot across her thoughts.
Racing.
Speeding.
Lifting.
Because she wanted to do the right thing. For once in her life, for this man whose trust she didn’t deserve but somehow earned, for her dreams and her passions and her conscience, she wanted to do what was right. But she still wasn’t completely sure she could.
Jo looked away from the window as it turned a blinding white. The plane bounced as they catapulted through the clouds. Up and away. To another world. Alone. Her focus latched on to the little seat belt symbol above her head, waiting for it to turn off. Her eyes burned. Her hands trembled. With adingthe light blinked out. A muffled voice came over the loudspeaker, announcing that the use of portable electronics was allowed.
Jo slowly finished her nuggets.
Each bite taking longer and longer.
Until there were none left.
No more reason to delay.
She glanced to the passenger at her side, sure he’d been watching her, but his eyes were closed, and his head was tilted back. She swallowed the queasy feeling in her stomach and opened her can of soda. Thesnapandpopfollowed by a soft bubbling fizz made her nerves settle. Jo took a long sip, letting the ice-cold liquid slip down her throat, sharp and bursting. And then she lifted the top of her computer and slid the flash drive in before clicking a file at random.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Organized Crime Division
Subject: Robert Carter
Jo ripped her M&M’s open and forced herself to keep reading and reading and reading, until the world faded and time drifted away, and everything she thought she’d ever known fell out from underneath her.
- 28 -
Nate
