Love or Justice Read online

  “Your father told me you needed a lift,” his uncle called in greeting.

  “Uncle Bob! I wasn’t expecting to see you.” Dante gave him a hug.

  “Well, who else would your father trust to bring you home? Especially with such precious cargo.” Bob turned his eyes on Laurie, with a wink and a smile.

  Bob had soft brown eyes like Dante’s, like all Stark men. Bob’s grey hair was wispy and thinning, his face was plump. He was broad shouldered, but he had gained a few extra pounds around his waist since Dante had last seen him. His dust colored jumpsuit was tight, covering every inch of his distended belly.

  “I thought you were still on duty?” Dante wished he’d called his uncle instead of his father.

  “No, no, no. I’m retired now. They sent me packing about a year ago.” Bob gave a smile that was neither happy nor sad. A typical smile for a dedicated public servant who ages out of service.

  “Seems retirement is suiting you.” Dante slid his eyes down to Bob’s stomach, then back up to meet his uncle’s gaze with a mischievous grin.

  “Just wait to you get over forty, just you wait.” Bob gestured to Laurie. “Now don’t be so rude, son, introduce me to the girl.”

  Dante rolled his eyes and turned to Laurie.

  “Uncle Bob, this is Laurie. Laurie, my Uncle Bob.” Dante felt the stiff muscles in his neck relax just a hair.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Laurie shook his hand. “Thank you so much for helping us.”

  “Of course. Public service is practically the family business.” Uncle Bob held onto her hand. “Dante, you never told me you got to meet such pretty women at your job. No wonder you love it so much.”

  “Uncle Bob, Laurie’s a witness.” Dante flushed, stuck between embarrassment and offending Laurie. “She’s one of the few women I’ve had under protective custody. Can we please get on the plane?”

  “All right, son, all right.” Uncle Bob winked at Laurie.

  Dante groaned inwardly.

  “But if you’re smart, you’ll keep her.”

  “The plane, Uncle Bob! Let’s go!” Dante said, throwing his hands in the air. His uncle hadn’t changed at all.

  Uncle Bob chuckled as he linked arms with Laurie to lead them toward the plane.

  “Now tell me about yourself, young lady. What do you do?”

  Laurie smiled, wrapping her hand around his arm as she walked with him.

  “Well, I used to work at a resort on the west side of the island. But I’m working my way through law school.”

  “Law school? A lawyer, Dante. Did you hear the girl wants to be a lawyer?” Uncle Bob tossed him a look over his shoulder.

  “I’m well aware.” Dante picked up their bags and hurried after them.

  “You know, Dante’s never brought a girl home with him before. You must be very special.” Uncle Bob raised his voice so Dante could hear him.

  “She’s a witness! I had to—” Dante exclaimed.

  “Calm down, son. There’s no need to yell. I’m just getting to know the girl.” Uncle Bob led them to their seats in the cramped cabin.

  “Please, Uncle Bob.” Dante gave him a pointed expression.

  “All right. Now buckle up. Since your father is completely paranoid, we’ll be making a few stops before our final destination. I think two interim stops will make him happy.”

  Bob went toward the cockpit and closed the door.

  Dante buckled his seat belt, sinking back into the seat. He and Laurie were going to get off the island safely. That thought released all of the pent up adrenaline in his body, which pooled in the back of his chair.

  Laurie on the other hand sat up stick straight, her eyes darting around the plane.

  Laurie turned her head toward the window as they began to charge down the runway. When the plane began to lift off the ground with a roar, Laurie’s eyes went wide. She clutched at his hand with one hand, and his thigh with the other.

  “Haven’t flown in a while?” He dropped his arm over her.

  “Never. I’ve never been on a plane. Never been off the island.” She was breathless, as the engines hurtled them toward the sky.

  “Ahhhh,” Dante said. Since Bob was gone, he kissed her left temple. “Relax. Just take a deep breath.”

  Laurie nodded. As the plane leveled out, she sank back into Dante’s arm. She looked out the window to find herself among the clouds. She leaned forward, almost pressing her face against the glass. Laurie watched out the window as the wind built and shaped the puffs of white into swirls.

  “Wow.”

  Behind her, Dante grinned. He enjoyed her wide-eyed fascination. The scene captivated Laurie for several minutes, until they hit some mild bumps and she jerked back.

  “What was that?”

  “Just some turbulence.” He ran his hand down her back.

  Laurie must have decided that pressing back into her seat was a safer location, so she relaxed against Dante again.

  “I like your uncle.” She smiled up at him.

  “He hasn’t changed at all. He got older, but that’s it.”

  “Is he like your dad?”

  Dante laughed so hard he sputtered and started to cough.

  “No. He’s not at all like my dad.”

  Laurie’s brow furrowed.

  “Is your uncle from the CIA too?”

  “No, he’s been in the Air Force his whole life. Both had incredible careers.”

  “Like you?”

  “Yeah, until I met you.”

  “It is not my fault.” Her eyes turned to daggers.

  “Uh huh.” He touched his forehead to hers. He kissed her, running his hand through her hair. Then he rested his chin on the top of her head. “I’m so relieved to get you off the island. I had no idea what I was going to do if my father didn’t call me back.”

  “You would have found a way.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m glad I didn’t have to.” He squeezed her tighter. “I hope you brought some more books though. I don’t know where we’re going, but we’re at least five hours from the rest of the U.S. We’re gonna have a long flight.”

  They did. At first, Laurie watched outside the window, but half-an-hour of cloud gazing is plenty for anyone. She had Dante pull out one of her books on criminal justice. She read for a few hours before falling asleep on his shoulder.

  Dante had a much more tedious flight. He fidgeted in his seat, then got up and wandered around the cabin for a little while. Then he spotted a few magazines someone had left. He flipped through them listlessly. The hours dragged by. When Laurie fell asleep beside him, it forced him to sit and think of the last time he saw his parents.

  It was his graduation from Marshals training, and his parents had come to Georgia to see it. His father had arranged for them to fly in only the night before the ceremony. It had irritated Dante and his mother made her disapproval quite clear. He had been away for more than four months of training. His father had refused to visit him at all, saying it “would be too obvious a target.”

  Dante had to report to his assignment in Hawaii right after graduation, and both his parents damn well knew it too. Yet his dad insisted they needed to leave minutes after the graduation ceremony. He and Dante got into a fight and Dante told his father he didn’t even want him to come to the ceremony anymore. In the end, Dante’s mother came to the ceremony, but his father was nowhere in sight. After that, Dante spoke to his mother occasionally, but he never went to visit. They didn’t visit him. He hadn’t spoken to his father again until yesterday.

  There was chirp over the loud speaker in the plane, rousing Dante from his troubled memories.

  “Attention please, this is your uncle speaking.” Bob’s voice relayed over the crackling speaker. “Please prepare yourself for our first landing. Since we’ll just be gassing up, I ask you to remain seated until we can take off again.”

  Dante buckled his seatbelt, then double-checked Laurie’s, which hadn’t been touched since they got on the plane. He eased h
er still dozing form back into her chair, but placed his hand over hers for landing.

  Bob brought the plane down, the wheels barely bumping against the pavement before they rolled. After taxiing, Dante glanced out the window to see familiar buildings and low hills climbing from the landing strip. He knew where he was. Bob emerged from the cockpit.

  “I see the flight was a good one.” He eyed Laurie’s sleeping form and Dante’s hand still covering hers.

  Dante’s eyes dropped to his hand. He pulled it back like his hand had been caught in the cookie jar.

  “She’s never been on a plane before. She was pretty anxious for a while,” Dante tried to explain.

  “Sure she was kid, sure she was.” Bob winked at him. He strode to the cabin door, and lowered it to the ground.

  “How did you get permission to land at Miramar?” Dante shifted in his seat, running his hand through his hair. “A Marine training base doesn’t just usually allow uninvited guests.”

  Bob chuckled, turning to Dante.

  “I told them I had a decorated Marine on board, bringing him back to his parents. They seemed to think that was worthy of a quick gas and go.”

  Bob left the plane to talk to the ground crew who were waiting for him. Dante covered Laurie’s hand again, resting his other hand on his gun. He peered out the window at his old training base. He had come here several times for tactical and skills training. It changed little in the years since he left. He noticed a couple of buildings were new, but everything else remained the same.

  Laurie stretched, rolling in her chair to look up at him.

  “Hi,” she said sleepily. “Are we there?”

  “Not yet.” He brushed a lock of hair away from her cheek. “Uncle Bob’s just filling up the gas tank and we’ll be on our way again.”

  Laurie nodded, nuzzling his shoulder.

  He stretched his arm around her shoulders to hold her for a few minutes.

  Laurie started kissing his neck.

  He leaned down to kiss her forehead.

  She tilted her head up to him and drew him down to meet her.

  He cupped her face, stroking her cheek while they brushed each other’s lips. Until they heard a cough.

  They pulled away from each other with a startled gasp. They turned their heads to the cabin door to see Bob leaning against the doorframe.

  “I hate to interrupt, but we’re ready to be on our way.” He wore a broad grin, his eyes gleaming with laughter.

  Dante looked down at the floor, his cheeks heating. He hadn’t felt so embarrassed about kissing a woman since high school.

  Laurie flushed, smiling at Bob. Then she laughed nervously.

  Bob said nothing more; he closed the plane door and walked to the cockpit chuckling all the way.

  Dante looked at Laurie. He sighed and reached for her hand as the plane began to taxi down the runway. So much for trying to hide it.

  The next flight was far shorter than the first. They passed over the Rocky Mountains in those few hours, which had Laurie glued to the window again. Afterwards, Bob announced they were going to be landing. They landed at another air base, which Dante didn’t recognize at all, but Bob seemed to have many friends there, since he left the plane to talk to the ground crew for quite a while before re-boarding. He brought sandwiches and chips back with him. It had been hours since they had eaten.

  Dante and Laurie were famished.

  Bob took a seat across the aisle from Dante.

  Laurie took the opportunity to stretch her legs while the plane wasn’t moving.

  “They have a few cargo planes coming in, but we should be able to take off after that.” Bob unwrapped his sandwich and bit into his lunch.

  Laurie unwrapped her sandwich, taking an enthusiastic bite. Her hair was mussed from their long journey.

  Dante’s hand itched to brush through it.

  She rocked back and forth, trying to work the stiffness from her joints.

  “We appreciate all the trouble you’ve gone through to help us.” Holding the sandwich in one hand, she tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder with the other.

  Bob waved his hand.

  “No trouble at all. Haven’t seen my favorite nephew in years.”

  “Well, that would be because the last time you visited you drank me under the table. I just recently recovered.” Dante grinned at him.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about that trip.” Bob rubbed his chin.

  “Hmmm. I think I know why you can’t remember it.” Dante buried his smile in his bag of chips.

  Bob laughed and winked at Laurie.

  Bob brushed the crumbs from his jumpsuit, while he regarded Laurie with a steady gaze. Bob turned his eagled-eyed gaze on Dante.

  Dante braced himself.

  “So, uh. Does your father know about the two of you?” Bob gestured between him and Laurie.

  “We didn’t really talk when I called, so no.” Dante flinched.

  “You had better just tell him straight out. If he sniffs it out, it will go much worse for you,” Bob’s lips drew together in a serious, thin line.

  “Why?” Laurie asked.

  “My father is…” Dante fished around for a diplomatic answer. “Very down to business. He believes in following rules.”

  “If he knew Dante got into a relationship with one of his witnesses, he’d turn Dante inside out,” Bob finished for him.

  “Well, we don’t have to tell him. We were hiding it from the other Marshals.” Laurie wrapped her arms around her middle. Bob let out a ferocious laugh.

  “You didn’t tell her about him did you?” Bob asked Dante through his laughter.

  “I told her where he worked. She knows that much.” Dante ran his hand down his face and back up to rub his eyes. He was getting a headache just thinking about his father.

  Bob managed to calm his fit of laughter.

  “Laurie, my dear, his father was very good at his job. All he has to do is look at you. He knows what you’re thinking, somehow. The best Dante can hope for is to just tell him straight out and get it over with.” Bob pointed his sandwich at Dante to emphasize his point.

  “Sir?” called a young man from outside the plane.

  Dante craned his neck to see a very young airman on the stairs to the plane.

  Bob strode to the door of the plane and the young man sprang to attention on stairs, thereby almost falling off before he balanced himself.

  Laurie tried to hold back her laughter since she was in the willowy young man’s line of sight.

  Dante coughed and hid his smile in his hand.

  Bob spoke to him for a couple of minutes. The young man scurried back down the stairs. Shaking his head, Bob pressed a button to close the cabin door.

  “That runt was scared of his own shadow. How do they expect these airmen to go out and sacrifice their lives when they can’t even stand on the stairs in front of a retired officer?” Bob huffed his way to the cockpit.

  “They all start out that way, uncle. They’ll do what they have to do when the time comes.” Dante rested his chin on his hand. Bob just shook his head.

  “Well, we’re almost there. We should be there in about two and half hours.” Bob grabbed the cockpit door to close it.

  “Where are we going?” Laurie took her seat. Bob smiled.

  “Nowhere. You’re going to the middle of nowhere. Which is the way Albert has always wanted it.” He disappeared into the cockpit.

  ***

  Laurie

  Laurie turned to Dante, who shook his head, shrugging. Then he put his arm around her as they began to taxi down the runway.

  Dante fell asleep on the last leg, while Laurie read. This was her last book. She wished she had access to her class syllabus now. She left it at the resort in all of the commotion leading up to her departure. She mused at how far away that life felt now, even though it had only a been a couple of short weeks. She wondered what her friends were doing now, if they were working, cooking, or surfing. She wished she could just
talk to some of them, tell them she met a man. If she were at the hotel, they would have questioned her relentlessly, so they could giggle about it as they cleaned. It made the workday go faster. Laurie sighed, checking her watch.

  She peered out the window. Below her was a world of neat squares and circles carving up the landscape. She never saw such a peculiar site. The volcanos and shorelines she had always known were half a world away, replaced with uniform farmland. Homesickness hit her hard. She hugged the book in her lap, a book from her home, to her chest.

  Dante awoke. He turned in his seat, about to get up when he noticed Laurie clutching her book to her chest, stroking it. He frowned, until he heard a sniffle.

  “Laurie? What’s wrong?”

  “Huh? Oh—” She tried to suppress a sniffle, but she didn’t succeed. “Nothing.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  She let out a heavy sigh, wiping her watery eyes.

  “I think I just got a little bit homesick.”

  He nodded, rubbing her shoulders while stretching his legs.

  “You’ll make a new home after the trial. In a safe place. I promise.”

  But where? Laurie wondered. Would Dante visit her there? Why couldn’t she just move to another island? Her stomach tied itself in knots. She had already started over once in her life. She didn’t want to have to do it again. But she had to. She had to testify. She had to put Kaimi away. She took a deep breath. Somehow, she knew she would find a way to start from scratch again. She just wished Dante would be a part of it.

  Dante stretched out his arms, then wrapped one around her.

  Laurie sank back into his shoulder, resting there as she laid her hand on his thigh.

  Dante started tapping his foot on the floor. They felt a slight pressure change as the plane began its descent.

  Bob’s voice, muffled but audible, came over the announcement system for the last time.

  “Good evening. This is your uncle speaking. We are beginning our final descent. Please take your seats and buckle your seat belts. Thank you for flying with Family Airlines.”