Page 86 of Maddy's Justice

When Marc’s elevator came, he found two people, a man, and a woman obviously together, already on it. He nodded politely and stared at the door.

The car stopped on thirty-eight to let them off. As the doors were opening, Marc caught a glimpse of a man hurrying past. He looked like Brandon Stafford.

The two people stepped off, turned to the left, and walked away. Curious, Marc held the doors open and peeked to his right. He was just in time to see Stafford using a numeric code on a keypad to unlock a door. Stafford quickly went inside while Marc continued to watch. Oddly, there was nothing on the door or the nearby wall to indicate the room number or what was inside.

Marc let the elevator car doors close and quietly asked himself, “What was that about?”

TWENTY-EIGHT

A small storm system was moving from the west toward Isla Cantadore. It was still thirty to forty miles out as the island’s owner paced along the edge of the tarmac. The Mikes wanted to get in the air before the storm hit the island.

The two Mikes had their Lear parked in front of the canopied walkway. The sleek jet was fueled, and the Mikes had performed their preflight check twice. No screwing around and certainly no drugs or other contraband aboard. The boss was going to be heading north.

The island’s owner heard the sound of two vehicles approaching. He turned toward the house and saw what he had been impatiently waiting for. He strolled back toward the jet and waited for the others in the cars. They were two Mercedes sedans. Odessa exited the first one and quickly joined him.

“Are they ready?” he asked her.

“Yes, they’ll be quite comfortable for the entire trip,” Odessa answered him.

By now the second Mercedes had parked near the plane. The Mikes had hustled over to the cars to help with the luggage. While they and two security guards did this, Evan Carlin and another security guard were assisting the twins, Abia and Salma, walking them to the jet’s stairway.

Odessa and her boss silently watched as Evan got the girls aboard. The island’s owner sighed slightly watching them walk past.

“You cannot make them love you,” Odessa told him.

He snapped his head to the left with a severe look on his face. Odessa had dealt with the look many times. She was the only one who knew him well enough to not be intimidated by it.

“You cannot,” she repeated staring him directly in the eyes.

As usual, Odessa’s strength and willingness to stand up to him immediately softened him. He drew in a deep breath and released it.

“I know,” he softly said. “I can’t help feeling this way, though.”

“Possessing and loving are not the same thing,” Odessa said.

Ignoring the comment, he asked, “The drugs will keep them…relaxed?”

“Yes, for the entire trip.”

“Good,” he replied.

By now they had casually made their way to the plane’s door. Mike Strand appeared in the doorway.

“All set?” the island’s owner asked.

“Yes, sir. Ready as soon as you board.”

“Let’s go,” he said to Odessa.

* * * * * * *

A little over three hours later, the Lear gently touched down at Chicago’s Midway Airport. While Mike Strand taxied the Lear to the private terminal area, Mike Hillsdale went to the cabin.

“We made good time this trip, sir,” he told his boss. “Almost an hour off the normal time.”

“Well done, Mike,” he replied.

“We’ll have you on your way in about ten minutes,” Hillsdale said while looking at the twin girls. “The helicopter is standing by to take Odessa and the girls to Wisconsin.”

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