Lara settled back in the large plane seat with a newspaper. In the seat
next to her Alex was enjoying his complimentary champagne in an obvious way
that Lara guessed was supposed to rub her nose in the fact that she wasn't
supposed to be drinking 'in her condition' as he took pleasure in calling
it to her utmost annoyance. They weren't speaking. The previous afternoon
they had argued about whether Lara should go alone on this trip and she had
lost, then they'd argued about whether to travel first class, and Lara had
won as it meant they could get on a much earlier flight. Alex didn't seem
too put out by being forced to travel first class, especially seeing as
Lara had ended up agreeing to pay the difference between the ticket and a
standard class one.
Lara stared at the newspaper without taking any of the words in. Something was bothering her - there was some niggling feeling at the back of her mind that something wasn't quite right but she couldn't pin it down. She put the paper down on the small table that protruded from the side of the seat and concentrated on retrieving the thought by breathing slowly and clearing her mind.
"Lara?" her concentration was broken. She raised a finger to her lips to silence Alex and went back into her trance. She had it. When she had been in Charles King's house, listening in on his conversation with Genevieve St Clair he had told her that he would easily find out who had bought the medallion and 'remove it from their possession' as he had put it. So why hadn't he? Nobody had even attempted to break into the manor and she didn't doubt it would only take a few phone calls and bribes to discover who had purchased an item from an auction. Now Lara was concerned, but there was little she could do about it now so she picked the newspaper back up.
"Lara?" she turned to Alex now with slanted eyes. "You have your paper upside down again," he commented dryly, then turned back to the in-flight movie.
*
After a tense hour in customs, during which Lara became almost convinced that one of the officials would discover the false bottom in the specially lined suitcase he was searching through, the pair stepped out of the airport's automatic glass doors into a wall of suffocating heat.
"Ah, summer in Tel Aviv," Lara said with a smile as she hailed a taxi. The large number of dents and scratches on the vehicle didn't inspire her with great confidence in the grinning driver.
"Where you wanna go lady?" he asked in a thick accent, recognising her as English.
Lara replied in Hebrew, asking to be taken to somewhere she could rent an off-road vehicle while Alex threw their cases in the boot.
The place he took them to had a large selection of Land Rovers and it didn't take long for Lara to secure the use of the best one they had. Soon they were driving up a busy coastal road with amazing views of the Mediterranean, Lara at the wheel of course.
"Do you think we could pretend to get on, just for the duration of this trip?" Alex asked, breaking the silence at last, knowing that they were not in a situation where Lara could walk off. She didn't reply. "I'm not going to ask what it is that made you suddenly start hating me again the other day, because quite frankly I don't care anymore, but I think it might be a good idea if we try not to argue when we're supposed to be working together."
"I am trying not to argue with you. By not talking to you." Lara thought for a second. "But what do you mean about me suddenly starting hating you again?"
Alex turned from the view to look at her steadily. "On Friday, after we went to the hospital. I take it you remember wanting to fight with me? And hitting me? Again?"
Lara drew a slightly laboured breath. "Yes. But I don't hate you Alex."
He snorted and turned back to look out of the window. "You could've fooled me," he muttered.
While this was a conversation Lara desperately wanted to have she really couldn't think of a reply to that so they drove on in silence.
*
It took them about an hour to reach Afula, the nearest city to their destination in the Jezreel valley. It was early evening by now and they had trouble finding a hotel that wasn't fully booked, but one was eventually located and Alex sat down on a plush leather sofa in the large lobby while Lara went up to the reception desk.
A neatly dressed woman greeted her in perfect English. "I need two rooms, probably for a few days," Lara stated.
The woman looked through a large volume while Lara tapped her nails on the shiny wooden surface of the desk. "Why do I get a funny feeling that you're about to tell me you only have one room free?" she asked.
The receptionist looked up with a blank smile. "No, we have two rooms available, they're next to each other is that ok?"
Lara sighed with relief and nodded. They were shown up to the rooms on the third floor and after unpacking Alex knocked on Lara's door to suggest going out for dinner. When there was no reply he pressed his ear against the door and heard a shower running inside. "Hmm, time for a revenge attack," he said to himself with a smirk.
The door was locked, so Alex went back into his own room and out onto the balcony. The next balcony along was Lara's, and luckily there was only about six feet between them. He climbed up onto the railings and steadied himself against the wall, avoiding looking down at the three storey drop to the street below. He then leapt easily across the gap, landing in a crouch on the concrete floor of the other balcony. He immediately got up and pressed himself against the wall, looking carefully into the room through the french windows. Alex noticed with satisfaction that Lara must still be in the bathroom, but when he tried the doors he found them to be locked. A bit further along the wall a window was partially open so Alex crept over to that. A safety device prevented it from opening fully, but that was quickly removed using the screwdriver attachment on penknife he always carried, and within a minute he had climbed through and closed the window behind him.
The shower shut off, leaving Alex no time to implement his plan fully. Never mind, he thought, and stepped quickly over to the double bed, hopping on to lie on top of the covers. A travel guide to the holy land lay on the bedside table and Alex smiled at the idea that Lara thought she would get some sightseeing in. He picked it up and began to read a page entitled 'what to see in Jerusalem'. At the sound of the bathroom door opening he lowered the book and looked over it at Lara, drying her hair with a towel and naked as the day she was born. A grin spread across his face as she stopped in her tracks.
Alex dropped the book onto his lap to cover the effect the sight was having on him and continued looking at her unashamedly. "This time I believe the pleasure is all mine," he said, still smiling broadly.
Lara looked around the room as she wrapped the towel around her body, but she couldn't for the life of her see how he'd got in. She quickly checked that the door was indeed locked, the walked over to the bed, picked up the book and replaced it on the table. "So I can see," she said mildly, fixing her eyes on his crotch.
Alex laughed. "Why don't you get dressed? I'm taking you out to dinner and we're going to have a civil conversation without fighting."
"We are?" Lara sighed and turned to the wardrobe, dropping the towel to the floor. She removed a red dress and pulled it on over her head, then turned back to Alex, who was still lying on her bed looking pleased with himself.
"Ok, I'm dressed," she said breezily as he sat up and took notice of what she was wearing. His mouth dropped open. The dress rested just above the knee and was tight in all the right places.
"Are you, uh, not wearing any, uh, underwear with that?" Alex stuttered.
"Nope, let's go," Lara smiled as she stepped into some shoes and grabbed her keys.
Lara stared at the newspaper without taking any of the words in. Something was bothering her - there was some niggling feeling at the back of her mind that something wasn't quite right but she couldn't pin it down. She put the paper down on the small table that protruded from the side of the seat and concentrated on retrieving the thought by breathing slowly and clearing her mind.
"Lara?" her concentration was broken. She raised a finger to her lips to silence Alex and went back into her trance. She had it. When she had been in Charles King's house, listening in on his conversation with Genevieve St Clair he had told her that he would easily find out who had bought the medallion and 'remove it from their possession' as he had put it. So why hadn't he? Nobody had even attempted to break into the manor and she didn't doubt it would only take a few phone calls and bribes to discover who had purchased an item from an auction. Now Lara was concerned, but there was little she could do about it now so she picked the newspaper back up.
"Lara?" she turned to Alex now with slanted eyes. "You have your paper upside down again," he commented dryly, then turned back to the in-flight movie.
*
After a tense hour in customs, during which Lara became almost convinced that one of the officials would discover the false bottom in the specially lined suitcase he was searching through, the pair stepped out of the airport's automatic glass doors into a wall of suffocating heat.
"Ah, summer in Tel Aviv," Lara said with a smile as she hailed a taxi. The large number of dents and scratches on the vehicle didn't inspire her with great confidence in the grinning driver.
"Where you wanna go lady?" he asked in a thick accent, recognising her as English.
Lara replied in Hebrew, asking to be taken to somewhere she could rent an off-road vehicle while Alex threw their cases in the boot.
The place he took them to had a large selection of Land Rovers and it didn't take long for Lara to secure the use of the best one they had. Soon they were driving up a busy coastal road with amazing views of the Mediterranean, Lara at the wheel of course.
"Do you think we could pretend to get on, just for the duration of this trip?" Alex asked, breaking the silence at last, knowing that they were not in a situation where Lara could walk off. She didn't reply. "I'm not going to ask what it is that made you suddenly start hating me again the other day, because quite frankly I don't care anymore, but I think it might be a good idea if we try not to argue when we're supposed to be working together."
"I am trying not to argue with you. By not talking to you." Lara thought for a second. "But what do you mean about me suddenly starting hating you again?"
Alex turned from the view to look at her steadily. "On Friday, after we went to the hospital. I take it you remember wanting to fight with me? And hitting me? Again?"
Lara drew a slightly laboured breath. "Yes. But I don't hate you Alex."
He snorted and turned back to look out of the window. "You could've fooled me," he muttered.
While this was a conversation Lara desperately wanted to have she really couldn't think of a reply to that so they drove on in silence.
*
It took them about an hour to reach Afula, the nearest city to their destination in the Jezreel valley. It was early evening by now and they had trouble finding a hotel that wasn't fully booked, but one was eventually located and Alex sat down on a plush leather sofa in the large lobby while Lara went up to the reception desk.
A neatly dressed woman greeted her in perfect English. "I need two rooms, probably for a few days," Lara stated.
The woman looked through a large volume while Lara tapped her nails on the shiny wooden surface of the desk. "Why do I get a funny feeling that you're about to tell me you only have one room free?" she asked.
The receptionist looked up with a blank smile. "No, we have two rooms available, they're next to each other is that ok?"
Lara sighed with relief and nodded. They were shown up to the rooms on the third floor and after unpacking Alex knocked on Lara's door to suggest going out for dinner. When there was no reply he pressed his ear against the door and heard a shower running inside. "Hmm, time for a revenge attack," he said to himself with a smirk.
The door was locked, so Alex went back into his own room and out onto the balcony. The next balcony along was Lara's, and luckily there was only about six feet between them. He climbed up onto the railings and steadied himself against the wall, avoiding looking down at the three storey drop to the street below. He then leapt easily across the gap, landing in a crouch on the concrete floor of the other balcony. He immediately got up and pressed himself against the wall, looking carefully into the room through the french windows. Alex noticed with satisfaction that Lara must still be in the bathroom, but when he tried the doors he found them to be locked. A bit further along the wall a window was partially open so Alex crept over to that. A safety device prevented it from opening fully, but that was quickly removed using the screwdriver attachment on penknife he always carried, and within a minute he had climbed through and closed the window behind him.
The shower shut off, leaving Alex no time to implement his plan fully. Never mind, he thought, and stepped quickly over to the double bed, hopping on to lie on top of the covers. A travel guide to the holy land lay on the bedside table and Alex smiled at the idea that Lara thought she would get some sightseeing in. He picked it up and began to read a page entitled 'what to see in Jerusalem'. At the sound of the bathroom door opening he lowered the book and looked over it at Lara, drying her hair with a towel and naked as the day she was born. A grin spread across his face as she stopped in her tracks.
Alex dropped the book onto his lap to cover the effect the sight was having on him and continued looking at her unashamedly. "This time I believe the pleasure is all mine," he said, still smiling broadly.
Lara looked around the room as she wrapped the towel around her body, but she couldn't for the life of her see how he'd got in. She quickly checked that the door was indeed locked, the walked over to the bed, picked up the book and replaced it on the table. "So I can see," she said mildly, fixing her eyes on his crotch.
Alex laughed. "Why don't you get dressed? I'm taking you out to dinner and we're going to have a civil conversation without fighting."
"We are?" Lara sighed and turned to the wardrobe, dropping the towel to the floor. She removed a red dress and pulled it on over her head, then turned back to Alex, who was still lying on her bed looking pleased with himself.
"Ok, I'm dressed," she said breezily as he sat up and took notice of what she was wearing. His mouth dropped open. The dress rested just above the knee and was tight in all the right places.
"Are you, uh, not wearing any, uh, underwear with that?" Alex stuttered.
"Nope, let's go," Lara smiled as she stepped into some shoes and grabbed her keys.