Chapter 7

Finn

Once we rolled out of the storm, I was feeling more in control. I spotted a gas station and filled up the car, going inside to look for a phone. Luckily, and possibly because this was the boondocks, there was one and I called my assistant, Leigh.

“Oh, thank God you picked up, Leigh.”

“What’s wrong, Finn? You sound flustered.” Coming from Leigh, this was quite a comment as flustered wasn’t a word I ever wanted to be defined as.

“I’ve been to fucking hell and back, and I mean that, literally. Actually, I’m still there.”

“I don’t understand,” she responded, her voice confused and hesitant.

“Of course, you don’t—not even I do. Okay, I’m in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, don’t ask how I got here. I’m driving the new Escalade I picked up on my way to Traverse City. I left my luggage at Jay’s. My phone fell out of the car somewhere along the way—look I know none of this makes sense, so just do as I tell you.”

“Sure, Finn, let me write this down. Okay, go ahead.”

“Send the company jet to pick me up at the Traverse City airport and I mean now. I want a new phone on board and be sure it’s backed up from my cloud account and has the same number. I want you to go into my penthouse and pack a set of casual clothes for me and put that aboard. I also want you to pick up something comfortable and warm, including coat and boots, for a female. I don’t know her size, but she’s small—like maybe a foot shorter than me and very slender. Put that aboard, too, and tell them I want a hot meal as soon as I board and stock the bar. I figure I’ll be arriving at that airport in about two hours. So, move on this. Oh, and Leigh—need to know basis, got that?”

“Got it, Finn. I’m hanging up now and I’ll get right on it.”

“One more thing, Leigh. I’ll be traveling straight from the Mackinac to Traverse, so if, for any reason, I’m not there in, let’s say, four hours, you send them looking for me. You hear?”

“Okay, sure, Finn, whatever you say.”

I knew I sounded paranoid as I hung up the phone, but after the past day in Hooterville, I wasn’t taking any chances.

Elspeth was watching me as I got back into the Escalade. She rubbed the back of her head, and I knew it had to hurt.

“Hold on a minute,” I told her and climbed out, running inside to call Leigh again.

“Put Pete Harper on that plane—no, it’s not for me, but for the girl. She’s got a helluva knot on the back of her head.” I hung up, and I’m sure Leigh was manufacturing all kinds of plausible stories in her mind, but I knew she’d keep her mouth shut. She was that kind of assistant.

When I got back into the car, something popped up from my memory. You’re not supposed to let someone with a head injury sleep. Is that right?

“Sit up, Elspeth.”

“I don’t want to; it feels better when I lie down.”

“I know, but I think it’s dangerous for someone with a head injury to lie down and sleep. Sit up and keep me company. We’re meeting my jet in Traverse City and my doctor will be on board. You’ll be in great hands soon. Don’t worry.”

“I’m going to sleep,” she said, and I knew I had a stubborn one on my hands. She lay back and closed her eyes.

I poked at her with one hand. “Elspeth, talk to me about something. Tell me a joke. Tell me your favorite flavor of ice cream. Anything.”

“Let me sleep,” she mumbled.

“No, no, Elspeth, you’ve got to wake up. C’mere and lean on me, at least,” I urged her, leaning to pull her upright by the shoulder.

“Noooo… I’m tired. Leave me alone now.” She snuggled further away from me. I noticed her diction had become more Southern than it was earlier. It seemed she had some control over it as the drawl came and went.

The need to keep her awake had begun to reach panic proportions in my brain—probably due to my own exhaustion. I spotted a pull-off to a public access sign ahead and drove into it cautiously, although the snow was negligible there.

“Now, look, Elspeth, you have to stay awake. If you don’t, I’ll be forced to take you to the first hospital I can find and then I can’t protect you. They’ll turn you over to the authorities. I know it’s unlikely, but maybe you can’t remember because you’re involved in something you don’t want to remember. Have you thought of that?”

She nodded. “Like what?”

“Hell, I don’t know! Maybe you robbed a bank or stole a car.”

“Wouldn’t I have a purse full of money and be driving somewhere in that case?”

“For someone who can’t remember, you sure have the answers,” I remarked, becoming perturbed. I wondered why she was getting to me. Was it because she didn’t know who I was and my money wasn’t impressing her to be respectful? Or was it because I was letting down my guard to this blue-eyed urchin with the killer body? “Elspeth!”

“What?” she cried, her petite features pouting as she tried to escape my voice.

I leaned over and pulled her upright—not exactly a feat of strength as she probably weighed less than a hundred pounds. I pushed her legs toward the floor and turned her around until her head was leaning against my shoulder. Putting my right arm around her, I held her upright and drove back onto the road, steering with my left hand.

I began to talk, hoping that my conversation would keep her alert. I couldn’t tell if she dozed off because she wasn’t in the habit of answering me anyway. I looked down at the child-sized woman lying against me and felt the urge to kiss her.

“Are you listening?” I asked her abruptly.

She nodded, at least enough that I was satisfied.

We hit a pot hole and the bump pushed her toward her door. I pulled her back and my hand fastened over her breast, as if it were a handle. Without consciously realizing it, my hand slid beneath her shirt and I began to pet the soft skin beneath her breast. It felt like velvet under my fingers.

“Mmmm…” I swore I heard her say and even if I didn’t, I wanted to. She relaxed into me; she must have uttered that groan of desire.

“Elspeth?”

“Hmmm…?”

“Does that feel good?”

“Mmmm…” was this time accompanied by a nod.

I’d found a way to keep her awake and God knew, I wanted to do that. I snaked my finger into her waistband and popped the button, touching the petal-soft skin I’d touched earlier. Lowering her zipper, my finger went on a quest for her hot box and the tender bud that guarded its entrance. I rubbed it in a gentle, circular motion.

She moaned in pleasure again and her hips pushed backward into me, her legs spreading as my finger continued its ring around her rosy clit. I heard her seatbelt snap back, and she pushed her pants to the floor, her legs spread wide. In the glow of the dashboard, I could see her mound, pulsing, inviting… What could I do, but push in with my finger?

“Ahhh…” she said distinctly, and I knew I’d found her core. She threw her left leg onto the dash and her right over the back of the seat—now openly splayed in our dimly lit bedroom on wheels.

I continued the tender massage until she begged, “Harder, deeper!”

I sank my middle finger into her well, as deeply as possible, and pulled it in and out as her hips rotated counterclockwise to accept me.

“Faster!” she hissed like a viper—and I obliged. I knew she’d found it when her hips began to buck and sounds of immense excitement spilled out of her mouth while she cupped her breasts.

“Sweeeet Jesus!” she cried out in a very un-church-like manner.

When it was done, she lay against me without moving. I knew she was floating in that magic place afterwards. I knew, because I’d been there, too.

That was when she pulled herself together and turned toward me. “That was wonderful,” she breathed.

I opened my mouth to say something appropriate, but she clapped her hand over my lips and touched a finger to her own. “Shhh... you talk too much.”