Helen Myers – The Last Man She'd Marry (страница 8)

A little slow getting to the bottom line, Carmel, but at least you made it.

Before she lost her nerve, she went inside. The tan building was modest, a metal corrugated structure; the interior was equally industrial and without much insulation, making Alyx suspect that if you talked loud enough you could hear your voice echoing back to you. How successful this operation was, she had no idea, but the owner didn’t waste money on decor.

“May I help you?” a young woman asked from behind the reception counter across the room.

Barely out of her teens, the petite brunette looked Alyx up and down as Alyx crossed the room, and Alyx could have sworn she saw the girl’s hazel eyes turn green before they narrowed. Great, she thought, her sixth sense about her sex kicking in; Jonas could have that effect on women just by being polite; there was no telling how sweet Jonas had been to this little cutie with her snug T-shirt bearing the much advertised red biplane stretched across her small breasts and the slogan, I Flew…You Can, Too!

“Oh boy, this is bound to be fun,” Alyx murmured to herself.

“Excuse me?”

With a polite smile, Alyx waited until she reached the counter to say, “Hi. I’m looking for Jonas Hunter. I believe he’s subbing for the owner here. Was that him in the plane that just took off?” she added, pointing toward the west windows on her right.

“It’s not our policy to give out personal information.”

Alyx had to compress her lips to keep from enlightening the wren-of-a-girl that she wasn’t asking for measurements or financial data. While she knew almost nothing about what made Jonas Hunter tick, she knew more personal information about him to keep this little girl blushing through sunset. She also knew from advertisements how long these tours lasted.

“Is this a full-hour flight or a shorter one?”

“That’s the customer’s business.”

“True, but what if I wanted to book the next flight?”

“We take all major credit cards.” The girl held out her hand.

Point for Little Miss Sentry, Alyx thought. Seeing that she would just make things worse if she asserted herself, she gave the girl another benign smile and took a step back. “I think I’ll wait and get specifics from Mr. Hunter.”

“Whatever.”

As the girl spun her chair away to return her attention to the computer she’d been working on, Alyx casually walked around the room, pretending an interest in the panel of vacation brochures on the entry wall, no doubt supplied by the local chamber of commerce. There were a few well-worn chairs separated by a vinyl cactus bush and three concession machines offering snacks and soft drinks. A cappuccino dispenser and a free coffee machine were by the restrooms. She suspected a door marked Employees Only led to the hangar. The only hint of a gift shop was the T-shirts piled at one end of the receptionist’s counter. Alyx didn’t bother checking if they all matched what the receptionist was wearing. She might have bought one to help business by wearing it to the spa, but she didn’t have enough cash on her, and she didn’t want the teenage watchdog to have any more information about her than necessary.

Jonas must really be helping a good friend to be taking off from his demanding work to serve time here.

After pretending to browse through a few pamphlets and eavesdropping on a couple of phone calls, she left the building and returned to Parke’s SUV. Keying the ignition and turning on the air conditioner, she backed from the parking lot, then—when away from the window—eased around the building to the back. She saw only one vehicle there—the one Jonas had been driving the other day.

Where was the mechanic, the rest of the staff? Who serviced the planes? If that was Jonas’s responsibility, too, there was yet another skill of his that she hadn’t known about.

She was frowning as she spotted the plane coming in for a landing. One of the shorter tours after all, she thought…unless there was some kind of mechanical problem?

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