“Go ahead.” Mrs. Pinal began laughing. With the size of the woman, her laughter was impressive. “But she’s in Houston. I overnighted the thing to her yesterday.”
Dani by now had gotten as far the door. Luke snagged her waist and tugged her into his lap, which was a good thing. At this outburst, it was all she could do to not explode in laughter. She buried her face against his neck, telling herself to let it go. It wasn’t all that funny. Except it was, and every once in a while a hiccup-y giggle burst loose. If she kept this up, she’d implode.
Luke was no better. She could feel it in his chest, the same battle with hilarity.
We need sleep. We’re both loopy.
“Can you tell me where in Houston she lives? It’s really very important.”
“This is Elaina’s son,” the pastor said, indicating Luke, “and his fiancée.”
Dani, of course, had to look up right at that moment. Several pairs of eyes skewered her to the wall. It would have been better not to look.
No, it would have been better to not be curled up on the lap of her fiancé, looking for all the world like she was making out with him in a church.
Kill me now. Just let me die. She gave a half-hearted wave, wiggling her fingers merrily.
“Fiancée?” Mrs. Pinal said, eyeing Luke skeptically “I guess your mother was wrong about you, then.”
Luke made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. Dani took the opportunity of being in a church to pray that they got out of there quickly, before lightning struck. Or, worse, she started laughing again.
“Well, I suppose...” The woman opened her purse, a tiny thing that was near lost in her bulk. After a long moment of moving things around in it, she pulled out a receipt and pen.
The receipt was for a local coffee shop. She wrote her daughter’s phone number on the back. “You can call her if you...”
“Thank you, madam!” William cried, and snatched the paper from her hand, practically running down the aisle of misfit toys, and upsetting a stack of tablecloths that flew in all directions, a cascade of linen that covered the floor like snow.
Dani and Luke fled, barely clearing the doors before bursting into laughter. Behind them were shouts of outrage, and words that favored the phrase ‘scandalous behavior’ and ‘wait until I tell...’ Luke’s mother was going to have some explaining to do.
William, on the other hand, stopped on the sidewalk and turned to them, cool as you please, as his limo rolled up behind him.
“It’s like the fucking Batmobile,” Dani breathed, wondering where in the world he’d had it parked.
“Only, more comfortable,” William agreed. He opened the door himself and called to the driver a single word. “Airport!”
Dani clutched Luke’s hand in her own, watching out the back window as the church dwindled away behind them as they slipped into morning traffic. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she didn’t know why.
“NO,” LUKE SAID. HE stood unmoving on the tarmac, arms crossed, mostly because if he didn’t hold onto something right now he was going to hit someone. His father. Hard. There was no argument, no shock value, he simply refused to believe what his eyes told him. And if he did? You certainly didn’t do what his father was proposing. It had to be treason at the least.
“Yes,” his father said, equally immovable. “I don’t think you understand the importance of this. This was lent to me for my use until this issue is resolved.”
Dani stood open-mouthed; she appeared to be frozen, rooted to the ground. Above her rose the most colossal and impressive thing William McConnel ever did in a long lifetime of over-the-top insanity. She pointed, rather weakly. No sound came from her mouth. It was alike she’d been shut off at the source.
If Luke hadn’t had a lifetime of shock from his father’s actions he would have probably wet himself, too. However, this is where the limo had already left them, and the people on the plane were calling his father “sir” and jumping around like so many grasshoppers, ready to assist him in boarding.
“Air Force One?”
“No!” His father shook his head emphatically. “It’s only Air Force One when the president is on board. It’s Air Force Two when it’s the vice president. When neither of them are on board, it’s just a plane. Ordinary. Average.”
The man who smelled like shaving cream whispered something to William and nodded. “Good, patch that into my phone and have a car ready for us, will you?”
The man nodded and ran up the steps into... Luke couldn’t say it, couldn’t think it. Into the president’s plane.
“Look,” William said, grabbing Dani’s hand and then Luke’s, “it’s just a plane. You’ve flown before, just on another aircraft.” He dragged them forward. They didn’t protest so much as move like zombies in a late-night movie. Getting them on the staircase seemed to be a bit too challenging for William, so he poked his son under the ribcage.
“Hey!”
“Help me get your betrothed on the plane, boy, before the FBI catches up with us.”
“You...” Luke pointed to the plane and then to his father. “If you can arrange this, then why do you care—”
“...about the FBI? Because you’re officially renegade.”
Luke felt his blood chill. His father couldn’t be serious, could he? He looked at his father quizzically, knowing this was nothing more than bait and falling for it anyway. “Explain.”
“Your little friend Ray? He put out an armed and dangerous on you. Apparently, you’re insane, heavily armed, and in dire need of a shower. Now, let’s go!”
“OW!” Luke jumped and rubbed his ribcage. So maybe he hadn’t showered last night. By the time everyone else got their turn there was no hot water left. He’d intended to this morning. “Okay, okay!” He turned to Dani and tried to pull her up the steps. She just kept staring at the seal on the side of the craft. Luke looked at his father, who shrugged, and finally Luke just picked her up and carried her up the steps, slung over his shoulder like so much baggage.
Something she’d probably kill him for later when she finally realized what he’d done.
“Ah, the days of youth,” William sighed behind him as he followed his son. The engines were already beginning to warm up; a staff member waited to close the door as they entered.
“Please follow me,” another staff member greeted, then smiled, and led them to the rear of the plane. “This is where the press sits when they accompany the president on his travels.” She indicated a row of seats along the wall like a supermodel showing off the newest car. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. As soon as we take off, someone will be around to bring you drinks.”
William seated himself without looking at either of them, and had his seatbelt secure around his waist before the hostess had even finished speaking. He sat checking his phone, not looking at either of them as Luke deposited Dani in a seat and paused, looking down at her with some concern. She seemed... vague. Moving like she was in a dream.