Merc paused in his packing. “I’ll look into that,” he said and then stepped out in the hallway to make the phone call.
“Where’s he going?” Adrianne asked, stepping back into the main room.
“Needed to make a phone call,” Foster said. “We need to know if we can carry weapons on the plane.”
“Weapons?”
It struck me that she’d never seen our guns before. We didn’t always carry them in the United States—though that would probably change when we got back, considering the “gift” Adrianne received—but even when we did, we’d all gone out of our way for her not to know. I couldn’t decide whether that was for her comfort or for ours.
“We’re going to conceal carry while we’re here,” I said. “The paparazzi was something that we didn’t expect, and we want to be overly cautious.”
She absorbed that for a moment and then nodded. “Can I see?”
I looked at Foster, who shrugged, and I turned to get my gun case from the closet. I took out my Glock 22, ejected the clip and made sure there was nothing in the chamber, and then handed it to her. “Point it at the ground or the ceiling,” I said. “Even though you saw me empty it, you always treat a weapon like it's loaded and dangerous.”
Adrianne nodded. “It’s heavier than I thought it would be,” she remarked.
“I like the Glock for the weight,” I explained, “but some people prefer something more lightweight. Foster carries a Kahr because it’s slimmer. It’s very dependent on the person who’s doing the firing.”
“You’ve never been to a gun range?” Foster asked, and Adrianne shook her head.
“My mother would fall to pieces if she knew I was even holding one,” she said. “She hates guns.”
I held my hand out, and she passed the Glock back to me. I checked the chamber again and then inserted the magazine. The Glock went into the holster at my shoulder, and the bag went back into the closet. I had a few other pieces in it, but they weren’t needed for the trip to Coober Pedy.
“We should be good to go!” Merc called as he came back into the room. “Our paperwork covers us since we’re not getting on a commercial flight.” He stopped as he passed Adrianne and kissed her cheek, and she smiled. “Are you packed?”
Adrianne’s suite was, technically, down the hall, but just like at home, she wasn’t a fan of being in a huge room. We’d all spent last night in the double room that the production company had booked for us. “Yes, though I’m sure I’ve got four times as much as you all.”
“I’m not surprised in the least,” Ethan said. “We’ll help you carry it down.”
We grabbed our bags and then went down the hall to grab her bags... and she was right, she had more than all of us combined. We went down to find a waiting car, and Merc and I flanked Adrianne in the backseat. Foster sat in the passenger seat. Theclick-clickof cameras sounded behind us, and I slammed the door a little harder than I should have.
“Hey, man!” the driver turned. “Let’s not break my door, yeah?”
“Sorry,” I said. Adrianne’s hand slipped into mine, and I held onto her like a lifeline. The driver pulled away from the curb and wove his way through the streets out toward the airfield. The turboprop waiting for them looked small from far away. I didn’t imagine that it would get any bigger the closer we got.
To make matters worse, Ryan Jacobs was standing by the plane with a backpack slung over his shoulder. “What is he doing here?” Merc muttered. “No one told me that we were sharing a plane with him. They’re supposed to run everything by me.”
Adrianne’s other hand went into Merc’s, and she held us, comforting us as we pulled to a stop. “Are we ready, folks?” the driver asked.
“Yes, thank you,” Adrianne said, dropping our hands. I opened the door and stepped into the sunshine. Foster did the same. She waited in the car until I signaled for her to get out. Merc got out his side, and he and the driver grabbed the bags from the back.
There was no real “airport”. They checked in at a little hut that served as the air traffic control tower and walked over to where Ryan was standing. “Did you miss your own plane?” Adrianne asked.
Ryan smirked when he saw her. He didn’t even bother looking at any of the heavily-armed men who were accompanying her.Typical Hollywood actor, I thought savagely. He didn’t really see us as people. We were tools to be used and nothing more.
“Lee thought it was best if we ran our lines on the flight,” he said. “He wants to hit the ground running when we get there.”
Adrianne rolled her eyes. “Of course he does.”
Ryan offered her his arm—because they were all aware that there was a camerasomewherenear them—and she took it. What else could she do? Foster helped them into the belly of the tiny plane while Merc and I settled the luggage with the airfield’s singular crewmember.
I didn’t realize that my hands were shaking until I was handing bags to the crewmember to load into the plane. “Are you okay?” Merc asked.
“No.” There was no point in lying about it. “I hate flying. I’m going to hate this, but I can handle it. I wouldn’t let anything happen to Adrianne.”
Merc nodded. “Good man.” He clapped me on the shoulder, and then it was our time to climb aboard. The plane was miniscule, only six seats in three rows besides the pilot. Ryan and Adrianne were in the front row, across the aisle from each other, but the seat directly beside her was open. Foster did that on purpose so that I could sit beside her.