Page 63 of Gwen's Delta
“Sorry. Actually, no, I’m not. Knowing how I affect you makes me happy.” Gwen said with a smile.
Chuckling, he kissed her again. “Okay, bedtime for you, princess. Let’s get you settled.”
Chapter 17
Hours later, Luke’s gentle kiss woke her. As Gwen’s eyes opened, and she took in her surroundings, confusion swirled in her mind. Bright light, curved ceiling? And whatever she was lying on was not a bed, that was for sure. As she tried to sit up, her body protested, stiff from not moving for too long. Gwen hadn’t expected to fall asleep on the plane, but all the worrying about her parents had worn her out.
“Morning, princess.” Luke’s smile sent little zings of happiness to her heart.
“Where are we?” She tried to sit up again. How long had she been lying there?
Luke must have seen her struggling to get up and slid an arm underneath her shoulders to help. She ran her hands through her hair. Ugh. She really needed to brush her teeth.
“We’re about two hours from Cairo.”
“Wow. I slept that long?”
“Yes, you did. Rest is preparation just like studying your enemy. Especially when we don’t know what’s coming. Trust me, all you missed was a bunch of snoring. I promise. Actually, I’m amazed you slept through it.” Luke chuckled.
It made Gwen giggle as she looked over at the rest of the team. They sat at a table, drinking coffee, and speaking low enough that she couldn’t make out what they were saying. “Y’all must be used to this. Traveling all the time, sleeping wherever.”
“Pretty much. Although, this is not how we usually travel. I’m sure you need the bathroom. It’s in the back. Are you hungry?”
“Thanks. Not hungry, but coffee would be wonderful.”
“I’ll have a cup waiting for you.” Luke kissed her again, but she kept her lips firmly closed. She probably had awful morning breath.
After Luke walked over to his team, she saw her bag leaning against the other end of the sofa. He must have gotten it for her before he woke her. Grabbing the handle, she wheeled it into the bathroom, expecting to walk into a little, two-by-two airplane bathroom.
It surprised her when she opened the door, and it was full sized. There was a shower and plenty of room to get ready. Flying on a private jet definitely had advantages.
After washing up and putting on one of her new outfits and the hiking boots, she felt more confident. She could do this. They’d rescue her parents and go home. Maybe if she repeated it enough, it would happen. Sort of like wishing on a star.
Gwen plastered a smile on her face and took a deep breath. She stowed her bag on her way toward the front of the plane, then greeted the guys, who were still sitting at the table.
“Morning,” she said with a smile.
“Good morning,” their deep voices rumbled in response. Except for Duff. He just seemed to grunt.
She wondered about him. Luke had warned her not to take his prickly personality personally. It was just Duff being Duff.
“What time is it?” Gwen took the steaming mug of coffee from Luke. It smelled delicious.
“It’s ten hundred hours…ten local time.”
“This time change thing is messing me up. I’m supposed to meet them tomorrow?”
“Yes, exactly. We’ll use the time today to see if we can figure out anything else about your parents’ kidnapping. The terrorists should contact you with the meeting location at some point soon. Then we can scope it out ahead of time.”
“Okay.” Gwen sipped her coffee and sat down at the table with the guys, her gaze still locked with Luke’s. “What’s our first move? After we land, I mean?”
Zip smiled and pushed a map across the table. There were a few circled areas, but she didn’t recognize the locations.
“Are we going to each of the circled places?”
“After we land, we’ll go through customs,” Luke said. “It will be tricky with the bag of money, but our contact arranged for us to go through the VIP line. If everything works out, then we proceed to the next checkpoint.”
“Checkpoint?”
