Creed shook his head and gave a half laugh.
Missy was hurrying back down the aisle with her arms full of reading material. “Well, we have Science Weekly, Scientific Now, and I found a Physician’s Desk Reference,” she said proudly. “Then there are all of these I brought just in case none of the others sounded good to you.”
“Thanks, Missy. I appreciate it,” Creed smiled back at the flight attendant as he took the stack from her.
She looked pleased with herself and sauntered away.
Alik started sifting through the first magazine. Evan unfastened his seatbelt and walked over. “Hey, I’ve got to run to the bathroom. Keep an eye on Meg, will you?”
“Sure. How is she?”
“Stable, for now.”
“Do you think she’s going to crash again before we get to Europe?”
“I have no idea. I don’t even know why she crashed the first time. Heck, I don’t know anything anymore.” He shook his head obviously discouraged.
“Why don’t you go play with the plumbing in the bathroom? That usually cheers you up,” Alik said to his little brother trying to lighten the mood.
Evan smiled, but only slightly. “I don’t even think airplane plumbing could get me to relax right now.”
Evan walked up the aisle toward the cockpit to the lavatories slightly hunched over as the head room in the plane didn’t allow for a tall person to stand upright without regretting their attempt.
“What was all that about the plumbing?”
“Long story; you kinda had to have been there,” Alik said smiling at the memory.
Then his facial expression changed.
He was squinting as though trying to see something far away. “Wait…maybe you were there.” Alik peered over at Creed and replayed scenes in his mind. He made himself think back and ran Creed’s face through sort of his own mental image search engine. “I can’t believe I hadn’t put the pieces together before,” Alik said after a few moments.
“What are you talking about?” Creed asked, though his heart began pounding violently in his chest.
“You were there, at the hospital in Kansas. I saw you in several locations there: once in the corridor, again in the cafeteria and the last time I saw you, you were standing in the crowd of people watching me spar with Meg and Evan on the hospital lawn. You were the guy Meg met there. She didn’t want to tell us about you, but we made her. Then you stood her up. She was supposed to meet you at noon, but you weren’t there.” Alik was tensing his muscles reflexively and sitting at the edge of his seat. He looked about ready to leap down Creed’s throat with each new piece of the puzzle he snapped into place.
“Look, she was just an assignment. You were all just assignments,” Creed looked heart-sick with guilt.
“Assignments? You were the one who tried to attack our mom that day! You shot Maze!”
Evan had been on his way back to his seat when he just caught the tail end of this conversation. It sent him into a furry. Before Creed knew what was happening, Evan charged down the aisle and full-on tackled him out of his seat. “You piece of crap! My family trusted you and you have been trying to hurt us all along!” Evan was whaling on Creed. He had him pinned against the cabin wall and was smashing his face into the leather side paneling.
“Evan, cool it! We’re forty-thousand feet above the Pacific Ocean!” Alik had to work to pull his brother off Creed. “Cool it, man! This isn’t the time or place!”
Evan allowed himself to be separated from Creed long enough to deliver a stream of expletives Alik didn’t even know his brother knew. “Dude, enough. This isn’t helping Meg! Beating the crap out of the guy who’s taking us to get her cure isn’t going to help her.” Alik’s hand was still on his brother’s shoulder. The veins in Evan’s neck were pulsing and his fists were involuntarily clenching and releasing.
Turning back to the stunned Creed, Alik said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him as ready to kill as he is right now, so for your sake, you’d better start talking.”
“Just so we’re clear, asshole. If you try to deliver even a fraction of a lie to us, I will kill you, quietly, and no one will mourn your loss,” Evan fumed, but held back, waiting for the vermin to speak.
“You’re right,” Creed nodded. “You have every reason to off me now. I’ve done nothing but hurt your family since the moment I snuck into your lives.”
“You’re not helping your case here,” Alik cautioned as he felt his anger surge.
“Remember the story I told you about the Retribution Match where I was set up to fight my brother?” Creed stopped and waited for acknowledgement.