2:00 PM
Brian
"I thought we agreed that we're not Disney World?" Nick demanded under his breath, "Since when do we make major choices about this op without consulting the other?"
Lucy was a few feet behind us, and acting like she couldn't hear us.
"Since when do we make major choices about this op without consulting one another?" I demanded, emphasizing the op, since it was entirely his idea to impersonate officers traverse the world looking for 'clues'... "I know that you can't get over what happened, I get that, I do, but Nick this is a wild goose chase and the longer we're out of Sweden, the more guilty you look to Lennon and --"
"Excuse me," Lucy's voice piped up. "I- I'm only like five feet away and I'm not deaf and I know you guys are whispering and stuff, but --"
"Good job," Nick hissed.
"Look, obviously your name isn't Preston Gustav and you aren't Kyle Sheppard." Lucy eyed us. "So. How about you guys get honest about what's going on here?" she waved her finger between the three of us.
I looked at Nick.
"No," he snapped, "We don't need to include her in this."
"How do you know I can't help?" Lucy demanded.
"Because you can't," Nick snapped. He looked at me. "This is supposed to be you and me, looking for clues about J, it's supposed to be Frick and Frack and not Frick and Frack and Daisey Duke."
"Daisey Duke?" Lucy looked offended.
Nick ignored her completely, "It's brothers," he said.
"She needs help," I answered.
"I'll say she does," Nick muttered.
But he didn't argue again until we got to the ticketing counter and I realized the one flaw in our plan.
"Papers," I hissed, pulling Nick aside.
"What?"
"Lucy, she doesn't have papers," I said. "How do we get her through customs without papers?"
Nick stared blankly at me. "I uh --" he paused, his eyes catching on something at my side. He looked up at me, his eyes gleaming. "I have an idea, but... I dunno if Susie-May's gonna go along with it."
Ten minutes later, Nick and I both had one of Lucy's arms and were dragging her toward the ticketing counter as she struggled roughly. Her arms were tucked behind her back and cuffed.
"Excuse me, we have an extremely volatile suspect we're transporting to Brazil," Nick held up his badge into the cashier's face. "I suggest you let us right through."
Nick
"You're a genius."
"Shut up. We're not on board ye--oh crap."
I almost pissed my pants. Weaving her way through the airport, like Bellatrix Lestrange popping up from out of nowhere to kill Sirius Black, was Officer Lennon.
"They found us," I hissed.
"Who?" Bri started to turn his head to look.
"Don't! It's Officer Lennon."
"What?!"
"Who's that?" Lucy asked.
"Just walk. Walk. Walk. Casually."
Brian's attempt at casual walk failed miserably. It was hard to walk with Lucy cuffed between us. We headed up the ramp and rounded the corner.
"This the prisoner?" a stewardess asked. We had been asked to board last, less we cause a commotion. I nodded.
"Take the very last seats here. Do you have ankle restraints?"
"Ankle restraints?" Lucy hissed.
"We've got it covered. Thank you," I said politely. I nodded towards Brian. "Go first."
"No you have to go first. That's the only way this will work."
I looked at the seat again and did some quick thinking. He was right. "Okay."
I side stepped into the seats, pulling Lucy along with me. I reached into my duffel bag and pulled out a third set of handcuffs. I locked her right ankle to the seat. Her and Brian sat down at the same time. Bri instantly leaned over our 'prisoner.'
"What if she shows the attendant our pictures?"
"We don't look like ourselves. Don't think the worst."
"What if they search the plane?"
"We boarded last for a reason. They're going to take off in like a minute. Just breathe."
"I insist you guys tell me the truth," Lucy whispered.
"Well--"
"Don't you dare," I said. Bri glared at me.
"She's been through hell already. She doesn't deserve to be scared."
"She's not scared. I'm surprised those crazy dudes even kept her. She asks too many questions."
"Please fasten your seatbelts."
The three of us looked up at the stewardess. Bri made fast work of his seatbelt. I clicked mine. Lucy looked at both of us. "Uhm, excuse me?"
"What?" I asked.
"I can't exactly buckle my own seatbelt!"
She had a point. But I was still grouchy. I snickered. "Well, Sheppard. This is your problem."
As worried as I was about Officer Lennon zeroing in on us, I experienced a great deal of joy at making Brian Littrell uncomfortable. He had to lean in close, practically grabbing under her ass for the seatbelt. His face was a weird shade of...of...puce as he clicked her in.
"Thereyago," he said in a rush.
As I was engrossed in the show, the stewardess had gone through the emergency procedures. The captain came on and, with a heavy Latino accent, announced the temperature in Rio De Janiero, Brazil. Two minutes later we started moving.
"I can't believe it. We weren't caught," Bri said dumbstruck.
The plane did a circle on the tarmac. I glanced out the window and honed in on movement not far away. I began to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"Looks like there's another set of cops transporting a prisoner. They just got taken down by Officer Stilettos."
"I guess the joke's on her."
