Page 31 of The Hijack

“No,” Nana said. “And neither did your mother. As far as they were concerned, I was a corporate secretary who happened to take occasional work-related trips.”

I groaned. I could only imagine what ‘occasional work-related trips’ entailed. If they were anything like the ‘trips’ Clark and I took, that meant they were full of shootouts and car chases, stakeouts and take-downs. I was having a hard time reconciling the woman I thought I knew with these stunning revelations.

“I’m sure you’re very tired,” Nana said, putting an end to the discussion. “Why don’t you and Clark go get some sleep.”

“We’re fine,” I replied. There was no enticement in heaven or hell that was going to make me give up the watch to my grandmother. I would stay awake for as long as possible and trade shifts with Clark if necessary.

“Why don’t we go to the control room?” Clark suggested. “You should get some sleep yourself,” she told my nana.

“Child, when you’re as old as I am, you never sleep,” Nana responded with a laugh.

“Try,” I pressed her.

Nana’s lips thinned out, and she narrowed her eyes. “Well, I just drank my tea.”

“Humor me,” I continued to argue.

Nana sat back like a petulant child, not wanting to be left out of the discussion. But as far as I knew, she’d motored over from her home in Fiji all alone. That had to have taken a lot out of her, even though she didn’t seem any worse for wear. In fact, she looked every bit as energetic as she had the last time I’d seen her.

Still, she was my nana, and therefore, my responsibility. Now that she had found us, it was time for her to give up the reins. If I had to carry her to her bedroom, I just might do that. She saw the determination in my eyes and relented finally.

“Anytime you kids need to sleep, you just let me know,” she bargained. “I guarantee I’ll be awake all night.”

“Get what sleep you can,” Clark intervened, aiming to facilitate a peace agreement.

Nana put a hand on Clark’s shoulder as a demonstration of affection, but then also used it for leverage to help herself to her feet. Clark stood a moment later, and together, both women walked away down the hall.

I picked up the half-empty teacups and set them in the sink. Walking back to the control room, I checked all the instruments to make sure we were still on course. What a strange day it had been. I started out alone with Clark, and we wound up somewhere completely different. I’d never imagined I would come face to face with such a close relative, and to discover that my grandmother was a secret agent was almost laughable.

Clark found me a few minutes later. “She’s lying down, but she says she’s not going to go to sleep.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” I responded.

“She’s amazing,” Clark said, taking a seat and kicking her feet up on the dash. “I hope I’m half as cool as she is at her age.”

“I’m sure you’ll be more than half,” I teased, reaching for Clark’s hand to kiss it.

The moment my lips brushed her skin, she turned icy. She didn’t pull away, but I could feel a definite stiffening of her joints. It was disheartening, and I had no idea what could be behind it.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“Fine.” Clark pulled her hand away.

A thousand flickering accusations jammed themselves into my mind. Had I done something wrong? Said something wrong? Had the discovery of my grandmother rubbed Clark the wrong way?

“Are you worried about Jasmine?” I asked, thinking that there might be a Dark Sparrow angle I wasn’t seeing.

“No,” she answered. “Why don’t you try to get some sleep?”

“I’m not tired,” I claimed.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’ll take first watch, you can take second.”

I sighed, turning away. I wasn’t going to climb into bed and leave Clark awake on her own any more than I was going to do the same to Nana. We sat in silence for a long time, neither one of us breaking the ice. It seemed like there was a chasm growing, and I had no clue why. We’d beaten the odds and found each other after defeating death and everyone who wanted to bring it. We should have been happy, making love in the captain’s chair. But instead, we each retreated into our own thoughts, together but miles apart.

Chapter 15

Clark