Page 76 of Cross My Heart

“Ambition.” Josh shrugged. “She drove.”

“But someone must have tipped her off.” Tyler wiped his face and sat back. “She’s nobody.”

“Everybody is nobody.” Josh gave him a rueful look. “Until they’re not.”

The driver behind them leaned impatiently on the horn, and Nadia yanked the wheel left, changing lanes with no warning. Other horns joined in.

Tyler’s stoic mask cracked as he scanned the chaotic scene. “I can’t do this. Not like this.”

Nadia kept driving, peering ahead for an opening in the press scrum. “You do if you plan to get on that plane, bro.”

“Nadia’s right,” Josh said gently. “We’ll figure it out.”

Tyler dragged a hand over his face. For a second, real panic flashed in his eyes, the same raw dread consuming Josh.

Nadia craned her neck, searching for a way through. “I could loop around. Maybe there’s an access road.”

“Could be.” Josh nodded. “Worth a shot.”

Again, Nadia swung the wheel hard, and they looped back around toward the cell phone waiting lot. Other passengers honked and shouted as she cut them off.

“Sorry, folks, emergency!” Nadia called out the window. “My brother’s having a baby.”

Tyler barked a harsh laugh and fiercely gripped Josh’s hand. “Who is better than you two?”

The U-turn took them back past the long-term parking. Nadia drove slowly through the waiting lot, squinting toward the gates. “Don’t see another way in.”

“At least not one that doesn’t throw you to the sharks.” Josh racked his brain. Maybe they could get him onto some kind of airport tram? If Tyler showed in the front now, it would be a total circus.

Tyler turned to them both. “I’m open to ideas.”

“We disguise you,” Nadia suggested. “Hat, glasses. Maintenance uniform.”

“I’m six foot five, 257 pounds at present.” Tyler gave her a skeptical squint.

“And gorgeous. He’s one of the most famous faces in America,” Josh agreed. “They’d be able to see you from orbit.”

“Plus good luck finding a uniform.” Nadia glanced out the window. “Just a thought.”

Josh said, “Too bad we can’t smuggle you aboard. Like Dracula.”

“In a coffin?” Nadia giggled at that. “Can you imagine? What an entrance.”

“Wait.” Tyler grinned then. An actual real smile spread across his face, and he shook his head as though he’d woken up from a crazy nightmare. “Buckingham.”

Josh gestured at him to continue. “What?”

“Trust me.” Laughing, he squeezed Josh’s hand and kissed their laced knuckles. “How does D’Artagnan reach Buckingham?”

“Tyler,” Nadia demanded.

“I got it.” Tyler smirked, some of his old swagger flickering in his eyes. “I got to do… what I do.”

Nadia sounded unconvinced. “I don’t get it.”

Tyler turned to Josh, eyes glinting. “You two need to dump me at the nearest loading dock. I’ll take it from there.”

“Buckle up, boys.” Without any further discussion. Nadia started driving against the traffic, barreling into areas marked Private and swerving left where the arrows pointed right.