The Abandoned (A Sarah Roberts Thriller Book 14) Page 3

  She wondered about Vivian’s message and what it meant for Aaron. Or who was coming for Aaron. Why hospitalize a student and then lie low for a week? What was Vivian not telling her?

  It was irritating to have Vivian reveal all after Sarah had finished her tasks. Why not explain everything at the beginning? Get it all out there. Then Sarah could be better armed to deal with what she had to go through.

  But Sarah suspected that it had something to do with fate, or with having to live our lives on earth without any foreknowledge of the future. Vivian probably had rules she needed to follow. Take this airplane. It will crash. And that is all you need to know for now. Sarah was on the plane. She was doing as she was told. And when it was all over and everything was ironed out, Vivian would explain why she could only tell Sarah this or that and how it led Sarah on the right path.

  Sarah reclined her seat farther. The steady drone of the plane’s engines propelled them at over five hundred miles an hour. The engines had a relaxing quality about them.

  Her eyes shut as Sarah drifted off on the plane that would eventually crash, her dinner tray still not taken, the interior lights of the plane still on, and the blonde man in the suit still sitting behind her.

  Sarah woke with a start. Beside her, the mother and her son slept soundlessly.

  She rubbed her eyes and looked around the darkened cabin. The window shades were down, the lights dimmed. The seats to her right were filled with people in various states of sleep. Some watched the TV screens in the headrest of the seat in front of them. One man stood in the aisle, stretching his legs.

  Sarah undid her belt and got up to stretch in the aisle.

  The seat behind hers was empty. The blond man was gone.

  She started toward the lavatory, the narrow aisle difficult to manage as a foot stuck out here and an elbow there.

  Three men stood waiting at the toilets . Each door had a little sign saying they were in use. None of the men were her blonde man. She sidestepped through the galley and came out in the other aisle where one woman waited for the toilet.

  Up one aisle and down the other, there was no movement. Maybe Blonde Man was in one of the lavatories. Maybe when he got up from his seat, it woke her.

  She started toward the back of the plane. Blonde Man was nowhere to be found so she entered one of the lavatories at the back and used it. When she stepped out, a man crowded her.

  “Oh sorry,” she said, looking up. “Here, all yours …”

  The blonde man smiled down at her. A familiar rush of adrenaline filled her stomach. He had been watching her, following her through the plane. But from where? And why? Neither of them could leave the large metal tube in the sky. Everyone was stuck on the plane until it landed or crashed.

  “Long way from your seat,” he said.

  “I could say the same about you.”

  She closed the lavatory door and rested her back against it. They were alone, the closest passengers a few feet away, sleeping in their chairs. About four seats up, two people with headphones watched the tiny screen in front of them.

  They had time. At least four or five hours before they were due to land. Nothing insane could happen in that time, could it?

  “What’s the nature of your trip to Amsterdam?” she asked. “Business or pleasure?”

  “Both.” His reply was short and clipped, but his face remained friendly.

  Sarah moved to lean on the metal counter with small doors that housed what the flight attendants used to prepare meals and drinks.

  “What kind of business are you in?” she asked.

  “Home repair.”

  She frowned. “Home repair? Like Home Depot?”

  “Not exactly. I work for the U.S. government.”

  I knew it!

  He continued. “When I said home repair, I meant that I travel to various countries around the world and aid in repairing our image.” He chuckled softly and leaned against the lavatory door. “As you’re probably aware, we don’t have a very good image abroad. There are a lot of countries that have issues with our foreign policy.”

  “I wouldn’t know much about that. I mean, I read the papers and have a basic understanding of what’s going on in the world, but I usually keep to myself.”

  He changed his position, crossed his arms and rested his shoulder on the door.

  “Tell me,” he said. “What happened back at the airport?”

  It wasn’t an accident that she felt his eyes on her at the airport and then his seat was behind hers and now he had followed her to the rear of the plane. A thought slid home: he was here because of her. She was his agenda.

  “I’m Sarah,” she said, extending her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “I’m Buck Schaffer, but you can call me, Casper.”

  She mentally logged the name for a Google search when they landed—if they landed.

  “Casper? Why’s that?”

  The plane encountered mild turbulence, which seemed worse at the rear of the plane. Sarah had to balance herself by placing a hand on the counter behind her.

  Casper pointed at his blonde hair. “Always had this hair. Nearly white when I was a kid. I didn’t like my first nickname, which was the first letters of Buck Schaffer, BS. But Casper stuck in high school and to this day, everyone calls me Casper.”

  More turbulence shook them. Sarah’s stomach did a flip. Vivian said this plane had accident written all over it and they were at least 38,000 feet above the ocean at the moment.

  Hey Sis, at least let me know if the people on this plane survive.

  “You okay?” Casper asked.

  “Yeah. Fine.”

  Then Vivian’s voice reached her in its dark, echoing quality.

  Their survival is up to you, Vivian whispered.

  “Oh shit,” Sarah whispered aloud before she could take it back.

  “You’re not going to pass out again, are you?”

  She studied his face. Why wouldn’t Vivian help with who he was or what he was up to?

  “No, I’m sure I won’t pass out again.”

  “Is that a condition or something?”

  He sounded genuinely interested.

  “No condition. People faint all the time.” She looked at the carpet and shuffled her feet in an attempt to express embarrassment.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not trying to pry.”

  She looked up and met his eyes. “It’s okay.”

  “It’s just, I was surprised by airport security’s response. Wouldn’t they bring a paramedic over to check on you? Instead you were surrounded by guards and literally led away. I didn’t think you were coming back.”

  “Me either. But it wasn’t important. I made the flight, right?” She smiled wide, then dropped the smile.

  “That you did.”

  “Tell me something else,” Sarah said. “What’s your interest in me?”

  He smiled, which seemed to light up his face, but he didn’t say anything at first.

  “No answer?” Sarah asked.

  “Let’s just say that you put on a show back at the airport that caught my eye.”

  “And that’s it? Nothing more?”

  “That and I thought I recognized you.”

  “Do you?” Sarah asked.

  “You’re the girl that everyone was looking for over the past few days.”

  The events that took place during her recent time in Toronto had been held back from the media by a gag order. Sarah’s name never made the news. The detectives handling the case had been diligent about that. So how did Casper know? Which led her to the next question. How high in the government was he? High enough that prompted airport security to say that Sarah had friends in high places? Did Casper get her out of the airport security’s clutches? If so, why? What did he want?

  “Tell me something,” Sarah said as turbulence shook the plane again. This time it continued until the seatbelt light flicked on. They were going to have to take their seats. “My picture and my name weren
’t in the news. You didn’t recognize me because of Toronto. Which means we need to start at the beginning. Who are you and what do you want with me?”

  A flight attendant stepped in behind Casper.

  “Excuse me, could you both please return to your seats?” she asked.

  “In a minute,” Sarah said. “We’re almost done here.”

  Casper raised an arm above his head and rested against the wall of the lavatory. It gave ample access for the flight attendant to step by him.

  “I’m sorry,” the flight attendant said, “but I’m afraid I have to insist. The captain has turned on the seatbelt light. You need to retake your seats.”

  Reluctantly, Sarah nodded. The woman was right. They had to follow the rules or risk escalating the situation. Being charged with air rage was something she didn’t want on her record.

  The flight attendant moved aside to allow Sarah room. As she eased by Casper, something glinted inside his jacket. She slowed and did a double take just as he dropped his arm. The first image in her mind was enough, but she had wanted the double take to solidify the image.

  Then he was gone through the walkway behind the seats and up along the opposite aisle.

  “Ma’am,” the attendant said behind her as she watched Casper disappear toward the front of the plane. “Your seat. You need to retake your seat now.”

  “Right,” Sarah mumbled and started forward.

  On the way back to her seat, she couldn’t get the image out of her mind. What puzzled her the most was how Casper got it onto the plane.

  How could he smuggle a knife without airport security picking it up?

  And the gun stuffed in a holster? How could he have done that?

  Unless he was an air marshal of some kind. But wasn’t that only on domestic American flights? She hadn’t heard of international air marshals before.

  Her seat came up on the left. She would sit, think on it and then when the seatbelt light turned off, she would turn around in her seat and ask him about the knife and the gun holstered in his jacket. If his answer worked, she’d let it go. If it didn’t, Casper could be the reason this plane crashes and that meant she had to do something about it. She would have to do something about Casper.

  Four seats from hers, she slowed.

  Casper had left the back of the plane half a minute before her. He would have beat her back to their seats.

  But his was still empty.

  Casper the ghost was gone.

  Chapter 3

  Sarah retook her seat, adjusted her seatbelt, and waited. Casper would resurface, unless he bought two plane tickets, giving him a seat elsewhere on the plane. Maybe he worked for the airlines.

  She rested her head back as turbulence shook the aircraft. A man to her right woke with a start, adjusted himself and tried to go back to sleep. The boy by the window to her left slept undisturbed. His mother wasn’t doing so well.

  “You okay?” Sarah asked.

  The woman nodded. “I don’t like the shaking.”

  “Me neither. But these planes are made to handle it.”

  She wasn’t sure if she was consoling her fellow passenger or trying to convince herself as she already knew this plane was doomed. But what was bothering her more was the immediate danger of Casper roaming the plane with weapons.

  She undid her seatbelt and got to her feet.

  Casper’s seat was still empty. She started up the aisle and stopped at a divider. After a moment’s pause, she pulled the curtain aside and stepped into first class. Small televisions displayed several different shows intermittently throughout the seats. Some were watching while others had fallen asleep in front of their TVs.

  Sarah continued forward, intent on locating a senior crew member before returning to her seat. At the next curtain, she pulled it back cautiously in case Casper was there. He wasn’t, but two crew members were talking, each having a coffee.

  “Can we help you?” the tall, dark-haired one asked. “You should be in your seat during this turbulence.”

  “I need to speak to your senior crew member.”

  “That’s me. My name is Jasmijn Luna.”

  “I’m Sarah. I was speaking with a man who was sitting in the fifteenth row, seat C.” She stopped talking to grab a handle protruding from the bulkhead in order to balance herself as turbulence continued to assault the plane.

  “Is he still in his seat?” Jasmijn asked.

  “No. I haven’t seen him.”

  The flight attendants exchanged a glance. “Well, I’m sure he’s still on the flight somewhere.”

  “Are there any air marshals on this flight?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Because the man I was speaking with is armed.”

  Another exchange between the women. They didn’t appear to be taking her seriously.

  “When you had your meal, did you choose an alcoholic beverage?” Jasmijn asked.

  Sarah narrowed her eyes. “Don’t take this lightly. You have an armed man roaming this aircraft. I saw the gun under his jacket. What is the protocol for dealing with situations like this?”

  Jasmijn undid her seatbelt and stood to her full height. She was over six feet tall with heels.

  “Look, Sarah, you were chatting with a man at the back of the plane, quite far from your own seat. When asked to go sit down, at first you refused. We still have the seatbelt light on and you’re walking around the plane telling stories about men with guns. Our security is good enough these days that there are no guns on board.”

  “One man. One gun.”

  “You’re becoming a problem.”

  “And the gunman isn’t a problem?”

  “There is no man on the plane with a gun,” Jasmijn said in a stern voice. “Security wise, it’s a near impossibility.”

  “He has a knife as well.”

  “Look, Sarah, I’m going to need you to walk back to your seat and stay there for the duration of the flight. Speak of this to no one. Can you do that?”

  If it meant avoiding the inevitable plane crash, she would have to locate Casper on her own. Jasmijn was making it abundantly clear she wasn’t willing to listen.

  To avoid looking desperate or worse, Sarah nodded. “I’ll go back to my seat. But this man is armed and he’s dangerous.”

  “How would you know he’s dangerous? Are you in law enforcement?”

  “You could say that.”

  “What are your credentials?”

  Sarah shook her head and stepped back to the curtain. “I’ll head back to my seat now.”

  “If we see this man, what was his name? Did you get a name?”

  “Yes,” she said without thinking.

  “Well, what was his name?”

  “He goes by the name Casper.” She avoided using his real name, Buck Schaffer. That reduced her credibility instantly. There was no use continuing this conversation.

  The attendants looked at each other, then back to Sarah. “Casper, as in Casper the friendly ghost? And now you’re saying you can’t find him. You said he disappeared.”

  Sarah pulled the curtain aside and stepped past it, letting it fall back in place behind her. On the way to her seat, she realized how easy it was to lose credibility with just one word.

  Where could he be? Hiding in a lavatory? Or two plane tickets, two seats? But why?

  She scanned all the faces until she reached her seat in the fourteenth row. Casper’s seat remained empty. No crew members were close by. Only pausing for a brief moment by her seat, she continued toward the back of the plane scanning faces, in search of the friendly ghost. Near the back she crossed to the other side and started up the aisle.

  The attendant from earlier approached her.

  “Ma’am, you need to retake your seat. The seatbelt light is still on.”

  “Where is the man I was talking to?” Sarah asked. “You saw us talking back there by the lavatory. Where is he now?”

  “I have no idea. He’s probably in his seat as you should be.�
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  “He’s not in his seat.” She leaned in close so none of the other passengers could overhear her. “That man was armed with a gun and a knife.”

  The flight attendant gasped and pulled back to look in Sarah’s eyes. The surprise on her face was evident.