in one of the honey-colored, butter-soft leather seats, then took the seat across the aisle.
Configured the way it was, the cabin was roomy, with club seating for four and a sofa along one wall. Two pilots manned the cockpit.
“Once we’re in the air,” Reese said, “Dr. Chandler will take a look at both of you.” He sat down in a seat opposite Jessie, across the aisle from a distinguished-looking gentleman with thinning silver hair. Even before their seat belts were in place, the plane began taxiing down the runway.
Bran looked out the window as the jet gathered speed, the landscape soon roaring past in a blur. “You sure this strip is long enough to get this little beauty in the air?”
Reese grinned, and suddenly Jessie saw the resemblance between the two brothers.
“That’s the nice thing about a Citation. Requires shorter runways, ranges over two thousand nautical miles, and cruises at five hundred miles an hour. Plus it’s more economical to run a light jet as opposed to a midsize, which we don’t really need.”
Bran chuckled. “Count on you to think of saving money.”
Reese smiled. “Goes with the job.” Silence fell as the jet engines roared and the plane tilted upward, pressing them back into their seats.
For an instant, Jessie’s mind strayed to the moments yesterday before the plane hit the ground, and her heart started racing. Bran reached across the narrow aisle and his hand covered hers, lacing their fingers together. She released a slow breath. Bran was there. Everything would be okay.
Twenty minutes into the flight, Dr. Charles Chandler had diagnosed her with a slight concussion and put three stitches in the side of her head. Bran carried miscellaneous cuts and bruises, but he was okay. Reese retrieved ham-and-egg croissants, fruit, and coffee from the refreshment center.
Bran declined the coffee but quickly downed a couple of croissants. As soon as he’d finished, he headed for the sofa, feeling safe for the first time in days. In seconds, he was asleep.
Jessie’s heart squeezed as she watched him, this man she had come to respect and care for, a man willing to protect her with his life.
Feeling Reese’s eyes on her, she turned in his direction. “You’re worried about him,” he said.
She felt a stinging behind her eyes, quickly blinked it away. “People have tried to kill him. He was thrown in jail. He survived a plane crash. He hasn’t slept in days. All because of me.”
Reese’s gaze held hers. “Your brother was his best friend. As far as Bran’s concerned, you’re family. Besides, it’s what he does.”
She swallowed past the knot in her throat. “I know. I just...I wish this was over.” Except that as soon as they found the men who had killed her father and stolen the munitions, Bran would go back to Dallas and she would never see him again.
“He’ll feel better when he wakes up,” Reese said.
Her gaze swung back to the man on the sofa, far too tall to actually fit comfortably. Still, she had never seen him sleep so deeply. “He trusts you to protect us.”
Something moved over Reese’s dark features. “He’s my brother. He needs me to keep you both safe, and he knows that’s what I’ll do.”
At any cost were the unspoken words. She thought of her brother, Danny. They had shared that kind of bond.
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for everything.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Bran didn’t wake up when the wheels touched down, not when the jet taxied to the executive terminal at Gillespie Field and the engines shut down. Not until his brother gently shook his shoulder.
“We’ve landed.”
Bran snapped instantly awake, as he had learned to do. Unclipping his seat belt, he sat up on the sofa.
“There’s a car and driver waiting,” Reese said. “He’ll take you to your suite at the Grant. The hotel’s about a half mile from The Max in the Gaslamp District. Jessie says you need to talk to a detective there named Hunter Brady.”
“That’s right.”
“When you get to the hotel, there’ll be a rental car waiting for your use whenever you need it.”
Bran rubbed a hand over his several days’ growth of beard and smiled. “You can make my travel arrangements any day, bro.”
Reese just nodded. “You can thank my new assistant, McKenzie Haines. She’s a real find.”
Bran’s gaze went in search of Jessie, who waited near the exit. They left the plane and Reese walked them into the terminal.
“Your bags are already loaded in the limo. I’d suggest you get a few more hours’ sleep before whoever’s