Chapter 5 The Excess Baggage

“There she is! There she is!” one of the guards shouted and pointed at a girl in a sleeveless shirt and shorts.

“Miss Harrington, stop!” another guard shouted.

But Isla was giggling and running away. Just a few more minutes and she will be gone.

“Stop her!” shouted Desmond. Isla had no idea to whom he gave the order; all she could do was just run away. She must not stop. But to her dismay, the airport security was standing in her way. She facepalmed mentally when she realised that it was the airport security that her father had given orders to.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” she cried but kept running. Two guards extended their arms, trying to block Isla’s path. But she was an athlete. She always ran one mile per day along with other exercises. But planks and pull-ups were not going to help her now. She needed to run. She left her suitcase behind. First rule of any game – remove excess baggage. More weight could have pulled her down when she really needed to float.

She dodged one guard, and that was the wrong tactic. While she dodged the airport security guard, her own bodyguard reached near her and lifted her in one arm smoothly. She started flailing her arms and legs, crying out loudly, “Help! Help! They are kidnapping me!”

“What?” shouted Desmond and rolled his eyes.

“Stop! Is this true?” asked one of the airport security guards.

“Please!” scoffed Desmond and looked at Isla in anger. “Tell them the truth.”

Isla smirked devilishly at her father and contorted her face. Somehow, she even dropped a tear from her eyes. Desmond had his mouth open wide after seeing her superb drama. “No, no, I am telling the truth. They are kidnapping me. I was escaping from them. Please, help me! Please, O’ great officer!”

Desmond sighed with frustration, placed his hand inside the inner pocket of his jacket and brought a few documents. “This is my ID card, and this is hers. See, I am her father. We are just shifting to a new place, and she does not want to leave her friends and her house behind. So, she is just acting and being a pain in my ass.”

The guard grabbed the ID from Desmond’s hands and looked closely. He, too, rolled his eyes at Isla and shook his head in disappointment. “You should not tell lies. You and your father both could have gotten hurt. Do you realise that? We can arrest you for creating trouble in the airport!” warned the guard.

“Really!!” Isla’s tears dried, and she smiled like a bright sunflower. “It would mean I would have to stay here and not go. Yay!!”

“No, it would mean that we would arrest your ass, tie you up, dump your ass in the plane and then release you when your flight reaches its destination,” the guard mocked back.

“What? Ugh!!” groaned Isla, making her father and her bodyguards laugh out loud.

“Now will you go with your father, or do we have to arrest you?” asked the airport security guard.

“Whatever!” she snapped and folded her arms over her chest in anger.

“Child! You should listen to your parents. They are always thinking about you. They always keep your benefit in mind. Listen to them,” said one of the guards, smiling, trying to make her understand.

“Ugh!” Isla rolled her eyes as hard as she could.

“Thank you, officers! Thank you so much!” said Desmond and shook hands with both of them. The guards picked up Isla’s suitcase, and Desmond grabbed his daughter’s arm and started dragging her with him.

“I hate you!” she gritted her teeth.

“Yes, I know. Tell me something new!” Desmond smiled at her politely, but she knew that he was mocking her. She returned the same mocking smile back.

After that, Isla didn’t try to run away as she knew her father would catch her every time. He was never going to let her go alone. She hated that he had appointed guards even though they were not that rich or royalty. She knew why she was surrounded by the guards; Desmond wanted to keep her away from her mother. And that made Isla hate Desmond even more. And now he was taking her far away from Claire.

After completing all the boarding process, Isla walked inside the plane. But to her shock, all the guards remained behind. No one came inside the plane with her. She looked at her father in shock. “What? Why are they not coming?” asked Isla.

“Oh! Now you want them with you?” taunted Desmond. He looked at his daughter, worried and confused. He sighed and then replied, “Where we are going, no one knows you. No one will try to harm you. And if we need bodyguards, Charlotte has a lot of them.”

“Harm me?” Isla only registered two words that came out of Desmond’s mouth.

For a second, Desmond’s mocking and sarcastic persona cracked, and he looked at Isla with fear in his eyes. He immediately composed himself and replied, “You know all our hotels, our bed and breakfast business, our restaurants, were making us so much money. And that was attracting attention. I just wanted you to be safe. Now we are going away where everyone is richer than us. So, you will be safe. We won’t need bodyguards.”

“Really! Now people try to harm those who make pennies,” mocked Isla.

“Yeah, yeah, I was making pennies! Happy now?” taunted Desmond back.

“Huh!” Isla made a face at her father, looked away from him and kept her gaze on the window. She took out her earphones, placed them inside her ears, tilted her head against the window and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to talk to her father anymore.

The flight took off, and soon the cabin started getting colder. Isla curled herself into a ball and started snoring softly. Desmond smiled at Isla, softly touched her head and said, “I will always keep you safe, sweetie!” He took off his jacket and covered Isla. But that was not enough. So, he requested a blanket from the cabin crew and finally, Isla was covered from head to toe and slept all the way to Amberwood Shores. She really had no idea what was waiting for her there.