Tears sprang into her eyes. Her heart ached. Shaky legs carried her through the thick throng of people coming and going in the busy Los Angeles airport terminal. More than once she was jostled by an impatient traveler hurrying to catch a plane. But she didn’t care. The farther she got from Cole, the worse she felt.

Leaving had been her last option. There was a limit as to how long a woman could humiliate herself for love. Everyone in the family knew she loved Cole.

And everyone also knew that Cole was doing nothing about it. It was going to kill her, but come hell or high water, she was getting on that plane.

The bag slipped on her shoulder and she gave it another hitch, relocating it to a strong position. All of her other luggage had been checked, but she’d been unable to trust her breakable souvenirs to the baggage handlers.

The closer she got to the checkpoint, the heavier it became. Debbie knew that she was being weighed down by more than souvenirs and hair spray. Guilt was weighing heavily on her heart as well as her mind.

I shouldn’t have left him, she thought. But what else could I do?

“Place your purse and bag on here, miss,” the attendant ordered as Debbie stepped up in the line.

She complied and walked through the metal detector to meet her bags on the other side of the security X ray. She was standing, staring down at the floor, lost in thought, when alarms began to go off and the attendant shouted and grabbed her arm.

“Get some more security here, on the double. We’ve got a problem,” he ordered.

Debbie gaped. Two uniformed officers appeared and grabbed her, one on either side. With her bags in tow, the trio began a quick walk toward an area designated as off limits to ordinary travelers. People pointed and stared.

“What?” she gasped. “I don’t understand. You’ve made a—”

“Just save it, miss,” one of the officers ordered. “You can explain it to the chief.”

Debbie rolled her eyes, caught a glimpse of a clock on the wall as she was all but dragged through the hallway, and knew without a doubt that she would not make her plane. She didn’t know about high water, but hell had come calling.

*  *  *

Cole made the entire run to the airport with lights flashing, moving unsuspecting citizens out of the way in a desperate attempt to save Debbie the embarrassment of being arrested. The traffic on the freeways was, as usual, a tow-trucker’s delight.

The exit leading to the airport finally came into view. He glanced down at his watch and knew that whatever was going to happen already had. Either Buddy’s sabotage had failed and Debbie was gone, or she was under arrest. Neither was an option he wanted to consider.