Silence came over the line. Jaz drew a deep breath and fiddled with her zipper. With the climb starting tomorrow, she needed to keep her mind focused—a feat that the universe seemed determined to make difficult. She’d opted for an earlier flight out of Denton Valley than originally planned—only to run into weather and a layover that required her to sit in the Denver airport for hours. Then she got motion sick. And now, on top of everything, her gear bag was missing. The one she’d packed perfectly for the climb, adjusting all the straps and arranging her things the way she liked it.
“Ms. Keasley, thank you so much for waiting,” the representative said, coming back onto the line. “I truly appreciate your patience while I check on a few things. I have good news for you. Your flight arrived at the Los Angeles airport thirty-four minutes ago. All the bags from the flight are being routed to baggage claim C. Please go ahead and pick up your bags there. Would you like me to look up the directions of the carousel for you?”
Jaz ground her teeth. “I know the flight arrived at the airport. I was on the flight. And I am standing at baggage claim C. However, my bag is not here.”
“Yes. I understand. In that case, I recommend that you wait by the carousel. Although we strive to bring luggage out as soon as the plane arrives, sometimes there are delays. If your bags do not come out within twenty minutes, please give us a call back at the main number, and a representative will be happy to assist you.”
“Sir, please listen to me. All the bags from my flight have already come out on baggage claim C. The bags arriving now are from a totally different airline. I don’t see any logical reason why my bag would suddenly appear mixed with Delta Airlines’ baggage.”
“We don’t mix bags between flights and airlines, ma’am. If you flew on Delta airline, I suggest you contact their customer service for assistance.”
Jaz threw her face up toward the ceiling and let out a silent scream.
“Is there anything else I can help you with today?” the representative asked.
“Look, can I just give you the number from my claim ticket and you tell me the last place someone actually laid eyes on my bag?” Jaz waited until the rep agreed, then read off the number, repeating it several times before the man on the other end understood.
“Yes, thank you so much for that. Allow me a moment to look into the matter.”
The line went silent, the man returning ten minutes later to thank Jaz for her patience and understanding. “I looked into this important matter for you. I see that you checked one oversized bag—a backpack—in at Denton Valley Airport, for that flight with service to Los Angeles. Your bag was scanned in Denver at your layover location and loaded onto the plane to Los Angeles. Please pick up your luggage at baggage carousel C—”
“For the fourth damn time, I am at baggage claim C, and my bag is not!”
“I am so sorry for the inconvenience. But that is the most I can do from here. Since your bag does show tracking to Los Angeles, it should be in Los Angeles. If you’re still having trouble, our friendly representatives at the in-person service counter will be more than happy to assist you.”
Jaz hung up. Immediately, her phone chirped with three missed messages. The driver from the competition noticed that her flight had landed and she wasn’t waiting outside.
She explained the missing-bag-of-gear situation.
The answer came immediately. Don’t worry about it. Happens all the time here—I’ll come back for the bag later. If we don’t get you checked in to the roster, the gear will be a moot point.
After the idiot in the customer service center, Jaz was ready to hug whoever it was on the other end of the text. Following his instructions to go to ground transportation, she scanned the waiting vehicles until she located the red Toyota Camry and headed for the passenger’s seat. Her hand was already on the handle, halfway through opening the door, when she realized that she knew the man in the driver’s seat.
Roman Robillard.
35
Liam
Liam sat by the window at the Taoism café, watching the sun play off the glass. It was eight in the morning of the day Jaz would be flying out to California, and Liam’s heart was shredding from the memory of his own words. He tried not to think of how she was packing. Checking all her gear and putting little colorful zip ties on her bag. Tried not to think of who her partner would be, of the fact that he’d turned over the duty of holding her safety line to some stranger.
He was being responsible. Being in Obsidian Ops’ crosshairs made him dangerous to be around, and he couldn’t pass that risk on to Jaz. Which didn’t make it all hurt any less.
And then there was Lisa. Liam was little looking forward to revealing his sister’s drug habit to Patti this morning, but even with all her problems, Lisa did get one thing right.
You and I both know you have the emotional range of a carrier pigeon… The only long-term relationships you have are the ones you pay for.
The front door of the café opened with a chime, and Liam felt his back stiffen as his mother walked in, looking around until she spotted him sitting in the back and headed his way. “Liam.” Patti’s smile was hesitant, as if a part of her feared being here. Or feared being turned away again. Unlike the usual jeans and T-shirt he was used to seeing her in on Zoom, today she wore a long skirt and blouse, as if she wanted to dress the part of a parent. With a start, Liam realized that Patti had a fragility about her he hadn’t noticed previously.
Feeling a ripple of discomfort snake down his back, Liam rose and pulled the chair out for her before reclaiming his own chair.
“I’m glad you called.” Patti reached toward him, her hand hovering a few inches from his cheek before pulling back. “I imagine I don’t get to do that right now. So to what do I owe the invitation to breakfast?”
Liam wrapped his fingers around his glass of cold drinking water, while the waitress appeared to set a pot of hot water, a basket of teas, and an assortment of pastries he’d ordered on the table. “Lisa accosted me in my office the other day.”
Patti winced. “I didn’t know she was coming. What did she want?” A frown etched her face. “If it was about money, we need to talk—”
“She’s using, Mom. Did you know?”
Patti covered her face with her hands. “I knew something was off. The moods, the constant money needs. I felt her slipping away. It was one of the reasons I came up here. Between the changes in Lisa and your pushing me further away with every stipend check and cold conversation, I woke up one day knowing that I was on the verge of losing both my children. I’m not giving up without a fight this time, Liam. On either of you.” She swallowed. “Are you sure about the drugs? Her forearms—”
“The tracks are between her fingers. I’m going to find a rehab program, and we’ll go from there.” He let that line of discussion end there. He and Patti were equally to blame for having missed the signs and would somehow need to find a way of cooperating to dig Lisa out. But if they were to be forced to talk more often, they had to get one other thing settled. “What did you tell her about Jaz?”
Patti raised a brow at him. “About Jaz? The truth. That I thought you found a partner for yourself. That you were in love. Why?”