Chapter Thirteen
It was strange how the jet noise suddenly seemed louder. It filled my ears. I felt the blast from the overhead vent, icing my skin. I was too shocked to try to adjust it.
“What are they saying in the marketplace?” AJ gripped my shoulders. “What details do you have about the crew?”
We were locked in a sphere of panic. I didn’t want him to let go, even though his fingers were digging into my arm. Sure to leave a bruise.
“The sale includes the flight. Jelly Bean Jack will give over contact for Beechum,” I whispered. “They can control where we land. And they will collect…” I swallowed hard. “Me.”
“Fuck.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. “Why? Why do they want me?”
“It has to be because of Project Compass. If they have you, the FBI can’t.”
“But like this? Why?” I couldn’t fathom why someone would go to the lengths of involving an entire plane full of people. The risks were monumental.
“It’s a power play. A show of strength. A fuck you to the FBI. Grabbing you on the street is too amateurish for this group. Imagine the notoriety and the respect the underground will hold for them. This is an incredible coup. One none of us saw coming.”
His words made me want me to vomit. I could have been kidnapped in Dallas? Or at home? At any point I was living my life, I could have been shoved into the back of a van and traded on the marketplace?
“The man you said has been following me. Is he the one behind this?” I asked.
“He could be. Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t been able to identify him yet. I wish I had more to tell you about him.”
“If we don’t know who it is, what do we do?”
AJ didn’t answer right away. I saw the way his eyes bounced around the cabin, assessing everything in sight. Cindy was headed toward us.
She smiled, tucking a strand of purple hair back in her clip. “Do you two need anything? An extra blanket, perhaps?” she asked.
“Are there any updates from the captain?” AJ looked at her.
She shook her head. “No. But I’m sure he’ll make an announcement soon.” She flicked the watch on her wrist. We all knew how long it had been. We should be on the ground by now.
There was no way they were going to be able to keep up this ruse without a mutiny from the passengers. Not to mention, the control tower and the FAA would become involved. There was no reason for this flight to continue to circle. They would be ordered to land. Unless, they lied.
I waited for Cindy to duck into coach before I posed the question to AJ.
“How could Beechum keep the plane circling?” I asked.
He huddled close to me. “What do you mean?”
“We were supposed to land, so authorities on the ground are going to get involved if the plane doesn’t land soon. They have to check in with the control tower. How does he hold them off to buy time?”
AJ inhaled. “Well, he could tell air traffic control there’s a maintenance issue.”
“But wouldn’t that mean we would have to land immediately?”
He cocked his head to the side. The light from the window in front of us caught the midnight streaks in his eye. For a second he looked a little less intense. A little more like the guy I knew in college, not the hardened FBI agent he had become.
“Not if the maintenance problem is the one thing that could keep us from landing—the landing gear.”
“Oh shit. You’re right.”
“I know it’s a long shot, but you have to try to get a message to the Bureau through any channel you have.”
“They won’t believe me.”