The Society Karen Guyler (best books to read .TXT) 📖

with you.” And that was her simple truth, the trusting warmth of Lily next to her, the slow crunching as Eva watched her taste testing each side of every crisp to find which had the strongest flavour. Eva would do anything to keep her safe. Paying an extortionate amount to the café owner for use of the landline was nothing at all on that scale. Breaking her code of conduct, the rules of her sabbatical, her word to DI Smith, less still apparently.

“Addison? It’s Eva Janssen.”

“A pleasure to hear from you.” But the pleasure wasn’t Addison Clarke’s, it belonged to intense hazel eyes.

“Luke?”

“Addison has his calls diverted to me while he’s overseas. Can I help?”

“I don’t. . .”

“Try me.”

“I was wondering if it would be possible to hitch a ride with him the next time he’s flying out of the country, me, my daughter and husband.” He might not have noticed her falter over that last word. “But if he’s already overseas.”

“He is but his jet isn’t. Where do you want to go if the world’s your oyster?”

“Tirupudur near Chennai in India.” She hesitated, but Addison probably already knew. “I’d like to check out what’s happening at the Every Drop sites, it’s a way of looking out for Addison’s investment too, but anywhere out of the UK would be great.”

“Let me see what I can do.”

32

Luke’s seeing what he could do opened doors she’d never expected to walk through, right out onto the tarmac apron, where a half dozen private jets gleamed in the rays of cold sunshine.

“Oh my God, are we going on a private jet? This is so cool. You have to let me get a photo of this, Dad.”

 Charles handed Lily her phone. “Just the camera, no internet.”

Luke came down the steps of the closest gleaming plane. He smiled and held his hand out to Eva, drawing her in close, murmuring in her ear. “I quite like being your knight.”

Eva snapped a glance at Charles, but he was more interested in checking the number on the tail.

“Hello, young lady. You all excited for your trip?” Lily nodded and grinned at Luke so hard you’d never know anything awful had happened to them that morning. “Let’s get on board then.”

The inside of the plane was more than she could have dreamt of. She rushed from seat to seat, undoing tables, reclining, straightening up, opening cubbyholes, stroking soft leather. “Wow, this is all so cool, Anya’s going to be so jealous. Everyone’s going to be so jealous.”

“I just have to go over a couple of things with security. Passports?” Luke held his hand out to Eva.

With a flick of the cover he’d see she wasn’t Sara Peyton and Lily wasn’t Madeleine. Charles had gone through the biometric scanners at security while Eva’s insides squirmed and her heart beat ‘criminal, fake ID’ against her ribcage all while she smiled at passport control and agreed that Madeleine Peyton was her daughter, keeping a hand on Lily’s shoulder to guide her through the subterfuge.

Eva placed hers and Lily’s on Luke’s palm but rested her fingertips on them. “It’s probably not a good time to tell you they’re not. . .” She dropped her voice, felt herself sagging. “I’m sorry, someone blew up our house this morning.”

“Hence travelling light.” She nodded, even that an effort against her new bruises and scrapes, delayed shock and the exhaustion the promise of comfy reclinable seats had released in her. “And the hasty exit.”

She nodded again, waved a hand at her front. “And the fetching look of building dust.”

Luke looked at her passport. “It’s a good one, I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“Thank you, I’m—”

“You’re not going to apologise again, are you?” He smiled, teasing her, but she couldn’t help being defensive. “I’m not normally so helpless.” The word stuttered out of her. She hated even the sound of it.

He touched her arm. “Take a seat. Last-minute security check, then we’ll be out of here.”

Lily was still road-testing everything in the cabin.

“Lily, calm down and strap yourself in somewhere.”

“Sir, can I put your bag in the hold?” A woman in her early twenties looking catwalk perfect, everything manicured and hair sprayed away, held her hand out for Charles’ holdall.

“No, I need to keep it with me.”

“Of course, but I need to stow it in one of the cabinets for take-off.” He relinquished it like he was Lily giving up her phone.

“Last minute security check, can I take your passport?” Luke asked Charles.

“Is it necessary?”

“If you want to take off. As the plane’s representative, I have to call in the passenger details, additional measures. The pilot’s a little busy finalising the fuel stops.”

“Where are we going?”

“Chennai, as per Eva’s request. Three stops en route. Eva’s explained.” Luke soothed. “It’s fine, they’re good, Charles.”

“Maxwell Peyton, you mean.”

Eva looked at him, that was the name he chose? Something grated at her.

“Maxwell.” Luke held his hand out and Charles placed his passport in it.

Luke exited the aircraft.

While the air hostess readied them for take-off and Eva got Lily to sit still long enough to fasten her seatbelt, Charles threw a hasty “be right back” at them and followed Luke out.

“Bet the food on here’s out of this world.” Lily laughed at her joke. “Mum, that’s funny.”

Eva tried. “It is. What do you think they have?”

“Bet they have champagne, they’ve got to have champagne.”

“You’re not having champagne.”

“Not for me, but in the billionaire books they always have champagne. Is the man who owns this a billionaire?”

Eva made the right noises at Lily’s chattering, laughed when she did, all the while peering out of the window. Where were Charles and Luke?

“Take your seat please, otherwise we’ll miss our take-off slot.” The air hostess told Charles as he got back on and walked towards the cockpit.

Where was Luke?

Eva got out of her seat to look out of the hangar-facing windows on Lily’s side of the plane. Was that—?

Running down the steps to the tarmac, around the rear of the plane, she gave the