Spiral (The Salzburg Saga Book One) (2 page)

He rapped sharply on Hugh's door. “Hugh?”

When he received no answer, he knocked again, harder this time, and raised his voice.

A moment later, the door creaked open and Hugh stood there in nothing but a pair of navy shorts. Red-eyed with stubble on his chin, he peered at Parker owlishly. He had his phone pressed to his ear. “What?” he asked as he raised a brow at his father.

Grimacing at the alcohol on his son's breath, Parker slipped his hands into the pocket of his beige trousers; better there than around his son's neck. He looked pointedly at the shorts Hugh still wore. “Why aren't you ready?”

“Will be. Soon.” Turning away, Hugh returned to his phone conversation.

Parker stepped forward and swiped the phone from Hugh’s fingers.

“Hey!” Hugh stared at him in disbelief. “Are you crazy?” Wobbling a bit, he grabbed the door handle to keep himself steady.

Parker merely shot him a look as he lifted the phone back to his ear. The birdlike yapping that immediately assaulted his eardrum was enough to start a headache. Another one of his son's idiots, he realized wearily. He disconnected the call and tossed the phone onto Hugh’s unmade bed. “Please hurry. We can’t be late for a business trip that
we’re
hosting.”

Hugh’s bloodshot eyes narrow in resentment. “I was talking to her.” He said the words slowly, but they still came out on a drunken slur. “She was about to give me her address. I didn't get it last night.”

“Count yourself lucky.” Parker decided that he’d officially run out of patience and stepped out of the room. He cast a quick glance over at Hugh’s open back pack. “Make sure you remember to bring–”

“You don’t need to tell me. I've been skiing before. And you weren’t there. As usual.” With that, Hugh slammed the door shut on Parker’s face.

Jake Rush groaned when his work phone rang.
Not while I’m working out.
Why in the heck didn’t I turn it off?
He was, he reminded himself, officially on annual leave. Bench press suspended in midair, he debated ignoring it, and then with a mutter at his own dedication to his job, he dropped the weights and sat up. Snagging a towel, he wiped the sweat from his face and grabbed the phone sitting on his latest issue of
Plane and Pilot
. When he saw the name flashing on the screen, he frowned and hit the answer button. “Frank?”

“Rush. Thank God you're home. Sorry to call on your annual leave.”

Jake’s dark brows lifted at his boss’ stressed tone. Frank Gwynne rarely stressed. As the founder and CEO of
Jets by Gwynne
, Frank was a man of wealth, experience, and influence. He paid others to get harassed for him.

Something – or someone – had seriously messed up.

Moving to sit on the edge of his unmade bed, Jake crossed his feet at the ankles. “Frank? Aren't you supposed to be on holiday, too?” The wail of a baby had answered Jake’s question before Frank did, and Jake smiled.

“I'm on holiday, yeah. Hold on a second.” Frank paused to say something to someone. A moment later the baby’s noise disappeared though Frank still sounded stressed. “We've got an emergency with our new number one, Rush.”

Jake’s mouth flattened. “You gave the new number one to Buzz.”

“Buzz is the problem.”

So what else is new?
“You gave him the new number one,” he repeated.

Despite being thousands of miles away, Frank’s sigh came across loud and resigned, the guilt still clearly weighing on him. “I had to throw him a bone, Rush. He was whining about never doing any Challenger runs.”

“There’s a reason for that.”

“I know, I know, but we have a problem now, which involves a Challenger. I hate to ask you to break your leave…”

But you will anyway. Kissing his carefree day goodbye, Jake ran his fingers through his sweat-dampened black hair and let out a sigh. “What do you need me to do? But first, for my own morbid curiosity, what's Buzz done this time?”

Frank's words were bitten out like blocks of ice. "Eloped with a member of the flight crew."

That would be Janine,
Jake knew. So Buzz had made an honest woman of her. Walking to his wardrobe, Jake pulled out his pilot gear with his free hand.

“It means our client doesn’t have anyone to pilot the jet.” Frank spoke matter-of-factly now; needed to take care of business and there was little time for pleasantries. “We need you to fly them to Salzburg. They have cars arranged to take them to Kitzbűhel, which is where they’ll be staying. I’ll email you the details. Once you’ve dropped them, you can fly right back and enjoy the rest of your annual leave. I’ll arrange another member of the team to pick them up. How soon can you get to Gatwick?”

Jake glanced at his bedside clock. “They'll have to wait a bit. I'll need to shift a few things around.”

“Naturally. Try to get those things shifted ASAP, won’t you? What can I tell the client?”

“That I’ll get there when I get there.” When Gwynne met that remark with stoic silence, Jake sighed and relented. “I’ll aim to get there in two hours.” He lived close to Gatwick, which was no doubt one of the reasons Gwynne had called him.

“Appreciate it. I've put Ben in front with you and Emily in back; you three always work well together.”

“You had this all worked out, didn't you?” Jake asked in amazement. “You've told the client I'll do the job.” He headed for his small en suite bathroom.

A smile came into Frank's voice. “Absolutely. I can always rely on you, Rush.” He chuckled at Jake's answering grunt. “Speak to you when you get back.” Frank prepared to hang up.

“Wait a second, Frank.” Jake leaned against his bathroom door. “Who’s become our new number one?”

“Parker Drayton.”

Jake froze.

“Rush?”

Jake took a deep breath. “Yeah…still here.”

“Drayton is–”

“I know who he is and what he owns.” There was no escaping this. Taking a deep breath, Jake rolled his suddenly tense shoulders.

“Great. We’ll speak later.” Frank rang off.

Jake stared at the dead phone in his hand, six words in his head:

Be careful what you wish for.

CHAPTER TWO

“I can't apologize for what I said to him, Neen.” Seated in the plush VIP area of Gatwick airport, Hazel stretched out her green denim clad legs and contemplated the tops of her matching green Converse trainers.

Beside her, Nina watched a group of stewardesses in matching red and white uniform stroll past outside. Gatwick was her favorite British airport; not having the frenetic pace of the others in Britain, it was colorful, bright, and always welcoming. With a sigh, she focused on her sister. “Alex and I have been having problems for...for a while.”

“I don’t think it was a good idea for him to move into your place.” Hazel’s hazel eyes held wisdom far beyond her nineteen years. “I think it dented his manhood. He knows he can’t afford a place like that of his own.”

“
I
was the one who got him out of the dump he was living in before,” Nina reminded her. But she understood what Hazel was saying. The fact that her sister, fourteen years her junior, could diagnose the issue so quickly was sobering. “But you’re right." She blew out a breath. "He’d feel better if he had his own place and
I’d
been the one to move in.”

Hazel perked up suddenly. “Here’s Neil. Shayna and Luke are with him, too. Are Shay and the baby going on the trip, too?”

Nina smiled as Neil, her friend and business partner, entered. “I doubt it. It would be lovely, but they’ve likely just come to see him off.”

“Parker will have a Jacuzzi.” Hazel pouted. “You’ll call me from it and I’ll have to try to not be jealous.”

“A Jacuzzi?" Nina chuckled as Neil and his wife, Shayna, approached. "How do you know Parker even has one?”

Hazel rolled her eyes and grinned. “All rich people have a Jacuzzi, Neen.”

Nina shook her head, still grinning. “Well, if he does, I promise
not
to call you from it.” They rose to greet Neil and Shayna. Shayna looked lovely in a camel wool coat. Her perfectly plucked dark brows arched high above her wide-spaced eyes, and she had accentuated her olive skin with a dusting shimmery bronze powder.

Nina gave Neil a tight hug. With their other friend, Angela Akra, who had yet to arrive, the three of them had set up their own law firm Akra, Varly, and Bishop three years ago. Having met at university, they had all been friends ever since. “Shay and Luke came to see you off?” she asked him, unable to forget Alex's reluctance to budge from
her
sofa.

In his grey ski jacket and black jeans, Neil rested his elbows on the bar of his large trolley. “Shay pointed out that I don’t get to spend much time with Luke. I called Parker and asked if they could come. He said yes.”

Nina smiled. “That’s so sweet of him. He appreciates the crazy hours you put in.” The crazy hours they
all
put in. The negative side of running your own business. But it was a small price to pay for being in control of her own destiny and income. No one could ever pull the rug out from under her feet.

“I’ll be eternally grateful to Mr. Drayton.” Shayna smiled.

“Can I hold the baby?” Hazel asked her with a smile at the baby.

“Of course.” Shayna lifted Luke, bundled in a royal blue baby grow, out of his pram and into Hazel’s arms.

“So.” Neil sat beside Nina and stretched out his long legs. “How's Alex?”

She merely sent him a look.

“Still difficult, hmm?" He winced. "I’m sorry. I know he wanted to join us for this trip.”

Nina frowned. “You knew? How?”

Neil gave a wry smile. “He dropped enough hints whenever he called you at work and I picked up.”

Caught between embarrassment and anger, Nina looked away. “I’m sorry. Obviously, you didn’t rise to the bait.”

“This has to be a
productive
trip. We’ll be networking with potential clients. Where’s Ange?”

“I got a text from her.” Nina watched Hazel and Shayna fuss over the baby. “She’s on her way.”

“And that makes The Awesome Three complete.” Neil grinned.

Nina groaned. “Are we ever going to ditch that awful nickname?”

“Unlikely.” Neil chuckled. “Parker gave it to the press after we won that case last year for him. I think it's going to stick.”

A tall, broad shouldered man in a pilot uniform entered the lounge then. He wore his ginger hair in a ponytail that brushed his shoulders. His light brown eyes smiled at them. “Party of Drayton and Sons?”

“That's us.” Neil raised a hand and stood.

The man came forward with his large hand extended. “Ben Denny. I'm your copilot for this trip.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Neil Varly.” Neil indicated Nina. “Nina Bishop. This is my wife, Shayna, and Nina’s sister, Hazel.”

Ben shook hands with each of them, his grip brief and firm. “The lead pilot’s on his way. We’ve had a brief change in pilots, and Mr. Drayton has been informed. We wanted to make sure you're all comfortable while you wait for the lead pilot to set up. It shouldn’t be long before we’re underway.”

“Thanks for letting us know," Nina said. “Is Parker here?”

“Not yet, ma’am; he’s been delayed.”

Hazel beamed at Ben as she juggled Luke in her arms. “You’re getting the jet ready?”

He smiled back. “Yes, ma’am.”

Hazel couldn’t help chuckling. She wasn’t often called
ma’am
. “Can I talk to the lead pilot when he arrives? What’s his name?”

“Uh, Haze,” Nina began uneasily, shooting an uneasy look at Ben. “Let’s not bother the pilots."

“No bother,” Ben assured her with an easy shrug. “Jake’s always open to answering questions from passengers before takeoff.”

Hazel pouted. “I’m not a passenger. I’m only here to see my sister off. I’ll be the one being told what a great time she’s having.”

Nina rolled her eyes, and everyone else laughed.

“But I'd love to have a chat with you guys,” Hazel hinted. “The name’s Hazel,” she reminded him.

“I’ll let you know when Jake’s ready, Hazel.” With that, Ben bid them goodbye and left.

Hazel gave Nina a triumphant smile. “You don’t ask you don’t get.”

Nina only shook her head. She’d never understood her sister’s fascination with aircrafts, but sincerely hoped that Hazel fulfilled her dream to one day become a pilot. One lost dream in the family was enough.

“Here’s Ange,” Shayna said and waved at Angela who swung through the door.

“Hello, fans,” Angela drawled in her soft Los Angeles accent. Unlike Nina and Neil who were both British, Angela hailed from the States. Despite relocating with her parents to London at the age of fourteen, her American drawl still remained. She strode towards them now in a red colored ski jacket and brown ski boots. A bright yellow flower adorned her ear length shiny wooly black hair. Though she smiled when she spotted them, her clear dewy walnut complexion was tight with strain.

Neil’s gaze narrowed with concern when she reached them. “You’ll be okay?”

Angela sighed and set her own roller bag down, took a deep breath, and made a show of squaring her shoulders as if preparing for battle. “I’m going to sleep for the entire flight.”

Nina linked her arm through Angela’s and squeezed gently. A fierce competitor, both in and out of the courtroom, it took a lot to unnerve Angela Akra. But just mentioning planes and flying always made Ange jittery. “We'll be there soon.”

“Did you remember to pack your inhaler?” Hazel asked Angela.

“First thing, sweetie.” Angela grimaced at Nina. “I've heard scary stories about small jets, Neen. But how could I get out of this? It’s Parker Drayton.”

“Indeed.” Nina held back a chuckle. It would not have been good business sense for any of them to turn down a networking opportunity from their biggest client. “We’ll be off soon, and you’ll be just fine.”

Jake pressed his hand up against the roof of the jet as he undertook the pre-flight check. Though he knew other professionals had checked the jet, he liked to take the time to look over every jet that he flew himself to be sure. Fussy? Maybe. Did he care? No.