“Am I happy to see you!” Heather said as she hugged him. “Whoops, we almost squashed Lucifer. And here’s my friend, Mike, who’s coming with us.”
As Rod and Mike shook hands, Lucifer struggled in Heather’s arms. He seemed agitated. Heather tried to keep hold of him firmly, but he finally squirmed and got away. He leaped out of her arms, landing on Rod’s shirt, clinging with his claws, sticking there like a tiny burr.
Rod smiled down at the little fuzzy animal and shook his head. He picked up the cat, who immediately withdrew his claws, and perched Lucifer on his shoulder. “I think Luce connects me with Michelle. We were together for two weeks, on vacation. Just a couple of days ago.”
He had trouble speaking because Lucifer had put his mouth right next to Rod’s ear and it sounded like he was actually babbling words. To Heather it sounded like, Mow-Mow-ow- ruh-Mow-Mow-ruh. There were a combination of meows and growls included; it was almost like the small cat was trying to talk.
When Lucifer quieted down, Rod nodded at the Japanese man who was handling the refueling process with Guy. “Sammy’s our pilot. He knows why we’re traveling to Mexico, so we can talk freely.”
“You won’t get in trouble at work?” Heather asked.
Rod shrugged. “I’ll find out when I get back. Locating Michelle is more important. Especially if her disappearance has anything to do with Omar.”
They loaded the luggage inside a compartment on the side of the plane.
When Heather went up the ladder she saw the interior was designed for comfort, more like a lounge than a commercial passenger plane. It was small inside, but here were large comfy airplane seats arranged around a large table in the middle of the area, and long window seats on either side of the plane where people could sit side by side or even lie down.
Rod went to a miniature refrigerator across from the bathroom in the back of the plane and brought out some soft drinks and an urn of coffee.
Then they all strapped in. The take-off was fast and so was the climb upward. It was a little scary, but exhilarating too, as Heather clenched on the arms of her seat and felt her ears popping with the abrupt altitude change. The view out the windows through the clouds of the island of Oahu and the ocean was spectacular.
After the plane leveled off, they unbuckled and sat around the table in the middle of the plane, eating sandwiches and talking for a while. Heather didn’t remember much of the flight. She was so sleepy she leaned against Mike. When she woke, they were in California and the plane was landing. Mike must have been holding her the entire five hours because his arms were around her, her head resting against his chest.
She’d been cuddled and didn’t even get to enjoy it, Heather thought grumpily. It may have been uncomfortable for Mike because he was rolling his shoulders like they’d been in one position for too long.
“You make a wonderful pillow,” Heather said, looking up at him. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep, though. Did your arms go to sleep?”
Mike smiled at her and shook his head. “No problem. I dozed off myself.”
Heather noticed that Rod was lying on one of the side seats, blinking like he’d just awakened, too. Lucifer was curled up against his chest.
Rod looked at Heather and said, “The next leg to Guadalajara is about 1,600 miles. It’ll take approximately three and a half hours. We’ll be landing at the Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport.”
Rod stretched and then hurried outside with his long strides. The refueling was accomplished quickly by Rod and their pilot, Sammy.
Heather was happy to see Professor Vincent Middleton walking over to the plane with a small suitcase through the window. He looked professorial and academic, wearing a tweed coat with leather elbow patches.
The last time Heather had seen him he’d been wearing only his tidy-whities. Really, he’d had on wet baggy boxers. It was after Michelle had towed him several miles through the ocean to the island of Kauai, when Omar had dropped them into the sea from his helicopter. They had shed most of their clothing to make the swim to shore.
Heather and Mike went down the ladder so they could stretch their legs for a few minutes before they took off again. Heather introduced Mike to the professor.
When they were in the air again, heading to Mexico, Heather turned to the professor. They were all seated together around the table in the middle of the lounge. “You said you thought you knew why Omar took Michelle to Mexico?”
Vincent nodded gravely. “Ultimately, we all know why Omar wants Michelle. He believes she has special powers. He also believes that with him as sire, and Michelle as mother, they would have a child with both of their special gifts combined. He wants a legacy of supernatural children. I checked the internet when you told me their destination. There’s a fertility clinic in Guadalajara.”
Heather’s eyes went wide and she could feel the blood drain from her head with shock. “Oh, no. He’s going to take her eggs!”
“I’m afraid we may be too late,” Vincent said. “If they were twelve hours ahead of us, they might have already performed the operation.”
“Did I tell you that Omar brought one of his witches with him?” Heather asked. “I think it’s Leilanie, from the description I got. So maybe she’s already been implanted with a fertilized egg. This is so gross!”
Heather was also thinking that Michelle was potentially in grave danger. She didn’t want to say the words out loud, but she thought Rod and the Professor must be feeling
