The Cocky Thief

Chapter 16

Jennifer looked down at her phone and back up. Still no word from Mel or Isobel but that was to be expected. Her fingers tapped a frantic rhythm against her thigh as she looked out the window at the planes taking off. Soon enough she'd be on one of those planes and maybe once they were in the air, she'd finally feel safe.

Damn it, she was supposed to be getting ready for a wedding right now. And she'd had to abandon her favorite dresses back at the vineyard so now if she died, she'd have to be buried in some second-rate outfit.

Who was she kidding? If she didn't make it on that plane, she'd never get the chance to have a funeral. Funny the things the mind thought of when the adrenaline was pumping. Figures she'd think about clothes. She'd rather have couture on the mind than have to think about Austin any longer.

She bit her lip, for once not having to worry about messing up her lipstick. She hadn't had time to go full in on a disguise, but she'd been able to get a change of clothes from the twenty-four hour department store that should keep her hidden enough from anyone who looked. The only makeup she wore was some shading under her eyes and cheekbones to give her the heroin-chic look. Her hair was messy and covered her face.

The baggy jeans and the white and pink flannel shirt kept her body shape hidden for the most part. She would've preferred to have a change of hair color, but time had been an issue and good wigs were just too hard to come by.

Boarding started in thirty minutes. She just had to hang on long enough to get on that plane. She looked at her phone once more but nothing had changed in the last thirty seconds. Twenty-nine more minutes. This day would never end...

She looked back out the window, but this time a different face looked back at her through the reflection in the glass. A familiar, pissed-off face. She turned around, half expecting her hallucination to disintegrate like smoke in front of her, but no. The lawyer really was right there. "Oh no," she breathed. "You can't be here."

He raised a brow and one corner of his mouth hooked up. "That's where you're wrong, honey. You're the one who's not supposed to be here." He grabbed her arm and turned her in the opposite direction of the gate.

"What the hell are you doing?" she whispered as she tried to pull herself free. But his grip was like steel on her and, even though he was walking as though nothing was wrong, she knew he would never let her go.

"We never got to finish our talk last night. What do you think about a coffee date?"

"I think I have a plane to catch." She once again tugged at her arm.

Austin abruptly stopped and twisted her around. "See those three guys over there?" He pointed to the gate across from them and sure enough, there were three men in black suits who looked sorely out of place. How had she missed them? Had they just arrived? Without thinking, she took a step back and Austin leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Your choice, sweetheart. Want to have that date or feel like taking your chances with those three?"

"They might not be here for me." Even she wasn't convinced by the weak words.

"Our good friend Ajax had an unfriendly visit this morning. Sterling knows everything. If you want to survive this, it's time to change plans."

Jennifer twisted around to look at Austin. "If he knows everything, then what about my mom? Melody?"

"Come with me and we can find out. You can't do anything here and since Stranger probably isn't too happy with me at the moment, I'd like to get the hell out of Dodge."

Jennifer scoffed. "I want to get out of here too, but I'm not going anywhere with you. You probably want to kill me just as much as they do."

"Yeah, but at least with me your death will be faster. Let's go."