by Dale Mayer
“I think I should come with you,” Cade said. “Do you have the details on your father’s accident?”
Laszlo turned to look at him. “Only what the police told us. Now I want the full report.”
“Do you know who hit him? Do you know any other details?”
“My father always went for a walk in the evening. Always. For almost all of his seventy-four years he had dinner, then would go for a walk.”
“Don’t tell me the accident happened while he was walking?”
“Hit-and-run,” he growled. “Nobody knows anything about the vehicle. Nobody saw the vehicle. Nobody saw the accident. The dogs came home, barking, brought my brother outside to see what had happened. My brother found our father and got him to the hospital.”
“What kind of shape is he in?” Erick asked quietly.
Shoving his fists into his pockets, Laszlo rocked back on his heels. “It’s bad,” he admitted. “Head injury, several broken ribs, broken leg and hip. He’s out of the hospital now, at home, but he’s mostly immobile. I didn’t want to leave them. But, once I realized what was going on here, no way I wouldn’t come and help too. My father’s recovering. Nurses come to the house every few days to check on him. Plus he has my brother. Only now a killer could be coming after our father to finish the job he started.”
Laszlo’s jaw clenched, a muscle in the side of his face twitching. “And maybe we’re off in the deep end here,” he said. “Absolutely nothing says that the person who blew us up two years ago is going after our families. What about that makes sense?”
“Like Cade said,” Talon offered, “it’s hate. At a whole new level.”
“But it’s not just hating one of us. It means hating all of us.”
“We need to find out from Geir if he sustained any family losses,” Erick said abruptly. “While we already know about Jager’s parents’ deaths, contacting Jager for any further info will be a whole different problem—if we can’t get a hold of him yet.”
“If he’s gone dark, you know you can’t reach him unless he wants to be reached.”
“We might not get a response, but we can certainly get a message to him. The same as I did for Geir,” Erick corrected. “And I can do that. I can text him to find out if he’s had any personal losses and to say we’re worried about a new angle.”
“Do that now. I’ll book a flight,” Laszlo said. “No way I’m leaving my father and brother alone. Not right now. Not like this. Of all the things they are capable of doing, defending themselves against a pro is not one of them.”
“It’s also potentially our closest lead to finding out who did this to all of us,” Cade said. “Make sure you book a flight for me too.”
Talon snorted. “No way in hell you two are leaving me behind. If they’ve already tried to take out your father, then we all have some work to do.”
“This just got exponentially bigger,” Erick protested. “We need every one of those accident reports.” He almost growled, then sighed. “Since I’m now the official comm center”—he glared at the other guys—“I’ll need details from each of you as to when and where and who. I’ll arrange to get copies of the official reports from the respective police departments and the coroners, as needed. We’ll compare all the details, and we’ll need everybody’s help to deal with what we find.”
“We already know Levi and Mason will help,” Cade said. “And they have some of the best computer equipment and the best programmers to go with it. Let’s pull all the information, toss it into one of their laps and see if they can come up with any correlations. At the same time, the three of us will fly to Norway and make sure that accident was exactly that. An accident.”
Faith stared at the email in her inbox. It was from Mary, the sister of her best friend, Elizabeth. She and Faith had gone to school together in Santa Fe, New Mexico. But when Faith went into flight school, Elizabeth’s mother had remarried and moved to Norway. It was where Elizabeth had been born, so she had decided to return to her home country and to become a teacher there, so she could stay close to her mom and sister.
Faith read it aloud slowly. “So sorry to tell you but Elizabeth was in a bad car accident. She’s alive and holding on, but the prognosis isn’t good.”
Faith reached for her phone, grateful Mary had at least included her phone number. When Mary answered, Faith said, “I’m flying over.”
“I can understand maybe you want to do that,” Mary said. “But she’s not awake and isn’t likely to regain consciousness. She’s dying.”
Faith pinched the bridge of her nose. It was all she could do to not burst into tears. “When did this happen?”
“Yesterday,” Mary said sadly. “Accidents are like that. They take the best of us and wipe them off the face of the earth with absolutely no apologies.”
Faith hated that it was already a done deal in Mary’s mind. “I can be there in twelve hours.” She checked her watch. “Maybe less.”
“I know you’re a pilot, but you need a plane to make it that fast.”
“I can probably get on the next flight. I’ll send you the details as soon as I know them.” Faith hung up with Mary as she raced to her bedroom, already calling the flight office. “I need a compassionate leave flight to Norway yesterday,” she snapped.
“Family?”
“Best friend.”
Being a pilot for the company, she already got free flights. But often overseas flights were fully booked. She just prayed for a miracle.
“We have one leaving in forty-seven minutes. But that’s likely too early for you.”
“No, it’s not. I’ll take it.”
She hung up the phone, threw a few pieces of clothing into her carry-on bag, grabbed her passport and purse, thankful she was always ready to go at a moment’s notice, and raced for her vehicle. She briefly thought about calling for a cab, her mind remembering the two men she’d met in her last cab ride.
She vaguely remembered their names. She remembered the blond, blue-eyed man more. But then he had one of those faces that left an impression. Eyes that seemed to gaze into her soul, looking for something, always searching for answers. Inside her car she opened the garage door with the remote, drove out, hit the button to close the door behind her then pulled out onto the main road. As soon as she reached the open highway, she stomped on the gas pedal.
She didn’t have time for any delays. They wouldn’t hold the plane for her either. It’s not like she’s flying this one. She was only fifteen minutes away from the airport on purpose. This was her life. She was out far enough to be in a suburban area but still close enough that she didn’t have a horrible drive getting in and out of work. She left her vehicle in long-term parking any time she could. That was where she headed now.
She parked and ran through the departure lanes. She cleared security easily and raced toward the departure gate. The gate attendant looked up, saw her and cried, “Oh, thank heavens. Everyone’s boarded.”
She nodded and barreled through. As soon as the onboard flight attendant saw her, she motioned her in, pointed at the front seat and said, “That’s yours,” and proceeded to close the door behind her.
Faith tossed her bag in the overhead compartment and collapsed into the seat, her breath ragged, her hands trembling.
An older lady was seated beside her. “So you’re the one we were waiting for.”
Faith slanted her gaze at the woman and whispered, “Sorry.”
The older lady just smiled and nodded. “When you get to be my age, very few things in life are worth racing for.”
“A friend is dying.”
“Oh, my dear.” The woman grabbed her hand to hold it in both of hers. “I’m so sorry.”
The tears she hadn’t allowed herself to shed clung to the corner of her eyelashes. She sniffled, reached into her purse and pulled out a Kleenex. “I just got word,” she said. “It’s all I could do to grab this flight, so I can get over there.”
She gently withdrew her hand and settled
into her spot. She had brought her laptop with her, and, as soon as the flight was at altitude and stable, she sent messages to move her work shifts around. She’d taken shifts from many coworkers, and thankfully they were happy to return the favor. Then Faith sent an email to Mary, saying when she would arrive. The next nine hours would be torturous until she finally saw Elizabeth with her own eyes.
Chapter 2
When Faith awoke from her restless sleep, she was still on the airplane. The lady beside her, a blanket over her shoulders, snored gently. These long transatlantic flights were rough in the best of times, but Faith was used to it. She had a couple flights she loved—the Singapore flight was one of them, along with this Norway flight. She settled back and smiled when the flight attendant brought her a cup of coffee. “Thank you,” Faith whispered in the silent plane.
“We’ll be landing in just under an hour. So you have time for this.”
“Perfect,” Faith said with a smile. In fact, it was better than that, as it meant she’d gotten some sleep. And that was important. Just as she was about to settle into her laptop, the flight attendant returned with a full meal.
“You slept through yours.”
Realizing she didn’t have a clue what she was arriving into, she pulled her little table toward her and proceeded to polish off the food. When everything was gone, they were already on their descent.
The little old lady beside her had trouble waking up. She kept yawning and covering her mouth. She was smiling—she was sweet. She leaned over to Faith. “I’ll see my grandchildren.”
“That’ll be fun,” Faith returned.
They were about to land. And after that it was the usual chaos of getting off the airplane. The flight attendant let her off first. There were some benefits to being a pilot herself. She raced through the tarmac, into the building and to the other side. She grabbed the first cab and gave him the address for the hospital. In silence he drove her right there. She used a credit card to pay him and stormed inside the hospital.
When the big doors closed behind her, she stopped and stood for a moment. She’d made it. Now the question was, was she in time? Her stomach sick at the thought, she walked over to the reception desk, hoping someone would speak English. But just as she went to ask where her friend was, a voice called out.
“Faith.”
She spun to see Mary racing toward her. They hugged, and, when she stepped back slightly, Faith asked, “And?”
Mary smiled. “She’s still holding on.”
She led Faith down to her sister’s side. At the sight of the tubes, bandages and swelling, Faith stopped at the doorway, her heart seizing, her breath catching in the back of her throat.
Mary leaned over and gripped her fingers. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve warned you.”
Faith shook her head. “There is no preparing anyone for this.” She took several small steps forward. “Is it safe to hold her hand?”
“You can touch it, just don’t lift it.”
Faith pulled a chair up close and covered her friend’s long fingers with her own. “Elizabeth, can you hear me?”
She tossed a glance at Mary who shook her head. “She’s still sedated.”
The machines beeped reassuringly at Elizabeth’s side. Faith reached her other hand to gently stroke Elizabeth’s forearm. And then she talked to her friend in a gentle tone. “Come back to us, Elizabeth. Keep fighting the good fight. You’ve never been a quitter. I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
Faith didn’t know how long she had rambled on, but it seemed like the words just tumbled off her lips. She didn’t have any rhyme or reason for when one conversation ended and the next started, but it seemed like she was running through their best memories and some of their toughest times.
Finally she fell silent and let her head drop onto the bed beside Elizabeth’s prone body. And Faith relaxed. She could feel her best friend’s pulse underneath her fingers, and Elizabeth’s fingers twitched every once in a while. A couple times Faith thought maybe those movements were in response to her voice, but the doctors who’d been in had assured her it was just nerves twitching. There was nothing reassuring about that.
Then the nurses came around, asking Faith to leave because they had dressings to change. Outside the room Faith walked up and down the hall for a long time. She didn’t know what to do with herself. She didn’t have a place to stay, and she couldn’t even think about leaving Elizabeth. There was no sign of Mary. Faith sat down in one of the chairs in the hallway and scrubbed her face. She needed food. Coffee would be good. Through her fatigue she heard voices.
She looked up at the sound of someone speaking English. And her jaw dropped. The two men she had shared the cab with in her hometown were talking to a doctor. Their conversation was low and urgent. A third man joined them, speaking Norwegian. Finally the doctor walked away, leaving the three men talking together. They were obviously friends.
Given this moment to observe them unaware, she smiled. The one guy was just as she had remembered him gloved hand. She hadn’t thought anything about it before, when she had first met him, but now she watched his movements closer. She frowned. That may be a prosthetic hand. She wondered what kind of an accident he had been in to lose his left hand. Her heart immediately went out to him. Maybe it was this hospital environment that had her emotions so raw and easily displayed, but she wouldn’t even be here if not for Elizabeth. Faith was sure Elizabeth wouldn’t choose to be here either, given that choice.
Curious and wondering about the synchronicity that would have two people from Santa Fe, New Mexico, halfway around the world in the same hospital, she approached and said, “Hi. You guys remember me?”
Two of the men turned to look at her with blank faces, but the one man’s face lit up with recognition. “You’re the pilot.”
She reached out and shook his hand. “I’m Faith Halladay.”
“Cade Terence,” he said by way of introduction. He motioned to the two men beside him. “Talon was in the cab with us that day we first met. And this is Laszlo. A friend of ours.”
“Are you Norwegian?” she asked Laszlo, wondering at the single black glove he wore on his left hand.
He nodded. “My father and brother live here.”
“But not you?”
He shrugged. “I was in the US for over a decade. Now I’m not exactly sure where I live.”
That surprised her. But she understood in a way. “That makes sense. I’ve been a pilot long enough that sometimes I’m not sure what country I belong in anymore.”
The men nodded in agreement. “That happens when you travel a lot.”
“Or when life throws you a curve ball, and everything changes,” Talon said.
Cade looked at her. “It doesn’t look like you’re here for a very nice reason either.”
She smiled. “Is that a polite way of saying that I look like crap?”
He shrugged. “You could never look like crap, but it’s obvious you’re tired and under an emotional strain.”
She reached out and gripped his fingers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. The truth is, I flew over because my best friend was in a car accident. She’s not expected to make it, and I wanted to get here before she passed.”
At the sadness in her voice Cade squeezed her fingers back. “I’m so sorry.”
“At least she made it through the night so I could be by her side.” Faith tried for a brighter smile. “And every day is a chance for her to fight for the next day.” She turned to see Elizabeth’s room was still full of doctors and nurses. “They kicked me out. That’s when I realized I didn’t have a place to go. After landing, I came straight here. I haven’t taken a break for coffee or food.” She shook her head. “Talk about throwing me a curve ball.” She glanced at Laszlo. “I don’t suppose you’d take a walk through the cafeteria with me, so I can get a meal?”
He chuckled. “Most people here speak some English. But we should probably grab something to eat too.” H
e glanced at the other two men with an eyebrow raised. They all nodded.
“Why are you guys here?” she asked as Laszlo led them down the hall.
“My father was in a hit-and-run accident a month ago,” Laszlo said quietly. “We came back to check on him.”
“He’s okay though?”
Laszlo’s tone deepened as he said, “He survived, if that’s what you mean.”
She thought about what he’d said. “Right. Nobody is really okay after something like that, are they?”
He nodded.
For whatever reason she didn’t seem to want to leave it alone. Maybe it was hearing his father had survived that gave her hope for her own friend. “Is he still in the hospital?
“No, he’s home now. We were just checking in with the doctor to see what kind of treatment was available.” He opened a large door for her.
She stepped in to see a fairly calm dining room atmosphere, unlike what she would have expected in a North American hospital. Every time she walked into one in the States, it seemed to be noisy with pots and pans clanging and people talking. But then she realized it was close to midnight here.
As a group they walked through the cafeteria. She was happy to hear that, although the languages were not all English, she could make herself understood. At the cash register she pulled out a credit card. “I only have US cash.”
Laszlo smiled. “Credit cards work for everything here.”
After she paid, she turned around to look for a place to sit. She should have asked the doctors how long they needed before she could return. The men grouped around her and pointed to a table off by the window. She walked over and sat down, surprised and delighted when they joined her. Cade and Talon only had coffee. Laszlo appeared to have a large sandwich with a big chunk of bread on the side.
She smiled. “I didn’t see anything like that on the menu board.”
He shrugged as he pulled off his glove and laid it beside him. “Some food you have to know to ask for.”
