Page 1 of Her Filthy Mistake

Chapter One

Zoe

As the engines roar to life, I sit stiff as a board with a bland expression on my face, hoping to pull off the perfect ‘flying doesn’t scare the shit out of me’ face. Unfortunately, it probably comes off as a ‘terrified of flying’ face or resting bitch face. I love the destination parts of my mother and stepfather’s family trips, but I hate the getting there parts.

The early arrivals to the airport are an inconvenience.

The forgetting to wear socks when going through security and having to walk barefoot through the body scanner is disgusting. You’d think I’d only forget that once, but it happened again.

The hours of sitting thigh to thigh with a stranger while watching every move the flight attendants make to ensure they aren’t freaking out, so I don’t have to freak out harder, is exhausting.

At least my brother is on one side of me which allows me to scoot closer to him and farther away from the overweight, bald man who’s spent most of our wait on the tarmac smacking his gum. Apparently, chewing gum with your mouth open keeps your ears from popping. So he says.

What’s he going to do when we take off, and the gum has disintegrated?

“Seriously?” Zayden nudges me with his elbow.

“What?” I glare at him out of the corner of my eye.

“You’re acting like a baby. We’ve already been on two other flights today.”

“So what?” I shrug and shift from one butt cheek to the other. If it was anyone else, I’d play it off that I’m not petrified of crashing in the middle of a pasture with a floatation device wrapped around my neck. But it’s Zayden, he knows when I’m full of shit. So, there’s no use pretending.

Granted, we’re getting ready to fly over the ocean, so the floatation device will have an actual purpose during this leg of the flight. I shudder involuntarily at the thought.

“You’ve flown before, so act like it.” He shifts lower into his seat like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

“I don’t like flying,” I mutter under my breath as the flight attendant goes through her spiel about all the safety equipment and who’s responsible for rescuing the other passengers if there happens to be an ‘untimely’ landing.

‘Untimely’ landing? My teeth grind together. Her speech isn’t doing anything to appease my fears, which is why I’m seated halfway between the wing and the back of the plane. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone else.

Ten minutes later, we’re off the ground and onto the final stage of our journey. Soon, we’ll be in Saint Lucia, and I can forget the pain of traveling until the return trip.

Every year, my mom and stepfather have a big celebration for Christmas. A trip to a ski lodge one year. The desert another year. We’ve often met at their house for games, ugly sweater contests, and white elephant gifts. But this year, they’re going on a holiday cruise, so they wanted everyone to get together for their anniversary.

This is our second trip to the Caribbean with our last one being almost three years ago. My teeth grind together as the altitude pops my ears.

“You should have taken the gum I offered.” The man looks expectantly at me and points at his ears. “My ears are fine.”

“I’m glad.” I stare straight ahead. Ignore him, and don’t think about the last trip. It was a mess. My mom invited my dad and his second wife because he always complained about not seeing us during the Christmas holiday. And they came.

That was bad enough. But Jace, my stepfather’s half-brother, was also there. Asshole. I stare out the window at the sea of clouds below the plane. I’d rather envision dying a fiery death with the airplane’s fuselage crashing around me than think about Jace.

Zayden taps furiously on his phone, returning my attention back to the present. The second we get on each connecting flight; he pays for the airplane Wi-Fi service like he’s a 16-year-old girl who has left her 18-year-old boyfriend at home while she goes on vacation. And suspects he’s up to no good.

“What’s going on?’

“It’s a case I’m working on. My partner messaged and said things are heating up.” He shakes his head as his jaw flexes. “I knew I shouldn’t have come.”

“And suffer Mom’s wrath?” I wouldn’t have heard the end of it from Mom if I ditched.

“This case has been on the periphery since I joined the force, and someone has finally come forward with a claim against a prominent….” He pauses as if he’s said too much already and then continues, “A person of interest.”

“That’s good news, right?” Although he must keep the specifics of his job under wraps, I know as an undercover police officer, he spends most of his time working criminal syndicate investigations.

“It’s great news, but I want to be on the ground when he gets caught.” His eyes flash with anger, causing the hairs on my arms to rise. He’s working something big because I’ve seen him talk about drug dealers and serial arsonists like they were kindergarteners.

“How long?”

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