Read Online Great Exploitations (Crisis in Cali) by Nicole Williams - Free Book Online Page A

questions I didn’t stop asking myself the entire drive to the small airport where Henry kept his plane. When I’d crawled behind the steering wheel of the Mustang, I hadn’t realized that was where I was going, but I knew I’d arrived at my destination.
    The sun had risen enough to cast light over the entire airport, and I saw Henry’s jet gleaming on the runway as a couple of people hustled around, prepping it. I left the keys in the Mustang, grabbed my suitcases, and jogged across the parking lot, through the hangar, and onto the runway. I didn’t check to see if any jets were coming in to land, nor did I check to see if any were about to take off. The only jet I was concerned with was the one I was running toward. He was on it, waiting for me, and I couldn’t stand the idea of being left behind.
    I heard a few shouts as people noticed me racing across the runway, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t stop until I was a few steps away from the plane, and even then, I dropped my suitcases at the foot of the stairway to leap up the stairs.
    When I charged into the cabin, a stewardess gave me a startled look before a slow smile worked across her face. “Someone’s been expecting you.”
    The other stewardess across the aisle added her own smile. “Someone’s been holding up the runway waiting for you.”
    “Sorry. It took me a long time to get here.” I smiled when they motioned me through the curtain into the cabin.
    Henry was standing in the aisle when I pushed through the curtain, looking as if he’d been pacing again. When he saw me coming toward him, his entire face relaxed into a grin. “You got my note.”
    I lifted my shoulders. “I got your note.” I didn’t stop approaching him until my arms were wrapped around him and I’d dropped my head to his chest. His arms pulled me closer. “I’m sorry, Henry. I’m sorry for what happened, and I’m sorry that I ran out on you that day without waiting for an explanation, and I’m sorry for just about everything since.”
    His hand rubbed my back in slow, forceful circles. “I didn’t show all of that to you in hopes of getting an apology. I showed it to you in hopes of this.” Henry’s arms tightened around me.
    It was the most comforted I’d felt in years. “Well, you got both.” My voice was muffled against him, but I knew he heard me.
    “Since you’re here with me now, I will gladly accept both.” When plane engines fired to life with a whir, Henry gave me one last squeeze before leading us to a pair of plush, oversized chairs in the back of the plane.
    “When did you figure out what had happened?” I asked as I settled into my seat. “You know . . . when did you find out your mom had—”
    “Hired the same agency you would one day work for to drug and fake-screw me in order to break my fiancée and me apart?” There was a note of sharpness in his voice as he snapped my belt into place before taking his seat.
    I twisted my tongue into my cheek and nodded.
    “As soon as I woke up with the worst hangover of my life, I knew something was wrong. I didn’t remember much of what had happened. I just had this image seared into my mind of your face breaking before turning and running.” Henry’s hand reached for mine as he continued. “The girl was gone, but an envelope of photos rested on the nightstand. They filled in the black areas for me and explained why you’d run away, but since I barely knew the girl in the photos and I knew how insanely in love with you I was, I knew foul play was involved.”
    “You were insanely in love with me?” I angled myself toward him.
    His eyes flickered to mine. “I still am.”
    His penetrating look and words made it difficult for me to hold his gaze without shifting in my seat. So I shifted and asked, “What happened after that? When did you finally put it all together?”
    “It took me two years to acquire all the pieces to prove what my mom had done. Since my search for you had come up empty and I