don’t care if
a family member walks by, do you understand that?”
“No, I don’t!
Somebody has to know we’re out here. And you let our ride out of here get away!”
“Who? Who knows
we’re out here?”
“I don’t know
about you, but millions of people know I’m missing by now!”
Jay opened his
mouth to speak but instead just frowned. “No.” He spoke in a soft tone. “No,
that’s not true, Elly. The rest of the world thinks you’re dead.”
The anger in
Elly’s face disappeared as she hung on his last sentence.
Jay set down his
rifle. “I figured it out last night. Think about what happened at the airport
when they came to take you. What were they doing to your plane? And why? The
first thing they did was fuel it. Why do that if they were going to kidnap you
and take you away in a van? The fuel man was involved, so there was no reason
to fool him by fueling the plane. I watched when the van pulled up to the
plane. It was a well-coordinated operation. Every man coming out of the van had
a specific job. One of them started cutting away the plane’s door. Again, ask
yourself, why?”
Elly’s contorted
face showed her confusion.
Jay continued,
“Everything happened so fast you probably didn’t even notice the man cutting on
the door. Did you see the sparks as you walked down the steps?”
“I remember
hearing something loud, but—”
Jay cut her off.
“The plane followed us. That tells me regardless of what they did to the door,
they wanted the plane capable of flying. They planned it that way. You were to
be taken by the van somewhere, and the plane would take off without you.”
Elly stared back
at Jay. “They were going to crash the plane … to make it look like I died.”
“You said you
were flying to Seattle. They were grinding off the door hinges to make it look
like an accident. They probably let the plane run out of fuel or flew it into a
mountain. The pilot probably bailed out once it was airborne. All I know is
these guys are committed, and that tells me they’ll come after us.” Jay pointed
in the direction the helicopter was headed. “What more proof do you need?”
Elly thought for
a moment and then said, “But why go to the trouble?”
“How many people
would search for you if you were kidnapped? As you said, if millions of people
know you’re missing, it’d be huge. They made it look like you died, so no one
will be looking for you.”
Elly sat down,
pulled her legs up to her chest, and put her head down on her knees. “What
about Kevin? If they took him to a hospital, he’d tell everyone.”
Jay took a deep
breath. “I’ve been thinking about that, too. I’m sorry, Elly. I don’t think
they’d have brought him anywhere. I think Kevin was on the plane when it
crashed.”
Elly’s mouth
opened in horror.
“I’m sorry.”
Tears formed in
her eyes. “What about you?” she finally asked. “Won’t someone be looking for
you?”
Jay crouched
next to her. “Only one person knew where I was going, but it’ll be almost a
week before he’ll suspect I’m missing. And we’re miles from where I’m supposed
to be.”
Elly put her
forehead on her knees again. She fought her handcuffs as she reached into her
pocket and pulled out her bottle of pills.
“I’m sorry, Elly,”
Jay said softly. “The only people looking for us are the enemy. We’re alone.”
Chapter 7
Beckholm had
just enough time to review the type of aircraft that had carried Elly Wittenbel
before his meeting started. He held the phone to his ear and listened to
everyone gathered in the Big Sky Aircraft conference room introduce themselves.
There were engineers representing each of the design groups: flight controls
and navigation, aerodynamics, fuselage and structure, hydraulics, interior,
engines, and manufacturing. There was also a pack of company lawyers in the
room.
The lead aerodynamics
engineer introduced himself and said, “We’ve rerun all of our computational
fluid
a family member walks by, do you understand that?”
“No, I don’t!
Somebody has to know we’re out here. And you let our ride out of here get away!”
“Who? Who knows
we’re out here?”
“I don’t know
about you, but millions of people know I’m missing by now!”
Jay opened his
mouth to speak but instead just frowned. “No.” He spoke in a soft tone. “No,
that’s not true, Elly. The rest of the world thinks you’re dead.”
The anger in
Elly’s face disappeared as she hung on his last sentence.
Jay set down his
rifle. “I figured it out last night. Think about what happened at the airport
when they came to take you. What were they doing to your plane? And why? The
first thing they did was fuel it. Why do that if they were going to kidnap you
and take you away in a van? The fuel man was involved, so there was no reason
to fool him by fueling the plane. I watched when the van pulled up to the
plane. It was a well-coordinated operation. Every man coming out of the van had
a specific job. One of them started cutting away the plane’s door. Again, ask
yourself, why?”
Elly’s contorted
face showed her confusion.
Jay continued,
“Everything happened so fast you probably didn’t even notice the man cutting on
the door. Did you see the sparks as you walked down the steps?”
“I remember
hearing something loud, but—”
Jay cut her off.
“The plane followed us. That tells me regardless of what they did to the door,
they wanted the plane capable of flying. They planned it that way. You were to
be taken by the van somewhere, and the plane would take off without you.”
Elly stared back
at Jay. “They were going to crash the plane … to make it look like I died.”
“You said you
were flying to Seattle. They were grinding off the door hinges to make it look
like an accident. They probably let the plane run out of fuel or flew it into a
mountain. The pilot probably bailed out once it was airborne. All I know is
these guys are committed, and that tells me they’ll come after us.” Jay pointed
in the direction the helicopter was headed. “What more proof do you need?”
Elly thought for
a moment and then said, “But why go to the trouble?”
“How many people
would search for you if you were kidnapped? As you said, if millions of people
know you’re missing, it’d be huge. They made it look like you died, so no one
will be looking for you.”
Elly sat down,
pulled her legs up to her chest, and put her head down on her knees. “What
about Kevin? If they took him to a hospital, he’d tell everyone.”
Jay took a deep
breath. “I’ve been thinking about that, too. I’m sorry, Elly. I don’t think
they’d have brought him anywhere. I think Kevin was on the plane when it
crashed.”
Elly’s mouth
opened in horror.
“I’m sorry.”
Tears formed in
her eyes. “What about you?” she finally asked. “Won’t someone be looking for
you?”
Jay crouched
next to her. “Only one person knew where I was going, but it’ll be almost a
week before he’ll suspect I’m missing. And we’re miles from where I’m supposed
to be.”
Elly put her
forehead on her knees again. She fought her handcuffs as she reached into her
pocket and pulled out her bottle of pills.
“I’m sorry, Elly,”
Jay said softly. “The only people looking for us are the enemy. We’re alone.”
Chapter 7
Beckholm had
just enough time to review the type of aircraft that had carried Elly Wittenbel
before his meeting started. He held the phone to his ear and listened to
everyone gathered in the Big Sky Aircraft conference room introduce themselves.
There were engineers representing each of the design groups: flight controls
and navigation, aerodynamics, fuselage and structure, hydraulics, interior,
engines, and manufacturing. There was also a pack of company lawyers in the
room.
The lead aerodynamics
engineer introduced himself and said, “We’ve rerun all of our computational
fluid
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