Life Of Lies

скачать книгу бесплатно


“I brought magazines. Do you want something to read?” she asked.

“Not right now,” Sahara said.

“Did you take your Dramamine? You know you have a tendency to get a little airsick.”

“Damn. I forgot,” Sahara said.

“I have some. Just a second,” Lucy said, and dug through her carry-on to find the little tube of pills. She shook one out in her hand and handed it to Sahara, then pulled a small bottle of water out of the same bag, opened it and handed it over the seat.

Sahara downed the pill, then put the lid on the water and set it in her drink holder.

“Thank you for taking such good care of me, Lucy.”

“You’re welcome,” Lucy said, then handed her a neck pillow.

Sahara put the pillow around her neck, thought of where they were going and closed her eyes. She’d promised herself she would never go back there again.

Broken promises. Broken dreams.

Her life was full of both.

She could hear tiny little clicks in her right ear and guessed Brendan was sending someone a text. First class was being seated now, and it didn’t take but seconds for Sahara to be recognized.

A well-dressed fortysomething woman had the seat beside Lucy, and when she paused to put her bag in the overhead bin and recognized Sahara Travis, Brendan saw the look of the hunt in her eyes. She was going to be pushy enough to try to introduce herself, he knew, so as her gaze went to Sahara’s face and her lips were parting, Brendan shook his head.

“No, ma’am,” he said quietly.

The woman blinked, then quickly sat, intimidated by his size and the deep rumble of his voice.

More people were filing past them now, but Sahara kept her eyes closed. She wanted this day to be over, and they still hadn’t left the ground.

Her name was on everyone’s lips. She could hear the whispers and excited undertones of people thrilled to be on the same flight as a star like Sahara Travis.

The rumble of voices grew like the wild kudzu vines from home, choking out everything in its path and taking all the air and energy out of the cabin. She wanted to hide, but damn it all to hell she was stuck on this commercial flight just to stay alive.

She was under no misapprehension that her mother’s murder and the attacks on her life weren’t connected. She thought there was surely a law of coincidence in the universe, and this hell she was living in no way came from serendipity.

Thankfully, by the time the passengers were seated and the flight attendants were stowing last-minute luggage and urging people to buckle up, the Dramamine tablet had put her to sleep.

Brendan glanced at her. She was buckled in and safe. So far, so good. The plane began to taxi. As it did, Sahara’s head rolled toward his arm, coming to rest just below his shoulder. He could smell the motel shampoo in her hair. When the plane finally left the runway, he was holding her hand.

* * *

When Bubba saw a news flash about a movie star on her way to New Orleans because her mother had been murdered, accompanied by a brief video clip of her, her assistant and one great big man he took to be a bodyguard moving through the airport, his heart skipped a beat. It was also apparent that Sahara had flown commercial. Once again, through no fault of his own, his plans had failed. But it was just as well. She was coming to him. He’d get her on his own turf.

* * *

Sahara woke up hours into the flight and took the cold soda she was offered, sipping it slowly while ever conscious of the looming presence of the man beside her. He was remarkably quiet. The only time he spoke was to dissuade passengers from stopping to talk or to ask for autographs. Another hour passed before Sahara finally tapped his arm.

“I need to use the restroom,” she whispered.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and stepped into the aisle to let her pass, then followed her to the front of the plane.

He looked inside the cramped bathroom cubicle before he let her in, then turned around to face the people in the plane with an emotionless expression. Within a few minutes he felt a hand on his back. He glanced over his shoulder to nod at her and then led the way back to their seats.

“Everything okay?” Brendan asked once they were seated.

She saw the genuine concern on his face and nodded, grateful that Harold had the foresight to choose a man like this.

Another hour passed, and the closer they got to New Orleans, the more anxious Sahara became. By the time they began preparing for landing, she was so tense it felt like she was vibrating from the inside out.

Fifteen years.

She hadn’t been here in fifteen years and had never planned to come to this city again. Now she would have to play the role of her life by pretending to be the grieving daughter. It wasn’t going to be easy. How did you grieve for someone who’d never loved you—never wanted you in her life? And the fact that her father was missing made her extra anxious. If he showed up and she was forced to face him down again, she didn’t know if she would survive it.