American Diva by Julia London

Author:Julia London
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.
Published: 2010-09-24T23:34:07.843000+00:00

Seventeen

Jack called Michael and told him he needed a jet.

“Any particular kind?” Michael asked, as if he were asked to produce jets out of thin air every day. But then again, no one ever knew with Michael—Jack believed he could produce Osama bin Laden if someone would just ask.

“The usual,” Jack said, referring to the small Cessna jets TA used to ferry celebrities to their extreme adventures.

“Going on a little trip?” Michael asked.

“Yep.”

“Did you say where to?”

“No. Redhill, Texas. Closest airport would be Dallas.”

“Ah,” Michael said. “That explains everything.”

“I’ll need to pick it up in Raleigh and return it in Nashville.”

“Done,” Michael said.

“Thanks,” Jack responded.

“Just one question—and this is merely to feed the animals in the office—why the hell do you need a plane?”

“Just a quick trip,” Jack said as nonchalantly as he could. “Audrey’s brother is in the hospital. I’m going to run her out there between shows.”

“Audrey,” Michael drawled.

“Yeah, Audrey,” Jack echoed, frowning.

“You’re flying her and her main squeeze to her hometown?”

Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Just her,” he admitted.

He heard something that sounded like a definite snicker on the other end before Michael said, “Okay, so just to make sure I’ve got this—you are flying Audrey to her hometown, where you will, presumably, meet Mom and Dad and hang a couple of days. Is that right?”

“Do you have a point, Raney?” Jack asked irritably.

“Just a question—have you two set a date?” He laughed at his lame joke.

Jack sighed. “If you are through with your juvenile needling, can you get me a plane?”

“Hell yes, I can get you a plane,” Michael scoffed, and thankfully turned the conversation away from the ridiculous to the logistics of getting Jack a plane.

The plane was waiting for them at a private airstrip outside of Raleigh that night. At 1 a.m., Courtney and Ted—who Jack suspected had hooked up recently—drove them there. Ted helped him load a couple of bags onto the plane, then escorted Audrey across the tarmac.

Once she was inside, seated in one of the leather bucket seats at the table in the back of the plane, Ted made noises about getting Courtney back to the hotel.

Jack saw him out, saw Courtney skip around the town car to the front passenger side, and with a roll of his eyes, shut and locked the cabin door.

He glanced back at Audrey. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, looking around the cabin. “I’m going to try and get some sleep if that’s all right.”

“Sure,” he said. “We ought to be out of here in about fifteen minutes. It’s about a two-hour flight to Dallas.”

“Okay.”

“Buckle up,” he reminded her as he stepped into the cockpit. But she’d already leaned back, her eyes closed. She looked, he thought, very tired.

He shut the door behind him and went to work. A half hour later, having reached a safe cruising altitude, and having cleared through the various towers in the area, Jack cranked the volume on his iPod. A touch on his shoulder almost sent him through the roof.

He jerked around as he ripped one earbud out of his ear.

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