Jess heard herself scream this time.
The mangled door of the SUV was torn from its hinges. A man’s hand reached inside and grabbed Jess’s seatbelt, ripping the buckle from its latch. Jess fell to the roof of the SUV, and her world faded to black as she passed out.
It took every ounce of self-control Jake had to overcome his thirst for Jess’s blood. He was about to go mad as he yanked her out of the overturned SUV.
TWENTY-FIVE
When Ember suggested she knew someone who could help us, I did not recall her mentioning Whisper was a teenager enjoying a relaxing summer beach vacation. His messy brown hair gave the impression that he had just rolled out of bed to catch the next big Pacific wave. A brown leather satchel was looped over his shoulder across a white t-shirt with an old-school, faded Batman symbol. The satchel’s leather looked aged and appeared much older than Whisper. It was something Indiana Jones would have carried.
Rain noticed my confused expression. “Not what you were expecting, Aeron?” he asked.
Whisper didn’t miss a beat. “Ignore Rain,” he said. “He’s just jealous of my boyish good looks.”
“Don’t let Whisper’s size fool you,” Ember cut in. “He’s been on this planet for well over three hundred years, and as you know, Aeron, physical strength is not the only way to defend yourself.”
Whisper laughed. “Now, Ember, that’s not fair. You can’t give away all my secrets in the first five minutes.”
“There’s plenty more from where that came,” she smiled.
By the time my eyes shifted from Whisper to Ember and back to Whisper, he had vanished. His voice now came from behind me at the bar.
“When does this bird fly?” Whisper asked as he watched Andrea make him a Bloody Mary.
“Teleportation,” Aerona remarked. “Now that’s a useful trick.”
Teleportation was one of many spells I wish my parents had allowed me to master before their untimely death. I was sure this skill had kept Whisper out of harm’s way over the past few centuries.
“How far can you travel?” Aerona asked.
“My exact distance is a closely guarded secret,” Whisper answered. “Though, for the purpose of this flight, from there to here is my limit.”
Rain answered before anyone could actually ask a question. “Yes,” he said, “he’s like this all the time.”
Andrea arranged two green olives on a plastic novelty toothpick, dropped it in the drink, and handed it to Whisper. He took a long drink from the glass.
“Thank you, Andrea,” Whisper smiled. “It’s perfect.”
Andrea picked up a tray of drinks and replied, “You’re very welcome, Whisper.”
Whisper sat on the sofa seat next to Rain, which I found was an awfully brave move. He handed Rain what seemed to be a small wooden box with intricate carvings on every surface. Rain looked it over curiously but didn’t open the tiny box.
“Thanks, Whisper,” said Rain. “Where did you find it?”
“I’ll tell you later,” he replied as he stood up. “It’s somewhat of an adventure story. It’s good to see you again, Rain.”
Rain stuffed the tiny box into the pocket of his hoodie. I was puzzled.
Whisper paused in the aisle in front of Aerona. “How far?” he asked her.
Aerona gave him a puzzled look. “How far to what?” she asked hesitantly.
“How far did you have to toss the nerd to win that shirt?” he teased Aerona about her t-shirt.
Aerona narrowed her eyes. She didn’t know what to make of Whisper.
“Careful, Whisper,” I warned, attempting to save Whisper’s life. “She bites.”
“The exact distance of my nerd tossing ability,” Aerona answered, mocking Whisper’s response to her teleportation question, “is a carefully guarded secret. Although, for the purpose of this flight, from here to there is my limit,” she said, pointing outside the plane’s window.
“Hah! I like you,” Whisper grinned. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Sarah,” Aerona said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
None of us corrected Aerona on her name joke.
Whisper flashed Aerona a curious smile. “Nice to meet you too, Sarah. What’s your favorite flower?” he asked.
“Well, on a day like today,” she replied, hoping to fool Whisper, “a girl can’t go wrong with a few lavender lisianthus.”
Whisper opened the flap of his leather satchel. “You have unique taste in flowers, Sarah.”
For the second time in less than five minutes, I was completely amazed. Whisper pulled out a bouquet of purple flowers, complete with several lavender lisianthus, a pair of white lilies, and a few other lavender colored flowers accented by tiny baby’s breath.
Whisper handed the bouquet to Aerona. “It’s all I could do with such short notice.”
Rain shook his head. “Show off,” he muttered.
Aerona accepted the bouquet of flowers from Whisper, and as soon as her fingers touched the bouquet, all the purple flowers changed to a deep, burnt orange. Aerona smiled her wicked smile. “You’re not the only one with a few tricks up your sleeve,” she said, sniffing the newly colored orange flowers before changing them from orange to crimson and then back to their original lavender.
A grin stretched across Rain’s face. He clearly enjoyed Aerona’s twist to Whisper’s pull-a-rabbit-out-of-a-hat trick.
“I’ll remember to keep my eye on you, Sarah,” Whisper said, reaching out to shake Morgan’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Whisper. I’m Morgan. No flowers for me please.”
“Nice to meet you too, Morgan,” he said, slipping his hand back into his satchel. He pulled out two beautiful, white roses, handing one to Kasiah and the other to Ember.
“Thank you, Whisper,” Kasiah said. “It’s beautiful. I’m Kasiah.”
“You’re very welcome, Kasiah. Such a beautiful name for a beautiful woman,” Whisper said, stretching his hand out for me.
“Aeron,” I said, shaking his hand. “No flowers for me either.”
Whisper had a firm grip for a tenth grader. “It’s nice to meet you, Aeron.”
“Ember,” Whisper said, kissing the back of her hand, “it’s so nice to see you again. It’s been far too long.”
“Well, aren’t you the charmer this evening,” she responded.
Whisper claimed the empty seat next to me. “I bumped my head a few weeks back,” he said. “I haven’t been right since.”
A woman’s voice came through the cabin’s intercom system. “Welcome aboard Ember’s Star,” she announced in a professional tone. “My name is Candice, and I’ll be your captain this evening. Please be sure to fasten your seatbelts and remain seated until we’re in the air and the seatbelt light located above the main cabin door is turned off. As we taxi to the runway, Andrea will review a few safety procedures with you. Our scheduled flight time to Orlando is just under three hours from wheels up to wheels down. The weather looks clear from here to Orlando, and it should be a smooth flight throughout. Andrea, you may secure the main cabin door at this time. We’ll be taxiing onto the runway momentarily. Enjoy your flight.”
Andrea darted to the front of the cabin to close the main door. The rest of us buckled our seat belts. I could hear the hydraulics shutting the cargo door. The engines roared as Candice performed her throttle test.
“If I could have everyone’s attention,” Andrea began from the front of the cabin. “I’ll review several safety precautions as we taxi to the runway. Please feel free to stop me if you have any questions.”
The engines whined down to a low hum, and the jet began to roll forward. It was surprisingly quiet inside the cabin. The only sound was the slight hum of the engines. Candice navigated the labyrinth of taxiways like a stock car driver. I guessed the plane was traveling at least thirty miles per hour across the airport, which looked a lot faster from inside the jet. I could feel the bump bump bump as we passed over each divide in the concrete.
; Two minutes later, we turned a sharp ninety degrees and came to a sudden stop. Candice’s voice sounded through the intercom again. “We’re currently second in line for takeoff,” she announced. “Andrea, please be seated at this time.”
Andrea sat quickly in the seat next to the kitchen area and buckled her seatbelt.
I looked out the window and saw a large plane move forward onto the runway to our right. Its engines went to full power as the jet launched down the runway.
We were next.
The engine RPM wound up again, inching the jet forward. Typically, this was when the pilot would stop the aircraft and perform a triple check of all instruments before actually taking to the sky. Candice, though, never even slowed down. She turned the jet sharply to the right and lined us up with the runway perfectly; the engines roared to life as we rushed down the runway like a bullet, which thrust me back against my seat. The jet’s nose lifted from the runway, and a few seconds later, the rear wheels were off the ground—we were flying.
The jet climbed rapidly, making a sharp left turn from the airport. For the next several minutes, we continued to climb until finally leveling off after two more turns. In one of the turns, my window pointed straight down toward the ground, and another pointed it straight up at the sky. The sun crept lower into the horizon, lighting the sky with dark reds and oranges as though it were on fire.
“We have reached our cruising altitude,” came Candice’s announcement. “Twenty-seven thousand feet. I’ve turned off the seatbelt sign. Feel free to move about the cabin.”
Everyone unbuckled their seatbelts.
“She’s a good pilot,” I remarked to Ember.
“Candice is the best,” she replied. “She was the pilot the manufacturer used for the initial test flight of this model, and only a few minutes after signing the purchase agreement, I made a generous offer she couldn’t refuse. She’s been my pilot ever since.”
“I bet the manufacturer loved that.”
The corner of Ember’s mouth curled into a smile. “They were less than excited that I snatched their best pilot,” she admitted.
“What kind of range does this amazing machine have?”
“The maximum range is around 7,100 miles at a cruising speed of 500 miles per hour.”
“Impressive,” said Morgan. “That beats rush hour traffic any day.
Andrea approached Ember and whispered in her ear. My heart skipped a beat when Ember asked me to accompany her to the cockpit.
“Is there a problem?” I asked, not wanting to know the answer.
Ember started toward the cockpit. “I have to go inform Candice of our change in flight plans,” she said, “and I thought you may want to see the cockpit. You seemed interested in the aircraft.”
“Absolutely,” I said excitedly. “Let’s go.”
Ember shut the door behind us as we entered the cockpit. I had never been in the cockpit of an airplane. Several LCD screens full of numeric information were scattered throughout the main console, and dozens of buttons and switches surrounded the screens. The view out of the cockpit windows was absolutely spectacular. The windows wrapped around the entire nose of the aircraft. We weren’t flying into the sunset, but I had a good view of it out the side window. Where’s a camera when you need one? I thought to myself.
Candice was seated to the left. Ember pointed for me to occupy the empty seat to the right, introducing me to Candice as an FBI consultant.
“It’s nice to meet you, Aeron,” Candice said, smiling politely. “Are you enjoying the flight?”
“Yes,” I said, still taking in the complexity of the console. “Ember tells me you’re an excellent pilot.”
“Ember tends to exaggerate,” she smiled, “I’m a decent pilot on my best day.”
“What was so urgent?” Ember asked.
Candice looked at me, then to Ember for approval.
“He’s cleared,” Ember said.
“OK,” Candice began. “As we taxied to the runway, I noticed three unmarked cars racing down the taxiway. I didn’t think much of it until I was contacted by Cleveland Air Traffic Control. Their supervisor-in-charge instructed me to abort the flight. I didn’t respond to the tower until we were in the air, blaming radio interference for the delayed response. The tower informed me that the FBI had instructed our aircraft to abort our flight plans and return to the airport immediately.”
“That’s interesting,” Ember said, surprisingly calm “Have you been in contact with the tower since?”
“No,” Candice replied, flipping a couple switches in front of her, “I’ve been on radio silence since their last transmission.”
“Are we still on Cleveland’s radar?” Ember asked.
Candice made a slight adjustment to several dials. “Typically,” she continued, “air traffic control only has control over a few nautical miles from their tower. Their radar may reach a radius of up to fifty miles past that, but we’re well out of range by now.”
“OK good,” Ember said, handing Candice a small piece of paper. “Change course to the Missoula airport in Montana and please make minor course corrections several times for the remainder of the flight.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Candice agreed. “Is there anything else?”
“Not now,” Ember said. “But once we’re on the ground, please make the appropriate arrangements for refueling. I’ll need you and Andrea to stay with the plane and be ready to fly at moment’s notice.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Candice said, already entering numbers into a keypad.
Ember put her hand on Candice’s shoulder. “And don’t hesitate to contact me for any reason,” she assured her. “You did a great job back at the airport.”
“It was nice to meet you, Candice,” I said, standing up to leave the cockpit.
“Enjoy the rest of your flight,” Candice smiled.
Ember and I returned to the main cabin and sat back down at our table.
“We may have a problem,” I said.
“Problem?” Aerona questioned, “As in we’re out of ice for our drinks problem, or we’re going to crash somewhere in Kentucky problem?”
“Problem,” I continued, “as in the FBI was chasing us down the runway in Cleveland. They ordered us to abort our flight and return to the airport.” I paused to look at Kasiah. “Is there any reason why they’d be looking for you two?” I asked.
Kasiah and Morgan both looked confused. “The FBI?” they asked in unison.
“Yes,” I said. “Just minutes before we took off, Candice was contacted by Cleveland’s ATC with instructions from the FBI to abort the flight. Once we were in the air, they contacted her again with the same instructions. Do you two have any idea why the FBI is on our tail?”
Morgan looked puzzled. I could sense the gears spinning in his head, trying to piece this together.
“Neither of us have been in contact with the field office since the incident in Madison,” Morgan said. “I’d have to believe this is something else.”
“It’s possible the FBI was brought in by the local Erie police,” Kasiah suggested. “A forty foot wall of fire and a blackout that shut down four city blocks has a tendency to scream terrorist attack.”
“That’s a good possibility,” I said. “Homeland security would have the resources to pull satellite feed from the dock in Erie, and they could have tracked the yacht to Cleveland. Although, I don’t see how they caught up with us at the airport. We were in the air less than an hour after we got off the yacht.”
“I don’t see the U.S. government moving that fast,” Rain remarked.
“I second that,” nodded Whisper. “They still haven’t figured out where I am.”
“Rain’s right,” Morgan said, the gears still spinning. “Since 9/11, there’s a lot of red tape to jump through. One would think the system would have been streamlined to reduce response time, but the exact opposite has happened. Considering they took into account that the suspected terrorists may flee by aircraft, the Cleveland field off
ice may have dispatched their tactical team without Homeland Security’s authorization.”
“Do you think Morgan and I should risk checking in with the Madison field office?” Kasiah asked.
I thought about it for a minute. “I don’t think so,” I reasoned. “If the FBI is looking for you, we don’t want to risk them tracing your call. They have the same faulty information we provided Cleveland’s ground control.”
“I’ll contact Ember’s Star,” Ember added, “and find out what they know about the situation. I can direct them to put the small boat in the water to see if they’re being tailed.”
I liked how our newly formed team was thinking and acting as one.
Ember turned to Andrea. “Please contact Ember’s Star,” she instructed, “and let me know when you get them on the phone. I’ll need to speak to the captain directly.”
“Yes, ma’am. Right away,” Andrea nodded before hurrying away.
Rain relocated from the sofa style seat to the chair across from Aerona.
“The FBI couldn’t shut down the plane in Cleveland,” Rain said. “What’s their next tactical move?”
Morgan flipped out his tiny notepad and began writing notes as he talked. “Their first priority after losing an aircraft would be to determine its final destination.”
“Which they believe is Orlando?” Rain asked.
“No,” Morgan shook his head, “They’ll certainly think Orlando is a decoy, especially if they believe the aircraft is piloted by terrorists.”
“What are the chances they discover where we are intending to land?” I asked.
“I’ve dealt with this type of situation before,” Morgan continued. “According to government databases, there are roughly 14,950 airports in the U.S. of those, only about 5,000 have paved runways, where this jet could land safely. Only about 360 of those 5,000 have regular airport service, which terrorists would most likely avoid after being instructed to abort their flight plans by a federal branch of the U.S. government. The bottom line—it’s going to be difficult for the FBI to establish which airport we’re headed to, if any. This jet has a range of over 7,000 miles. We could very well be landing outside this country.”
The Blood of a Stone Page 18