Bounty Flight Read online

  Bounty Flight

  Cedar Creek Suspense, Volume 2

  Violet Howe

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, events, and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

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  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

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  www.violethowe.com

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  Cover Design: Elizabeth Mackey

  www.elizabethmackeygraphics.com

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  Published by Charbar Productions, LLC

  (v1)

  Copyright © 2022 Violet Howe/LM Howe/Charbar Productions, LLC

  All rights reserved.

  Print ISBN: 978-1-7327269-5-6

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-7327269-4-9

  For Tawdra

  For road trips and late night roomie talks, for inside jokes and sisterhood, for support and guidance through tears and laughter, for Dolly Parton and Cat Missouri, for the right kind of Almond Joyous, and much, much more.

  Thanks for being willing to brave nightmares and phobias for me. In more ways than one.

  Contents

  Books by Violet Howe

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Want more in Cedar Creek?

  Also by Violet Howe

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Thank You

  Books by Violet Howe

  Tales Behind the Veils

  Diary of a Single Wedding Planner

  Diary of a Wedding Planner in Love

  Diary of an Engaged Wedding Planner

  Maggie

  The Cedar Creek Collection

  Cedar Creek Mysteries:

  The Ghost in the Curve

  The Glow in the Woods

  The Phantom in the Footlights

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  Cedar Creek Families:

  Building Fences

  Crossing Paths

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  Cedar Creek Suspense:

  Whiskey Flight

  Bounty Flight

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  Soul Sisters at Cedar Mountain Lodge

  Christmas Sisters

  Christmas Hope

  Christmas Peace

  Visit www.violethowe.com to subscribe to Violet’s monthly newsletter for news on upcoming releases, events, sales, and other tidbits.

  * * *

  Or join her Facebook reader group, the UltraViolets, for fun interaction, advance news, exclusive content and giveaways.

  One

  I have no memory of the moment the plane slammed into the ground.

  I lost consciousness at some point prior to impact. When I awoke, still in some semblance of the brace position with my head between my knees, I didn’t know what had happened at first. All I knew was I couldn’t breathe.

  A heavy weight lay across my back, pressing my chest against my thighs. My bag was squashed between my legs and my rib cage, leaving my lungs no room to expand. Disoriented panic set in as I pushed against the unyielding weight, and my brain seemed to short circuit, sputtering little flashes of memory that made no sense at first.

  The smell of lavender hand lotion. A woman praying. The sky where it shouldn’t be. A man cursing. Flames. Blood-curdling screams and the horrific crunch of metal. And beneath it all played the flight attendants’ continual chant of “brace, brace, brace.”

  But then my mind locked on a memory of the clearest crystal-blue eyes I’d ever seen, and suddenly, it was as though a film reel loaded into my mind’s projector, and the events leading up to the crash played back at warp speed.

  I’d first noticed those blue eyes when he arrived at the departure gate. As usual, my nose was buried in a book, but something made me look up. Almost like the universe had silently called to me and said, “Girl, you don’t want to miss this.”

  He approached the gate with two other men, but he might as well have been the only person in the entire terminal, because he was all I saw.

  He was six-three, maybe four, and built like he knew his way around a gym but didn’t live there. He walked with a confident swagger, his fists by his sides and his narrowed eyes scanning the crowd as though he was looking for trouble and hoping he found it.

  His entire demeanor screamed badass, and suddenly, I no longer doubted the validity of the book heroines who fall in love at first sight. Or in lust, at the very least. Never had my body reacted to a stranger with such immediate attraction, and I tingled with such intensity I squirmed in my seat.

  Our gazes locked and a jolt of electricity shot straight through me. His eyes widened a bit and a hint of a smile played at the corner of his mouth. For a moment, I thought perhaps he’d felt it too, but then common sense reminded me how ridiculous that was, and my cheeks heated as I looked away. He was more likely smiling because I was staring at him like a starstruck teenager, desire blatant on my face.

  I tried to refocus on my book, but the story no longer held my interest. When I couldn’t help but venture another peek, he stood at the desk between the two men. His tie-wearing companion leaned forward to speak with the attendant in hushed tones, pulling something from his wallet to show her. The third man stood off to the side, shifting his weight from foot to foot, his hands shoved in his back pockets. He was much younger than the other two, younger than me even. Barely early twenties, if that. With a face so pale it was almost green and eyes that darted back and forth in a constant scan of his surroundings, he looked as though he might throw up at any moment.

  They were an intriguing trio, but my attention was caught by the one in the center. The one who had sent my pulse racing with nothing more than a glance.

  Broad shoulders stretched the cotton of his black T-shirt taut across his back, and as he rested his palm on the desk, I admired the definition of the muscles in his forearms and the bulge of his bicep where it disappeared beneath the shirt’s sleeve. My gaze continued to drift down to his tapered waist and the snug hug of his jeans, but then he shifted his weight and began to turn. I forced my eyes back to the pages of my book, not wanting to be caught openly ogling him again.

  After re-reading the same paragraph three times without comprehending the words, I looked up again, determined to appear casual. The ruse of nonchalance disappeared the moment I realized he’d gone, and I sat up and turned left to right in a desperate search for any sight of him.

  Where the hell had he gone so quickly? And why did I care?

  His absence left me melancholy, which was absurd. I didn’t even know the guy and never would! What did it matter? It wasn’t like I would have struck up a conversation with him if he’d stayed, even if I had somehow been afforded the opportunity. What was I going to do? Walk up uninvited and introduce myself? Give him my number like we were in a club on singles night rather than surrounded by travelers in an airport? Any guy that gorgeous was likely already attached. Or a total player who kept a bevy of ladies on speed dial.

  I tried to tell myself it was ridiculous to pine over some guy just b
ecause of his appearance, even if he did look like a long-lost Hemsworth brother they’d somehow managed to hide from the world. Looks only went so far, and he could be a total jerk for all I knew. The handsome ones often were.

  But that didn’t keep me from watching for his return, even after I’d boarded the flight. As each new passenger made their way down the aisle toward me, my disappointment grew, and when they’d finally shut the door to the cabin, I lost all hope.

  For the first part of the flight, I spent way too much time indulging my thoughts of him. Who was he? What did he do for a living? Did he live in the Central Florida area like me, or was he just one of the thousands of visitors who passed through the Orlando airport every day?

  Without any concrete answers, I filled in the blanks with whatever I wanted, and by the time the flight attendants began serving refreshments, I’d concocted quite the hero in my head. I’d even imagined us a newly-rewritten beginning and a happily-ever-after ending.

  The bottle of water I’d brought on the plane was empty and my bladder was full, and I knew if I didn’t make a run for the lavatory before the refreshment cart got to my row, I’d be blocked from going until they finished their journey down the aisle.

  I strapped the small backpack I was using as a travel purse onto my chest and stood to begin walking toward the back of the plane. I’d only gone a few rows when I spotted him, and I stopped short in the aisle in disbelief.

  No way! This was impossible!

  He’d disappeared before they even called for boarding to begin, and I’d watched every single passenger who’d gone down the gateway before me or who boarded the plane after me. He’d been nowhere in sight. Yet, here he was, seated on the aisle in the back row of the plane with an empty seat between him and the guy who’d looked nauseated.

  Could he have boarded the plane before anyone else? If so, how had I not noticed him when I got on and came to my seat?

  The two men leaned toward each other talking, but then the lost Hemsworth turned to look at me as if he’d sensed my stare.

  The jolt hit again as our eyes locked, and then he smiled—a breathtaking, dazzling smile that made my knees go weak.

  Damn! Could he feel that too? He had to. How could he not with the way his eyes lit up?

  The woman next to me cleared her throat, and I realized I had grabbed the back of her seat to brace myself.

  Embarrassed, I continued to move forward down the aisle, but I didn’t dare break eye contact. I’d found him again after thinking he was lost to me forever, and I intended to spend every available second taking in his perfection to memorize every detail.

  He never looked away as I approached, and the intensity of his gaze sent goose bumps rippling across my skin. Only when I’d passed by him and slid the lavatory door shut did I release the breath I’d been holding.

  My dark brown eyes seemed brighter than usual as they stared back at me from the mirror, and my cheeks were pink with a rosy flush.

  It was ridiculous to be this worked up over a complete stranger, and yet, my mind was scheming to figure out a way to talk to him. Unless I wanted to make a fool of myself standing in the aisle with an out-of-the-blue introduction, my best chance wouldn’t be until baggage claim, but I decided to spruce up a bit for the walk back since I was certain he’d be watching.

  I pulled a tube of lip gloss from my bag and dabbed it across my bottom lip, careful not to apply too much and make the effort obvious. As I pressed my lips together to rub it in, I fluffed my hair with my fingers, thankful for the morning’s low humidity that had kept it from frizzing, and then I turned my attention to taking care of necessary business.

  A rumble vibrated beneath me, but I assumed it was simply one of those odd sounds planes make. At the time, I was more concerned with balancing my hover inside the tiny lavatory as I fought to get the toilet paper holder to release more than one sheet at a time.

  The plane rumbled again as I finished rinsing my hands. I crinkled my nose at the soap’s lingering antiseptic smell, and once I’d dried my hands with a paper towel, I pulled a small tube of lavender hand lotion from my bag.

  I stood rubbing a dollop into my skin when a deafening boom filled the air, followed by a horribly piercing screech that seemed to tear straight through my eardrums. Crying out in both shock and pain, I clamped my hands over my ears, but that left me completely unprepared to catch myself as the plane rolled to the left, tossing me against the wall of the lavatory.

  Frantic to escape the tiny space, I jerked the door open and rushed into the galley with my ears still ringing and my heart pounding. Before I could get my bearings, the plane shuddered again with a drastic drop in altitude, leaving my body momentarily suspended in weightlessness before tossing me back down at the end of the aisle between the back rows.

  I reached for the nearest armrest, desperate to find some measure of stability, but then movement caught my eye in the aisle ahead of me and I looked up in horror as the massive beverage cart barreled toward me. I scrambled to try and stand but stumbled, and then a muscular arm clamped around my waist like a vice grip, lifting me up and out of the way seconds before the cart crashed into the armrest I’d been clinging to.

  The arm around my waist loosened its grip as the plane leveled, and before my mind even registered that I was sitting in the lost Hemsworth’s lap, he had lifted me again and shoved me into the empty seat next to him.

  “Fasten your seatbelt,” he shouted over the chaotic din of screaming in the cabin.

  I did as he said without question, and as I clicked the seat belt in place, a flight attendant stood at the front of the aisle and called for calm over the loudspeaker.

  In soothing tones, she assured us there was no need for panic, but her appearance wasn’t exactly reassuring. Blood seeped from a small cut above her eyebrow, and her hand trembled as she smoothed it over her disheveled hair.

  Judging by how fast the screams died down, some of the passengers must have believed her spiel, but not everyone was convinced.

  “What the hell was that?” asked the man who had accompanied the lost Hemsworth onto the plane. “We gonna crash, ain’t we? We gonna die.” He groaned and looked past me to his traveling companion. “I ain’t wanting to die today, man. I can’t go out this way. I told you I was terrified of flying.”

  “You’re not dying today, Kirby,” my rescuer said, his voice as deep and rich as I had imagined it might be. “You have a date with a judge, and nothing will stop me from making sure you’re there for it.”

  I stared at the lost Hemsworth in a bewildered state of shock. Moments before, I’d begged the universe to give us a way to meet, but bodily injury and fearing for my life wasn’t what I had in mind.

  “You okay?” he asked, staring back at me. He seemed completely unfazed, as if airplanes fell apart around him all the time.

  “I, uh, I think so.” My shoulder ached, my knees stung with carpet burn, and a pain radiated from the side of my head, but all things considered, it could have been worse. “Thanks. For, uh, you know, rescuing me. Um, picking me up. So, yeah. Thanks.”

  My words tumbled over each other as my brain struggled to process everything that had just happened.

  “No problem,” he said with a slight nod and a hint of a smile.

  I couldn’t stop staring at him, and I marveled at the fact that even in the midst of a near-death experience, I could still be affected by the unexpected close proximity to what had to be the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen in my life.

  He tilted his head to one side and his eyes narrowed. “You sure you’re all right? You took a pretty hard tumble, and you seem dazed.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “I think I am. All right, I mean. And maybe a little dazed.”

  The flight attendant announced they’d be coming through the cabin to attend to injuries, and I turned from my rescuer to do a quick scan of my surroundings, which appeared to be returning to normal.

  “My name’s Lauryn, by the way,” I said when I
looked back at him. Part of me was shocked that I could even consider making small talk under the circumstances, but another more adventurous part of me figured if the universe had gone to all this trouble to present the opportunity, I’d better not waste it.

  He shook my extended hand and released it. “Brick.”

  “Brick? Really?” My incredulous tone sounded rude even to me, and I rushed to explain in case I’d offended him. “I mean, that’s a cool name. Interesting, for sure. I’ve never known anyone named Brick. Is it a family name?”

  “Damn, look how close the trees are,” Kirby said, his forehead pressed to the window. “We must have fallen pretty far. Why ain’t we climbing back up?”

  I leaned toward the window and craned my neck to see past him, drawing back in alarm with the realization that we were barely above the tree-covered mountaintops.

  “Why are we flying so low?” I asked, turning back to Brick as though he would somehow have the answers.

  “I bet we lost an engine,” Kirby said before Brick could respond. “Probably hit a bird. They say a single bird can bring down a big jet like this. They fly into the engine and then bam! Down we go. We’re probably down to one engine now.”

  He let out a stream of curses and jerked his hand against the seat rest with a loud rattle. The jacket that had been laid across his lap fell away, and my eyes widened at the sight of handcuffs securing him to the seat.