“Tessa told him she needed to bring her mother and a few of her friends to England as soon as possible, and George immediately offered her his plane.”
“Must be nice to have friends like that,” said Chase, and he was right.
The door of the plane had finally closed, and Odelia knelt down next to us to check how we were doing.
“I hate these cages, don’t you?” I said. “Oh, that’s right—presumably you’ve never been confined to a cage. Well, let me tell you, it’s not much fun.”
“I’m sorry about this, Max,” she said. “But rules are rules.”
“Oh, I know all about rules,” I assured her. “Like the rule that in order to be a member of cat choir you have to actually be able to sing.”
“It’s fine,” said Harriet. “If that’s what it takes to fly to England and join high society, I’ll gladly make the sacrifice.”
“I’ll let you out as soon as the captain gives the sign. You can freely walk the cabin after that—or at least until we land.”
“How long until we arrive?” asked Harriet.
“About eight or nine hours,” said Odelia. Then she caught Angela’s curious glance.
“Don’t mind her,” said Gran. “She’s crazy about those cats.”
“Yeah, she pretends to talk to them all the time,” said Chase.
“I totally get it,” said Angela. “I have a Frenchie back home, and we talk up a storm.”
“Why didn’t you bring him along?” asked Odelia.
“He’s old, and doesn’t like to travel as much as he used to. When he was younger I took him everywhere, but now he prefers to stay in his trusted environment.” She glanced down at us. “I’ve never known anyone to travel with cats, though, so that’s definitely a first.”
“We’re all cat ladies,” said Gran. “Me, my daughter and granddaughter.”
“And I’m an honorary cat lady,” Chase quipped.
“That’s what happens to the men in our family,” said Gran. “It’s either join the club or get lost.”
Chase laughed.“It’s true,” he confirmed when Angela quirked a curious eyebrow. “It took some getting used to but now I love them almost as much as Odelia does. They’re the cutest little rascals, aren’t they?”
And with these words he wiggled his fingers at me.
Odelia placed the carrier next to her and strapped it in, while Gran did the same with Dooley’s, and Chase took care of Brutus and Harriet. The pilot announced over the intercom we were cleared by the tower for takeoff, and suddenly my heart started beating so fast I thought it was going to hammer straight through my chest. The engines roared and the plane started moving, then accelerating, with such a mighty roar I suddenly felt awfully faint.
“Max!” Dooley said. “I don’t like this!”
“I don’t like it either, Dooley!” I cried.
“We’re all gonna die!” Brutus said. “This is the end. We’re dead!”
“This is what hell looks like,” said Harriet. “We’ve landed in hell!”
The plane hurtled along the runway, at an ever-increasing speed, the noise thundering in my ears, and then, suddenly and without warning, we had liftoff! Without even realizing it, I was screaming at the top of my voice and so were Dooley, Harriet and Brutus.
“Nervous flyer much?” asked Angela with an amused smile.
Odelia had opened the carrier and now hugged me close.
Gran and Chase followed her example, and I could tell Harriet was digging her claws into Chase’s thighs for he grimaced and gently removed them.
“It’s all right, you guys,” said Odelia. “Everything is fine.”
“Easy for you to say!” I said. “You’re not the one whose guts are being ripped out by Mach speed!”
She laughed.“What do you know about Mach speed?”
“I’ve seenTop Gun! And I don’t feel the need for speed!”
The plane was still climbing, but then gradually leveled off.
“The seatbelt sign is switched off and you can now move freely about,” a sonorous voice boomed through the intercom.
I glanced around as everyone got up and deposited us to the floor.
“Max?” said Dooley.
“Uh-huh?”
“We’re alive!”
I laughed.“Whoo-hoo!”
“You guys!” Harriet cried. “We’re on our way to England!”
“Yes, we are!” I said, relieved to have survived the ordeal.
“We’re going to meet the Queen!” she yipped.
I didn’t know about that, but whoever we were going to meet, it was definitely better than meeting our maker!
Chapter 7
Odelia was checking the shaky footage again of the incident that had led them to board a private jet and fly head over heels to England.
They were well underway, the cats had all settled down on the plush pillows Angela or Mr. C. Looney had been so good to provide, and a flight attendant had brought out snacks for them to nibble on.
Once again she watched as Tessa stood smiling in front of the wall of Newtmore House, as Prince Dante’s voice warned her to watch out! Moments later, Tessa jumped clear of the stone ball that would have crushed her.
“Tessa and Dante were in charge of the annual Summer Show,” Angela explained. “Some kind of county fair, with a bouncy castle for the kids and a band and lots of great food. Ticket sale proceeds go to charity and Tessa especially had spent a lot of time turning it into a success, which it was.”
Odelia replayed the footage. The ball impacted the ground with such force that a dull thud could be heard, followed by Dante rushing in and helping Tessa up.
“If Dante hadn’t yelled for her to jump, she would have been crushed,” said Angela with a grim twist of the lips.
“And you still think he might be behind this,” said Odelia. “That doesn’t make sense, Angela.”
“It does. The way I see it, they just had this big fight over the kind of people he likes to hang out with. Bunch of losers, if you ask me, but he seems reluctant to remove them from his life. Putting Tessa in harm’s way and being the one to save her life would have shifted the balance of powerin the relationship to him.”
“That seems far-fetched.”
Angela threw up her arms.“I don’t know what to think here, okay?”
Odelia studied the fleeting image of the figure on the roof. Unfortunately it was impossible to make out features or even size or gender. Just a dark blob, moving away the moment the camera caught him or her.
“Whoever this is, they took an awfully big risk,” said Odelia.
“I’m sure they were wearing a disguise—a cloak or something.”
“I take it Dante never saw this video?”
“No, he hasn’t.”
“How determined are you to keep this from getting out?” asked Chase.
“Tessa wants to keep it quiet, and I agree. If word got out there was an attempt on her life, all hell would break loose.”
“So maybe that’s a good thing? I mean, someone could have seen something.”
But Angela shook her head.“We want to keep it under wraps. Tessa is not popular as it is, and this would only incite more hatred and all sorts of nastiness. What she’s most afraid of is that a bunch of copycats will pop up and act out other assassination scenarios, this time with fatal consequences.”
“I can’t believe the English people would tolerate that kind of behavior,” said Odelia. “She is married to one of their most popular royals, isn’t she?”
“Oh, I guess she’s popular enough with the people,” Angela agreed. “But she’s hated by the tabloids. They’d twist this into something else entirely.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. They’d probably claim she set this up herself. As a publicity stunt. A way to get attention.”
“No way.”
“Oh, yes. They’re vicious like that.”
“That’s just terrible,” said Odelia.
She couldn’t imagine having to live like that—being openly hated and despised with such intensity and relentlessness. “At least the other royals are there to support her,” she said. And when Angela gave her a dubious look, she said, “They do support her, don’t they?”