Take the Money: Romantic Suspense in Costa Rica Read Online Free

she was sure of it.  At last he handed her a ticket.  “Gate 17,” he said.  “To the right.”
    “When does the plane leave?”
    “Forty-five minutes.  They’ll be boarding soon.”
    She turned and fled, not responding as he called after her to have a pleasant flight. Now she had to get through Security.  A knapsack full of bills wouldn’t trigger any alarms, and yet her heart sped up as she sucked in her breath, took off her boots and threw her bag on the conveyor manned by two security guards dressed in the usual Post Office blues.
    A stolid male with steely gray hair and a bristly mustache looked her up and down carefully as he stopped the conveyor. 
    “What’s in that bottle?” he demanded. 
    Julie tried to unscramble her exhausted brain and recall the items she’d thrown into the bag.  “Contact solution, I think,” she said, trying to sound casual.  “Would you like me to get it out?”
    “If you would, please.”
    Julie fished around and found a big white bottle, which the guard promptly threw in a trash can. With a swift kick to the foot pedal, he reactivated the conveyor and Julie exhaled slowly. Every second seemed like an hour as the bag inched its way to safety, but she tried to assume the usual bored look of the innocent, seasoned traveler who is forced to put up with the minor annoyances of a security check.  She picked the backpack up and slung it across her shoulders, resisting the impulse to take it and run.  
    She felt a rush of adrenaline as she scurried along the passenger ways lined with shops and newsstands to the end gate.  Another new country beckoned.  Once again, she was leaving the heartland where she’d never felt she belonged. 
    She headed for a seat and turned to look at her fellow travelers, a pretty casual bunch compared to the flights she’d taken to Europe.  Even though travel clothes had gotten less formal, she’d never seen so many people in blue jeans.  She was going to fit in pretty well. They might have been going on a picnic or to a rock concert.  There were several students, too, and she remembered the medical school she’d heard about in San Jose.  Then, to her dismay, she saw the couple from the ticket counter moving toward her.
    “May we sit here?” the woman asked, pointing to empty seats beside Julie.
    “Of course.”  Julie spotted a discarded USA Today on the floor and picked it up, hoping to escape conversation.
    “I couldn’t help but overhear,” the woman said.  “You’re going to see your sister in the hospital?”
    “That’s right.”  Julie’s eyes were so tired that the newsprint blurred, but she pretended to be vitally interested in reading about some rock star in the Life section.
    “Why is your sister in Costa Rica?”
    “She’s—umm--doing some missionary work.”
    “’Really?  What denomination is she with?”
    Julie hesitated.  The woman was no doubt very active in her own church.  Goddamn, why couldn’t she mind her own business?
    “I think it’s interdenominational,” Julie said.
    “Poor thing.  Does she have dengue fever, or what?”
    Mercifully, the loudspeaker blared that it was time to board.  The couple was called far ahead of Julie, so she was relieved from having to weave a greater web of lies.  She settled down into her seat at the back of the plane, grabbed a pillow and blanket, and let her head fall back against the seat. Suddenly she was aware of aching all over, numb with exhaustion, when the pilot announced they were preparing for takeoff.  As the plane droned across the runway, she felt herself slipping away into her dreams.  Then, abruptly, they came to a halt and her head snapped up in alarm.
      “Ladies and Gentlemen.  Sorry, but there’s been a slight delay.  We have a passenger who almost missed the flight and we’ve decided to let him aboard.”
    Julie turned to the flight attendant who stood behind her, clicking her long fingernails in annoyance.  “Why would they