Free Fight or Flight by Jamie Canosa Page A

eye on Em, but hanging around the baggage claim after he’d already claimed his baggage would draw attention and he’d already done enough of that for one day.
    Out on the sidewalk, Jay settled in near the door, looking to all the world like anyone else waiting on a taxi. From where he stood, he had a clear view through the sliding glass doors. His gaze darted through the crowd searching out Em’s slight form. She wasn’t standing near the carousel where she had been and his heart rate picked up. What if she’d been caught? What if she’d panicked and run off? His eyes danced back and forth, face to face. She wasn’t there. She wasn’t anywhere. Shit! How could he have let this—?
    The door slid open with a whoosh of air, and Jay nearly tripped over his bag when Em stepped out onto the sidewalk wheeling a large purple and white bag behind her. She’d done it.
    “No problems?” Jay tugged out the sliding handle to his bag and headed toward the parking lot.
    “None.” She was grinning from ear to ear, and it made him smile.
    He was surprised to find just how impressed he was with her. She’d done it. Better than him. And on her first try. Maybe—just maybe—they could make this work.
     

 
     
    Chapter Sixteen
     
     
    Em
     
    Em’s cheeks hurt from how hard she was smiling. Jay was right, it had been easy. When she’d seen Jay get stopped by that man, she nearly gave up. Ran for the nearest exit and never looked back. But he’d handled everything so smoothly. He never even looked frazzled. If he could do it, so could she.
    By its third trip around the carousel, the crowd was beginning to thin out, and it was becoming obvious that the purple bag’s owner was in no rush to claim it. Snatching it off the belt, she’d half expected to be hauled off by airport security immediately, but nothing happened. One step at a time, she’d walked through the lingering passengers and straight out the exit to Jay. The look on his face had been worth whatever years the stress of the whole situation had taken off her life.
    For the first time in a long, long time, Em actually felt good about herself. Yeah, sure, someone was about to have a not so happy start—or end—to their vacation, but she wouldn’t think about that. Instead, she focused on the case she was wheeling along the sidewalk behind her. It felt like a grab bag, and she was excited to see what was inside.
    Jay was walking just ahead of her since the two bags made it difficult to walk side-by-side. So when he stopped, she nearly tripped over his bag.
    “I’ve got an idea.” Why, when Jay spoke them, did those become four of the scariest words in the English language?
    “Another one?”
    “Mmhmm. But you’ll like this one.”
    “What kind of idea?” Was ‘this one’ going to put her at risk of a heart attack, too? Because she wasn’t sure she could handle any more of those kinds of ideas today.
    “How would you like a shower?”
    “A shower?” Clearly, she must be hearing things because luxuries like showers only existed in her dreams these days.
    “Uh huh.” The grin on Jay’s face told her he could definitely see the euphoria she was experiencing at the mere mention of the word. “Come on. We need to make a couple stops first.”
    Stop one? The corner payphone, where Jay came away with a quarter. Okay, then. Up next was the line of vending machines outside of a local grocery store and three more quarters. What the heck did quarters have to do with a shower?
    Jay frowned at the change in his hand. “A few more.”
    He wasn’t really talking to her, and he looked like a man on a mission, so Em decided to just stay out of his way. She followed him to a couple more payphones—but both were out of service and had nothing to offer—and then to a convenience store at the end of the block.
    “You stay out here. They don’t really like it when we come inside, but there are some video game machines in back I want to check. Just stay put.