“That’s suicide,” Eicher declared. “They will be shot on sight.”
But not only did they make it safely onto the airport grounds, they drove right up to the terminal—and crashed through the glass doors like a tank. There was no resistance from security.
Becks couldn’t believe what she was watching, as the news vehicle followed them in through the broken glass, allowing the show to continue. The US policy on hijackings had always been drilled into their heads, sometimes even calling for a plane to be shot out of the sky, sacrificing innocent people to halt the danger to a larger population or interest. Yet they just let a limo of Russian mobsters drive into an international airport with hostages!?
Once inside, the limo slowed to a crawl. The walkways were clear, indicating the airport had been evacuated. Becks couldn’t get over how strange this was. The president of the United States wouldn’t get this type of treatment.
Eicher echoed her sentiments, “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s like God himself cleared the way.”
“It would take someone more powerful than God,” LaPoint commented, “like Sarvydas.”
“How do they know they don’t have a bomb aboard? This is crazy,” Eicher asserted.
“Maybe they do, and that was their ticket in,” Becks added.
LaPoint shrugged. “It’s Homeland Security’s problem now.”
The limo came to a halt at the Air Israel terminal. Becks figured that like many Russian mobsters who were in trouble, they were going to seek refuge in Israel. The question was—would they be allowed to leave US soil? She couldn’t imagine it, but she also would never have thought they’d get this far.
Darren got out of the vehicle first, still wearing his tux, and holding a gun. He ordered the others out. Dava pretended to be a victim, unaware that she had already been outed by the newscast. Lilly and Nick were next. Zubov limped out using a cane, clearing the way for the grand finale, which was Natalie Gold appearing with her hands raised, still looking like a star in her gold dress.
Darren ordered them to place their hands over their heads. Becks couldn’t believe he was doing this for his undeserving wife.
Jessi Stafford got out of her vehicle and foolishly ran toward the hijackers in her oversized heels. Darren fired his gun in her direction, not coming close. Becks almost cheered when she dove to the ground and writhed in fear.
Darren followed his “hostages” toward the gate. Once again he displayed his gun, trying too hard to let people know he was the hijacker. He then marched them onto the airplane. When they were all aboard, he shut the door.
Chapter 83
Darren sat at the controls in the cockpit. But despite thousands of flight hours, this time was different. And not just because he had moved to the left of the control panel into the captain seat. Or because this was an Airbus A380, a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine airliner sometimes referred to as the Superjumbo. The largest plane he’d ever flown was a Boeing 747-400.
This flight was different because a couple of Russian mobsters named Dava and Zubov were holding guns to his head. But he didn’t take their death threats very seriously. They needed him to fly them to safety, just as they needed him to pose as a hijacker. He had been chosen to be the fall guy.
Lilly sat in the first officer seat, handcuffed to Nick. When Darren glanced at her the tornado of emotions swirled again.
“The flight plan is set from New York to Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv. We should get clearance very soon,” Dava instructed.
“I will fly the plane if you release Lilly. I am your only pilot, which makes me your lone hope to get out of here. Viktor Sarvydas will kill us anyway, so I have nothing to lose. You, on the other hand, have everything to lose.”
Zubov raised his walking cane and slashed it across Lilly’s knees. She cried out in pain.
Nick rose to confront Zubov, but Dava’s gun settled him back into his seat. Anger flowed through Darren’s veins like jet fuel, but he knew that another hotheaded reaction would only cause Lilly more pain.
Zubov turned to Lilly. “We’re still not even for shooting my knees. Every time I feel pain I want to share it with you.”
Lilly shot a deadly assassin? It hammered home the point that Darren really didn’t know this woman at all.
“This is crazy,” Darren stated. “The US doesn’t negotiate with hijackers. They will blow the plane up before they let us leave.”
“Not with Natalie Gold on board,” Dava countered.
Darren agreed she was a game-changer, but not to the point that they would just let them fly away without repercussions. At the very least, they would storm the plane.
“You were in Air Force. You’ve trained your whole life for this moment,” Zubov said.
“I flew cargo planes, not suicide missions.”
Zubov’s cane came at him so fast that Darren didn’t even see it. His ear began ringing like someone was blowing a whistle inches from it. Darren reached to touch it and it felt like it had doubled in size. Blood filled his hand.
“Stop talking,” Zubov said coldly.
“Leave him alone,” Lilly shrieked. “He has nothing to do with this.”
“He has everything to do with this now,” Dava responded angrily.
Zubov actually played peacemaker, wedging himself between the two women. “I think these two lovebirds have a lot to talk about. Let’s leave them alone.”
Dava nodded her approval.
Zubov shrugged. “What can I say, I’m a romantic.”
He unlatched Nick from his handcuffs and led him out of the cabin. Dava informed Darren that she would return when they got clearance for takeoff.
It was just the two of them. They sat in dead silence. He stared straight ahead at the dark runway. It was filled with emergency vehicles, fire trucks, and camouflaged military trucks. Hijacked airplanes always seemed to attract a lot of attention.
Finally Lilly broke the silence, “I hate when you do this.”
“Do what?”
“The passive-aggressive thing where you want to scream at me, but you bottle it all up and give me the silent treatment.”
“I think you’ve given up the right to tell me what to do.”
“Just let me have it!” she shouted at him. “I betrayed you—I betrayed our marriage! Yell at me—hit me—do something!”
Darren had nothing to say. To be either passive or aggressive would require him to be alive, and she had ripped the life from him. He wasn’t angry—he was lifeless. He stared back out at the runway. It was as if he was looking toward a hopeless future.
Lilly finally accepted that the patient was dying, so she stopped CPR and just tried to comfort him in his final moments. She found a First Aid kit that contained an icepack. She softly applied the ice to his ear. “You’ll be better off without me,” she said.
Darren didn’t reply.
“You were like an angel who came into my life, but I’m too messed up. You should have run away from me. The worst part is that I always knew I’d hurt you, but I fooled myself because I wanted to live the dream.”
“Do you love him?” he asked.
She paused for a long moment, and then said, “I’m not sure I know what love is, but I’ve never felt like this before.”
There was one question he needed answered before he could completely wither away and die. “Were you really not able to get pregnant?”
She bowed her head. “I wasn’t worthy of mothering your children. I would’ve hurt them just like I hurt you.”
She reached out her hand to him, but Darren pushed it away, suddenly feeling alive again. Life flowed back through his veins. “That’s a total cop-out! The reason you’re messed up is because of what you did, not who you are!
She sniffled away tears. “I’m so sorry, Darren.”
He finally found the rage. “I thought of not going through with it, Lilly. I would let Alexei live and let them kill you! The only reason I did was for the vows, not for you. Don’t ever forg
et that.”
As tears streamed down her face, Dava returned with a smug look. “Sorry, the counseling session is over. We’ve been cleared for takeoff. New York to Tel Aviv, nonstop. Seems the president of the United States agreed to our terms.”
Darren felt like his mind might explode as he watched the runway vehicles clear out of the way. This was really happening. But once the awe wore off, he got down to business. He struggled to program the GPS, which he’d never done before without assistance from the tower. The gun pointed at the back of his head added to his anxiety.
But once he found his comfort zone, he got into a groove. The Airbus A380 had a different setup, but two multi-function displays provided an easy to use interface to the flight management system, making Darren’s transition seamless.
He went through his checks with sweaty palms. He turned on the fuel-igniters and auxiliary power unit. He cooled the cabin and then spun the engines. There was no tower to clear him, so he pushed the throttle and pulled back the yoke.
The hijacked plane took off into the night.
Chapter 84
Nick strolled back into the plane’s cabin. He could have had any seat he wanted, but he chose to sit right next to Audrey.
He wished the plane were a time-machine that could take him back to the time before Karl was arrested. Back when things were simple. There were two aspects to his life back then—his time with Audrey and the time he spent thinking about being with her. They planned on being together for the rest of their lives, but things had taken a dramatic turn, and by the looks of Audrey, so had she. He knew he was a different person now with a different destiny, so there was no use looking back.
Words wouldn’t be sufficient, so they said nothing. But as the plane surged upward, Audrey began to hyperventilate. It wasn’t her succumbing to the hijacking situation, Nick knew she was petrified of flying.
He instinctively reached out and grabbed her hand. He noticed that the interlocking NZ tattoo between her thumb and index finger had been converted into a Star of David. It wasn’t just a reference to her new home. It also represented what she’d become since they last saw each other—a star. She looked different, she talked different, she smelled different, but her touch had the same effect on him. Nick wanted to take her into her arms and not let her go. But that wasn’t possible right now.
When the plane settled into its cruising altitude, and the color began to return to her cheeks, Nick remarked, “It’s amazing to see you again.”
The words seemed to distress her. “I’ve been worried about you, Nick.”
He attempted the smile that had always been able to comfort her. “It’s been an interesting year, huh?”
“You could say that,” she replied, emotionless.
“You certainly look…um…like you’ve changed a lot in the past year.” It was hard not to notice her busting out of her gold gown. The dramatic blonde hair was also hard to get used to.
“I did what I had to do.”
“What did you have to do, Audrey?”
Her eyes fearfully wandered to Dava, who was nervously pacing the aisle like a prison guard. When the coast was clear, she stated, “They can’t learn who I really am. They’ll kill me.”
Nick’s voice lowered, “Okay, Natalie, tell me what this is all about.”
“I told you—I did what I had to do.”
“If I remember correctly, you are the one who always preached about total honesty in a relationship. Viktor Sarvydas? Are you nuts!?”
“Are we still in a relationship?”
“I’m just happy to see you again.”
Her face intensified. “That’s not what I asked you.”
“If you haven’t noticed, things are a little complicated at the moment.”
She peered toward the cockpit area in an accusatory manner. “Who is she?”
“Her name is Lilly—she was my teacher.”
“Are you in love with her?”
“I did what I had to do.”
“I gave up everything for you,” her voice raised, receiving a look from Dava.
When she returned to her pacing, he said, “I never asked you to do that.”
“I know, you told me to give up my life. Never see my parents again. Never see you again. I’d rather live dangerously than not live at all.”
“You don’t get it, Audrey. Sarvydas will kill you, and it won’t be quick and easy.”
“He already did kill me. And from what I read in the papers, there wasn’t much left of me. Who was killed in my apartment, Nick?”
“I thought you went back there. Jesus, Audrey, I even went to your funeral. I helped identify your body. But last night at your parents’ house, the FBI called and wanted to exhume you, or whoever is buried under your headstone in Devol.”
She looked at him with wonder. “You saw my parents...last night?”
“We were on the run and needed a place to stay. They will never get over your death, but they’ve been able to move on the best they can. I think your father’s faith has really helped your mother.” He attempted another smile. “She had all the photo albums out last night. I haven’t seen someone so glorified in death since Elvis.”
Audrey remained stoic, her eyes glued to Zubov. “We are going to need a miracle to get out of this one.”
Nick again grabbed her hand, feeling more shock waves. “I have a plan, but you’re going to have to trust me.”
“I’ve always believed in you, Nick.”
“It might include things I would never want you to see. You’re going to have to follow me, even if you don’t understand.”
Audrey glanced again toward the cockpit area, as if she was debating whether she could stomach seeing him and Lilly together once more. “I’ve done things too that I’m not proud of.”
He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, but that would certainly give away her cover, and he wasn’t ready to do that yet.
“I’ve done nothing to earn your loyalty,” Nick said. He then called for Dava and told her that he needed to use the bathroom. Zubov escorted him to the lavatory and waited outside.
Nick closed the door and took out the cell phone.
Chapter 85
Jessi stood outside the terminal at JFK—the once-bustling airport had turned into a giant crime scene. As she filed her latest breaking report about the hijacked plane being allowed to takeoff, a ringing sound startled her. It was coming from the phone that Nick had given her at the premiere party!
She put it on speaker, and motioned her cameraman to roll tape. She answered, “Thank God, Nick, are you okay?”
His voice was low, “I am in the bathroom of the hijacked plane. I don’t have much time and must speak softly. They are waiting right outside the door.”
Jessi played with the volume so that the camera microphone would pick up his words.
“Who is waiting outside the door—Darren McLaughlin?” she asked.
“McLaughlin is flying the plane.”
“What about his wife?”
“Lilly is in the cockpit with him. They are working as a team.”
“No wonder he was so desperate to get back to her.”
“They are also working with Dava Lazinski of the US Attorney’s Office, and the assassin Zubov. Dava was the key leak that allowed Viktor Sarvydas to find me when I was in witness protection.”
“The only person you haven’t mentioned is Natalie Gold, I don’t want to speculate, but should we fear the worst?”
“Natalie is unharmed, she is their bargaining chip—it’s the rest of us who are in the most immediate danger.”
“Have your captors provided any details of where the plane is headed, and why?”
“They plan on taking us to Israel to meet with Sarvydas for what the hijackers are calling a ‘trial’. But my guess is that the Israelis will shoot the plane down before allowing hijackers to land.”
Jessi couldn’t let Nick know that thoughts of a happy ending dissipated when the plane was
allowed to leave New York. All the more reason to not let this moment pass—it would likely be her last chance to get the whole story.
“Take us back to the beginning, Nick.”
He paused for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts, then began, “After witnessing the murder of Karl Zellen by Alexei Sarvydas, I was put into witness protection until the trial, under the name of Buckley. They moved me to Chandler last December, where I lived the life of a high school senior. My teacher, Lilly McLaughlin, took a great interest in me, and I fell for her.
“We began an affair. I knew she was married, and I tried to call it off a couple of times, but Lilly always knew the right things to say to make me stay close to her.”
“What made you run?”
“I saw Zubov, a Sarvydas hitman, in a local mall. I knew my cover had been blown and I was as good as dead if I remained there. I now know it was the work of Dava Lazinski of the US Attorneys Office.
“Lilly suggested that we run, and that we make it look like a gang-style abduction. I was so stupid.”
Jessi could sense that Nick was becoming overwhelmed. She needed to keep him lucid and on course. “How, and at what point did you begin to suspect that Lilly McLaughlin was working for Sarvydas?”
“Once we got on the road, there were a lot of coincidences. Everywhere we went Zubov was right on our tail. I called US Attorney Eicher, who was prosecuting the case. I thought about telling him my location, but I was worried that there was a leak in his office. Sure enough, I was able to get hold of Lilly’s cell phone and it was full of messages between her and Dava. That’s how they found me.”
“Nick has provided me with these text messages, and I will be displaying them on both the Channel-6 and GNZ web sites as soon as we get clearance from the proper authorities. But for the audience, Nick, could you provide a brief summary of what those messages said?”
“They described how they planned to kill me at Sarvy’s during the Natalie Gold party, using my sister Sasha to lure me there. So when I returned to New York, I headed straight home to check on Sasha, but Dava was there waiting for me. She first took us to the office of Stevanro Parmalov, one of Sarvydas’ chief lieutenants. She shot him and his two assistants, who had been lured there by Darren McLaughlin. I was able to briefly escape, but McLaughlin was right on my tail...and you know the rest.”
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