Fight or Flight (9 page)

“What are we doing here?”

“Shopping.”

“Shopping?”

“Well, more like . . . acquiring.”

“Acquiring what?”

“A new wardrobe.
You need something besides that sweater to wear and I need to upgrade to some warmer stuff.”

“How do we do that?”

His gaze shot to the conveyor belt circling lazily through the baggage claim.

“So by acquire, you mean
steal
?”

Jay grimaced at the word, but conceded to its accuracy.
“Technically. But, anything lost during travel is compensated for by the airline, so really it’s the company that takes the hit and not the individual.”

Em stared at him for a moment. He’d really looked into it. The thought of stealing bothered him that much. Now she felt bad for bringing it up at all. He was right, they needed something besides what was on their backs to wear and with winter on the way, they’d probably
be needing a lot of it to keep warm.

“All right.”
She glanced back over at the baggage claim which was beginning to fill with harried looking passengers. “How do we do this?”

Chapter Fifteen

Jay

She went for it. Jay honestly couldn’t believe it. He’d been sure he was going to be making another trip back here tomorrow to get what he needed after taking care of her today, but she’d stepped up. She was scared. He could hear it in her voice and see it in the way she kept running her fingers though her hair, but somehow that only made her even braver in his eyes.

It wasn’t dangerous. Not really. He’d done it several times already and never had a problem, and there wasn’t a chance he was about to let
anything happen to her. Still, she didn’t know any of that and he wanted to make her as comfortable as possible. Confidence was key and nerves would just get in the way of that.

“It’s simple. Just look like you belong. Walk up to the carousel like you’re looking for something and wait with everyone else. Let the bags go around a couple times. That way you know whoever’s bag it is isn’t standing right beside you. Then look for one that suits you. You’re a girl, so look for anything pink or flowery. Odds are there’ll be women’s clothes inside. Just don’t grab anything that looks too young. No cartoon backpacks or anything.”

“Then what?”

“Walk away.”

“What if someone stops me?”

“They won’t, Em. You’re gonna be fine. And I’ll be right there. Okay?”

She worried her lower lip between her teeth, and Jay was hit with the sudden desire to replace them with his own. Where the hell had that come from?

He cleared his throat, mainly to refocus his own wayward thoughts, but it served to
wrangle hers as well. “Okay.”

As soon as they hit the baggage claim, Jay veered away from her. Em’s eyes widened, but with a nod from him, she kept moving. He wasn’t going far.
Just far enough not to be conspicuous. One roughly dressed, poorly maintained person is easily overlooked. Hell, people did it every day. But two together becomes a bit of an eye sore—a
noticeable
eye sore.

He picked his way around the carousel until he was opposite Em. It was obvious to him how nervous she was, but she was doing a pretty decent job of hiding it from everyone else. He tried to catch her attention, to let her know where he was, but she was trained on the bags passing by in front of her.

Dragging his eyes away from her—easier said than done—Jay forced himself to concentrate. He scanned the bags on the belt. Women’s luggage was easy to pick out. Men’s was more fifty-fifty. A black bag could go either way, and there weren’t many done up in camo or anything blatantly male. As he watched, a black bag with a green tag passed by on its second revolution. That was probably his best bet.

Inching forward, he tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible while pushing through a rather large group of people, making it to the front just as the bag slipped by. In one
fluid movement, he reached out, snagged it off the line, turned to go, and was brought up short. A balding man in a business suit blocked his path. He stood a good two inches shorter than Jay at least, but the professional attire and look of disgust he wore made him intimidating, nevertheless.

“I believe you have something that belongs to me.” The man’s eyes dipped to the bag in Jay’s hand.

Crap
! This had never happened to him before and now of all times—having Em with him—it had to happen
now
? Jay’s eyes dropped to the bag as he pulled it up, pretending to take a closer look. His gaze drifted over the name tag and then back up to the man in front of him.

“Shoot.” He laughed. “Sorry about that. Bags all look the same.”

He passed the case over, hoping that would be the end of it. It wasn’t. The man stood there staring at him like he was trying to make up his mind. Probably about whether or not to call security. Jay had to do something. And he had to do it fast.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Jay noticed another black bag making its way around the belt. “Oh, there it is.”

He backtracked to the belt and scooped the second bag off the carousel, praying no one stopped him this time. The man hadn’t moved. He glanced around waiting for someone else to step in, but when no one did, he turned with a sharp huff and disappeared into the crowd. Jay forced a deep breath and headed for the door. He wanted to stay and keep an eye on Em, but hanging around the baggage claim after he’d already claimed his baggage would draw attention and he’d already done enough of that for one day.

Out on the sidewalk, Jay settled in near the door, looking to
all the world like anyone else waiting on a taxi. From where he stood, he had a clear view through the sliding glass doors. His gaze darted through the crowd searching out Em’s slight form. She wasn’t standing near the carousel where she had been and his heart rate picked up. What if she’d been caught? What if she’d panicked and run off? His eyes danced back and forth, face to face. She wasn’t there. She wasn’t anywhere.
Shit!
How could he have let this—?

The door slid open with a whoosh of air, and Jay nearly tripped over his bag when Em stepped out onto the sidewalk wheeling a large purple and white bag behind her. She’d done it.

“No problems?” Jay tugged out the sliding handle to his bag and headed toward the parking lot.

“None.”
She was grinning from ear to ear, and it made him smile.

He was surprised to find just how impressed he was with her. She’d done it. Better than him. And on her first try. Maybe—just maybe—they could make this work.

Chapter Sixteen

Em

Em’s cheeks hurt from how hard she was smiling. Jay was right, it had been easy. When she’d seen Jay get stopped by that man, she nearly gave up. Ran for the nearest exit and never looked back. But he’d handled everything so smoothly. He never even looked frazzled. If he could do it, so could she.

By its third trip around the carousel, the crowd was beginning to thin out, and it was becoming obvious that the purple bag’s owner was in no rush to claim it. Snatching it off the
belt, she’d half expected to be hauled off by airport security immediately, but nothing happened. One step at a time, she’d walked through the lingering passengers and straight out the exit to Jay. The look on his face had been worth whatever years the stress of the whole situation had taken off her life.

For the first time in a long, long time, Em actually felt good about herself. Yeah, sure, someone was about to have a not so happy start—or end—to their vacation, but she wouldn’t think about that. Instead, she focused on the case she was wheeling along the sidewalk behind her. It felt like a grab bag, and she was excited to see what was inside.

Jay was walking just ahead of her since the two bags made it difficult to walk side-by-side. So when he stopped, she nearly tripped over his bag.

“I’ve got an idea.” Why, when Jay spoke them, did those become four of the scariest words in the English language?

“Another one?”

“Mmhmm.
But you’ll like this one.”

“What kind of idea?” Was ‘this one’ going to put her at risk of a heart attack, too? Because she wasn’t sure she could handle any more of those kinds of ideas today.

“How would you like a shower?”

“A shower?”
Clearly, she must be hearing things because luxuries like showers only existed in her dreams these days.

“Uh huh.”
The grin on Jay’s face told her he could definitely see the euphoria she was experiencing at the mere mention of the word. “Come on. We need to make a couple stops first.”

Stop one?
The corner payphone, where Jay came away with a quarter.
Okay, then.
Up next was the line of vending machines outside of a local grocery store and three more quarters. What the heck did quarters have to do with a shower?

Jay frowned at the change in his hand.
“A few more.”

He wasn’t really talking to her, and he looked like a man on a mission, so Em decided to just stay out of his way. She followed him to a couple more payphones—but both were out of
service and had nothing to offer—and then to a convenience store at the end of the block.

“You stay out here. They don’t really like it when we come inside, but there are some video game machines in back I want to check. Just stay put. I’ll be right back.”

“Umm . . . okay.”

Jay looked about as sure of leaving her alone as she was, but in the end he dumped his bag beside her and ducked into the shop. Em watched him for as long as she could until he disappeared behind some shelves. Then, she settled back against the wall to wait. The sun was out in force and the bricks warmed her back. Tipping her face back to enjoy its rays, she shut her eyes and sighed.

The sound of laughter snapped them open again almost immediately. A group of teenage guys were walking down the sidewalk, pushing and shoving as they went. They were big guys all wearing matching high school football jerseys.

Sucking up her courage, Em pushed off the wall. What the hell. It couldn’t hurt to ask, right?

“Hey!” Her abrupt greeting caught their attention a little more effectively than she would have liked. She’d never liked being the center of attention and now she had all of them staring at her . . . and smiling. Okay, this could work
.
“I um . . . I wanted to grab a soda, and it turns out I’m a little short.” If there was one thing she’d become adept at over the years, it was lying. “Do you think you could lend me a few quarters?”

She was going to ask for a dollar, but Jay had been specific about them needing quarters for whatever reason.

“I think I could manage that,” one of the guys offered with a grin, “but what do I get in return? Maybe a kiss?”

Not likely. Em took a step back. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea, after all.

“Don’t listen to him.” Another, slightly shorter guy pushed his way to the front and handed her three quarters. “There ya go.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” His eyes slid over her ratty outfit and flicked to the two bags at her feet. He got this knowing look that made her squirm, but then just smiled and shoved the others off further down the sidewalk.

“I was just kidding . . .” She could hear the first guy gripping all the way around the corner as they resumed their playful shoving match. It made her smile. She’d forgotten what it was like to just hang out with friends. She hadn’t really had any in years. It just got too hard to keep lying to everyone all the time.

“Hey, I didn’t—” Jay gave her a weird look. “What are you smiling at?”

“This.” She dropped the three quarters into Jay’s hand.

“How did you . . .?”

“I asked.
Nicely.”

“Huh.” It looked as though the thought had never even occurred to him. “Okay, then. Let’s go.”

Luggage in tow, they moved away from the busy center of downtown. The further they went, the more remote it became until one whole side of the street was lined with nothing but trees.

“Through here.” Jay veered off into the
woods, and Em came to an abrupt halt.

Quarters and now woods?
What the hell kind of shower was this? And did she really want to find out?

“Come on. Trust me.” Jay laughed, getting far too much enjoyment from all of this. “You may need to lift the bag though.”

Seeing as she had no idea where they were or how to get back to the squat from there without Jay, Em didn’t have much of a choice. She hefted the bag and followed him into the dense underbrush. They must have hiked for a good ten minutes without seeing a single thing. The sounds of the city slipped away as they trudged on, and Em was beginning to wonder just how deep the woods were going when they started to open up. Not into the city again, just small clearings here and there. And was that . . . a tent?