Skid

  “Is autopilot on?”

  James nodded. “How did you get a gun onboard?”

  “Yes, I’m going to sit here and explain everything to you. Listen up, jerk. Nobody is going to get hurt if you do what I say. But as you know, one bullet hole through the plane and the discussion is over, so don’t make me fire this gun. I’m sort of jumpy, so don’t test me.”

  “What do you want?” GiGi cried.

  “Just a man named Jaap Van Der Mark and some very valuable items he is carrying. Now, we are going to walk to the back of the plane very calmly. Don’t say a word. Don’t look distressed.” He turned James toward the door.

  The radio crackled. “This is the captain. Is Mr. Smilt in the cockpit?”

  Perry spoke through clenched teeth. “Say no. Now.”

  The pilot reached for the phone. “Negative.”

  “All right.”

  The pilot hung up the phone. “Look, we can work something out. We can try to.”

  “Shut up. You first. The flight attendant will walk with me. Let’s go.”

  “You’re leaving the cockpit empty,” James said.

  “That’s what autopilot is for.”

  “This doesn’t seem like a good plan.”

  Rage seized Perry. “Don’t ever say that again.”

  For every tear she wiped, another soon replaced it. Lucy slid down in her seat, trying to block out everything around her. It was useless. Neil kept looking at her.

  “Come on,” he finally said. “Give me a break. It’s not like you even have a relationship with this guy.”

  “He was nice.”

  Neil snorted. “Yeah, well, I was nice enough to offer to help too.”

  Lucy turned away. “Just leave me alone.”

  “You owe me dinner.”

  “Shut up.” Lucy closed her eyes, but no matter how much she tried, she could not stop the tears from flowing. She wondered if Hank would stay in the back of the plane for the rest of the flight. She wondered if she would ever be able to forget seeing Jeff and that other woman.

  For about one minute, standing there with Neil nuzzling her neck felt good. But that feeling faded as quickly as it came, and the high she got off of stuffing it in Jeff’s face couldn’t match the low she felt knowing she’d hurt Hank’s feelings.

  She noticed Hank’s notebook sitting in his seat and wondered what he’d been writing all this time. A journal? A diary?

  Don’t you dare. But her hand had a mind of its own. Slowly, she reached out and flipped it over. She leaned forward, trying to read his handwriting. It was a long list of words and phrases:

  nice

  willing

  prompt

  gracious

  looked nice

  very conscious of the temperature

  outfit very appropriate

  very nice, well-kept hair

  makeup well done, some overdone

  priorities in place

  smiling most of the time

  able to handle difficult situations

  Lucy’s hand went over her heart. He was making a list about her? She’d never had anyone say such nice things about her. Even when she dated Jeff, all he could talk about was himself.

  Nice? Gracious? And, well, she had to agree her makeup was probably overdone, but with the airplane lighting, it was sort of a must. Also she did have a vague interest in global warming. It amazed her that he could sense that! Even more meaningful was that he thought she had her priorities in place.

  Nobody had ever told her that before. Her mother kept insisting that no matter how many self-help books she read, she would have to actually help herself before they did any good.

  Lucy’s heart deflated a little at the idea that he thought she handed difficult situations well. That was probably no longer the case. She wiped her nose with a tissue and glanced toward the back of the airplane.

  “I don’t get you,” Neil said. “All you can think about is your stupid ex-boyfriend, and now that you’ve put it to him, you’re worried about what blondie thinks. I mean, which are you? The kind of chick who lies to get back at a boyfriend or someone who cares about a nobody?”

  Lucy yanked off her seat belt.

  “You go flying back there, and your boyfriend’s going to wonder if we had a fight.”

  Lucy ignored him and the Fasten Seat Belt sign. All she cared about at the moment was apologizing to Hank.

  Danny helped Agent Tasler pull Leendert back to his seat, reassuring passengers as he passed them. “It’s fine, no need for alarm. He’s disoriented and a little shaken up. We’re just getting him back to his seat. He’ll be fine. Thank you for understanding.”

  Danny wasn’t sure how much of this was getting through over Leendert’s loud insistence that somebody was going to murder him.

  Finally, they dropped him into the backseat. The agent held her fist against his chest and looked mean. “Leendert, shut up.”

  Danny put a hand on Agent Tasler’s shoulder. “Look, let’s figure out what’s going on. This doesn’t seem like a ploy for attention or to break away. Where’s he going to go?”

  The agent stood, an exhausted look on her face. “Leendert, therapy is now in session.” She gestured for Danny to step up.

  “Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I have been!” Leendert protested.

  “I know, but we’ve been very busy with the pig. Explain to me what you think is going on.”

  “I think not! I know!”

  “Okay.”

  Leendert slowly turned his head and looked at the other side of the airplane. Hank, the mild-mannered passenger, sat with Mrs. Kilpatrick, and the man with the stomach condition watched them. Hetty was the only other passenger back there.

  “That man over there,” he whispered.

  “The blond one?”

  “No. The other.”

  Danny nodded, showing he understood.

  “He is on this airplane to kill me.”

  Danny looked at him. He didn’t look like a ruthless killer, but then, neither did anybody on 48 Hours.

  “How do you know this?”

  “He looks like his grandmother. See the way his chin goes? It points. And the nose. I’ve only seen pictures of him as a boy, but I am certain it is him.”

  “Who is his grandmother?”

  “The woman I stole from.” Leendert’s hand trembled as he grabbed Danny’s shirt. “Why do you think he is back here sitting?”

  “He’s got a stomach condition.”

  “That’s what they all say.”

  Danny stood, peeling Leendert’s hand off his shirt. “Okay, what if…what if we relocate this man? Move him to the front of the plane?”

  Leendert’s eyes darted back and forth. “I don’t know.”

  “That will keep him away from you. When we land, you’ll stay on the plane until the rest of the passengers are deboarded.”

  “Okay.”

  Danny sighed with relief. The agent slid into her seat and eyed Leendert. “Enough out of you. Got it?”

  Danny walked through the rear galley and over to the man giving Leendert fits. He looked perfectly harmless, but Danny still felt a sting of worry. “Sir?”

  “Yes?” The man pulled off his earphones.

  “I need you to come with me.”

  The man sat up. “Why?”

  “We have a distraught passenger back here.”

  The man gestured forward. “She’s just fine. That guy is talking to her.”

  “Not that passenger. Another passenger.”

  “She’s dead.”

  “The one on the other side of the airplane.”

  “Oh.” He looked across the way.

  “Don’t look at him! He’s, um…he’s…”

  “Yes?”

  “Paranoid.”

  “About what?”

  “Look, it’s not important. What is important is that I move you forward. We don’t have much of the flight left. Is your stomach feeling okay?”
br />   The man paused, then nodded.

  “Okay, then let’s go.” Danny led the man up the aisle to an empty seat. “This should be fine.”

  “Oh no.”

  “What?”

  “Hey, old friend!” said a man in the window seat.

  “Great,” Danny said. “You know each other. Have a seat.” Reluctantly, the man sat.

  “Bubba, in the galley, now.”

  Danny turned to find the captain with a strained look on her face. He walked after her. “What’s going on?”

  “I can’t find the ACI.”

  “You can’t find him at all?”

  “No.”

  A woman in polka dots breezed by. “Ma’am. Ma’am, you need to…” But she had already passed. He’d deal with her in a moment.

  “Where’s the pig?” the captain asked.

  “In the bathroom.”

  “It can use a toilet?”

  “That’s yet to be seen. But it’s secure, and Anna Sue seems to be handling all this remarkably well.”

  “Bubba, I have a bad feeling about this guy. How can a person disappear on an airplane?”

  They were nowhere near the Bermuda Triangle. “Have you checked the cockpit?”

  “Yes. I called a few minutes ago, and he wasn’t there.” The captain placed her hands firmly on her hips. “Something is very wrong.”

  Chapter 23

  Lucy, what are you doing back here?”

  Lucy slid into the seat across the aisle from Hank. “I wanted to apologize to you.”

  “For what?”

  “For being a jerk. For putting my needs in front of your feelings. I mean, we had this connection, you know? We were sort of like kindred spirits, and then I go and do something stupid.”

  Hank reached across the aisle and patted her arm. “Lucy, it’s fine. Really.”

  “Look, Hank, this is probably really forward of me, but I wanted to know if you would go out with me.”

  The smile slid off Hanks face. “What?”

  “A date. You know, a date?”

  Hank looked at his knees. “Lucy, this is complicated. I really like you. I feel that connection too. But we’re very different.”

  “I know, and trust me, I don’t normally dress this way.” The old woman one seat ahead of Lucy raised an eyebrow, looking her up and down. “Really. I went overboard for the whole trip thing. And I can go without mascara if you prefer.”

  “Lucy, I’m not talking about your makeup.”

  “But you think it’s overdone. It’s okay, you can say it.”

  “No, I think you look wonderful.”

  Lucy took in a desperate breath. “It’s just that when you see your ex-boyfriend taking a trip with another woman and you have nowhere to go, nowhere to run and hide, it brings out the worst side of you.” Lucy blinked, studying his face. “But that’s not what’s bothering you, is it?”

  “I think about my future wife a lot. I don’t know her. Have no idea what she’ll be like. But I picture us having a lot of children, and I picture us praying and going to church and building our life on the truth of the Bible.”

  Lucy twisted her bracelet around her wrist, trying to understand.

  “The truth of the matter, Lucy, is that I’m not capable of being everything to you. That’s why I have to find a woman who puts all her trust in God. That way I’m a bonus, not a guarantee.”

  Not a guarantee. There’d never been a truer statement about Jeff. He’d promised her everything and delivered nothing. She’d put every hope she had into him, and he ripped it away from her.

  “There are no guarantees, right?” Lucy sniffled.

  “There’s one. You just don’t know Him yet.”

  “Do you want to know why I don’t believe in God?”

  “I’d rather tell you why I do.”

  She looked down at her bracelet. What Would Oprah Do? Probably give away a car or something.

  But right now, Lucy knew what she should do. Listen.

  Perry stood in the middle galley with the flight attendant named GiGi and the pilot named James. He could hear the captain and Danny, the other first officer, talk in lowered voices about his disappearance, and he knew his time was short. He peeked around the corner and saw the captain and first officer move toward the front of the airplane, so Perry ducked out of their line of sight and headed toward the back.

  “Show me where the FBI agent is.” He pushed the muzzle of the gun into GiGi’s side.

  “In the back.”

  “Quietly, both of you. Don’t make any sudden moves. No crying, nothing. Quickly.”

  Passengers noticed them, but nobody looked suspicious.

  He shoved James and GiGi into the rear galley. Three other flight attendants were already there. “Not a sound. I will blow a hole in this airplane so fast you won’t know what happened. I have nothing to lose here. I’d rather die than go to jail. So trust me, if you want out of this alive, you better cooperate.”

  “You have a gun?” a flight attendant whispered.

  “Good for you. Now shut up.” He handed GiGi a zip tie and ordered her to bind herself to what looked like an oven door. Then he ordered the rest of them to tie themselves together by the wrist. “Hurry up!”

  Perry pointed his gun at them as he stepped backward toward the other side of the galley, pulling the pilot with him. He would have to use the element of surprise to knock the agent unconscious from behind. She was the only one he worried about overtaking him. He figured the rest would comply, but there was no way an FBI agent would go down without a fight.

  She sat in the very last aisle seat, so he could easily step forward and knock her on the head. However, he’d never knocked anyone unconscious, so he wasn’t sure how hard to do it. He wasn’t going to err on the side of light.

  He rounded the corner and with one swift hit, she crumpled sideways. The old man next to her let out a frightened yelp. Perry reached for James. “You. Secure her. Tie her to his handcuffs. Hurry up.”

  Perry glanced around. Nobody was looking at them yet. Soon chaos would erupt.

  “Hurry!”

  The pilot threaded a zip tie around one of her wrists, then threaded another through the first one and then through one of the cuffs. Then he tied her other wrist to the first one. That would keep her from doing anything ridiculous, like trying to interfere.

  Perry grabbed her keys, then James. “Flush these down the toilet.” The pilot disappeared into the bathroom. Perry took off the pillow cover and tied it around the agent’s mouth.

  “Don’t say a word, old man. I’m doing you a favor.” He double-knotted it, and the toilet flushed. The pilot reappeared. “Okay, you’re coming with me.”

  He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he’d have to keep threatening to blow a hole in the plane. He wasn’t sure if the other two pilots were even still in the cabin.

  A million thoughts raced through his mind. Would it be better to have them there and not involved? Or use them as ransom one way or another?

  And what, exactly, would he do once they landed?

  Plan C.5 really needed to form. And quickly.

  Perry kept the gun concealed as he followed James forward.

  The pilot spoke. “I’m, um…I need something to eat. I have low blood sugar.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Just some juice. I’m starting to shake.”

  “That’s because I have a gun in your back,” Perry whispered.

  They neared the middle of the plane, where the two other pilots had been talking just moments before. He paused and listened, ignoring the curious faces staring at him and the pilot. Things would have to move very fast.

  Suddenly a loud cry came from the back of the airplane. “Help me! Help me!”

  Perry froze, not sure what to do. He pulled James toward him, then saw the other two pilots race down the opposite aisle toward the commotion. With one deft step, he pulled himself and James into the bathroom area in the middle of the plane.
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  He sensed James about to call out to them, so he jammed the gun into his rib cage. James winced.

  “To the front of the plane. Now.”

  Danny followed the captain down the aisle. Over her shoulder, he could see Leendert flagging them down with urgent gestures. Mrs. Kilpatrick and Hank looked distressed. “What’s going on?” Mrs. Kilpatrick said. They slid through the center row to the other side.

  Then Danny saw Agent Tasler slumped in her seat.

  “What did you do?” the captain said.

  “Nothing! It was not me! Look!” Leendert held up his wrist, which was zip-tied to the agent’s.

  Danny’s attention darted to GiGi, who stood in the galley behind the agent, her hand over her mouth, crying. He could only see half of her.

  She gestured toward the agent and said, “The ACI hit her with a gun!”

  The captain hurried into the rear galley. “They’re all bound together!”

  Danny couldn’t believe it. Four flight attendants were bound at the wrists with plastic zip ties and then tied to the plane.

  “Danny,” the captain said. “Listen to me. You have to get to the cockpit. Now. Be careful. Make sure you can get in without compromising the cockpit. We can’t leave James up there alone.”

  Danny grabbed her arm. “No. Let me stay back here and find Smilt. You need to be up there. You’re the captain. I can handle whatever is back here.”

  “He has James!” GiGi cried.

  “James?” Danny looked at the captain. “There’s nobody in the cockpit?”

  The captain’s flushed cheeks paled. For the first time, she looked unsure.

  “Ma’am, you have to get to the cockpit. Someone has to fly this plane. That’s all that matters right now. Once you’re in, we’ll deal with him.”

  She hesitated, regret flashing over her eyes.

  “It wouldn’t have mattered,” Danny said. “He had full access to the cockpit anyway. You knew something was wrong, and you were right. Now go.”

  “I want you to stay back here until I call you from the cockpit. We don’t know where this guy is, and if I don’t make it into the cockpit, you’ll still have a shot.”

  Danny swallowed as the captain rushed down the aisle.

  “Is he going to kill me?” Leendert whispered.

  As far as Danny knew, Smilt was going to kill them all.