Smoke by Meili Cady

Author:Meili Cady
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-02-16T05:00:00+00:00

9

HIGH TIMES

Lisette drove Diablo through the gate of the private airport in Van Nuys, a Tupac song thundering out of her sound system. She whisked through the security kiosk on her way in, nodding a familiar greeting to the guard. I was moments behind her in a limo with Frankie, Henry, and an armada of suitcases. Our driver waved at the security guard as we rolled past the kiosk, but the guard’s attention seemed to be lingering on Lisette and her Bentley. “Team LL” was no doubt an anomaly here, but no one more than LL herself. “This isn’t our first rodeo,” as she liked to say. This was our fifth trip, but the airport employees still gawked at us in wonder every time we flew. I could only imagine what they thought we were up to.

As the limo followed Lisette in, the thought crossed my mind that a person would have to show more ID to rent a pair of roller skates than they would to board a flight here. You can’t drive a two-hundred-thousand-dollar car into a skating rink. If you could, Lisette might be more of a skater.

Lisette parked her Bentley near the plane, as usual, and oversaw as the bags were moved into the plane. I stood by for a moment while Frankie and Henry assisted with the luggage from the limo. I didn’t really have anything I was supposed to be doing here, but I stood around with a straight face, like it all made perfect sense. Two pilots emerged from inside the plane to greet us. We’d flown with these pilots before, though I didn’t recall their names. “Good morning, Miss Lee. Nice to see you. How would you like the bags arranged?” The younger pilot’s eyes drifted down to Lisette’s cleavage, which was bolstered by a push-up bra and a bejeweled top.

The suitcases looked as heavy as ever. Even Frankie, who towered over the group and was built like a redwood, was sweating through his suit as he lifted the bags into the back of the jet. He grunted under his breath, “Goddamn,” as he hoisted a bag over his shoulders to hand it to one of the pilots.

“Angel, go ahead,” Lisette told me. She handed me her purse to take into the cabin.

Inside the plane, I grabbed a cup to pour myself some coffee when a blond woman appeared in a uniform. “Good morning!” she said. “Can I get you some coffee?”

“Hi. Good morning,” I said. “Um, yeah, sure. Er, no! I mean, I can get it. Thanks though, thank you. No, I can do that. No problem.” I poured myself a cup. I wasn’t used to having an attendant on the flight.

The rest of the team boarded the G4 and settled into the cabin, ready for takeoff. Lisette claimed a bench of creamy leather and throw pillows near me, after giving me a hug and announcing her plan to get some rest on our way to Ohio.

The attendant served the catering after we were in the air, complete with champagne from JetSetter.

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