Page 63 of Gentle Persuasion

And everyone also knew that Cole was doing nothing about it. It was going to kill her, but come hell or high water, she was getting on that plane.

The bag slipped on her shoulder and she gave it another hitch, relocating it to a strong position. All of her other luggage had been checked, but she’d been unable to trust her breakable souvenirs to the baggage handlers.

The closer she got to the checkpoint, the heavier it became. Debbie knew that she was being weighed down by more than souvenirs and hair spray. Guilt was weighing heavily on her heart as well as her mind.

I shouldn’t have left him, she thought. But what else could I do?

“Place your purse and bag on here, miss,” the attendant ordered as Debbie stepped up in the line.

She complied and walked through the metal detector to meet her bags on the other side of the security X ray. She was standing, staring down at the floor, lost in thought, when alarms began to go off and the attendant shouted and grabbed her arm.

“Get some more security here, on the double. We’ve got a problem,” he ordered.

Debbie gaped. Two uniformed officers appeared and grabbed her, one on either side. With her bags in tow, the trio began a quick walk toward an area designated as off limits to ordinary travelers. People pointed and stared.

“What?” she gasped. “I don’t understand. You’ve made a—”

“Just save it, miss,” one of the officers ordered. “You can explain it to the chief.”

Debbie rolled her eyes, caught a glimpse of a clock on the wall as she was all but dragged through the hallway, and knew without a doubt that she would not make her plane. She didn’t know about high water, but hell had come calling.

***

Cole made the entire run to the airport with lights flashing, moving unsuspecting citizens out of the way in a desperate attempt to save Debbie the embarrassment of being arrested. The traffic on the freeways was, as usual, a tow-trucker’s delight.

The exit leading to the airport finally came into view. He glanced down at his watch and knew that whatever was going to happen already had. Either Buddy’s sabotage had failed and Debbie was gone, or she was under arrest. Neither was an option he wanted to consider.

He chose airport parking. If Debbie was under arrest, it would take hours to straighten out this mess. He could still remember his own family’s nightmare trip, when they’d had to try to convince the authorities that Buddy’s invention was nothing more deadly than a hand-held computer game. And, if by chance Debbie was already gone, he was going to be right behind her. Either way, he wouldn’t be needing his car for some time to come.

Stuffing the claim ticket in his pocket, he began to jog. By the time he reached the terminal, he was in an all-out run. Several people stared at the tall, suntanned man dressed in blue jeans and sneakers. And quite a few noticed how well his Forty-niners T-shirt molded to his physique. But it was all they saw. He was merely a blur through the crowd.

Cole was running. One quick look told him her flight had been delayed. Oh Lord! That means she’s been arrested, and they’re probably searching baggage.

What he had to do now was get to security, and he knew right where it was. He should. He’d spent the better part of three hours there himself.

“You can’t go in there,” a guard shouted as Cole sprinted down a hallway.

He stopped, breathing hard, and dug in his pocket and flashed his badge. “Detective Brownfield, Laguna Beach Narcotics,” he said quickly. “Can you tell me, in the last hour or so, has a young woman been arrested?”

The guard grabbed Cole by the arm and asked, “What do you know about it? And let me see that badge again.”

I can see I was right. “Just take me to security,” Cole asked. “I can explain everything.”

“I seriously doubt it,” the guard said.

“Believe me,” Cole sighed, as they started down a long hallway, “I can.”

***

Debbie stared at a point just past the officer’s shoulder and stifled the urge to scream. She’d been an swering the same questions for nearly an hour. It was obvious that they either needed hearing aids or didn’t believe her. She opted for the latter.

“So, Miss Randall,” Officer Tillet droned, “if you claim you know nothing about how this got in your luggage, maybe you can tell me what it does.” He pointed to Buddy’s computer game, careful not to touch any of the buttons and accidentally activate anything deadly.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, and drawled, “All I know is that, if you don’t turn it on, you can’t rescue the princess.”

Tillet frowned. Must be some kind of code. One never knows about radical factions and their crazy plans to save the world. His pulse soared. This would mean a promotion for sure if he’d accidentally stumbled onto a plot by the IRA to harm the Royal Family.

“Princess, huh? As in Princess Di, maybe? Where were you headed anyway, London?”

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