‘Fuck!’ Nathan exclaimed, catching the grenade in mid-air as he boarded the plane.
‘I thought it was the new Blackberry. It felt like the new Blackberry,’ Autumn said. She hyperventilated and counted one hand of fingers with the other.
‘You don’t touch anything else. Do you understand me? If that pin had come loose, you could have blown us all up, for fuck’s sake!’
She’d thought he’d looked angry before when he’d been close to throttling Milo the pap, but this was a whole different angry altogether.
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered as tears formed at the rim of her eyes.
She really meant it and that surprised her. She was frightened, and she didn’t know how to deal with that. There was usually someone to do something about her anxiety or her concerns. Not listen, of course, but make it right somehow, usually with money. And, if not someone, there was one of her mother’s magic tablets. She could have done with one right about now.
‘Listen, put your seatbelt on and we’ll get going. Once we’re in the air, I’ll get you a drink. Martini, isn’t it?’ Nathan asked.
‘I hate martinis,’ Autumn announced as she sank into the cool, leather seat.
He sat down across the aisle from her. ‘Yeah, I know. Just testing. You like Southern Comfort on the rocks. Not sure we’ll have that here. You might have to slum it this once.’
*
Before they were even at their required altitude, she was asleep. This gave him the perfect opportunity to observe her. The hat she’d worn all day the day before was placed on the seat next to her, and her red hair wasn’t quite as set in place as normal. She looked pale. Her skin had a pearlescent sheen to it, and her lips, just managing to hang on to a smear of twenty-four-hour lipstick, were dry and cracked. Despite the entourage of people keeping her preened and perfected for the cameras, it was obvious that, under the superficial exterior, she didn’t look after herself very well.
She was physically weak and emotionally challenged. She had no concept of the real world. But then, he could say the same about himself. Wasn’t he emotionally challenged, too? Hadn’t he forgotten how to feel? He let out a sigh and put a bottle of water to his lips. He had no idea what to expect from this job, and he didn’t know whether that was an advantage or a disadvantage. Expect the unexpected was one of his favorite mottos, but wasn’t he getting a bit old for all that? Thirty-six, no family, a retired soldier, what he should be doing now was making something, a business, a pot of money to fall back on for later in life. But then, people in his line of work didn’t have that long a life expectancy. That was why he should get out. Trouble was, he didn’t know who he was without this career. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to find out.
Nine
Autumn woke up with a start, and, for a few seconds, she had to recollect where she was. She looked out the window next to her. Oh yes, she was on a plane. She turned her head the other way and saw Nathan. Oh yeah, she was with the obnoxious bodyguard her mother had hired. She turned her attention back to the window and noticed, as the trees and ground rose up to meet them, that they were coming in to land.
She moved slightly in her seat and saw that she had a blanket over her. Had he put it there? Had he got that close while she slept, when she was vulnerable?
She drew her arms out from under the blanket and looked across at him. He was tapping on his cell phone, seemingly oblivious to her waking up. He’d taken off his jacket, and the first two buttons of his shirt were unfastened. He isn’t unattractive. That thought popped into her head without her being able to stop it. His hair needs a wash, probably a conditioning treatment, too, and he definitely needs to shave. But, apart from that and the bad clothes, he has good bone structure. Had she really thought that? She swallowed and continued to watch him.
He put his phone into his pocket and looked over at her. ‘You slept through the re-fueling. We’re already here.’
‘Where is “here” exactly?’ Autumn asked.
‘You don’t need to know that,’ he responded with a smile.
‘Oh no, that just isn’t acceptable. Now, I’ve gone along with this ridiculous scenario so far, but I need to know where I am.’
She had to know where she was. She led her whole life by the appointments scheduled in her… phone. All in her phone, the one he smashed to bits. Anxiety and anger bubbled up in her stomach.
‘You can’t do this to me. I need to know where I’m going, where we are. I have to. It isn’t right,’ Autumn continued, her chest heaving as she attempted to undo her seatbelt.
‘Leave your seatbelt done up until we’ve stopped. I had you down as a frequent flyer. You should know the rules.’
‘If you don’t tell me where we are, I am going to go and find one of those grenade things and pull the pin out!’
Nathan shook his head then laughed. Laughed at her.
‘Don’t treat me like this! I know how to keep quiet about stuff, but I need to know where I am. Just me! I mean, now I don’t have a phone, it isn’t like I have the means
