Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 67675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
31
LANDON
Along with the information about Robert and Elyna being behind the threats, my dark source also tracked their communication with the person they’d hired to make them and pinpointed their location. Potts was booking my flight to Marrakesh Menara Airport when I got an alert from another one of my sources.
Cami had just bought two tickets back to LAX. Immediately, I pulled up her flight information. She wouldn’t be here until tomorrow morning. She was taking a flight that took twenty hours and had two stops.
“I still need a flight booked for tomorrow morning,” I said to Potts abruptly.
She lowered her head and looked at me over the rim of her glasses. “You’re leaving town just as she’s getting back?”
I shook my head. “No. I just need to get through security so I can meet her at the gate.”
Potts knew me well enough not to think it was a romantic gesture. I just wasn’t willing to take a chance of her trying to run again. God only knew what else Robert and Elyna had done. If they were willing to send their own daughter fake death threats about their own granddaughter, they could have concocted any number of stories about me. Maybe they’d pinned the threats on me somehow. Maybe –
I shook my head impatiently to clear it. It didn’t matter what Robert and Elyna had done. All that mattered was that I knew exactly where Cami and Emma would be tomorrow morning at 11:15 am.
And I would be there, too.
I got to the airport an hour early to wait. Impatience jittered through me. My fingers drummed impatiently on any hard surface I could find. The woman at the coffee shop eyed me nervously as she slid my double espresso across the counter and said dubiously, “Have a good one.”
I was going to have a good one.
I was going to get my daughter back.
I didn’t know what would happen with Cami. I didn’t know if the anger that had kept me going for so long would make a resurgence. I didn’t know if, when she stepped off that plane, I would want to kiss her or kill her. I pushed her out of my mind and focused on Emma. I didn’t care what I had to do. No one was ever going to take her from me again.
Bolting down a double espresso didn’t do much for my nerves. I drummed on the surface of the armrest that divided the seats until a small family of three got up and moved away from me. Then I made an effort to calm down. I could stop my fingers from tapping out relentless rhythms, but I couldn’t stop my heart from slamming in my chest as it drew closer to 11:15.
They got in early. At 11:10, the sleek white plane with the blue accents and yellow thrusts glided up. Rocked into position. The covered gangway was extended. I walked over to the window in time to see the flight attendant open the door. I stood there for a few moments. I knew Cami hadn’t bought business class tickets, so she wouldn’t be in the first wave of people deplaning. I had a minute to get my shit together. Figure out what I wanted to say. How I felt.
A minute wasn’t enough.
When I turned away from the window and circled back to where I could see the passengers flooding into the airport, my head was still all over the place. My heart was a turmoil of emotions. Relief, joy, anger.
Then I saw them. I saw Cami first. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, but I caught a glimpse of her pale face and huge dark eyes in a gap between two other passengers. It closed, but as the crowd surged closer, I saw her again. She had the same carry-on suitcase she’d taken to Croatia. She was dragging it behind her with one hand, and the other was gripping Emma’s. Emma looked tired and bedraggled. Her dark hair was in her eyes, and she was clutching her floppy Elsa doll. Her mouth was turned down in an uncharacteristically sullen pout.
Suddenly, she stopped. Her eyes widened behind her hair as she saw me.
Cami’s forward motion broke their interlocked fingers.
“Emma!” Cami said, sounding exhausted and harassed. “You have to keep up!”
Emma ignored her and cut through the crowd of people in my direction. I couldn’t stop a grin from breaking out across my face at the sight of her. I dropped down and held out my arms. She stepped into them without hesitation, her body sagging into mine as her arms went around my neck.
Relief swam through me as I lifted her up. I had my daughter back in my arms. And even if Elyna and Robert had tried to turn her against me, it clearly hadn’t taken. “Hi Daddy,” she said tiredly, resting her head on my shoulder. “I’m tired.”