The Heart of the Jungle, стр. 29
"That'll work."
"How are you going to pay for this?"
"You are."
"Now I know you're joking."
"Bradley, they may have a trace on my credit cards. I can't risk using them. I'll make sure Lisa compensates you first thing tomorrow."
"You owe me big-time for this," he said, tapping away. "Give me his information so I can book the reservation."
Jason relayed Chris's personal data to Bradley and flashed a thumbs-up sign when the booking was complete.
"I hope you're close to the airport. You know how the security lines can get. If you miss this flight, you're stuck until tomorrow."
"I'll make it." Jason took a deep breath. "This doesn't change anything. About us, I mean."
"I'm over it. I had to try, right?" There was a hint of vulnerability and resignation in Bradley's voice. "Listen, just...."
"What?"
"Take care of yourself, okay? I hate your guts, but they're too pretty to get messed up."
"You too."
Jason disconnected and glanced furtively at Chris, who was staring out the window into the distance. If he had any curiosity about the conversation, he wasn't letting it show. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, far away.
"Next stop, Vegas," Jason said, drawing Chris from his reverie. "I hope."
Chapter 8
THE security lines at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were blessedly sparse. It seemed like very few travelers were interested in flying on a Wednesday night at ten o'clock, which suited Jason and Chris just fine. When they arrived at the departure gate, boarding was just beginning, and before they knew it, they were seated on the plane.
Only after they were underway and the lights of the city were far below and behind did Jason allow himself to relax.
There might be someone waiting for them on the other end in Las Vegas, but for right now, thirty thousand feet of empty air stood as an impassable barrier keeping them from harm.
He shifted to face Chris, who was staring out the window at the thick blanket of clouds that obscured the ground below.
"Still okay?" he asked.
Chris turned his eyes away from the oval window.
"You're awfully quiet," Jason probed.
"It's just a lot has happened in such a short span of time. I guess I'm a little shaken up," Chris replied. "It doesn't seem real. It's like something that's happening to someone else. I'm not equipped to deal with this kind of stuff. High action for me is missing a copy deadline and having to deal with my editor."
"It gets easier. You get used to it after a while."
Chris took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat. "I don't think I want to. But if it means getting some answers, maybe getting my daughter back, it's a small price to pay."
Jason sensed that Chris needed a distraction to take his mind off the harrowing experience. He knew that on top of the horrors Chris had faced over the past year, the sudden scrape with danger was probably overwhelming. Though withdrawn, he seemed composed. Jason wondered if he would have been so steady if this were all happening to him.
"Tell me about your daughter," he urged, compelled by more than the diversion.
"Brianna?" Chris's face softened as his thoughts turned to his little girl. "What do you want to know?"
"Start at the beginning. I'm curious how someone like you has a baby."
"Someone like me?" Chris asked in mock offense. He chuckled.
"Certainly not the old-fashioned way," he said. "I actually just got lucky."
"How so?"
He flashed his wrists in Jason's direction. "This. It's a long story."
He self-consciously pulled his hands back and settled them into his lap.
"The alternative is thumbing through this shitty catalog full of overpriced garbage nobody needs."
Chris smiled and shrugged, then pursed his lips thoughtfully, his eyes staring off into the distance. "While I was institutionalized, I got close to this woman named Jeannie. She had a lot of issues---worse than mine. Misery loves company, you know. We'd both tried to kill ourselves. Suicide makes for some twisted small talk, let me tell you. It was pretty messed up.
"Anyway, we bonded. We helped each other through affirmation exercises. We were discharged around the same time and promised to stay in touch."
"And did you?"
"For a while. Then she stopped calling. I think I got one or two Christmas cards. She dropped off the face of the earth. Then, one day she showed up on my doorstep. She was very pregnant and very scared. The life she left behind when she went in caught back up to her, only she got mixed up with some pretty horrible people this time.
"Brianna was born about a month later. Jeannie put my name on the birth certificate and walked out of the hospital, leaving me with a baby. Me, of all people. You must think that's pretty strange. I mean, I don't exactly seem like daddy material."
"Actually, I wasn't thinking that at all. I know plenty of people who have kids that don't fit the picture. You're not one of them."
"Well, I'm no June Cleaver, that's for sure." He was silent for a moment. "I'm not the person I used to be, though. Oh, I have my issues, but being broken isn't one of them---at least not until---" His voice cracked, and he blinked back tears. Chris took a deep breath, fighting for control. "I was always a whole person for Brianna, you know. Somehow I pulled it together for her."
"Must have been a real shock. Did you ever picture yourself having kids?"
"In fact, it was one of my most cherished dreams. Biological, or something, I don't know... I was hardwired for it. It seemed impossible, though. Before Brianna came along, I thought that because of who I was, because of the choices I'd made, it was