“Come again?”

“I know it sounds completely crazy, and it’s probably going to sound even crazier the more I talk about it.” I take the papers from Cassie and fold them in half. “But I spent the better part of last night doing some research and I think I’m onto something.”

“How’d you even come up with this idea?” Cassie asks.

I quickly tell her about how we were in Berlin right before a sudden change in schedule had us flying into the city.

“And your mind went from stolen animals to Northwest transporting them.” Cassie laughs.

Despite the seriousness of our conversation, the sound still jolts right through me. Each time she unwinds enough to enjoy herself, even when it’s at my expense, I lose another chunk of my heart to her. Pretty soon, she’ll own it outright.

“It’s not as big a leap as you think, and it explains why we keep getting rerouted to different locations, even though we seldom have enough passengers booked to justify the change in plans. Most of those changes sent us to Africa. What if the reason was because a smuggler had caught a wild animal and Northwest had to pick it up?”

Cassie looks skeptical but at least she doesn’t come right out and say I’m delusional.

“Why would anyone at Northwest be involved in something like that? What would possibly be in it for them?” she asks.

“Money,” I tell her. “Turns out the black market exotic pet industry is a huge money maker. Experts guess that the sale of illegal animals generates about $15 billion every single year. The monkeys that were stolen from the zoo in Berlin are worth about thirty thousand dollars apiece on the black market.”

“Thirty thousand dollars,” Cassie repeats. She looks a bit shell shocked. “Just for a monkey? I’m in the wrong business.”

“Yeah,” I agree, “and if I’m right, I think some of the execs at Northwest thought the same thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t why they bought the company a few years ago.”

“Really?” Cassie looks like she’s coming around to my way of thinking.

“By airline standards it’s small enough to operate with a relatively small staff, which lessens the odds of anyone finding out about the animal smuggling part of the industry, yet large enough to justify flying into any airport in the world in order to pick up passengers. It’s based in Texas, which is the one state that doesn’t have any rules about exotic animals being brought into it, and I’m guessing there are lots of people in Texas that know exactly what to do with an endangered monkey that’s suddenly for sale.”

“I have heard of a few people in the area who own tigers, though I don’t know if the rumors are true,” Cassie muses.

“You have a contract with Northwest, don’t you?”

Cassie nods. “Yeah, I’m one of the last pilots that had to sign one. The new management doesn’t bother with them. I keep trying to get out of it, so I can get a job with a better airline, one that treats me better and maybe even pays more, but so far, Northwest refuses to release me. The contract expires in about two years, thank God.”

“I bet the reason the company stopped having pilots sign a contract is to encourage the high turnover. Young, inexperienced pilots are going to be less apt to think about irregular repair reports or complain about spur of the moment changes to the schedule. They’re also likely to leave the company, rather than looking for internal problems.”

“But why make it seem like the company is barely making any money?”

“That’s something that bugged me too,” I tell her, “but I think I’ve got it worked out. I think it’s a clever scam. The company isn’t doing well enough to attract potentially nosy investors, but not so badly that neither the investors or IRS have bothered investigating it.

Cassie purses her lips. “I guess it’s possible.” She waves a hand over the papers. “But what does that have to do with the repair records?”

“I’m not really sure, but my gut tells me they’re connected. My theory is that since some of the repairs require large parts and the plane to be placed in a hangar, they’re using the repair work as a way to move the stolen animals on board.”

Cassie chews on her bottom lip and considers my words. “It sounds plausible. I guess.”

She tips her head to the side and shoots me a considering look. Something about the expression in her eyes causes my cock to leap to attention.

“You’ve put a lot of time and thought into this, haven’t you?”

“A bit,” I admit, wondering where she’s going with the question.

“And all because you’re worried about a few monkeys who were taken out of a zoo.” Cassie’s voice develops a sexy purr. The sound causes my cock to press even harder against my fly while my heart slams against my sternum. Blood pounds in my ears.

“I feel sorry for the monkeys.”

Cassie shifts her position, moving until she’s facing me. Her legs curl off to the side. She stretches a hand out and slides her fingers beneath my T-shirt. My mouth goes dry and my knees literally start to shake.

“I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this before,” she says. “But men who worry about the fate of some monkeys they’ve never met before are incredibly sexy.”