Price of a Bounty - By S. L. Wallace Page 0,54
of course.” I dug it out of my purse and handed it to her.
“Any baggage to check?”
“Nope.” Scott gestured to our two bags. “We’ll take them as carry-ons.”
After a moment, the woman handed us our tickets. Scott returned my ID, and we moved toward the queue. At the check point, a security guard used a machine to scan our bags. He also looked at our tickets and checked our names against a list. He waved another guard over and motioned for us to follow him. A third guard took his place and continued moving passengers through the check point.
We entered a side room. A long metal table stood in the center of the room and some hard plastic red chairs lined one wall.
“Please sit.” The guard gestured to the chairs.
“I will not!” I was indignant. “My father will hear about this.”
Scott continued to stand next to me, but he leaned down and whispered, loudly enough for the guards to hear, “I should have warned you Miss Lafleur. They’re just following procedure.”
I glared at him. “Procedure? Other passengers are being allowed through the check point.”
“And we’ll be allowed too.”
“Let me explain Miss Lafleur,” one of the guards said. “Sgt. Maddock flies often, more often than most. We realize that it’s part of his job, but it’s also our job to make sure he’s not taking anything other than you to your destination.”
“But he would never! He’s military.”
The second guard continued, “Of course. This will just take a moment.”
One guard dumped the contents of Scott’s duffel onto the shiny metal table. He checked everything thoroughly.
“Step over here, Sergeant.”
Scott did as he was told. He held out his arms while the guard patted him down and checked every pocket of his uniform.
The other guard opened my suitcase. The underwear I’d packed was right on top. He hesitated and looked at me.
“Just a moment.” He went to the door and called to a female guard.
She entered the room and felt through my suitcase. “It’s clear.” She closed the lid and snapped it shut. I grabbed the handle and carried my own suitcase toward the door.
Scott gently took it from me as we rejoined the crowd. He leaned down. “I’m so sorry, Miss Lafleur.”
I nodded once and looked around. Many of the people, both men and women, were in uniform. The styles differed slightly depending upon their rank. Some men wore business suits, work related travel I guessed. And there were a few families who were obviously Elite.
We sat facing the large windows. The airplanes glittered in the late afternoon sun.
“Sgt. Maddock, may I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What are your duties, as a soldier?”
“To prepare for battle. To be ready to defend Terene at a moment’s notice. And to defend our interests overseas as well. As a member of the special operations regiment, I’m also prepared to respond to terrorist threats and other unforeseeable circumstances.”
“And to escort young ladies to their destinations?”
“And that.”
“The security guard said you fly often. How often do you escort young ladies overseas?”
“Maybe twice a year,” he admitted. “Young ladies or minors. But I also accompany my CO to the embassy in Parisio on occasion. That happens, oh, three or four times per year.”
Soon our wait came to an end. We were seated in first class. Most of the businessmen and military personnel continued on back to another section of the plane. Scott encouraged me to take the window seat. The takeoff was exhilarating and the sunset beautiful.
A couple of hours into the flight, the stewardess brought us dinner. It wasn’t much, but that was all right because I was too nervous to be terribly hungry. As the stars emerged, Scott explained about the time difference. He said when we arrived in Parisio, it would be morning and suggested that I try to get some sleep. I didn’t think that would be possible, but I leaned my head back against the seat and tried to relax. The next time I opened my eyes, the flight attendant moved down the aisle with her cart, offering a final round of drinks.
“Two ginger ales,” Scott said.
“Are we nearly there?”
“Yes, we’ll be landing in about an hour. Aimee, I need to tell you something before we land.”
“What is it?”
Scott hesitated, then said, “Once we land, we’ll be contacting your parents to let them know you’ve arrived safely.” He gave me a look and shook his head.
“Yes, of course.” What just happened?
-Scott-
Parisio
I was about to tell April…I wanted to tell her, and now was probably the