by Merri Hiatt
“You want to be the one she settles down with?”
Brendan met her gaze. “Ah, just forget about it. Forget I said anything.”
“Well, look, it’s the captain,” Geri said.
The boys’ faces lit up as Geri moved aside and stood next to Jenny. She gave her a whispered, “Thanks.”
“You’d have done the same for me. Guess what I just learned?”
“What?”
“Brendan’s got a deeper thing for Kate than we all thought.”
“Really? I knew he liked her. Whenever they’re on a flight together, his co-pilot ends up running the show while he and Kate canoodle in the pilot’s loo.”
“I guess that’s better than canoodling in a coach loo.”
“We are grown women. I cannot find one good reason to canoodle in any loo anywhere at any time.”
Jenny giggled. “You sound like Patricia.”
“Your roomie is right.”
“And that would make you right.”
“Naturally.”
“And speaking of canoodling… when is the baggage handler going to be handling you?”
“I just met the man!”
“Are you going to see him again?”
“Actually, yes. I asked him if he’d teach me to drive.”
“Only you could get away with that excuse as a way to see him again.”
“I know. The worst part is that I’ll only be able to use that reason once.”
“When are you hooking up?”
“We’re not hooking up. I’m meeting him on the fifteenth. We’re going to this Korean restaurant he knows.”
“Not your typical first date restaurant. I like that. Sounds like he has his own unique style.”
“I think so.”
“Have you Googled him?”
“I will this afternoon.”
“Are you staying over in Utah?”
“Just one night.”
The captain nodded as he passed by on his way back to the cockpit. They glanced at the boys. They couldn’t wipe the grins off their faces if they tried.
“I think he just made their day,” Jenny said.
“More like their year.”
Aida mouthed 132A as she passed by. Jenny and Geri split up as they nodded to passengers, then casually focused their attention on the gentleman sitting in row 132, seat A. He was staring straight ahead. His eyes seemed to bore into the skull of the woman sitting in front of him.
The man was dark-skinned, dressed in an expensive pin-stripe business suit. A trendy watch encircled his wrist, which he checked three times in the short while the women watched him.
Jenny joined Aida in the kitchen as she checked the list of passengers. “Anything?”
“I called it in. Nothing unusual. He has a local address and he’s been living there for over ten years. Steady job.”
“What tipped you?”
“The watch. He kept checking it obsessively.”
“Maybe his wife’s pregnant and he’s waiting for the call that she’s in labor.”
“I have a bad feeling.”
“You know protocol. We need a reason.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Then we watch and wait. I’ll go inform the captain, Brindle and Randee.”
“It’s not a good day to die, Jenny.”
“Is there ever a good day?”
“Be safe.”
“And you.”
Chapter Ten
The three women put on relaxed faces as they tended to passengers’ needs. All the while, they noted the gentleman’s rapt attention to his watch, but nothing else that seemed out of the ordinary. Until he reached under his seat and pulled a small black zippered pouch into his lap.
Aida, Jenny and Geri exchanged glances. Geri nodded, then headed for the cockpit to inform the captain. When she returned, she approached Jenny. “He said to ask him to stow it in the chamber above his seat.”
“You want to do it?”
“Hell, no.”
“So glad you have my back.”
“I do have your back, but I don’t have your front. I’ll be nearby. Aida’s watching, too.”
Jenny glanced at Aida. She appeared to have nothing on her mind except cooing at the precious cargo of a three-month-old little girl sleeping soundly in her father’s arms.
Jenny knew better. If anything went awry, Aida would be the first one on the spot, even if Geri was closer.
She took a quick breath and approached the gentleman. “Excuse me, sir. I need you to stow your bag in the overhead bin.”
He held it tighter to his body. “Why? I did nothing wrong.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to imply that you did anything wrong. We’re heading in to some turbulence and need all unnecessary items secured, that’s all.”
The man’s eyes shifted from left to right and his knee began to bounce uncontrollably.
“I can place it in the bin for you. Just hand it to me.”
“I need to use the restroom.” The gentleman darted out of his seat, pushing past Jenny and rushing to the loo.
Aida and Geri were by her side in less than two seconds.
“Should we lock it?” Geri asked.
“Yes. Then I’ll check with the captain again.”
Aida removed the small set of keys she carried at all times. She removed the heavy duty magnet attached to the ring and used it on the outside of the door to keep the inside lever from being turned.
“When he knows he’s locked in there, he’s not going to be happy,” Geri said. “I’ll stand guard. Aida, you tend to the passengers while Jenny reports to the captain.
All three women met eyes and nodded, then assumed their positions.
The captain concurred with their decision to lock the gentleman in the restroom. Aida taped an out of order sign on the door.
Ten minutes later, Aida heard rustling sounds from inside the loo. Jenny joined her outside the door in the narrow hallway.
“He knows he’s trapped,” Aida said.
They both watched as the in use sign began to move toward vacant. Jenny removed the magnet from her key ring and placed it next to Aida’s.
The in use sign ceased to move.
“Let me out of here! I don’t like closed-in spaces.”
The flight attendants noted a couple of passengers turning around to see what the noise was.
“What now?” Geri said as she joined them. “I could hear him half way down the aisle.”
Brindle walked toward them, casually inviting the passengers in the last two rows to join her in first class.
“How come we don’t get to go to first class?” A woman sitting close to the middle asked.
“I’m sorry, we don’t have enough available seats.”
The woman scowled, then turned her attention back to the romance novel she was reading.
As the passengers gathered up their belongings, Brindle filled the FAs in on the latest news. “The guy in the loo has a fake driver’s license. His real name is something I can’t pronounce. He’s been in the U.S. less than three years with no steady employment. But get this, his bank account is another story altogether. Well over a hundred grand in there.”
“I’m guessing Mr. Pin Striped Suit is a paid terrorist. And here I am without my Wonder Woman deflecting bullet bracelets.”
“Geri, that’s not funny,” Aida said.
“I thought it was,” Brindle said.
“Thank you. So why the evacuation of the back rows?”
“In case things get a bit… ugly.”
“Does Brendan think that will happen?” Jenny asked.
“He says this guy’s done it before.”
“That’s scary. If he’s been caught, then he’s not good at it. Amateurs are worse than professionals. They make more mistakes and innocent people get hurt.”
“Every plane should have a Marshall on it. I’ve been advocating that for years, but no one ever listens to me,” Aida said.
“Hold on to your picket sign. The last thing we need is some macho guy brandishing a gun. That’s just as dangerous as the bozo in the loo.”
“What next?” Jenny asked.
“Wait. With any luck, he’ll just accept entrapment in the restroom and when we land, the Feds will arrest him,” Brindle said.
“And if he gets more agitated and goes off the deep end?” Aida asked.
“Decrease the oxygen and don’t give him a mask.”
“That’s a death sentence.”
“Only until we can restrain him. He’ll fall asleep before any harm is done.”
“You hope.”
“Yes, I hope. And so does Brendan.”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Aida said.
“You said that before,” Jenny said.
“I know. I’ll be saying it again, too, if this situation doesn’t…”
A gun shot rang through the restroom door lock, the force knocking the magnets free.
“Get the passengers into first class,” Jenny said. “Now!”
Geri and Aida acted quickly as Brindle stood by Jenny’s side. “I know karate.”
“Show me what you’ve got.”
They stood at the ready for the first sign of the man emerging from the restroom.
They didn’t have to wait long. They were met by the barrel of a gun being aimed at first one and then the other.
“Sir,” Jenny started, “I know you don’t want to hurt anyone. Put the gun down.”
“Don’t be tellin’ me what to do. I know what I come here for and you bitches aren’t going to stop me.”
“Why are you doing this?” Brindle asked.
The man’s features tightened and his eyes narrowed. “I spit on fat, ugly Americans. You think you know everything. You know nothing! All should die! All will die!”
“Not today.” Brindle swung her leg up higher than Jenny had ever seen anyone kick. Her foot made direct contact with the man’s chin. As he fell backward, he dropped the gun. Brindle kicked it down the hallway.
The man dove for the weapon as Jenny tackled him around the knees. Brindle flew over both of them, her vision focused on the gun. She landed hard on her side, but she pushed the pain away as her hand curled around the handle of the gun.
Jenny felt her body being pulled up at the waist as she maintained her grasp around the man’s knees, holding on as if she had toppled off a cliff and he was the only branch keeping her from falling to her death.
“It’s okay, Jenny. We’re here.” Captain Johnson tugged again as Barry McDonald squeezed around Jenny to secure the man’s hands behind his back.
“Let go of me! I have rights!” the man fumed.
“You gave up your rights when you tried to harm someone aboard my plane,” Captain Johnson said.
“You Americans are so stupid. You value one life over many lives. One life does not matter.”
“This one does,” Barry said, staring into Brindle’s eyes.
Brindle brushed the comment off as something you say in an emergency, but heat rushed to her face and a fluttering in her stomach made her see Barry McDonald through new eyes.
Brendan tied the man’s feet together, then pulled him up from the floor to a standing position. “I don’t want to hear another word out of your mouth.”
“You cannot shut me up! I will not be silenced. The U.S. must know they are not safe. We are many and we will not stop coming. We will destroy every American that has breath.”
Barry removed his shoe and sock. “One more word and this sock is going in your mouth. You decide.”
“Death to America!”
“Sock in mouth it is.” Barry shoved the black men’s dress sock into the man’s mouth with a bit too much force. “Nobody says death to my country. Nobody.”
“Where can we put him?” Jenny asked.
“Back in the loo,” Brindle said. “Seems appropriate to store shit where we shit.”
“Everyone calm down. He wants us to get riled up. He’s secured. Barry, check him for more weapons.”
Barry did as requested and found a collapsible knife stitched into the lining of the man’s jacket. “Sneaky son of a…”
“Stop.” It only took one look from the captain to quell Barry’s tongue. “Barry, Brindle, you stay with him. And get that sock out of his mouth. Cover his lips with tape if you need to keep him from talking.”
Barry scowled. When he was out of the captain’s earshot, he said, “If I had my way, you’d have two socks in your mouth.”
“I have duct tape,” Brindle offered.
“Get it.”
When Brindle returned with the tape and Barry had retrieved his sock, tossed it in the trash and then taped the man’s mouth shut, Brindle asked, “Did you mean what you said earlier or was that just ‘hey we might die’ kind of talk?”
“I meant every word.”
“I didn’t know you felt that way about me.”
“I never said anything. I’m not charming and suave like Brendan.”
“You have your own way about you. I like people who aren’t so showy.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really. How about we get together when we get back home? Maybe go to dinner or a movie?”
“I’d like that.”
“Me, too.”
It was a strange way to tell a woman you liked her, but Barry was glad Brindle knew how he felt now. Soon they’d be going out on their first date.
“What?” Brindle asked.
“This day certainly didn’t turn out the way I thought it would.”
“Yeah, me either. It turned out better.”
Barry met her smile with one of his own.
Chapter Eleven
“Good work, Jenny,” Brendan said.
“Thanks. Aida’s the one who alerted us to his behavior. She really deserves the kudos.”
“I’ll make sure she gets it, that all of you get the recognition you deserve. I miss the old days. All we were concerned about then was equipment going haywire and ice on the wings. Now we have to worry about other human beings trying to kill us.”
“You were really good back there, stopping Barry and all.”
“He didn’t mean anything. He doesn’t understand how we appear to the rest of the world. Hell, he’s never been outside the U.S. It’s not all sunshine and roses. We’ve done some pretty horrific things, especially during wars. No one can paint us out to be saints.”
“No one is a saint in a war. How can they be?”
“When did you say Kate would be back?”
“I didn’t. I was vague, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right. Not wanting me to get my hopes up.”
“Sorry.”
“The truth hurts sometimes.” He looked into Jenny’s eyes for several minutes. “Are you dating anyone?”
“There is this one guy…”
Brendan ran his hand through his hair and tapped his foot. “What’s a guy gotta do to get laid around here?”
“Yep, you’re right. You’re no saint.”
“Never pretended to be.”
“What should I tell the passengers?” Geri asked, joining them in the cockpit. “They’re not buying my spiel about a medical emergency.”
“Distract them with food,” Jenny said. “We have those snack-sized bags of brownie pieces we were going to give them when they de-planed.”
“Good idea,” Captain Johnson said. “I don’t suppose we have any beverages left?”
Geri shook her head. “A few cans of soda is all. We run with the bare minimum. Ballinger doesn’t like paying for anything extra.”
“What about an in-flight movie? They won’t be able to finish watching it, but it might keep their minds occupied?” Jenny asked.
Geri shook her head again. “They’re only brought aboard for long flights.”
Silence filled the cabin as they each thought of more ideas, rejecting them before saying them aloud.
“Aida,” Geri said.
>
“What about her?” Captain Johnson asked.
“She can sing,” Jenny said. “She’s amazing.”
“I’ll go ask her right now.” Geri double-timed it back to coach and pulled Aida aside.
“You want me to sing now?”
“We need something to divert their attention.”
“I’m not really prepared. What song?”
“Anything. You pick. Something upbeat.”
“Should I do gospel, rock, country, soul?”
“Aida, we really don’t have time for this. Just pick something and sing!”
“All right, all right.” Aida made her way to the front of the first row of coach seats.
Geri faced the passengers. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please. Ballinger Air is considering offering live entertainment on its flights and we’re proud to bring you the musical stylings of our very own Aida Brown.”
Geri stepped to the side as Aida smiled a greeting to her audience.
“Thank you, Geri. It’s my pleasure to bring you a few of my favorite songs.
My mother tells anyone who’ll listen that I came out of the womb singing. While I don’t think you can call crying singing, there may be some truth in her words. I can’t remember a time when music wasn’t part of my world. No matter how high the mountain is or how low the valley, music has a way of seeing us through.”
Aida began singing Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. Within seconds people joined her or were mouthing the words.
Geri smiled. It was working. As long as Mr. Pin Striped Suit kept quiet in the loo, the rest of the flight would be a breeze. They definitely deserved a drink after they landed.
By the time Aida finished her fourth song, the passengers had forgotten about the slight disruption.
When they touched down and de-boarded the passengers with the signature, “Thank you for flying Ballinger Air,” the local police and Feds were boarding to escort Mr. Pin Striped Suit off the plane.
As they watched the gentleman being handcuffed and read his rights, the FAs breathed a sigh of relief.
“Alcohol?” Geri asked.
“Absolutely,” Jenny said.
“I’m in,” Aida agreed.
“Not me. Barry and I are going out on a date.” Brindle grinned as she raised her eyebrows suggestively.