Destiny: The Girl in the Box #9 Read Online Free PDF Page B

down, staring at the seatback in front of me. It was in its upright and locked position, like it was supposed to be. Not that it mattered, I supposed. Here in first class, there was actually a decent space between me and the next seat. I was short enough I never had a problem with the leg room, but I could certainly tell the difference.
    “Is this seat taken?” The guy in the suit asked, drawing my attention. I wasn’t sure at first if he was legitimately asking me or if he was just bantering with the stewardess. I turned to look at him and immediately resisted the urge to throw a backhand out to smack him.
    “You ass,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
    “Following you,” Scott said as he sat down in the seat next to me, his pressed, pristine white shirt unbuttoned at the top in what looked like—to me—another expression of his slightly cocky, preppy, pretty-boy charm. He leaned on the armrest between us and smiled. “Figured you might need some help.”
    “I’m identifying the body of someone you’ve never really met,” I said. “What do you think I’ll be needing your help with?”
    “I’d say emotional support,” he said, still smiling, “but I’m a little worried you don’t have any emotions right now.” It was a little charming. Just a little.
    “Oh, I have them,” I said, leaning toward the window. “Nice to know I’m keeping them beneath the surface, though. I’d hate to be bleeding them all over everyone right now.”
    “You are the leader,” he said. “All eyes are on you. I’d imagine that’s difficult.”
    “It can be.” The little circular vent above me started hissing air at a higher volume, and it felt cooler than it had a moment ago. The light thrum of the plane’s electrical systems changed into something heavier as the engines started up. “Look … if this is about you and me—”
    “It’s not,” he said, still leaning toward me. There wasn’t just a simple arm-rest like I’d dealt with in coach; there was a full-on end-table-sized surface between the two of us. “I told you, I don’t need an answer from you on that, not until after. But—you are walking into something right now that you shouldn’t have to face alone. You ought to have someone there with you when you—”
    “Charlie’s not exactly a fond memory for me, okay?” I cut him off, but I did it quietly. “It’s not like I spent my childhood playing at her house, or had her with me during the toughest times of my life. I knew her for six months before she tried to kill me. Six months during which I’d see her for a day a month when she was blowing through town. I don’t think that Charlie dying and me having to look at her corpse is going to be something that sends me over the edge emotionally.”
    “Well, I’m here for you anyway,” Scott said, and he pulled back from me a little. Still kept on that charming smile, though. “Even if all you need is someone to drive the rental car.”
    “What if I want to drive the rental car?”
    His smile evaporated. “You’re kidding, right? I always drive.”
    “Unless you’re too drunk to do so,” I said with a little smile of my own.
    “Yeah, but that’s not going to happen here.” He actually scoffed. I almost couldn’t believe it.
    “Scott, we’re going to Vegas,” I said. “With government-issued IDs that say we’re over twenty-one. You can’t tell me that these thoughts have not occurred to you before stepping onto this plane.”
    He shook his head and pursed his lips into a thin line. “I’m a little insulted that you think so little of me—” He snickered. “Okay, maybe—just maybe—I’ll concede that it crossed my mind that you needed to find a way to leave behind some of that emotional baggage that’s weighing you down. Even for just a night.”
    I looked out the window as the tarmac started to move. White concrete lit by the hot, noonday sun shimmered outside my window. “I don’t think a night’s gonna do