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Thirty-Three
Aria woke up suddenly,her mind teasing a problem she’d didn’t know she’d been working as she slept. At first, she thought it was a sound, and she sat up in the hospital bed and looked around, her heart racing as she watched thedoor.
After a couple minutes it became evident she hadn’t been woken by a sound but by somethingelse.
Adream?
I didn’t want you to be lonely while I’mgone.
She lay back down, her head sinking into the pillow, and tried to reach for it, like trying to hold onto a word on the tip of her tongue or a memory that was just beyond the scope of hervision.
She scanned the room, the peonies, the magazines and other things Damian had brought, the wolf still nestled in the crook of herarm.
She closed her eyes, pictured Damian as he’d looked at her bedside a couple hoursearlier.
He’d been worried. She could see it now in the memory of his furrowed brow, the downturn of his mouth, though at the time she hadn’t noticed anythingunusual.
What had he said? Something about running down Malcolm’swhereabouts?
No, that wasn’t it. There was somethingelse.
I didn’t want you to be lonely while I’mgone.
It wasn’t unusual for Damian to be considerate. In fact, it was just like him to want her to have company when she was alone in thehospital.
But the phrase ate ather.
You’ll be here tomorrow morning to drive mehome?
I’ll call the doctor to see what time they’re releasingyou…
She satup.
He hadn’t answered her. Notreally.
She replayed the conversation in her mind, this time more carefully, trying to catch some of the nuance she was sure wasthere.
They’d had a break in finding Malcolm. She could feel it in herbones.
But why would that keep Damian from bringing her home from the hospitaltomorrow?
It wouldn’t. Nothing would keep him from taking her to Nico and Angel’s place, from making sure she was comfortable andsafe.
Unless…
She picked up her phone and used the map app to check municipal airports near the city. If she was right — and she was almost positive she was — Damian was leaving tonight, and he wouldn’t be back by morning, which meant he was traveling long-distance.
If that were the case, he would use one of the Cavallo Foundation jets, and he would use the closest of the smaller airports, one he could get out of quickly with a minimum of fuss and fewer records with air trafficcontrol.
She looked up the municipal airports closest to the city and started with Teterboro airport, identifying herself as Daman Cavallo’s personal assistant confirming the flight scheduled for the company jet thatnight.
They had no record of a flight thatnight.
Next, she called the Westchester airport. They offered service to a handful of major airlines, but they were mostly used as a hub for charters and privateflights.
She was put on hold several times and took the opportunity to look up the other possible airports, prepared to call every one of them, knowing Damian would avoid her call until he was in theair.
But it turned out she didn’t need them. When the service representative for the charter terminal in Westchester came on the line, it only took a couple minutes to confirm the Cavallo Foundation’s private flight to Chiang Mai, leaving in less than twohours.
Thailand.
Damian was going to Thailand without her, and that meant Malcolm was either already there or enroute.
She didn’t think twice before removing the blood pressure clamp from her finger and moving to the cupboard where the nurses had stowed her personaleffects.
They would think the blood pressure monitor had come loose and would be in to fix it before long. It didn’t matter. She was in the hospital of her own volition. She had every right to check herself out whenever she wanted. She would sign whatever waivers they wanted her tosign.
Then she would get a cab and hurry to Westchester. She might even beat Damian to theairport.
