Mengliad (The Mengliad Series Book 1)

by Jana Janeway

  He scoffed at that. “You can’t throw a dead cat without hitting a McDonald’s.”

  Shooting him a disapproving look, she continued on without otherwise acknowledging the tasteless joke. “Ask at the information desk where the closest one is, when you’re picking up the envelope.”

  Realizing that Jessica was listening in, he gave her hand a squeeze, his outward attention remaining on Bibi. “You sure it’s such a good idea for us to be splitting up?”

  “I wouldn’t be suggesting it, if I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

  “Okay. . .” He was still a little leery, but with nothing better to suggest, he shrugged it off and turned to face Jessica. “We have a plan.”

  ****

  While Craddock checked his watch again for the hundredth time, Jessica continued her fidgeting. Really, she was nervous, but to anyone watching, she just seemed to be struggling to find a comfortable position in her seat. An assumption that would work in their favor, considering what they were about to do.

  With Bibi’s subtle nudge, her elbow to his ribs, Craddock gave Jessica a barely perceptible nod.

  It was time.

  After allowing a few seconds to pass, Jessica put her hand on her fake belly, scrunching up her face and groaning as if in pain.

  “Allie?” Craddock asked her. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. . .” She pulled a worried expression as she looked up at him. “Something feels weird. Wrong. Like cramps, or contractions.”

  “Oh my God!” His hand flew to just below hers, seeming panicked. “That’s not good! It’s way too soon!”

  “What’s wrong?” Bibi asked, involving herself. Josiah leaned over in his seat right behind her, involving himself as well.

  “Allie thinks there’s something wrong with the babies!”

  Craddock’s announcement gained the attention of everyone nearby, including the flight attendant who had bothered them while they were in the bathroom earlier.

  “Sir? Is there a problem?”

  “My wife is only twenty-nine weeks pregnant, but she’s having contractions! And pain!”

  “Okay, sir, please,” she soothed, businesslike and professional, “try to remain calm. The plane will be landing in twenty minutes.”

  “By the time you can get her off,” Bibi chimed in, “it’ll be more like an hour.”

  “An hour?!” he screeched, becoming completely unhinged. “That’s too long! Can’t we just get off as soon as the plane lands?!”

  “Of course, sir,” the stewardess assured him. “We can even call ahead, and have an ambulance ready and waiting.”

  Reacting to what had been said, Jessica gasped, but covered quickly by pretending she was having another contraction.

  “She doesn’t need an ambulance.” While Bibi’s tone was calm, it held just enough worry to play off the concerned sister-in-law role. “Her doctor isn’t far from the airport. It’s probably just Braxton Hicks contractions, Allie,” she told Jessica, continuing the charade, “but we should get you checked out, ASAP, just in case, okay?”

  Jessica nodded, breathing like she’d seen women do in movies when in labor, clutching at her stomach as she did.

  “We have a few seats in first class that are empty,” the stewardess offered, attempting to be helpful, “if you’d like to relocate to up there. She would probably be more comfortable.”

  “Yes, thank you.” Craddock took Jessica’s hand, helping her to stand. “C’mon, baby,” he whispered. “It’s gonna be alright.”

  Bibi jumped up and into the aisle, giving Craddock and Jessica room to leave the row and follow the flight attendant, then gestured for Josiah to join her as she inched back in and over to the window seat.

  “Shit. . .” He watched as the three of them disappeared behind the curtain leading to first class. “They’re better actors than Robert DeNiro!”

  “I bet he’s never had to act himself out of a life or death situation.” Her gaze drifted out the window, briefly, before returning to Josiah. “We’ll be there soon. Ready to play with the man?”

  “Yep!” He forced himself not to smirk, for appearance’s sake. Instead, he scowled as if worried. “I hope Allie’s gonna be okay,” he said, for the benefit of anyone who might still be listening.

  “Yeah. . .” She turned to stare out the window. “Me, too.”

  ****

  Jessica’s mouth was like cotton from all the panting, and a headache had started forming from the tension she was feeling, but it was worth it. Everyone bought her act, hook, line, and sinker. All the women around them offered her sympathies and assuring words that everything would be okay, while all the men around them gave Craddock congratulatory and supportive slaps to his shoulder.

  Accepting it all graciously while continuing to play their parts was exhausting, but finally the captain put on the seatbelt sign—a clear indication they were preparing to land. All the first class passengers surrounding them took their seats, giving Craddock the needed moment to talk to Jessica without being overheard.

  “You should get an Oscar,” he whispered, burying his face in the crook of her neck as if comforting his distraught wife.

  “Thanks,” she whispered back. “You, too.”

  “Things seem to be going smoothly,” he mentioned, purposefully, wanting to give her something positive to focus on. The tactic didn’t work, however.

  Even with everything going as well as it was, she couldn’t help but dwell on the close call that had nearly ruined everything. “I thought we were sunk when they made that overhead announcement, asking if there was a doctor on board.”

  His heart raced at the memory. “Thank God there wasn’t one.” If there had been, their cover would have been blown without question. For her sake as well as his, he changed the subject. “When we land, while we’re waiting for them to set up the ramp and bring us that wheelchair they offered, I’m gonna go back for our duffles, okay?”

  “Time efficient,” she said approvingly. “Good thinking.”

  “Exactly.” He felt a swelling of pride over her strange compliment. “We’re gonna move briskly down the ramp and away from the gate,” he continued. “They’ll be expecting that, since we’re worried parents, trying to get to the doctor. Once we’re a few yards away, be prepared to hold on, ‘cause I’m not wasting time dilly-dallying.”

  “Gotcha,” she panted.

  “As soon as we get the envelope from the information desk, and we know where the car is parked and where we’re going, we’ll ditch the wheelchair and run like hell. It won’t matter then if it seems odd, ‘cause we’re not sticking around to explain ourselves.”

  “Right,” she said, still panting.

  “You okay?” The understandable stresses aside, something about her demeanor seemed off.

  She nodded, barely. “Just sick of acting like I’m in pain.”

  A laugh threatened to escape, but he was just able to choke it back. “It won’t be for much longer.”

  “Thank God,” she muttered.

  They both fell silent when the captain’s voice boomed over the intercom, though they scarcely listened to a word he said.

  As soon as the plane touched down, Craddock was poised at the ready, his finger over the seatbelt button, staring at the sign intently and waiting for it to go off. The moment it did, he unlatched his belt, whispered a quick ‘be right back,’ then ran through the curtain and towards their original seats.

  “What are you doing?”

  Bibi realized the answer to her question a second later, when he reached above them and into the overhead compartment.

  “How’s Allie?” Josiah asked quickly, knowing Craddock was set to bolt as soon as he had retrieved the duffles.

  “Scared.” Though she wasn’t for the reason the entire plane thought she was. “We’ll meet you at her doctor’s office. You remember how to get there, right?” he asked, keeping up pretenses.

  Bibi waved him away. “Yeah, just go! Tell her we’
ll be right behind you guys!”

  Barely nodding, he slung the bags over his shoulders, one on each, and darted back up the aisle towards the first class curtains.

  He didn’t bother retaking his seat, wanting to be at the ready to leave the moment they were given permission. “Ray and Ken wanted me to tell you that they’ll be right behind us, and will meet us at your doctor’s office.”

  Catching on, she nodded, the underlying message easy to decode.

  The plan was still a go.

  “The ramp is almost in place, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson,” the helpful flight attendant informed them, “and the wheelchair will be waiting for you, just outside the door.”

  With a courteous ‘thank you,’ he assisted Jessica in standing. “We’ll be there soon, Allie baby. Just breathe through it.”

  Nodding, she clung to him as they both followed the flight attendant to the front of the plane, where they waited until the ramp was locked into place and the cabin doors were opened. The attendant on the other side rushed up with the wheelchair, which Craddock quickly helped Jessica into. He then muttered an abrupt, less courteous ‘thank you,’ before taking control of it and rushing down the ramp, through the gate, and into the crowded terminal.

  “Information desk?” he asked a random janitor, almost shouting the question at him. He barely slowed as he awaited the answer.

  “Straight ahead and to your right.”

  “Thanks!” Craddock threw the word over his shoulder, picking up pace as he dodged people in front of him. He came dangerously close to nicking a few of them with the footrests of the wheelchair as he whizzed by.

  Spotting the desk ahead of them, he took off at a run, struggling to stop in time as he almost slammed Jessica, wheelchair and all, into the front of it.

  Panting from the exertion, he huffed at the confused person behind the counter, “Letter for Alexander Wilson.”

  Scowling, the man moved in slow motion, to a letters bin just beneath the countertop, his attention on the task as he hunted for it. Finding it rather quickly, he held it up like he was about to hand it over, but then pulled it back at the last second, just as Craddock reached for it. “I’ll need to see some ID, please.”

  “I only have my Social Security card,” Craddock told him. “I lost my wallet recently, and I’m still waiting on my driver’s license.”

  The man quirked his eyebrow incredulously. “You don’t have a picture ID?”

  Craddock instantly felt a sense of panic rise within him as the thought occurred to him. . . the geek who was holding their lives almost literally in his hands wasn’t going to hand it over.

  “I have my birth certificate, too,” he unzipped his duffle and located his documents, “but no, nothing with a picture.”

  “Alex,” Jessica called to Craddock, sounding as if in severe pain and completely freaked out, “I think my water just broke.”

  Knowing what she was doing, Craddock threw the Social Security card and birth certificate on the counter, yelling at the man behind it, “I need to get my wife to the doctor’s! Give me my damn letter!”

  Obviously intimidated, the clerk only gave the items in front of him a cursory glance before thrusting the letter at Craddock shakily, recoiling when it was snatched from his grasp.

  “Thank you,” Craddock barked, immediately ripping into the envelope. “Lot B, row ten, space twelve. . .” He mumbled to himself as he read it, and then he faced the clerk again. “Where’s lot B?”

  “You’re in front of lot C, if you go out these doors. . .” The man pointed towards the exit. “Just turn left.”

  “Thanks.” Feeling contrite, Craddock pulled up a little civility, but he skipped the apologies as he shoved his documents back into his bag. “Can I take the wheelchair out into the parking lot?”

  The man seemed to relax a bit, now that Craddock’s irritation was in check. “Yeah, just leave it in the lot, and an attendant will pick it up later.”

  Nodding, Craddock stuffed the envelope into his coat pocket, took control of the wheelchair once again, and then steered it towards and out the doors.

  As soon as they were outside, he bent down and kissed the top of her head. “Nice touch.”

  His compliment, referencing her fast thinking with the water breaking ploy, was followed by her squeal of surprise, as he had turned left sharply and began running full-board towards lot B.

  Once they found the car, he parked Jessica up by the front passenger door, and then he yanked the envelope out of his coat pocket and fished out the key.

  “In’ya go,” he said, kindly but rushed, unlocking the door and opening it for her. The moment her butt left the wheelchair seat, he moved it aside.

  “Do you think they’re even off the plane yet?” Jessica asked as she climbed into the car.

  “Don’t know. . .” He threw the duffles in the back, darting around to the driver’s seat and throwing himself into it. “But in case they are, let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Turning the car over, he had just started to leave the spot when Jessica startled and cursed.

  “Shit! Craddock! We forgot to ask where the nearest McDonald’s is!”

  Dropping his foot on the brake, he hesitated for a moment, as if in thought, before hitting the steering wheel. “Fucking-A!” He sighed heavily as he looked over at her. “We can’t go back in!”

  “I know,” she whispered, reaching out to touch his arm, hoping to calm him.

  It worked. Closing his eyes, he soaked in her support and comfort for a moment, allowing it to temper his negativity. “Okay, so, we’ll just drive around nearby till we find one.”

  “Okay.” She moved to buckle her seatbelt as he continued out of the spot.

  Throwing it in drive, he headed for the nearest exit.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  If there had been walls around them, Jessica would have been climbing them.

  Pacing the McDonald’s parking lot garnered unwanted attention, but Craddock knew there was no stopping her nervous activity, so he didn’t even bother trying to. With every passing minute her panic seemed to elevate, as did his, though outwardly he didn’t appear to be fazed in the slightest. Worried that she was on the brink of complete hysteria, he hid his concern from her by adopting a stony face and casual stance. Leaning against the metal railing near where they had parked, he discreetly watched her as she wore a hole in the asphalt.

  “It’s been an hour, at least!” Jessica continued her troubled steps, her stride more of a waddle as she was still wearing the prosthetic belly that made her look heavily pregnant to passersby. “They should’ve been here by now!” She glanced at him as she turned to pace in the opposite direction.

  “They’ll be here soon,” he offered calmly, sighing when she revved into a higher gear of distress.

  “That’s what you said thirty minutes ago!” She was screeching now, and on the verge of tears. “Where are they, Craddock?! Where are they?!”

  It was too much to bear. It felt like his heart was literally breaking, and feigning indifference obviously wasn’t helping.

  Marching towards her, he pulled her into his arms, almost roughly. “Stop it, Jessica. You need to calm down. Freaking out isn’t going to solve anything.”

  Gasping, she pushed away from him, just enough so that she could look into his eyes. “You’re just as scared as I am.”

  He ignored the statement. “They had to get off the plane, ditch the guy, hail a cab, drive here. . . These things take time.” Cradling her head in his hand, he brought it back to his shoulder. “They’ll be here soon.”

  “Are you guys okay?”

  “We’re fine,” Craddock answered, without looking to see who had asked the question. “We’re just waiting for our friends—”

  When his sentence dropped and she felt him startle, Jessica shifted positions to see why. She freed herself from his arms when the reason became clear.

  “Oh my God!” Shock made way for relief, and then a smirk inched onto Craddo
ck’s face. “Where the hell have you guys been?”

  “Long story!” Josiah called back, approaching with Bibi at his side.

  “The short version is,” Bibi’s voice lowered as they neared, “there are about a dozen fucking McDonald’s near the airport!”

  “We should know,” Josiah laughed, “we took the tour!”

  Being close enough to do so, Craddock moved to embrace Bibi, but was physically pushed out of the way before he could, by Jessica.

  She threw herself into Bibi’s arms, crying harder than before, but with relief. “I thought for sure something bad had happened. I was scared out of my mind!”

  Bibi looked over at Craddock, somewhat amazed by the display of emotion, before tentatively participating in the hug. “We’re fine, Jessica, really. The guy didn’t even try to follow us! Probably was just some pervert,” she joked, bringing smiles to everyone’s faces, including Jessica’s.

  Josiah suddenly, lightly, punched Craddock’s shoulder, gaining his attention. “The McDonald’s tour was costly. We couldn’t cover the cab fare.” He glanced at the yellow taxi in the near distance. “Do’ya think you could—?”

  “I got it, man.” Craddock laughed, giving Josiah a guy-friendly slap on the back as he moved past him. Fishing his wallet out of his back pocket, he headed towards the annoyed looking cabbie.

  Leaving Bibi’s arms, Jessica then threw herself into Josiah’s. “We’re never splitting up again.”

  “Never?” he teased. “‘Cause, eventually, I’m gonna hafta go to the bathroom.”

  Smirking, she pretended to glare at him, but as she stepped back and away, a curious expression replaced her feigned one. “Do you think we should tell Marcy about all this?”

  Josiah raised his hand, like he was participating in a poll. “I vote no.” He and Jessica both looked over at Bibi.

  “I can’t imagine what possible good it could do.” She put her hand in the air like Josiah had, taking hold of his and pulling it down with hers. “I vote no, too.”

  “What are we voting on?” Craddock asked as he rejoined the group. His gaze shifted between the three of them before landing on Jessica.