Read Online Around-the-Clock Protector by Jan Hambright - Free Book Online

door.
    He handed her a pair of headphones, as much for communication as for ear protection. She put them on and adjusted the mouthpiece. He did the same.
    One by one the engines whined and came to life, until the aircraft rumbled like a freight train and lurched forward.
    “Ever been on one of these tuna boats?” he asked.
    “I don’t know. Not that I remember.” She looked over at him and grinned.
    Her response made him smile and he tried to relax. They were finally rolling. They’d be on the ground again by late afternoon. She’d be delivered to CIA headquarters shortly after that, so why didn’t the information sit well in his gut?
    “If you want me to come into the fold with you, I will.” He turned toward her, witnessing her look of confusion.
    “Say again,” she said into the mouthpiece.
    “I’m coming in with you. Make sure you’re treated right.” He stared into her face, hoping forsome kind of acceptance. Her fate was, after all, sealed. Sealed in the belly of a C-130. There was no way out until they landed at Andrews AFB outside Washington, D.C., in six and a half hours. He could make peace with his doubts by then. Maybe tagging along was the only way to do that. The only way to assure that Ava and his child weren’t harmed.
    “Okay.” She nodded and looked away.
    Ava tried to calm the fear in her stomach with the knowledge that Carson was going to come in with her, but it did little to alleviate her concern.
    He was an agent. An IAops agent. The kind the CIA would deny existed. Perhaps she should consider herself lucky it was him next to her and not a suit.
    Maybe there was still time to convince him McLean was a bad idea. If not, there was always escape.
        
    T HE CONSTANT DRONE of the aircraft engines lulled Carson into complacency. He looked at his watch. One hour until touchdown at Andrews.
    He glanced over at Ava, sound asleep in her seat. Taking the liberty, he let his gaze slide down her body and found himself staring at her abdomen.
    He could just make out the small round bulge below her navel, covered by the taut flight suit. He resisted the urge to cover the bump with his hand. To feel the hard evidence under his palm.
    “Sir.”
    Carson started, looking up at the young crewman who stood in front of him. “Yeah.”
    “The captain would like to speak with you.”
    Warning rose in his gut. He tamped it down, unfastened his harness and stood up, letting the blood flow return to his legs.
    He followed the crewman to the three-stair platform up into the cockpit of the aircraft. He climbed the steps, opened the door and went inside.
    The captain of the airplane looked up from his seat at the flight controls. “Close the door,” he said, before extending his hand.
    Carson pulled the door shut and reached out, shaking the pilot’s hand. “Agent Carson Nash.”
    “I’m Captain Springer Davis. This is my cocaptain, Ray White.”
    “Your crewman said you needed to speak with me.”
    “We just received a direct transmission from Andrews base command. We’ve been ordered to remand your prisoner, Agent Ava Ross, upon arrival.”
    Suspicion battered Carson’s senses, but he kept his cool. “Any word on the order’s origin?”
    “Negative. I just fly the plane.”
    “Are we on schedule?”
    “Affirmative. Down to the minute.”
    Carson reached for the door handle. “She’s all yours once we’re on the ground.”
    The captain nodded.
    Carson left the cockpit, taking the stairs at a leisurely pace he didn’t feel. Something was wrong. Dead wrong.
    He glanced around for the crewman and spotted him in his seat on the other side of the cockpit door. Slipping back into his seat, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest, letting his mind work the details his gut had already deciphered.
    Ava’s claims might be true, but without a name to go with the redirect order, he didn’t have anything to go on.
    He couldn’t let her be taken from his custody until he