was he up to in taking this Learjet? She got the feeling he was in the dark about the owner or else he wouldn’t have lifted it. He had that wholesome, Eagle Scout air about him.
“Why don’t you take the whole plate? You’re hungry.” He chuckled. “I’ll get some napkins and more water.”
She liked the sound of his laugh, and her earlier feelings of unease and suspicions were slowly fading.
A few seconds later, he sank into the seat across from her again, holding the napkins and water. She ate slower now, and finished off her second cupcake, then took another bottle of water from him.
At some point, he was going to ask her again what she knew, and she’d play dumb as long as she could, but she had a few questions of her own. “So, you said you took the plane on unfriendly terms. What does that mean exactly, and who are you working for?”
He was sitting back now, his elbow on the armrest and his forefinger over his lips. He arched a brow at her questions. His hesitation told her he still had his own suspicions about her, and was considering his response. She didn’t get that.
“Why don’t you go first?” he asked.
Maya had been about to eat another cupcake but lost her appetite and put it back on the platter. “Isn’t it obvious? I was kidnapped. I’ve got a lot more reason to be suspicious of you than you have to be suspicious of me.”
“Maybe I can help you.” Connor dropped his hand and squeezed the armrest. “Think. You have to know something. Who would want to kidnap you and why, for starters? For a ransom maybe? Or...did you get mixed up in something illegal? Maybe got in over your head?”
He had to be thinking she was selling drugs, of course, and someone had plans to make her pay. Or maybe he wasn’t thinking along those lines at all. But to Maya, that was the obvious scenario. She looked away, hating that anyone could ever think that of her. But the truth was not much better, in her opinion.
If she could make it out of this and back home without ever having to reveal her father’s identity and that she had planned to meet him, she just might make it home unscathed.
Please, God...
“I can see you’re not ready to trust me yet. But let’s at least be honest with each other. You know something. The name of your kidnapper was on your lips before you caught yourself. I have to wonder why you would keep that a secret.”
“Someone kidnapped me—I’m the victim here. Why are you treating me like this? Why would you question me? Are you in law enforcement?”
Regret filled his eyes, and he placed his hand on hers.
“I’m sorry. I had no right,” he said. “I’m trying to help you, that’s all. I’ll contact the authorities and explain what’s happened, that we have a kidnapped woman on board.”
He frowned, apparently not liking the sound of his words any more than she did.
“You can’t do that,” she said.
“Uh, Connor?” the other pilot called from the cockpit. “You’d better get up here.”
“What is it?” he asked, but his Caribbean-blue eyes remained on her.
Of course, he wanted to know why she’d asked him not to contact the authorities. How could she explain?
“Connor. Now.”
Maya shoved from her seat and followed him to the cockpit. The other pilot gave her a cursory glance, his full attention focused on the object soaring ahead of them outside the window.
“Why is there a fighter jet harassing us?” he asked. “Is there a reason the military would be after us?”
After dropping in the other chair, Connor assessed the situation. “That’s not military—not anymore. It’s an old out-of-commission fighter jet, an A-4 Skyhawk.” The Skyhawk flew above and slightly ahead of them and rocked its wings. “Intercept aircraft. I don’t see his wingman, but he wants us to follow.”
Connor attempted to establish radio communication without success, which meant this intercept wasn’t legitimate.
The other pilot huffed. “He’s not responding? That figures, considering everything else that’s gone right so far.”
“In that case, he probably doesn’t want to be identified.” Connor rubbed his chin and looked behind him at Maya, his eyes boring into hers. “This just gets better and better. Uh, Jake, this is Maya, our accidental passenger. And this is my copilot brother, Jake.”
Jake glanced over his shoulder at Maya. “Nice to meet you.”
His eyes weren’t convincing. “And you,” Maya said.
“What do you make of it, then?” Jake asked, quickly turning his attention back to their dilemma.
“I think someone is either upset that we’ve taken their Learjet, or they’re upset that we’ve taken their hostage, or both, and they’re letting us know.”
“And we’re not going to follow them, right?” His brother’s question begged for confirmation.
“Definitely not.”
“Who is ‘they,’ anyway?” Jake cut a questioning glance to Maya, his eyes a similar blue to Connor’s. “And how do we defend ourselves without weapons?”
When Connor didn’t respond, his brother continued. “Come on, Connor. You’re the fighter pilot slash test pilot. Got any tricks up your sleeve?”
Connor shook his head, his voice grave. “You know this plane isn’t rated to make extreme maneuvers.”
Maya felt an invisible hand squeeze her throat as if she could never escape Roberto, even thousands of feet in the air.
FOUR
“I’m calling for help,” Jake said.
Connor squeezed the power lever, wishing he could take action. “Just who do you think is going to come to our rescue? And if we call for help now, they could shoot us out of the sky and be gone before anyone’s the wiser.”
“What are we going to do?” His brother ground out the words.
He didn’t blame Jake. Connor never should have dragged his brother with him into this over-the-top recovery operation. Should never have agreed to get involved with this in the first place.
“What are we going to do?” Connor repeated the question, considering his options, which weren’t many. Was he destined to go down again?
No. Thinking about his failures right now wouldn’t do any good.
He looked behind him at the dark-haired beauty—the hazardous cargo he’d found on the Learjet who might end up costing them all their lives.
“You’d better take a seat and fasten your seat belt,” he said.
“What...what
