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Mason’s voice comes into the cabin, telling us he has leveled out and we can move around, and it’s a welcome relief. So far, so good with Cassie. She is quiet and lying back on the seat slightly, just looking out the window. I think she will be trying to process everything. Her fear of this flight, what will happen when we land, and of course, her heart has already been ripped clean out of her chest today, leaving the kids behind.
“You two want a drink?” Badger is already up and moving.
“No, thanks,” Cassie replies and then turns back to the window. I want to pick her up and have her in my lap, but I know that’s not what she needs. As much as it kills me to sit here and watch her struggle, she needs space. I’m man enough to know that crowding her now because I need her is not the right thing to do. This has to be about Cassie. What I want and need comes second until we are back home. Then I can be selfish and tell her how much I’m panicking that I might lose her. And not in the way I have had sleepless nights about for the last seven years. I can protect her from what I can see, but I can’t protect her from the hidden things that we don’t know about.
That is what infuriates me!
Hopelessness.
Finally, I convinced her to go to sleep again, and hopefully, that will keep her body as relaxed as it can be. Not moving far from her, I have the laptop open and working while her eyes are closed. I message with Bull and hear that the kids are perfectly fine. I knew they would be, but it doesn’t stop me from worrying that I can’t be there to watch over them.
I quickly search what Jason has been up to today and what his plans are for the next few days. We need to keep track of him at all times. Not that he will ever be the person to try to do anything to Cassie, but he would recognize her the moment he laid eyes on her, and that is what we need to avoid at all costs. The background checks I ran on the staff at the hospital of who will be anywhere near her are coming back clean which is a relief. I know I shouldn’t be checking into these people without their permission, but I’m not taking risks. They won’t even know it's been done. Again, that doesn’t make it right, but I will do whatever it takes to keep Cassie safe, and I don’t make excuses for that—ever!
As the sun is setting, the view out the plane window is spectacular. I take a moment just to look and breathe. I don’t think I’ve done that in the last twenty-four hours. Cassie is reclined on the seat next to me, still sleeping, and I can tell how much everything is taking out of her. Her face on its side towards me, the lines on her forehead are still there. She might be resting but her mind isn’t. I wish I could take her anguish away, but I can’t.
The darker it gets outside, I know the closer to Chicago we are getting. I want to get this over with and get her home, so let’s get this plane landed, Cassie into the car, and over to the apartment we have. We aren’t staying in a hotel and risking being caught on any security cameras. It will be bad enough at the hospital, but we can’t avoid that. I can go in after and erase anything I can find, but once we hit the hospital, then my eyes need to be on Cassie and everyone around her, not on my computer screen.
Ashton has been in talking to Mason, and walking back toward me, he gives me the signal we are starting the descent. I don’t want to wake Cassie, so I lean across her and click her seatbelt into place as quietly as I can. I should have known better. Just the movement near her is enough, and she’s moving, trying to sit up quickly.
“Cassie, don’t move, stay there.” The tone in my voice makes it more of an order than asking her. Thank God it works and she stops, looking straight at me, her eyes all startled.
I try to soften my voice. “It’s okay, beautiful, we are just getting ready to land. You can stay there, perhaps just start to wake up, okay?” I say, running my hand over her head and smoothing her hair back from her face.
“How long was I out of it?”
“Most of the flight, which is what you needed.” My hand resting on her cheek, I lean over to kiss her softly.
“Why can’t I stay awake? It scares me.” And I can see that in her eyes.
“Don’t worry, Tate said it’s normal. It’s just your body looking after you.”
“This is bad, isn’t it, Ghost?” Her whisper makes my body shiver.
“I don’t know, sweetheart, but we are about to find out.” My heart is thumping in my chest and the hair on the back of my neck is standing up. That’s never a good sign because my body has always been my best warning system when something is about to go south on a job. I don’t like the feeling when it’s about Cassie, but I will never tell her that.
“We’ve got this. Remember, we got this far. We won’t let anything stand in our way now.”
She just nods at me, and as she raises the seat so she is sitting again, her head drops onto my shoulder, and we just hold each other in silence. We seem to be doing that a lot lately. It’s because neither of us know what to say, and we don’t want to make promises we may not be able to keep.
* * *
As the plane comes to a stop on the private airstrip, I can see the car waiting for us that Ashton has organized. I know I carried on like an asshole initially, but I’m so grateful for the network of friends I have built around us over the years. We couldn’t be doing this without them.
Thanking Mason, Ashton heads out after Badger just to make sure all is clear for us to leave the plane’s cabin. It’s a weird sensation to have others doing that for me. I’m usually the one giving the all-clear signal. Watching from inside the door, Badger gives me the thumbs-up, it’s time to get this show underway.
“Ready?” I ask, turning back to Cassie standing behind me.
“No, but let’s do it anyway.”
“That’s my girl.” Always brave in the face of danger.
* * *
Standing in the living room of the apartment next door to Ashton’s, it’s nothing like I expected it to be. For all the years I’ve known him, he seems like a hard-ass. A straight-down-the-line, rough-around-the-edges kind of guy. Yet here we are standing in a place that looks like it’s had the touches of a woman in it and has a soft homey feel to it.
“Remind me again why you have a spare apartment next door to yours that you own? A little odd, buddy.” I slap him on the back as I walk to look out the windows at the view.
“Says the man who is now thankful for the safe place to stay. Let’s just say I seem to keep attracting friends who need somewhere for a short stay, for one reason or another. And don’t worry, this place is set up with all the top security. I made sure of that the first time I had someone staying here.” I never doubted that. We are both cut from the same cloth in the way we think about security.
