Page 90 of Sunshine
“Right. Good. A distraction.” Paige takes a tablet from a bottle and swallows it, breathing in when it goes down. She’s not a fan of flying but the taking off and landing parts are the worst. “Ativan is a lifesaver. I better talk fast because once this kicks in it’ll be night-night for me.”
We both accept the almonds and soda being handed out by the flight attendant in business class and Paige continues her story.
“So, he doesn’t hear a thing from her for a year, but then one day he’s in the shop where he works on his bike. By the way…” She looks at me with a grin. “Do you know his bike has a name? It’s Lady.” She laughs, shaking her head. “Men are so weird. Mack’s bike has a name too. It’s Mercy because he almost died once while riding her.”
“You know a lot about Mack suddenly,” I reply, suspiciously. “He’s our sworn enemy, Paige.”
“Do you want to hear the rest of this story or not?”
“Fine, fine.” I make a zippering motion with my fingers against my lips.
“So, she shows up, and tells him about his daughter. Tells him she wants him to meet her. And he’s like ready to get himself pulled from the case, but his handler says it’s not possible. It took a year to get him patched and they’re in too deep. He only got patched that fast because Mack vouched for him.”
“God, that must have been horrible.” I knew about Mack but didn’t say anything about it to Paige.
“Anyway, I guess someone in the MC spotted her leaving the shop and followed her. She was never seen again. They questioned Case about it and the only thing that kept him alive is telling them she was there to beg for money and that he’d set her up, telling her to come back the next day for some cash and that he planned on surprising Preacher.”
“This story gets worse and worse.” I think of Case and how it must have destroyed him to keep his shit together after first finding out he had a kid and then finding out his child’s mother and former lover had been murdered. I shiver in my seat and Paige reaches up to close the little air vents above us.
“So poor Case had to stay deep undercover and not even think about Lisa or their daughter for fear of Preacher finding out Reece existed. And then finally after several more years stuck undercover, they finally took the club down and he finally got to meet his daughter. She was already four years old by then.”
“So, who was the woman in the picture on Case’s phone? Who’s Lulah?”
Paige looks skyward, thinking. “Lulah is Reece’s aunt, by marriage to Lisa’s brother.” Her statement comes out like a question. “I guess they were raising Reece and when they found out about Case being her dad they agreed to let him meet her and after seeing them together regularly they decided to help him get custody of her.”
Paige tells me the rest of the story and when I see her eyes drooping I tell her I need to work and pull out my laptop.
Paige wakes up two-and-a-half hours later just as we land on the tarmac at Pierson International Airport in Toronto. I’d written several chapters of a new story but had to tuck my laptop away for landing. I’m actually surprised I’d been able to concentrate. Case’s story was playing in my head on repeat and my guts feel like they’re being consumed by a beast with anxiety over my meeting with the judge.
“Hey, sleepyhead. We made it.”
She yawns and turns her phone off airplane mode. It chirps several times.
She glances down at it and smiles.
“Why are you smiling?”
I peek, and she hides her phone. But I’ve already seen it’s a text from Mack.
My brow knits. “Since when are you and Mack texting buddies?”
“That guy isn’t the only Mack in the world, you know.”
“Oh, so you know another Mack?”
“I might.”
I roll my eyes. “The guy’s an ass.”
She grins. “He’s a bad boy with a great ass.”
As soon as the plane is still, we both rise and collect our stuff. “For once can you please use your powers for good and get us out of this plane first? It’s rush hour and if you miss your meeting…”
I flag down the attendant and before the door to the plane opens, we’re first in line.
“A cart will meet you at the gate and take you to the luggage carousel. You were last on the plane so your bags will come off first.”
“Thank you!” Paige says and pulls another paperback out of her carry-on, handing it to the woman.
