Page 51 of Savage Obsession

“Lily?”

She shakes her head, panic setting in. “Nie znam cie…” She’s backing away.

“My name is Gabe.” I’m guessing at what she said. I point to my chest. “Gabe.”

“Gabe?” She wraps her mouth around the single syllable. “Gdzie idziemy?”

More guesswork. “England,” I reply. “Your mama…” I picked up that word from her brief conversation on the phone.

She shakes her head. “Nie Anglia. Polska. Warszawa…”

I might need to get her parents on the phone again. “Trust me.” I hold out my hand. And wait.

I don’t know what does it. Maybe she’s just bone-tired after being on the road for days and can’t go any further. Whatever, she ignores my hand but steps outside.

My driver found a spot close to the exit. She waves to me from the driver’s seat and rolls slowly forward to pick us up. I sprint down the steps to the car park and open the rear door.

Lily crouches to peer inside and is perhaps reassured by the fact that the driver is female. She hops in, while I fling her backpack in the boot, then slide after her.

“Back to the heliport, please.”

The driver understands, even though I spoke in English. In moments, the streets of Lyon are gliding by, soon to give way to open countryside. The trip back to the heliport passes in silence and seems mercifully brief. The driver pulls up at the door to the terminal.

I peel off two hundred euros by way of payment, and she seems delighted with this. Her fervent good wishes follow us as we troop into the heliport building.

“Your passport?” I pause, one eyebrow raised.

She drops to her knees to rifle through one of the pockets on her backpack and produces the standard burgundy EU passport. I travel on international diplomatic US papers, so we whisk speedily through the border controls and head out on foot for the tarmac beyond.

My pilot sees us coming and drops his half-finished cigarette on the ground. He nods to me, then to Lily. “Welcome back. Where to now?”

“Do you know Kittyhawk Aerodrome? It’s near Brighton…”

He shakes his head, then reaches into his cockpit for a chart. “Ah, right. Looks… discreet.”

“I hope so. How long for you to get the necessary clearance? UK airspace is diligently defended, we won’t get close without the proper approvals to our flight plan.”

“Give me an hour. There’s a vending machine over there does decent coffee, if you fancy that.”

He strides away to do battle with the port authorities, leaving us to our own devices. I’m not sure about coffee for Lily but decide food might be a good option.

“Come with me.” I pick up the bag again and make for the catering facilities, such as they are.

Lily follows me, or maybe she just wants to keep an eye on her possessions. That bag represents all she currently has in the world. I peer into the machine, taking in the offerings there. The coffees do smell good. The food is limited to sandwiches in the main, but a half-decent selection. “What do you want, Lily?”

Using hand signals, she chooses egg and cheese. I throw in a chocolate bar as well, and a canned drink, and go for tuna as my choice. We perch on a flight of steps and munch on our impromptu picnic, in a silence driven more by the lack of a common language than any companionable sentiment.

It’s going to be a long trip.

Actually, it’s not that bad. Mainly because Lily falls asleep almost as soon as we’re airborne and I’m spared the need to make an effort to keep her calm. She doesn’t wake up, even when we land to refuel. It’s not until we’re just a few minutes out of Kittyhawk that I lean across to shake her by the shoulder.

“Lily, wake up. We’re nearly there.”

She stirs, then settles again to slouch in her seat

I shake her one more time. “Lily, we’ll be landing soon.”

Her eyes open. She starts, then sits bolt upright. “Gdzie ja jestem?” She glances about her wildly as if taking in the chopper for the first time.

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