by Sofia Grey
Was the pilot diverting to Picton? That was closer than Nelson. Hope surged. They’d be landing soon, and she’d be on the ground again, laughing at herself for being so scared.
Or maybe not. The plane was climbing again and turning, and if she was right, they were over the Straits. This made no sense.
“Your attention please,” said Blaydon. “We are returning to Wellington. Once again, I’d like to apologise for the disruption. Please remain seated.”
Juli glanced at her watch. They should be back in Wellington in fifteen or twenty minutes. Until then, she wasn’t letting go of the seat arms.
When land appeared underneath, she let out a sigh of relief. They couldn’t be far from the airport.
She blew out a calming breath and closed her eyes. They were going to be fine. She was panicking over nothing.
*
Jack lay on the bunk and waited. Yanni had taken his duffel, and if Jack was right, he’d now be checking out Jack’s belongings and running traces on the fake ID. That’s what Jack would do if the situation were reversed.
It was close to eight in the morning before Yanni returned, flanked by two of his men. The door unlocked, and in they came, filling the doorway.
Jack swung his legs to the floor and stood, hands in his pockets. There was no sense in appearing too eager.
“Serenity.” Yanni greeted him with an amused smile. “I must apologise for the inhospitable welcome, but I needed to check some details. I’m sure you understand.”
Jack inclined his head. “Trust nobody. Is that still your motto?”
“That’s what keeps me alive. Now come and eat with me. I owe you breakfast.”
Yanni led him to the main building and into a long kitchen, to take seats at a wooden table that filled one side of the room. “You can go,” he said to his men, and they left.
The only other person in the room was a small Asian woman, who served the food. She stayed quiet and kept her eyes downcast.
Jack thanked her as she placed a dish of scrambled eggs and bread in front of him, followed by a jug of fresh coffee. He poured some for himself and dug into the food. It was good, and he was hungry.
“So,” said Yanni, “I have business here at the moment, and guests arriving soon. I may need some help with the security arrangements. Are you interested?”
“I’m between jobs right now. How long do you need me for?”
“A couple of weeks should do it.”
“Sure.” Jack finished his breakfast and pushed the plate away. “What do you want me to do?”
“You can go with Merlot and Scarab today. They’re mapping the area and collecting soil samples.” He gestured to the two men now standing in the doorway. “They’ll show you what’s needed.”
Soil samples again. What the fuck was Yanni looking for?
*
Daisy felt much happier now Charlie was on his way back. She’d see him tomorrow. He missed her. It was hard to stop smiling.
Alex and Sylvie were in good spirits too. Alex was adamant that Joni meant Callum no harm, and while that might be a ploy to stop Sylvie from worrying, the level of stress had dropped immensely. Lara was spending the day with them, and they sat on the deck in the mid-morning sunshine while they decided what to do.
Alex lounged in his chair and grinned at Sylvie. “Well,” he drawled, “I’m finally living up to my Sex God image.”
She nudged him gently with her toe. “Explain, please?”
In reply, he stretched out his arms. “I’m surrounded by three beautiful—pregnant—women and two cute kids.” Winking at Daisy, he playfully asked, “You’re not knocked up as well, are you?”
“No.” She pretended to be outraged, while Sylvie thumped him with a cushion. Lara and Kate laughed at the horseplay.
“And where would my harem like to go today?” Alex looked very pleased with himself, and Daisy shook her head, trying not to laugh.
“Moa Point was fun yesterday,” said Sylvie. “Gorgeous views of the water.”
“Or we could go to that park with the trams?” Kate joined in. “The children would love that.”
When Aiden joined them, Daisy smiled up at him. “We’re trying to plan where to go today. At this rate, it will be dinner time before we make our minds up.”
He didn’t reply, and she stared at him, puzzled. Tension furrowed his brows, and his jaw was tight. “I have some worrying news,” he said, and everyone stilled.
“What’s happened?” Alex was first to speak. “Is it Joni?”
“No.” Aiden glanced at Tanner and Darcy beside him. “Jordan’s group didn’t arrive at the Nelson site this morning.”
“Where are they?”
“What do you mean, didn’t arrive?”
Alex and Kate spoke at the same time.
Aiden took a step forward. He carried a tablet in his hand. “They took off from Wellington Airport on schedule, but the flight didn’t arrive in Nelson. It disappeared somewhere over the Cook Straits.” He hesitated and gazed at the tablet screen. “I’m so very sorry, but I have to tell you. It looks as though their plane has gone down.”
Daisy replayed Aiden’s words in her head. Did he just say Jordan’s plane crashed? Her heart thumped, and she felt sick. She saw Jordan and the others a few hours ago. It seemed unreal that they could be gone, just like that.
Silence fell, punctuated by a strangled sob from Lara.
“No.” said Kate’s voice was a whisper. “I don’t believe it.”
Sylvie and Alex stared at each other, speechless.
“We’re doing everything we can,” said Tanner. “Reviewing flight plans and getting information. Looking for eye-witness statements. We might be wrong.”
“They didn’t arrive in Nelson,” said Alex. “So where could they be?”
“No,” repeated Kate. “This is my husband you’re talking about. I won’t believe it. Not until you show me proof.” Her face was white as the glass of milk she’d been drinking.
Poppy had been playing with Cal, but now the little girl ran to her mother, and Kate scooped her up into her arms.
“I hope you’re wrong,” said Alex.
Aiden nodded. “I hope so too.”
*
The plane seemed to be taking forever to get to Wellington Airport. Juli stared out of the window and watched tiny cars crawling along a congested highway far beneath them. Panic continued to churn in her stomach. She turned, to speak to Jean-Luc.
“Why haven’t we landed yet?”
“I don’t know. This doesn’t feel right.”
“Which part?” It came out as a squeak. None of this felt right.
“We’re travelling north at the moment. That’s State Highway 1. If we were going to land at Wellington, we’d have turned by now, especially if we were having problems. We’d get priority clearance to land.”
“Should we ask for an update?”
“No. I’m not sure, but I think we’ve been set up.”
Her heart pattered like a frightened rabbit. Any minute now, and it would be leaping out of her chest. “How?”
“When we land, if it’s not Wellington, let me do the talking, okay?”
She nodded. “What about Jordan and Nick?”
“I’ll take care of that.” He sat back. “Merde,” he exclaimed on a frustrated breath.
She heard the click of his lap belt and saw him bend over to pick up his watch from the floor. He whispered to Nick, just as Blaydon spoke out.
“Please, sir. Remain in your seat.”
Jean-Luc fastened himself back in, and then whispered to Juli. “I told Nick, and he’ll tell Jordan. We’ll be fine. I’m being overly cautious.”
“May I have your attention?” said Blaydon. “There are issues at Wellington, and we’re diverting to another airfield, but we’ll be landing shortly. Please accept our ongoing apologies.”
Did Juli trust Jean-Luc more than the flight attendant? Yes. Something was badly wrong, and here she was, trapped in in
aeroplane, on the way to God knew where. This was why their phones had been taken. She wanted to slap herself on the forehead and shout duh.
If she still had her phone, she’d be firing off texts to everyone she could think of, as would the others. Instead, they had to sit and wait for whatever was going to happen.
Jean-Luc squeezed her shoulder. She wasn’t alone in this.
It felt like an age, before the plane started to descend. Where the hell where they? All she could see was grass and trees, and big hills in the distance. Paraparaumu was the next airport after Wellington, and while that wasn’t big by anyone’s standards, it was an airport. Where they were landing was a grass strip.
The grass got closer and closer, and then, with a gentle bump, they were on the ground and slowing down.
Juli had a death grip on her seat arms again. They’d have to prise her out of it.
Everything stopped, apart from the engine, now a dull rumble.
Blaydon released his belt and stood. “Welcome. We have transport waiting for you, but first I want to check you in.” He picked up a piece of paper and studied it for a second. “Okay. We should have Jordan Merrill?”
Jordan nodded. “Yes.”
“Nick Anderson?”
“Yeah,” said Nick.
Turning to look at Jean-Luc, Blaydon spoke in a bright voice. “You must be Julien Pascal, and your lady colleague is Jean Lambert?”
“Zat is right.” Jean-Luc spoke before Juli could correct him, using a heavily accented voice. “Jean is ma assistant and ma translator. My Eeenglish ees not good.”
“Okay,” said Blaydon, but Jean-Luc hadn’t finished.
“Parlez-vous le français?” When this was received with a blank look, he tried again. “Do you spik French?”
“Oh. Er... no.” Blaydon looked unsure of himself for the first time.
Jean-Luc smiled. “Ne dites rien,” he said to Juli. Say nothing. “I will try to spik Eeenglish.”
“We’d like our phones returning, please,” said Jordan.
“I’m afraid they stay here,” replied Blaydon. “Along with your laptops and any other bags.”
How Jordan remained calm was a mystery to Juli. “And I’m afraid we need our laptops for the presentations we’ll be doing,” he said. “They are property of TM-Tech. We can’t leave them with you.”
“The devices stay here,” said Blaydon.
Jean-Luc broke in at this point. “What eeez this? What devices?” He looked at Jordan and gave a very Gallic shrug. “Ne disputer pas!” Don’t argue with them!
Did Jordan speak French? And what about Nick? They didn’t say anything, so perhaps they understood.
“Very well,” said Jordan. “Let’s go.”
This was like waking from a bad dream and finding she was still trapped in a nightmare. She wished Jack was here with her.
Chapter Nineteen
Charlie was exhausted. He’d been too wired to sleep on the flight from Paris. Hong Kong Airport was a monument to shiny metal and glass, and normally he’d check out the shops, but his stopover was minimal, just long enough to change flights. He wanted nothing more than to hit the sack and sleep for twelve hours straight. Thank God for seats that converted to beds in the first-class cabin.
He switched on his phone, ready to text Daisy an update, but she’d sent him a message.
Hi babe. Terrible news. Jordan and Juli were on a flight with one of our new guards and Nick from TM-Tech, and their plane has gone missing. Can’t believe it. Pls call Alex when you get chance. Wish u were here now. D xxx
What the holy fuck? He blinked and reread it, but the words stayed the same. He needed to call AJ. What could he say? That didn’t matter. Showing his support was the main thing.
He found a quiet space and dialled his closest friend. His half-brother.
“Charlie?” AJ answered on the second ring.
“Yeah, man. It’s me. I... uh... heard about Jordan. What the fuck happened?”
AJ sighed down the phone. “He was flying down to South Island for a meeting, with Nick and Juli and another guy from Tanner’s team. All we know is that they didn’t arrive. Hang on a minute. Aiden’s here with an update.”
“I’ve got Charlie on the line.” AJ’s voice was muffled. “Go on.”
Charlie hunched over, phone pressed to his ear, and listened hard.
Aiden’s voice was surprisingly clear. “It’s not good news. Wellington Tower received a Mayday alert as the plane reached the Sounds at the top of the island. They lost it from radar shortly after. The emergency services have all turned out, but it’s a large area. We don’t know if they went down in the water or on land. The weather is good, and there are choppers conducting a search from the air.”
“Before you ask,” he continued, “there’s no signal from their phones, but that could be because they were switched off for the flight or because of poor cell-phone reception. The area is sparsely populated, and no eye witnesses have come forward yet, but we have hours of daylight left. We haven’t given up hope.”
It was hard to take in. Jordan had become a fixture in AJ’s life and a good friend to Charlie. It was too much to handle.
“Charlie, you still there? Did you get all that?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Still here. How are you and Sylvie holding up? And what about Kate and Lara? I can’t imagine how you feel.” The words sounded familiar. Daisy said them to him, when she heard about Rodney.
“Man, it’s so fucked. I can’t wrap my head around it. I was going to cancel the gig on Saturday, but Kate insists we go ahead. She said it’s what Jordan would want.” His voice cracked on the name, and there was silence for a long moment. “I’ve got to go. Take care, mate. And thanks for calling. I appreciate it.”
Charlie dragged his fingers through his hair. What else was going to go wrong? He longed to talk to Daisy, so he dialled her number.
“Hey.” She sounded forlorn and close to tears.
“Hey, babe. I just talked to AJ. What a mess. Are you okay?”
She sniffed. “I’m better for hearing your voice. I wish you were here, and I know that’s selfish of me, but I’ve never been so upset. Jordan is such a nice guy, and Kate is in pieces. And what about Poppy? She might never see her daddy again. And Kate and Lara are both pregnant. And the longer it goes on, the less chance there is of them being found.”
Daisy went quiet. It sounded like she blew her nose, and Charlie’s heart ached for her. There was nothing he could do if he was there, but he could hold her, and that might help a tiny bit.
He gripped his phone a little more tightly. He’d stepped from one nightmare straight into another. “I only have a few minutes. I’m changing planes here, and I have to go through the gate soon.”
“It’s okay. It’s good to speak, even if it’s only for a little while. Will you text me from Auckland when you know what time you’ll be landing?”
“Don’t worry. I can make my own way from—”
“I want to come meet you. Please let me.”
What could he say? “I’ll text you my flight details. I just thought you’d be busy. That’s all.”
“It doesn’t matter how busy I am; I’ll meet you at the airport. I can’t wait to see you. I miss you so much, Charlie.”
“Miss you too.” He did miss her. She’d snuck under his defences sometime in the past month, but right now, he needed to get moving. “I’ve got to go, babe. See you tomorrow.”
He boarded the flight and collapsed into his seat. He could do with sleeping, but there was too much noise in his head. Maybe he should get hammered? There was a ludicrous amount of time in the air to look forward to. He could sleep it off and be sober again for when he met Daisy.
Alcohol seemed the only way to block out this new set of demons. He called the attendant and ordered a large malt whisky.
*
If Juli had any doubts about whether they were in trouble, they were quickly dispelled. As she disembarked from th
e tiny plane, she was greeted by two men pointing handguns at her.
Her knees shook so hard, she wasn’t sure she could stand. Without Jean-Luc’s arm around her waist, she would have collapsed to the ground.
“This way, please,” said Blaydon, still polite. He ushered them to a waiting minibus, and they climbed in one at a time. Jordan was first, then Nick.
Her brain was working overtime. There were four of them, versus two men with guns. What were the chances of them overpowering the driver? She’d seen the movies.
The chances diminished when she saw Jordan and Nick had been handcuffed to the seats. There was nothing she could do. Her ass hit the seat at the same time as cool metal snapped shut around her wrist.
Jean-Luc sat next to her and squeezed her hand briefly. He didn’t try to reassure her or promise she’d be safe, and she appreciated that.
They’d walked right into a trap. Was LindenCore working with Yanni? Or had he hijacked their plane?
Her head thumped with the mother of all stress headaches. She hoped it didn’t develop into a full-blown migraine on top of everything else.
One of the armed men sat with them, while the other drove. Maybe she could at least figure out where they were, in case they had the chance to escape later.
The rear windows were all blacked out, and a thick mesh partition blocked off the front seats, so she abandoned that idea. They were trapped. She opened her mouth to ask for a drink of water, but their guard shook his head.
“No talking.”
He sat far enough away that nobody could reach him. There would be no sudden heroics from Jean-Luc. They were stuck until they were released.
The journey took over an hour. The last half felt like a rough track with twists and turns, and they climbed steadily.
Juli was rarely travel sick, but she could normally look out of a window. This was like travelling in a darkened box. By the time the vehicle stopped and the engine was shut off, her stomach churned and nausea hung in her throat. It wouldn’t take much, to hurl the scant contents of her stomach.
Someone opened the sliding door and light flooded in. Juli blinked, dazzled. Her wrist was released from the cuff, and a guy tugged her arm. “Get out, please, and come with me.”
