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answer. I left him a
message telling him when I expected to land and that I’d work on getting a
flight to Florida. I hung up and leaned back, letting my head fall to the side.
My unfocused eyes watched lights pass by like laser beams.
    “No luck
reaching him?” Sasha said.
    “No.”
    “You can call
from the plane. It’s only, what, around four there?”
    “Something
like that.”
    A few minutes
later Sasha pointed toward a sign I didn’t bother to read. “Almost there.”
    I nodded and
emptied my head again. But a single thought brought me back.
    “Dammit,” I
said under my breath.
    “What is it?”
she said.
    “Mia.”
    “You want to
say goodbye.”
    I nodded. I
hadn’t seen my daughter in ten days. I hated the thought of leaving without
letting her know.
    “We can stop
by if you’d like.”
    I was
surprised she offered. Didn’t sound like something she would have thought of as
a good idea. I contemplated it for a moment.
    “Better not,”
I said. “It’s late. And it’ll just worry her and Erin. Besides, I’m only going
to be gone a couple days.”
    “OK,” she
said. “That’s that.”
    “That’s
that,” I repeated.
    We drove in
silence until we reached the small airport. She pulled up to a gate manned by
an armed guard. One look at her identification was all it took to get us past.
    “That’s it,
right there.” She extended her arm in front of me and aimed her finger at a
passenger jet. She stopped the car fifty feet away.
    I cracked my
door. The smell of jet fuel overwhelmed me. My nostrils burned and my eyes
itched. I took a moment to adjust, then stepped onto the pavement. My back and
shoulders had stiffened during the hour-long ride over. I worked out the kinks
before heading toward Sasha.
    She stood at
the back of her car. The trunk was open. She reached in and pulled out a small
bag.
    “Be careful,”
she said, handing the bag to me. “It’s loaded.”
    I took it
from her, unzipped it and looked inside. “M40?”
    “I know it’s
not your favorite. Only untraceable one I had.”
    I pulled the
sidearm out and tucked it behind me. “You can keep the bag.” I tossed it into
her trunk.
    She shook her
head.
    “What?” I
said. “It could be bugged.”
    “Whatever,
Jack. There’s a suitcase on board containing a couple changes of clothes. Not
that you’ll take it.”
    “Don’t need
it. I can borrow some of Sean’s. We’re the same size.”
    “You sure
about that?” She attempted a joke by patting my stomach.
    “No change on
my part, Sasha. Looks the same as it did twenty years ago.”
    She rolled
her eyes. “When was the last time you saw him?”
    “I guess six
years ago.”
    “And you
don’t think it’s possible that he’s put on a few pounds?”
    “Sean?
Doubtful.”
    “Take the
clothes, Jack.”
    I wasn’t
going to get rid of her until I agreed, so I said, “OK.”
    She walked me
to the jet. I glanced up. The lights and the clouds made it impossible to see
the sky. We stopped in front of the stairs. She wrapped her arms around my
neck. Beer and steak and perfume and her natural scent washed over me. I had
the urge to kiss her. I didn’t, though.
    “Take care of
yourself, Jack. Be safe, and be careful.”
    “I’m going
home, Sasha. It’s the safest place I know.”
    She pulled
back far enough to look me in the eye. A small crinkle appeared in the middle
of her forehead when she furrowed her brows. “Where exactly is home?”
    “Only two
people I know have that information, and I’m not about to make it three. If
that got out, it wouldn’t be the safest place anymore, would it?”
    She kissed my
cheek. Her lips felt soft and wet. She slowly released her grip, then took a
couple steps back.
    “You best get
going.” She looked up. “That storm is getting close.”
    I followed
her gaze and glanced up again. The clouds were thick and gray. Too early for
the remnants of a hurricane, I thought. I opened my mouth to ask, but Sasha had
already closed her