‘It’s recalculating,’ Kitty said quietly, nodding her head at the built-in satnav.
Everett let loose a series of sighs as the dark blue screen calmly told them it would take an extra twenty minutes to reach their destination.
‘Drake, call the airport, tell them I’m going to be late. They’re going to need to get another slot. And for my sake, arrange for a competent driver to pick me up. If I have to suffer another journey like this, I’ll end up killing somebody.’
The man was a drama queen. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from saying anything.
‘By the way,’ Everett said, hanging up the call to Drake without bothering to say goodbye, ‘Drake tells me you’re looking for an internship. Is that right?’
The abrupt change in conversation made Kitty breathless.
‘Yes it is.’
He nodded. ‘Remind me when I get back from LA. I might be able to help you with that.’
She tried not to show how excited that made her, but it was hard to keep her expression neutral. ‘That would be wonderful,’ she finally said. ‘Thank you.’
Everett said nothing for a moment, scrolling through the messages on his smartphone. Eventually he glanced up, meeting her eyes in the mirror. ‘Yeah, well, you’re doing a good job with Jonas. He seems happy. I’ll make a few calls and we’ll see what we can do.’
She tried to keep the smile on her face, even if it felt distasteful.
‘I’m always appreciative of staff who work hard and keep their mouths shut. You’ll find I’m a good person to have on your side. Remember that.’
The rest of the journey passed in relative peace. Kitty followed the satnav instructions, navigating them back to the I-66, while Everett made phone call after phone call from the back seat. They managed to reach Reagan Airport only twenty minutes after the original time. Pulling up to the charter terminal, she switched off the engine while Everett pulled his small case from the boot, still muttering down the phone, and stomped into the terminal without saying goodbye. He hadn’t even bothered to close the boot. Sighing loudly, Kitty climbed out of the driver’s seat and walked around to the back, pushing the boot closed with an angry bang. Good riddance to him. She might have needed his help, but she had a feeling that she’d be paying for it. And maybe the price was a little too high.
Her next stop was the freight terminal, where Mia had given her instructions to pick up Jonas’s Christmas gifts. They’d been purchased at great expense by Arlo, Mia’s personal shopper.
The man at the gate directed her to the parking lot, and she swung the Escalade around and into an empty spot. Then she walked into the small reception, dodging the mistletoe that was hanging from the doorway, and rang the bell at the desk for attention.
Ten minutes later, she was carrying a huge pile of boxes over to the Escalade. Two uniformed workers trailed behind her, each carrying their own towers of cardboard. Organising them into the boot was an act of precision, with the boxes filling practically all the available space.
She’d just closed the boot when a woman came running out of the depot. ‘Wait up, there’s another package you need to take.’ Her dark hair flew behind her, revealing her harassed expression. ‘We won’t be sad to see the back of this one, I can tell you.’
A man walked out of the depot carrying a black furry puppy. Despite its cute face, it was snapping and snarling at him, and he held it at arm’s length. His expression was full of distaste.
‘What’s that?’ Kitty asked, her voice faint.
The man put the dog down, still holding its leash. The dog ran straight for Kitty, barking and dancing around her, causing the man to shoot forward.
‘It’s a Portuguese Water Dog. They’re supposed to be friendly.’ He looked down at the animal, his eyes wide. ‘This one might be a little too friendly.’
‘Am I really supposed to take it?’ Kitty asked, though in her heart she already knew the answer. Most employers would have warned her in
advance, perhaps suggested she got a cage or at least a bowl of water to keep him hydrated. Instead, all Kitty had was a full boot and a hyperactive puppy. The thought of driving all the way back to Cutler’s Gap with a puppy in the back was making her queasy.
‘I can’t take him in the car,’ she said. ‘He’ll jump all over me before I even get on the highway.’
‘He’s not so bad. He didn’t like being sent in the hold of an airplane, is all. They drugged him up; he’s just coming out of it now, and it’s sending him crazy. The chances are he’ll be asleep as soon as you turn the engine on, although you’ll do well to put something down on the floor. This one suffers from travel sickness.’
For God’s sake, this was all she needed. Kitty stared at the puppy who looked back at her, his gaze open and excited. Taking a deep breath, she leaned down, scooping the beast up into her arms, and to her surprise he stopped yapping and nuzzled into her.
Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
But then he bared his teeth and nipped her arm hard enough to almost break her skin. Kitty yelped, dropping him on the floor. He made a bid for freedom, dodging past the dog handler who started chasing him around the parking lot. Then the receptionist joined in, both of them lunging for the puppy who merrily outflanked them, heading back inside the cabin and into the warmth.
Five minutes later they were loading him into the Escalade once again. The handler had a look of supreme relief on his face. Kitty put him on the back seat, sighing when he jumped across the centre console and into the driver’s seat, putting his paws on the steering wheel as if he was going to drive.
One thing was for sure; it was going to be a long journey home.