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without even knowing who she was or why she’d been running.
    Would she ever learn?
    Confusion crossed Zane’s face. “What’s wrong?”
    She flushed the irritation from her face and gave him a polite smile. “Nothing. I just wondered how long the airplane would fly by itself.”  Yeah, right . Well, she had thought about that a few minutes ago. To support her claim, she glanced at the controls.
    “We’re good until I take it off of autopilot in just a minute.”  He put away the first-aid kit and shifted to face forward in the left seat. “We’ll be hitting a rough patch of weather soon. You should come up here and buckle in.”
    Having never flown, and definitely not in a small plane, she hesitated at the idea of being buckled in so close to the windshield.
    Limitless black heavens changed from a constant patter of rain to a loud drumming over the entire craft.
    Zane issued a quick order. “Jump in the co-pilot’s seat now before it gets worse.”
    Wrong time to have a distracted pilot.
    She bent her legs to stand, gritting her teeth at the ache in her stiff muscles. She managed to get into the seat and not hang herself on the headphone cord.
    He reached over without waiting for her okay this time and secured her harness, then took control of the airplane. She didn’t move a muscle while the plane dipped and bucked against the turbulent atmosphere.
    Zane calmly discussed weather and exchanged flight information with an air traffic controller. Vicious wind and rain pummeled the outer shell. When the fuselage shuddered hard several times, she questioned her choice of nights to run.
    But without the storm there would have been no escape.
    Temperature outside the plane had cooled. Her damp clothes chilled her to the bone, but she refused to complain while Zane had his hands full flying in this mess.
    Warm air began to migrate through her space. When another dry towel fell in her lap, she wrapped it around her shoulders and cut her eyes left. He maneuvered the buffeted aircraft with amazing dexterity.
    In the middle of fighting a storm, he’d actually noticed the goose bumps on her arm? And he’d cared enough to pause what he was doing and try to make it better. Could this man be just as decent as he seemed? Where had Zane Black been when she’d been in the market for a nice guy?
    The airplane dropped hard in a downdraft.
    Her stomach lurched. Just when she thought her heart might climb into her throat from sheer terror, Zane glanced over long enough to wink and smile.
    That little reassurance was all she needed.
    Air Traffic Control finally cleared them to enter the Jacksonville air space. The aircraft began to drop steadily. Nothing in the darkness below resembled an airport.
    He pressed his mike, but didn’t talk. Down below, out of nowhere, two straight lines of white lights beamed up from a tiny spot on the ground. Would the landing be as wild as the take off?
    The aircraft lights danced across the wet runway ahead of them. She wrapped her arms around the harness and held her breath, but the touch down was surprisingly smooth.
    A light mist drizzled against the windshield as he slowed the plane.
    Halogen lights glowed over the flat terrain surrounding the airport.
    This facility appeared larger than the one they’d departed near Raleigh. Three imposing hangars and a single-story brick terminal stood along one side of the airport.
    As he finished his radio confirmation, Zane taxied to a parking spot near the center hangar. With the engines silent, chattering noise from the aerated crates echoed through the cabin. He flipped off his headset.
    “Why don’t you stay put until I locate my client then we’ll get something to eat?” he suggested.
    “Sure thing.”  Not a chance. What if this pilot called in the police? He might even think he was doing her a favor. She hadn’t seen any vehicles pulling into the airport as they taxied to the hangars, which might mean the men chasing her hadn’t gotten