The Truant Officer (35 page)

Darren didn’t reply.

“You were like an angel who came into my life, but I’m too messed up. You should have run away from me. The worst part is that I always knew I’d hurt you, but I fooled myself because I wanted to live the dream.”

“Do you love him?” he asked.

She paused for a long moment, and then said, “I’m not sure I know what love is, but I’ve never felt like this before.”

There was one question he needed answered before he could completely wither away and die. “Were you really not able to get pregnant?”

She bowed her head. “I wasn’t worthy of mothering your children. I would’ve hurt them just like I hurt you.”

She reached out her hand to him, but Darren pushed it away, suddenly feeling alive again. Life flowed back through his veins. “That’s a total cop-out! The reason you’re messed up is because of what you did, not who you are!

She sniffled away tears. “I’m so sorry, Darren.”

He finally found the rage. “I thought of not going through with it, Lilly. I would let Alexei live and let them kill you! The only reason I did was for the vows, not for you. Don’t ever forget that.”

As tears streamed down her face, Dava returned with a smug look. “Sorry, the counseling session is over. We’ve been cleared for takeoff. New York to Tel Aviv, nonstop. Seems the president of the United States agreed to our terms.”

Darren felt like his mind might explode as he watched the runway vehicles clear out of the way. This was really happening. But once the awe wore off, he got down to business. He struggled to program the GPS, which he’d never done before without assistance from the tower. The gun pointed at the back of his head added to his anxiety.

But once he found his comfort zone, he got into a groove. The Airbus A380 had a different setup, but two multi-function displays provided an easy to use interface to the flight management system, making Darren’s transition seamless.

He went through his checks with sweaty palms. He turned on the fuel-igniters and auxiliary power unit. He cooled the cabin and then spun the engines. There was no tower to clear him, so he pushed the throttle and pulled back the yoke.

The hijacked plane took off into the night.

Chapter 84

Nick strolled back into the plane’s cabin. He could have had any seat he wanted, but he chose to sit right next to Audrey.

He wished the plane were a time-machine that could take him back to the time before Karl was arrested. Back when things were simple. There were two aspects to his life back then—his time with Audrey and the time he spent thinking about being with her. They planned on being together for the rest of their lives, but things had taken a dramatic turn, and by the looks of Audrey, so had she. He knew he was a different person now with a different destiny, so there was no use looking back.

Words wouldn’t be sufficient, so they said nothing. But as the plane surged upward, Audrey began to hyperventilate. It wasn’t her succumbing to the hijacking situation, Nick knew she was petrified of flying.

He instinctively reached out and grabbed her hand. He noticed that the interlocking NZ tattoo between her thumb and index finger had been converted into a Star of David. It wasn’t just a reference to her new home. It also represented what she’d become since they last saw each other—a star. She looked different, she talked different, she smelled different, but her touch had the same effect on him. Nick wanted to take her into her arms and not let her go. But that wasn’t possible right now.

When the plane settled into its cruising altitude, and the color began to return to her cheeks, Nick remarked, “It’s amazing to see you again.”

The words seemed to distress her. “I’ve been worried about you, Nick.”

He attempted the smile that had always been able to comfort her. “It’s been an interesting year, huh?”

“You could say that,” she replied, emotionless.

“You certainly look…um…like you’ve changed a lot in the past year.” It was hard not to notice her busting out of her gold gown. The dramatic blonde hair was also hard to get used to.

“I did what I had to do.”

“What
did
you have to do, Audrey?”

Her eyes fearfully wandered to Dava, who was nervously pacing the aisle like a prison guard. When the coast was clear, she stated, “They can’t learn who I really am. They’ll kill me.”

Nick’s voice lowered, “Okay,
Natalie
, tell me what this is all about.”

“I told you—I did what I had to do.”

“If I remember correctly, you are the one who always preached about total honesty in a relationship. Viktor Sarvydas? Are you nuts!?”

“Are we still in a relationship?”

“I’m just happy to see you again.”

Her face intensified. “That’s not what I asked you.”

“If you haven’t noticed, things are a little complicated at the moment.”

She peered toward the cockpit area in an accusatory manner. “Who is she?”

“Her name is Lilly—she was my teacher.”

“Are you in love with her?”

“I did what I had to do.”

“I gave up everything for you,” her voice raised, receiving a look from Dava.

When she returned to her pacing, he said, “I never asked you to do that.”

“I know, you told me to give up my life. Never see my parents again. Never see you again. I’d rather live dangerously than not live at all.”

“You don’t get it, Audrey. Sarvydas will kill you, and it won’t be quick and easy.”

“He already did kill me. And from what I read in the papers, there wasn’t much left of me. Who was killed in my apartment, Nick?”

“I thought you went back there. Jesus, Audrey, I even went to your funeral. I helped identify your body. But last night at your parents’ house, the FBI called and wanted to exhume you, or whoever is buried under your headstone in Devol.”

She looked at him with wonder. “You saw my parents...last night?”

“We were on the run and needed a place to stay. They will never get over your death, but they’ve been able to move on the best they can. I think your father’s faith has really helped your mother.” He attempted another smile. “She had all the photo albums out last night. I haven’t seen someone so glorified in death since Elvis.”

Audrey remained stoic, her eyes glued to Zubov. “We are going to need a miracle to get out of this one.”

Nick again grabbed her hand, feeling more shock waves. “I have a plan, but you’re going to have to trust me.”

“I’ve always believed in you, Nick.”

“It might include things I would never want you to see. You’re going to have to follow me, even if you don’t understand.”

Audrey glanced again toward the cockpit area, as if she was debating whether she could stomach seeing him and Lilly together once more. “I’ve done things too that I’m not proud of.”

He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, but that would certainly give away her cover, and he wasn’t ready to do that yet.

“I’ve done nothing to earn your loyalty,” Nick said. He then called for Dava and told her that he needed to use the bathroom. Zubov escorted him to the lavatory and waited outside.

Nick closed the door and took out the cell phone.

Chapter 85

Jessi stood outside the terminal at JFK—the once-bustling airport had turned into a giant crime scene. As she filed her latest breaking report about the hijacked plane being allowed to takeoff, a ringing sound startled her. It was coming from the phone that Nick had given her at the premiere party!

She put it on speaker, and motioned her cameraman to roll tape. She answered, “Thank God, Nick, are you okay?”

His voice was low, “I am in the bathroom of the hijacked plane. I don’t have much time and must speak softly. They are waiting right outside the door.”

Jessi played with the volume so that the camera microphone would pick up his words.

“Who is waiting outside the door—Darren McLaughlin?” she asked.

“McLaughlin is flying the plane.”

“What about his wife?”

“Lilly is in the cockpit with him. They are working as a team.”

“No wonder he was so desperate to get back to her.”

“They are also working with Dava Lazinski of the US Attorney’s Office, and the assassin Zubov. Dava was the key leak that allowed Viktor Sarvydas to find me when I was in witness protection.”

“The only person you haven’t mentioned is Natalie Gold, I don’t want to speculate, but should we fear the worst?”

“Natalie is unharmed, she is their bargaining chip—it’s the rest of us who are in the most immediate danger.”

“Have your captors provided any details of where the plane is headed, and why?”

“They plan on taking us to Israel to meet with Sarvydas for what the hijackers are calling a ‘trial’. But my guess is that the Israelis will shoot the plane down before allowing hijackers to land.”

Jessi couldn’t let Nick know that thoughts of a happy ending dissipated when the plane was allowed to leave New York. All the more reason to not let this moment pass—it would likely be her last chance to get the whole story.

“Take us back to the beginning, Nick.”

He paused for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts, then began, “After witnessing the murder of Karl Zellen by Alexei Sarvydas, I was put into witness protection until the trial, under the name of Buckley. They moved me to Chandler last December, where I lived the life of a high school senior. My teacher, Lilly McLaughlin, took a great interest in me, and I fell for her.

“We began an affair. I knew she was married, and I tried to call it off a couple of times, but Lilly always knew the right things to say to make me stay close to her.”

“What made you run?”

“I saw Zubov, a Sarvydas hitman, in a local mall. I knew my cover had been blown and I was as good as dead if I remained there. I now know it was the work of Dava Lazinski of the US Attorneys Office.

“Lilly suggested that we run, and that we make it look like a gang-style abduction. I was so stupid.”

Jessi could sense that Nick was becoming overwhelmed. She needed to keep him lucid and on course. “How, and at what point did you begin to suspect that Lilly McLaughlin was working for Sarvydas?”

“Once we got on the road, there were a lot of coincidences. Everywhere we went Zubov was right on our tail. I called US Attorney Eicher, who was prosecuting the case. I thought about telling him my location, but I was worried that there was a leak in his office. Sure enough, I was able to get hold of Lilly’s cell phone and it was full of messages between her and Dava. That’s how they found me.”

“Nick has provided me with these text messages, and I will be displaying them on both the Channel-6 and GNZ web sites as soon as we get clearance from the proper authorities. But for the audience, Nick, could you provide a brief summary of what those messages said?”

“They described how they planned to kill me at Sarvy’s during the Natalie Gold party, using my sister Sasha to lure me there. So when I returned to New York, I headed straight home to check on Sasha, but Dava was there waiting for me. She first took us to the office of Stevanro Parmalov, one of Sarvydas’ chief lieutenants. She shot him and his two assistants, who had been lured there by Darren McLaughlin. I was able to briefly escape, but McLaughlin was right on my tail...and you know the rest.”

“My exclusive video of the shootout in Sarvy’s showed Alexei Sarvydas being gunned down by a Rebecca Ryan, but my guess is that was an alias, just as Brett Buckley was not your real name?”

“That was Deputy Marshal Fitzpatrick of the US Federal Marshals. She was my guardian angel in the program. She warned me about Lilly, but I didn’t listen. She had figured out that Alexei was going to shoot me as revenge for agreeing to testify against him. She saved my life.”

“But the video clearly shows that she also protected Darren McLaughlin, and helped him get away. Is it possible that she is also involved in the hijacking plot?”

“I think she fell into the same trap that I did with the McLaughlins. They are very charming and charismatic people. She trusted Darren, just as I trusted Lilly.”

All of a sudden Nick’s voice turned panicked. “Someone’s coming. I have to go.”

The phone clicked off.

Chapter 86

The lavatory door swung open and Dava barged in, gun in hand.

“Times up—either shit or get off the pot,” she said with a sly grin. She shut the door behind her and locked it.

Nick hid the cell phone in his pocket.

She engulfed him in a passionate embrace. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“I couldn’t have gotten this far without you,” he said with a smile.

“I always take care of things. I’m just doing my job.”

She moved in to kiss him. He turned his head.

He could tell his rejection hurt her. The feelings she’d expressed to him this past year seemed real, but he’d been surrounded by some of the world’s greatest liars throughout his life. So he knew that the truth was a gray area.

“You said when this was over, we could be together. There are no longer any obstacles in our way.”

“We have a long way to go, Dava. It would be too dangerous at this point.”

“I’ve been completely honest with you. So don’t you lie to me.”

His face tensed. “This will never be over.”

“This is about her, isn’t it? As long as she’s out there somewhere, you will still long for her. No matter what you say.”

He didn’t enjoy the hurt in her eyes. But when Dava spoke of Audrey, he could tell that she had no idea that she’d become Natalie Gold.

“When Audrey left, it was the same as if she had died. I knew I’d never be able to see her again. I have moved on with my life, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t do everything within my power to make sure nobody figures out that she isn’t in that grave in Oklahoma.”

Dava handed him Rachel Grant’s leather-bound journal. Nick felt great relief. He had no idea that it was out there—in the wrong hands it could have ruined everything.