Jacked Up (Bowen Boys #4) by Elle Aycart Read Free Book Online Page A

Most people who work in an airport are. Scared, I mean. We see too much.”
    Damn reassuring.
    On the plus side, she was talking to him again after his stunt. On second thought, scratch that; it wasn’t a plus, it was a minus.
    The fasten seat belt sign hadn’t gone off yet when one of the flight attendants brought Elle a double Scotch. “Paul sends his regards. He asked me to keep you stocked.”
    Elle took the glass and emptied it. “Thanks. Tell him I’ll try to behave.”
    As the flight attendant walked away, Elle turned to Jack. “Paul is the pilot. Old friend.”
    “Why would he want to keep you drunk? What did you do to him?” He could think of a number of possibilities and none of them were good.
    Her eyes fired up. “I didn’t do anything. I got a bit nervous once. He knows flying rattles me.”
    “Don’t worry,” the older lady sitting behind them said, leaning forward and patting Elle’s shoulder. “We won’t crash. I have it on good faith that we will be hijacked.”
    Elle stiffened.
    For the love of God. “Lady…” Jack grumbled.
    But she ignored the acrimony in his tone and continued, “My grandson told me flying is the safest way to travel, and that more planes are hijacked than crash. Then again, forty-five percent of the hijacked planes end up crashing too.”
    “Forty-five percent? That’s damn specific.”
    “Andy’s a statistics postgrad. He’s worked out some kind of system, according to which the next aviation incident has to be hijacking. He also said that, statistically speaking, it’s more probable that it happens in Eastern Asia, but he hasn’t taken into account the fact that I’m a magnet for bad luck. You should ask my late husband,” she added, shivering. “Anyway, there’s no doubt in my mind this is the flight getting hijacked. I’ve already spotted several men that look mighty suspicious to me. I’m Eve, by the way.”
    Elle turned to her. “Nice to meet you. I’m Elle. You are very relaxed, considering.”
    She shrugged. “It’s the blue pill Andy gave me.”
    Fantastic. He was surrounded by crazy women. One on her way to getting drunk, the other doped up to her ears.
    This was going to be a memorable flight.
    “Don’t worry. Jack here is an air marshal,” Elle whispered, gesturing to him. “He’ll stop the hijackers. Right, Jack?”
    He shot Elle a reproving look. The last thing he wanted was to humor some nutty lady, but he realized that all that nonsense had made Elle forget about her own fears and her nails were not buried in the armrests anymore, so he nodded curtly.
    Eve leaned toward Jack and whispered, “Can I see your gun? I’ve never seen one in real life.”
    From the corner of his eye, he noticed Elle smiling. “And you won’t.”
    “We don’t want to scare the general public,” Elle interjected in a whisper.
    “Oh. Of course,” she answered.
    In between the crazy talk and the constant flow of Scotch, soon Elle was more relaxed.
    “So, Borg, what’s your plan once we’re in Boston? Assuming we can make it there without killing each other, that is,” she added, turning her beautiful eyes to him. Man, black eyes. He hadn’t known those existed. So mesmerizing.
    “We lay low. You put in for vacation time. Cancel whatever classes you have, if any. At the first sign that something is wrong, I’ll pull you out and into hiding.”
    She narrowed her gaze belligerently. “Shouldn’t I have some say? What about reaching a mutually satisfactory compromise?”
    Fuck that. “You agree with me. That’s how we reach a mutually satisfactory compromise.”
    She pursed her lips, and murmured in Italian, “Nel mondo dei sogni, bello.” In your dreams, buddy.
    He didn’t know Italian, but he was fluent in Spanish, so he got the idea.
    “And I still believe your best bet is to disappear for a while,” he pressed on, ignoring her words.
    “Can’t. Tate needs me.”
    “Tate needs a live sister.”
    “You’re being dramatic.”
    “I