Free The Bloom Series Box Set: Bloom & Fade by A.P. Kensey Page B

controls.
    “ I still don’t get why
they won’t let us roll the windows down,” he said.
    “ Who cares?” said Reece.
He settled into his plush leather seat and leaned it as far back as
it would go, then folded his arms behind his head and kicked off
his shoes. “Stop worrying. I trust the man completely.”
    Alistair was with the driver in the
front of the SUV behind a partition of black glass that separated
the cab from the rest of the vehicle. Colton hadn’t been introduced
to the driver; he and Reece were ushered into the SUV as soon as
they walked out of the abandoned building.
    He had no clue where they were at that
moment, and Alistair hadn’t spoken to them in over an hour. Colton
flicked the window switch and sank back into his seat.
    The rear section of the SUV had been
made up to look more like a limousine than an off-road vehicle. A
bench lined the very back and two swiveling leather recliners took
up the remaining space. There were two LCD screens mounted into the
paneling, one on each side of the driver’s glass partition, but
neither Colton nor Reece had been able to figure out how to turn
them on.
    Reece fell asleep shortly after that,
leaving Colton to wonder if he had made the right choice in leaving
everything behind. He owned a dresser full of clothes and a few
odds and ends, but nothing that he felt genuinely distressed about
walking away from. He would have liked to tell his boss he was
going away, but figured that he might be back in only a day or two
if Alistair’s little adventure turned out to be a bust.
    An hour later, the SUV slowed to a
stop. Colton reached over and punched Reece in the shoulder until
he woke up. The front passenger door opened, then closed. Footsteps
crunched on loose gravel toward the back of the SUV, then one of
the side doors opened and blinding morning sunlight poured into the
vehicle.
    Alistair smiled at them. “We’re
here.”
    Colton got out of the car with shaky
legs. He stretched to loosen his muscles and cracked his back. They
had parked in the middle of a huge empty lot that was paved with
black concrete and painted with bright yellow lines.
    Reece hopped down out of
the SUV and whistled. “Is that yours ?” he asked.
    Colton turned around and shielded his
eyes from the sun. A small two-engine jet was waiting a hundred
feet away. Heat fog drifted out from its still-running engines,
distorting the grassy field behind it that stretched away into the
distance. The runway was in the middle of nowhere, from what Colton
could tell. There were no buildings nor any other signs of
civilization.
    “ Not mine,” said Alistair.
“A little too flashy for my taste. But the owner would very much
like to meet you, Mr. Ross, and he doesn’t like to be kept
waiting.” He gestured them toward the plane.
    “ Listen,” said Colton as
they walked across the pavement. “I’m gonna need some clothes, or
something, and a shower. And sleep, eventually.”
    “ Understandable,” said
Alistair, nodding sincerely. “Very soon, Mr. Ross. I promise. First
you must meet the man behind the money which severed your chains
and set you free.”
    Colton looked at him
hesitantly.
    Alistair smiled. “A little dramatic, I
know. Forgive me. Old habits, you know.” He gestured up the stairs
that led into the plane. “Please.”
    Reece hurried past and disappeared
into the plane. Colton followed after him.
    “ Wow,” said
Reece.
    If the inside of the SUV was a limo,
then the inside of the jet was a palace. White leather lined all of
the walls, seats, inlays, and cup holders. White pinpoints of
lights traced the aisle to the back of the plane, where they
climbed up onto the back wall and were fashioned into a complex
geometric pattern.
    There was only one seat per row on
either side of the aisle, and they were so luxuriant that they put
the impressive chairs in the SUV to shame. A small black table with
a sleek LCD screen set into its surface was bolted to the floor
next to each