Read The Project 01 - White Jade for Free Online

aited outside with her bodyguard, dressed in jeans and Nikes, a light jacket over a gray silk blouse. She got in the back with Nick . She looked tired, stressed out.
    " Morning ," he said. " Sleep well? "
    " Good morning. Not very. I kept thinking about yesterday. "
    "This is Ronnie. You'll see a lot of him. "
    " Morning. "
    The driver picked his way through traffic. Sele na was quiet, lost in thought. They got to the airport without incident.
    Ronnie left them at the counter. Carter looked at his ticket . B ooked in First Class.
    " How did we luck out with this? I usually end up next to the baggage. "
    " I called in and got us upgraded. I didn ' t see any point in getting squeezed into coach. It ' s a long flight. "
    " Maybe they ' ll have some real food for a change. "
    " I wouldn ' t count on it. I bring my own. The hotel ma de up a package for me. Do you like roast beef? "
    " Any horseradish with it? "
    " I haven ' t looked, but they seem to think of everything. "
    Carter took Selena through private security . There was a discussion about his gun. A look at his ID with the Presidential seal on it and they let him keep it. T hey settled into the comfort of First Class.
    The attendant brought mimosas.
    Selena said, " I was thinking about immortality. If you ' re immortal, what happens to your friends and lovers? Are they immortal? Do you think someone could stay married for, say, a thousand years? "
    " No one could stay married that long. "
    " Have you ever been married? "
    His whole body went tense.
    " No. I was engaged, once. "
    He remembered.

    Megan was laughing, her fine, brown hair blowing in the wind coming off the Pacific. They ' d gone up the coast to Trinidad for the weekend and found a Victorian bed and breakfast, on the cliffs looking out over the water.
    From the deck outside the room they ' d watched the seals sunning themselves on the black rocks out in the ocean.
    They were getting ready to leave. Megan was beautiful, that day, her green eyes sparkling in the morning sun, excited about going to her new job down in San Diego . Nick had held her close.
    " I love you , " he ' d said. " I ' ll always love you. "
    " Nick. You ' ve got to come back to me, come back safe. "
    " We ' ll get married when I get back. My tour is up in six months. I ' ll be a civilian and we can have a real life together. "
    " And a very, very fine house? " She ' d smiled and punched him lightly in the chest with both hands while he held her.
    " And two cats in the yard, just like the song. " He ' d kissed her.

    " Why didn ' t you get married? " Selena asked.
    He took a breath. " She died. "
    "I'm sorry."
    " It ' s all right. Anyway, I haven ' t been involved with anyone since then. "
    The plane lifted into the air.

    They ' d gotten to the airport in plenty of time. They were both flying out, Megan to San Diego , Nick back to the East Coast.
    They ' d killed time in one of the airport cafes until she had to go. Nick had watched her enter the gangway to board her plane . She'd turn ed and smiled, wave d at him , and disappear ed in the stream of passengers.
    He ' d stood by one of the big windows looking out over the runways, waiting to see her plane take off.
    In a few minutes he ' d seen it. The plane picked up speed down the runway, lifted into the air, the wheels coming up. He was about to turn away when the aircraft made a strange motion, the wings dipping unevenly right and then left, the nose angling downward.
    F ingers of ice wrapped around his chest.
    Then the right wing turned straight down . T he plane arced into the ground and exploded in a billowing fireball. The shock wave slammed against the window and shook the terminal. At the end of the runway a dense column of orange flame and black smoke bo iled up into an indifferent sky.
    Megan.

    He shoved the memories back into their dark box.
    " Have you ever been married? " he said.
    " No . I was close, once . I thought I was in love. We ' d had dinner and a few drinks and then