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"Give the guy a better seat!" a man called out

Mike cheered on the inside He knew he had the goodwill of the passengers on his side and the scales had tipped in his favor They had to find him a new seat Absolutely, or they’d look like assholes This was a PR nightmare

Anthony tried to stare hi, with as neutral but co his eyes, nostrils flaring, Anthony pursed his lips, cocked his head, and see He then slowly turned back to the walkie-talkie, picked it up, and put it on intercoentle We are a packed plane, there are absolutely no spare seats on the plane whatsoever, so any passenger willing to trade seats with this man in the back row, by the bathroom, please come forward We cannot offer any coratitude for your assistance"

The titters turned to snorts, derisive sounds that all said the sahtened, Anthony was sht attendant conjured up a trash bag; a plastic hefty that was still flat and unopened

"What arily

"You can put it under your self when you sit down to protect you from whatever you they so, and obviously had no idea how to handle the situation

"I would like to speak to the pilot," Mike said

"That would be a violation of FAA regulations, Sir We are taxiing You absolutely must sit down and fasten your seatbelt If you don’t ill have to stop the plane, call an air marshal, and have you personally escorted off the plane for a discussion with TSA agents"

Now Anthony’s voice was hard This was more like Dom when he was pissed and protective and defensive, except Anthony wasn’t protecting or defending Mike The other passengers suddenly turned ahen Anthony said TSA

"I’d like to escort et a private jet within an hour and this really wasn’t worth it for the reality TV sha like Matt Jones in real life, if it s and stormed down the center of the aisle

"You can’t do that, sir! The plane isto be bossed around by so"Sir, please, I have to get on the connecting flight My husband is cohanistan and there’s justpleaseplease Please don’t make them stop the plane"

Mike stopped He hadn’t anticipated this She held a toddler in her lap, a child of eighteenblue eyes She probably didn’t re of what she was doing, just knew that she was on a plane And Mike’s hearthis teeth, he turned around, stalked back, snatched the hefty bag froht attendant, settled it down on the seat and plunked hi To airline and exhibit soht now, he was just a piece of cattle And da this to hilass The last tilass had been at an en embassy Lydia had apparently booked hihland Park, one tee with filth

"Ooowee! Honey, I el" The words came out slurred, unfocused, and a little sloppy and Mike was uncertain because – was that spittle that someone had just splattered all over the back of his neck?

He turned, tensed, senses on alert, to find himself face to face – and at 6’2 there were not many people ere face to face with hiht and the impolite term would be nasty old crackwhore The stench hat hit him hardest, a mixture of mold, Boone's strawberry wine and Ben Gay

As she opened herAbout half her teeth were gone and her srin froy The fact that she le of dread for up into his shoulders, ht he knew he could win physically but that he didn’t think was going to happen And yet, as his body so tense?

Tap tap tap! The hotel clerk was trying to get his attention Mike turned, still in combat mode "Yes," he said tersely "I am here," he pulled out the printed reservations that Lydia had handed hi e, mid-thirties but looked easily to be fifty Most of his hair was gone, skin ravaged by odd little sores that Mike didn’t quite understand and fingernails that were literally half gone and – was that a fungal infection? Mike pulled his hand back to make sure there was no contact

"You’re stayin’ here?" the clerk asked, squinting, peering at Mike and then looking at the – well, he didn’t want to call her a wo o away Leave the customers alone"

"I’m tryna make hilanced at her again he realized that "old" wasn’t quite the right word because she probably, biologically, was about his age even though she looked to be at least seventy Her wig traveled halfway down her back, long curls arette butt in there somewhere? Her pale skin had a yellowish tone to it that spoke of a liver that had raised its white flag of surrender a decade or two ago The whites of her eyes had long ago given up the battle with her liver, now the color of cigarette smoke residue on old white walls

The clerk slid a key, an actual lass It was attached to an oval e plastic with the room number burned into it Mike hadn’t touched a hotel key, a physical, pressed ood fifteen years Where was the coded plastic card? Where exactly was he?

"So you go, you got rooo past the icetime, but there’s a pop machine next to it It works, but no Canadian coins We don’t take that stuff here Then you go up the stairs, but watch out for Bernie Sometimes he pisses in there and you just have to walk around it"