The Courage Tree - Diane Chamberlain [63]
Omega-Flight had given Janine the choice of a number of helicopters. To Lucas’s disappointment, she had passed over the cleaner, more luxurious helicopters in favor of one that looked as though it had been built from a giant Erector set. He thought she was taking the worst of the lot because they were offering it to her for free, and she didn’t want to take advantage of her old employer. But it turned out that was not her reasoning at all.
“It has a bubble cabin,” Janine said, when he asked her why she’d made that selection. “We’ll be able to see below us much better. And it’s more maneuverable.”
Janine closed the door now and looked at him. “Ready?” she asked, and he nodded.
The bird was noisier than he’d expected, but as they lifted into the air, he understood why she had chosen this particular, glass-enclosed helicopter: the entire world was visible to them as they rose above the buildings along the Dulles Toll Road. Despite the seriousness of the situation at hand, Lucas could not help a rush of joyful adrenaline at finding himself suspended in the sky.
“Have you ever been up in one of these before?” Janine asked. She was speaking loudly to be heard above the sound of the blades.
“Once,” he replied. “But I don’t remember it. I was unconscious.” Damn, why did he say that? Should have kept his mouth closed. Now he would have to lie to her again. It chipped away at his integrity, lying to a person he loved, and he loved Janine. Loving her had not been part of his plan, but he’d been drawn to her devotion to Sophie, to her sensitivity, and to the strength she didn’t even know she possessed. He was closer to her than to anyone else, yet he was lying to her at every turn.
“What do you mean, you were unconscious?” she asked.
“It was a long time ago. I was on a cruise with my wife and I got sick.”
“Seasick?”
“Oh, I don’t even remember,” he said. “It was a combination of things, I guess. I passed out and woke up in a hospital bed. I wouldn’t have known I’d been flown there if someone hadn’t told me.”
“So, you’re really a helicopter virgin,” Janine said.
“Yes. And given the reason we’re up here, I wish I could just stay one.”
“I wish you could, too,” she said grimly, then handed him the map. “Okay, here’s my plan for when we get over West Virginia,” she said. “Alison liked to take shortcuts. There was no way Joe and I could cover every possible route in the car yesterday. So I’ll just fly over the main route to the camp, then we can branch out from there and cover as many alternate routes and possible wrong turns as we can see.”
They were passing over a residential area and Lucas looked down at the lush cover of the trees. It was difficult to see houses beneath the foliage, much less a car. “What are you hoping we can see from up here?” he asked. He’d meant the question to sound compassionate, but having to shout it over the sound of the helicopter sapped it of its gentleness. To be honest, he didn’t see the point to this excursion, but he understood Janine’s need to do something, and he was more than willing to do it with her. He loved that she was not the type to sit and wait while fate took its course. Neither was he.
Janine tensed her lips. “I don’t know, exactly. The blue Honda stranded on the side of the road, maybe. A little redheaded girl walking along a deserted lane. I just don’t know.” She glanced at him. “I have to try, though, Lucas.”
“I understand,” he said.
Once they began following Route 66, the buildings and homes gave way to rolling meadows and heavily wooded hills. The flight was smooth, the view above the trees spectacular, and Janine seemed to grow more comfortable with the helicopter with each passing minute. Sometimes he had to remind himself that she had flown in the Gulf War. When she allowed herself to be so easily manipulated by Joe and her parents, it was hard to remember that she’d once possessed a cocky, rebellious side. He’d never dared to say this to her, but he thought it was fitting that she lived in Ayr Creek’s original slave quarters. She was owned by the