The Quiet One

39

The entire plane ride Harper was on edge. She hated having Joseph King on the same plane as her. He was uncomfortable to be around. If Regal hadn't been with her, she would have been a complete mess. It didn't help that Joseph was sitting several rows back from them and constantly had his goons wandering the plane.

"Why couldn't he fly his own plane?" she grumbled when the seatbelts light came on and the pilot announced their descent.

"To intimidate you I bet. Do any of his goons look familiar? People you've seen in your shop?" he asked, taking her hand in his and lacing their fingers together.

"One, the guy who has limped past us twice to the bathroom. I noticed the limp in the shop. I didn't think much of him, he stayed in the story section. Richard was in the shop that day working the counter with me." Harper nodded toward the goon sitting two rows back. He was massive, with wild eyes and jet black hair.

"I'll have Anders look into him then, he is a gorilla shifter," he replied and made a mental note to call Anders and get the security footage from her store to have him look into the gorilla shifter.

"Does Richard have access to your security cameras? I want to send the footage to Anders, he has plenty of people in his employ who can do background checks," he commented and she smiled and nodded.

"I can do one better. I have all the week's worth of footage saved to my cloud. I can give Anders the day he came in when we get to the hotel," she replied and he pulled her close, kissing her forehead.

"You are amazing, when will we be able to meet with your friend?" he asked and she could tell he was antsy like her, ready to get off the plane and far away from Joseph King.

"We will be landing in five minutes," the pilot announced and Harper sighed.

"How far is the hotel from the airport?" she asked, wanting to check her phone, but knowing she needed to keep it put away.

"Twenty minutes, it is across from the convention center. What time are Julie and her boyfriend getting down here?"

"Tomorrow around the time we are allowed to start setting up our booth. They are stopping at a hotel room tonight," she answered, gripping his hand as the plane landed on the tarmac. Planes were not her favorite form of travel.

"So we have all day to ourselves?" His eyes flashed and she knew exactly what he wanted.

"Yes, but I want to do the large shopping area downtown," she remarked, waiting for the plane to stop moving. It took another twenty minutes for their plane to pull into the terminal and allow them to exit. Regal stayed her when she went to get up. Without words, he motioned with his head. Joseph King and his goons were standing.

"Let them leave first, I'd rather not speak to the man again," he whispered and she nodded, settling back in her seat. Waiting was killing her but Regal was right. They needed to let him leave the plane before they did.

"Okay let's go," he said standing and getting their carry-ons.

"We didn't check any bags so we can go straight to the rental car kiosk. I have one reserved for us to use." Regal took her hand and they walked off the plane and through the airport quickly. Harper's nerves tingled as they walked, she knew a goon was watching them.

"Don't pay them any attention. We want them to think we are ignorant of their presence. He won't have anyone touch us as long as he doesn't have the book. After our encounter with him in the terminal, I contacted a few enforcers from our clan. They've been sent to patrol the house twenty-four-seven until we return," he told her and she hugged him close.