He took that personally.
Join.
The.
Club.
“Thank you, Jim. I appreciate it. Food is in the kitchen, fuel up, and take a nap. We’ll be back as soon as we can,” she offered. “Lay low until I can get back here so we can disembark to the next stop.”
He nodded.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
As soon as she knew her flight crew was safe, it was time to get to the scene.
Elizabeth jogged down the steps, Uriel behind her, and Raphael behind him. At the tarmac, there was a blacked-out ride, like promised, and it was being babysat by Secret Service agents.
Well, someone was definitely on her nice list for Christmas this year. Gabe had come through, and that was greatly appreciated.
“Director, the President wants you to call when you are back in the air. He needs you to make some time for him.”
No shock there.
When didn’t she need to give him her attention? The world was on fire, and she was on his list of‘fixers’. All she could hope was it could hold off for a while.
Elizabeth was kind of busy.
Taking the keys from the agent, she tossed them to Raphael.
Tag.
He was it.
“Can do,” she said. “Is it case-related, or something else?” she asked, hoping the agent could, or would, give her a heads-up so she’d know if she needed to dodge that call.
The woman shrugged.
“No idea, Ma’am, but he was cranky. So…” she offered, clueing her in.
Well, shit.
What else was new?
Gabe was three days past bitchy since Axelle gave him her notice the dayThe Grave Robbercraziness blew up. He’d begged her to give them a month to buy Elizabeth time, but Axelle had an exit strategy.
As in getting the fuck out of their family.
When the Duke shit went down, she felt it was best to tuck tail and leave, exiting not only their lives, but her children’s.
It was shitty on so many levels.
This whole thing put Elizabeth in a really bad situation. Duke was her brother, and the girls were her nieces. As a mother, she couldn’t imagine leaving her kids, ever, but she also knew that Axelle had never wanted to be a parent. She’d made that crystal clear, but Duke had rolled over her.
So, she was trying not to take sides.
It was…difficult at best.
Already, that paperwork had been signed, faxed, and approved by a judge. In the very short time, less than a week, Axelle Maverick had become Axelle George once more.
