Las Vegas was actually the largest city in the Greater Mojave Desert, but most of the action happened outside the official city limits along The Strip. Maya watched as they drove down the Las Vegas Strip and eventually turned off toward the direction of the airport. From memory, there was nothing in this direction except for the airport. Where were they going? She glanced at Noah curiously through the rearview mirror and he furrowed his brows at her. Was something wrong?
"Where are we headed today?" she asked casually as she turned her head to look at Lucas.
Lucas raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Didn't I already tell you in my message yesterday? We're going to see the Grand Canyon..."
Maya cleared her throat and tried to hide her awkward cluelessness. Delilah must have wanted her to go on this second date so desperately that she deliberately kept information from her in case she refused. "Of course, I remember that," she laughed, "But...I thought we'd be staying on the main road..."
Fortunately, Maya was quick on her feet.
Lucas' lips curved upwards into a mysterious grin, "If we were driving there, we'd stay on the main road...but we're not..."
"We're not?!" Maya exclaimed. If they weren't taking the car then how were they getting there?
At that moment, the car drove in through a set of gates and Maya saw a huge aircraft landing area with a runway. In the distance, she spotted three helicopters. Immediately, her eyes opened wide in surprise and she pointed to one of them. "Are we riding that?" she guessed.
Although Delilah lived a relatively rich lifestyle and had been on helicopters multiple times, Maya was brought up in an average family, so this was a first-time experience for her. As she looked at the helicopters, she couldn't hide her excitement. She had always wanted to go on one but she never had the opportunity.
Lucas saw the woman's excitement. She was cute like a child that had been brought to an amusement park for the first time and this pure innocence surprised him. The previous day, she had been brave enough to climb a building and trespass with him, today, she was pumped and ready to ride a helicopter. She was definitely not a precious princess that only cared about shopping and facials. She was even understanding enough to forget that he had caused her to be arrested and taken to prison on new year's day.
"Think of this as an apology for yesterday," Lucas said. "Do you like it?"
Without hesitation, Maya quickly nodded her head.
Lucas smiled. After the car stopped, he turned to Maya and said gently, "Wait here, I'll go find our pilots."
Maya stepped out of the car to get some fresh air and nodded her head obediently as she watched the man walk away. She then looked at the helicopters again and smiled. [So, this is the kind of life that Delilah's been living. I don't think I ever needed to worry about her.]
While she was staring at the helicopter, Noah appeared by her side and whispered, "What have you gotten yourself into? Didn't I warn you enough yesterday? You saw the footage."
Maya snapped out of her daze and looked at the young blond-haired man. "You're here. I didn't think I'd be in danger. Besides, we don't have solid proof; it's all just speculation for now. I need confirmation first. Trust me, if we find evidence against him, I will definitely help you get him arrested."
Noah shook his head with disapproval. "Have you thought this through? I'm here now, but I won't be going on the helicopter with you!" he pointed out.
Maya's eyes opened wide and she looked at the man in surprise. He was right. There was no reason why Lucas would bring Noah along.
Noah grabbed her shoulders and tried to shake some sense into her. "You can pretend that something suddenly came up and I'll drive you away right now. This is not worth the risk."
Maya stared at the man. She had always lived a boring, mundane life; never had she experienced a situation like this. What was she to do? Should she really turn back now and run away. What if the man came after her sister again?
At that moment, Lucas returned and saw the two staring at each other. He also saw Noah holding onto Maya's shoulders. He furrowed his brows and cleared his throat, "Maya, this is Tom and Robert, they will be our pilots for today."
Maya quickly turned her head when she heard the man's voice and saw two pilots next to him. They were dressed in uniform from a particular tour company and they had big friendly smiles on their faces. She immediately felt a sense of relief as she walked away from Noah and went to greet the two pilots. That was right, even though Noah wasn't going with them, there were two pilots. There was nothing to be afraid of.
However, as Maya was speaking to the two pilots, Lucas narrowed his eyes and glared at Noah. What was he doing with Maya while he was gone? They seemed particularly close and it annoyed him a little.
That was when he suddenly remembered what Ryan had said about Delilah. He said she was flirting with two blond men at the pool party and she had a thing for blonds...
Lucas looked at Noah's blond hair and frowned. Was Ryan right? Was she flirting with Noah while he was gone? Furrowing his brows, he stormed over to Maya, grabbed her hand possessively, and said, "Let's go!"