Free The Debt 8 (Club Alpha) by Kelly Favor

a large portion of the time
she was in public.   The strange fact
was that she’d become part of Jake Novak’s life, and her picture and image was
appearing all over the place on the web and even TV sometimes.
    But for the most part, nobody seemed to
recognize her except perhaps the TSA lady that checked her ID and gave a
knowing smile, and the younger man who sat next to her on the flight and kept
giving her sidelong glances, seeming to want to start a conversation, but
losing his confidence every time.
    The funny thing was, not very long ago, she’d have been intimidated by him .   He was young and good-looking, but in
this instance she had less than zero interest in striking up a conversation
with any man.
    She already missed Jake and it had only
been a few hours.
    In her mind, as the plane came in for a
landing at Logan airport, Raven kept replaying their last moments together
before she’d gotten out of Jake’s jeep and gone into the airport in Miami.   Raven had told Jake not to go into the
airport to see her off because it would draw too much unnecessary attention.
    He’d grumbled about it but given in,
finally.   And then they’d looked at
one another, both of them emotional and choked up.
    “Text me when you land,” he’d said.
    “I will.”
    “And don’t be a stranger, okay?”   He’d caressed her cheek softly and she’d
nearly burst into tears, told him that she wanted to stay and call off her
entire trip.
    But somehow she’d held on to her will,
given him a kiss, a hurried I love you ,
and then grabbed her bag and scuttled out of the jeep.  
    Looking back over her shoulder as she’d
entered the airport, she’d seen him watching her from the car and it felt as
though her heart would break.
    Now, as the plane hit the runway in
Boston, Raven was jolted back to reality.   She put on her sunglasses and lowered her cap.
    “Incognito,” the man next to her smiled,
having finally gotten the courage to speak, apparently.   “I like it.”   He grinned.
    “Thanks,” she said.
    “Are you in town for long?”
    Raven shook her head as she got up,
pulled her bag from the overhead compartment and then sat down, waiting for the
plane to make its way to the gate.
    The man was gaining confidence.   “It’s so weird that I sat next to you on
this flight,” he said, his fingers tapping his knee.   “I was just reading an article about you
last night in Music Maker.   That guy
who played keyboard and piano on Jake’s new album said that you’re some sort of
genius, and that without you, the new songs wouldn’t even exist.”
    Raven now wanted desperately to get away
from him.   She didn’t want to talk
about Jake or her life, or to be hit on, even if he was being nice.   “Thanks so much for the compliment,”
Raven smiled.   She craned her head to
look out at the isle.   People were
beginning to stand up to leave.
    “I’d love to maybe grab a coffee and pick
your brain,” her suitor said.   “I’m
kind of an aspiring singer songwriter myself.”
    Raven got up and gave him another quick
smile.   “I’m so sorry, but I just
don’t have time on this trip.   Good
luck with everything.”
    The man nodded, suddenly looking younger
than he had before, and dejected too.   Raven hated how she felt, blowing him off, but
there was no way around it.   She
didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.
    After she deplaned, Raven made her way to
the pickup area, where Danny was waiting.   He walked over and gave her a big hug and then grabbed her bag.   “How was the flight, Mata Hari?”
    “Mata who?”
    Danny laughed as he threw her bag into the
car.   “Mata Hari was a chick who was
a spy back in the old days.   She’s
kind of famous.”
    “Oh,” Raven said, realizing he’d been
talking about her flimsy disguise.   His words brought back thoughts of Club Alpha, souring her mood
instantly.
    “They executed her,” Danny added, as he
got into the driver’s seat.
    Raven