Suddenly, she felt a difference in pressure, and she jumped, looking up and half expecting the panel to drop masks at her.
But it didn’t.
“Depressurized the cabin,” the flight attendant called to her seatmate. “We must be below 10,000 feet.”
“Is that good or bad?” Josh asked nervously.
No one answered him.
They all almost screamed when the engine sound changed and the plane slowed, its wallowing becoming far more apparent. Then another sound, a louder one, and Kerry just barely kept herself from total panic by realizing the sound was the landing gear extending. That meant—her frazzled mind clung to the rationale—that meant the noise before that was the air spoilers, slowing the plane for landing.
Right? She never remembered them being that loud, though.
The plane yawed and wobbled, the nose dipping, then the speed cutting back drastically. Outside, she could still only see clouds. She stared at them, willing them to part and show her something other than muddy darkness around the plane. “C’mon...c’mon...”
Lower and lower, until Kerry was sure they were going to crash.
She closed her eyes and thought of Dar and fiercely told herself that when she got to heaven—because God damn it, that’s where she was going—she’d be so careful to watch over Dar, and make sure she was never alone.
She bowed her head.
Then the darkness on the other side of the window dissolved—into rain, and lashing wind, and the lights of a big city, flashing by quickly as the big plane stumbled and rocked its way onto the runway, landing to one side, bouncing, then landing again, this time solidly on all of its wheels.
The engines reversed, and the blur of the lights turned into the solid outlines of a terminal, then exploded into color as a cadre of 30 Melissa Good emergency vehicles whizzed around them, circling the plane as it limped its way toward the buildings.
Kerry felt all the tension rush out of her, leaving her limp in her seat and completely exhausted. Not even the rattle of sleet against the window stirred her as she simply closed her eyes and gave a quiet, heartfelt thanks.
The plane rocked to a halt. Kerry reached for her cell phone.
IT WAS HYPNOTIC. Dar stayed crouched over her laptop, continually hitting the refresh button and attempting to change the indicator on the page by sheer force of will. “Change, damn you,” she whispered under her breath, slamming the button on the mouse for the thousandth time.
And it did. The page redrew, and the Delayed status morphed before her startled eyes to Arrived—Newark.
“Newark.” Dar blinked. She clicked on it again and watched the same results occur. Again. Same thing. Her shoulder muscles relaxed and she slumped over the desk. Then she sucked in a breath and closed her hand around the cell phone and started to lift it. It rang as she did so, causing her whole body to jerk in shocked surprise. The cell phone went flying and Dar dove after it, tripping over the laptop’s cable and sprawling across the carpet in an undignified tumble.
Her head struck the bedside table and she yelped, but her fingers found the buzzing phone and she managed to get it open and to her ear without further injury. “Yeah?”
“Sweetheart, you have no idea what I’ve just been through.”
Dar rolled onto her back and sucked the voice in, every muscle going completely slack in utter relief. “Uh?”
Kerry sighed into the phone. “We just landed. We hit this huge storm, and the plane was rocking all over the place, and we lost an engine, and I think my stomach’s going to resign and find a better job somewhere else after that ride down.”
Dar placed a hand over her own belly and blinked. “Yeah. I know what you mean,” she murmured softly into the phone. “Glad you’re okay.”
“I’ve never been so scared in my life.” Kerry’s voice was shaking.
“I bet,” Dar murmured. “I bet it felt like your heart was coming out your ears.” She rubbed one of hers, then let the hand fall to the carpet limply.
“Yeah,” Kerry sighed. “I’m still shaking.”
Dar lifted the errant paw again and watched it tremble. “Hmm.”
She let it drop with a thump. “Ow.”
“What’s wrong?” Kerry asked. “We’re stuck in here for a few minutes. They’re trying to get the jetway working. It’s all iced, I think.”
“I bumped my head,” Dar told her. “So, you’re in New Jersey?” She Red Sky At Morning 31
had hardly a notion of what she was saying, merely pushing words out to fill the quiet. “You didn’t get hurt or anything, did you?”
“No.” Kerry sighed. “Just scared. I want off this airplane; and I hope I am stuck overnight, because let me tell you—I’m not anxious to get on another one of them right now.”
“Mm...yeah. I can understand that. Boy,” Dar exhaled, “wish I’d been there with you.”
Kerry was very quiet for a moment, and when she did start speaking, there was a distinct catch in her voice. “I wish you were, too.
Just before we landed, I...” Kerry stopped, then went on. “I was so scared.”
Dar rolled onto her side and curled her hands around the phone, wanting to reach right through it. Maybe she could squeeze through if she really tried hard. “Sorry you had such a rotten time, Ker. Hang in there, okay? I’ll come get you.”
A shaky sigh answered her. “You okay? You sound kinda washed out.”
Like a limp dishrag. Dar now had an excellent insight into that hoary old saying. “I’m fine, just tired; and I think this damn New York food knocked my system for a loop.”
“Oh. Where’d you end...” Kerry paused. “They got the door open; I need to get out of here. Sweetie, I’ll give you a call back as soon as I figure out where I am.”
“Sure. Talk to you soon,” Dar answered. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Kerry’s voice, finally, sounded a smile at her. “I can’t wait to see you.”
Dar let the phone drop onto the carpet and just lay there for a moment. Then she rolled to her feet and grabbed the room phone in one hand and her sneakers with the other. The operator came on. “I need to go to the airport.”
“Which airport, ma’am?”
“The one in New Jersey.”
“Newark?”
Dar spared the receiver a disgusted look. “Is that in New Jersey?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then that’s the one.” Dar got her sneaker on and was tugging the laces one-handed. “I need to go now.”
“Ma’am, there are no planes leaving at this time of night. We’d have to call for a special driver.”
Dar sucked in a breath and counted to ten. “Then call one,” she ground out. “Now.”
THE AIRPORT WAS in chaos. Kerry eased to one side of the jetway and pressed her back against the wall, letting the flow of people from the plane push past her. The storm had closed a lot of air routes, and the 32 Melissa Good place was packed with stranded, angry travelers.
Her fellow travelers clustered around an airline representative.
Most of them were upset and still shaken, and the voices Kerry heard were strident and loud.
Her own knees were shaking. She trudged over and sat down in the one vacant seat near the gate podium, letting her briefcase drop between her feet as she rested her elbows on her thighs. She was sure everyone was frantic to get rerouted or obtain free accommodations or demand compensation from the airline.
Kerry didn’t need any of that. She was simply glad to be on the ground in one piece. She folded her hands together and leaned her head against them, taking a moment for a few whispered words of gratitude to the Lord who had surely been watching over her.
A hand on her shoulder made her jerk and look up. “Oh.” She straightened as an airline rep knelt next to her. “Hi.”
“Are you all right, ma’am?” the woman asked kindly. “I know you had a rough trip in.”
Kerry glanced behind her, where their plane was now surrounded by emergency vehicles and flashing lights. “You could say that.” She managed a smile. “I’m just waiting for the crush to disperse over there.”
Her eyes went to the crowd around the other representatives.
The woman patted Kerry’s briefcase, glancing at the small platinum tag attached to the case buckle, then back up at Kerry. “Why don’t you come with me, and we’ll get you taken care of,” she suggested casually.
In the maelstrom inside the airport, with all the upset people and canceled flights, the last thing Kerry would have thought of would have been to claim privilege. However, since it was being offered, she wasn’t about to turn it down. “Sure. I’d love that.” She stood and picked up the case, following the rep as she eased through the crowd and worked her way past the other irate customers.
Kerry caught sight of Josh just as she cleared the crowd. He was waiting his turn rather forlornly, and he gave her a weak smile as their eyes met. “Looks like we’re getting floor space,” he commented. “No flights out until tomorrow.”
“I wasn’t in the mood to be on another one anyway,” Kerry admitted. “Chicago can wait.”
“Not for me.” Josh shook his head. “I meant it. I’m going home.”
Kerry fished in her pocket and pulled out one of her business cards, which she handed to him. “If you really decide to quit, give me a call.”
He glanced at the card, then looked more closely at the title, his eyebrows jerking up in a way that was comical. His eyes widened and he looked back at her. Kerry winked at him, gave him a pat on the side, then turned and continued after the fidgeting attendant.
“Nice-looking guy,” the attendant commented.
“Yeah,” Kerry agreed, distracted by the speakers echoing loudly around them.
Red Sky At Morning 33
“Did you want to bring him along? We could squeeze him in with you if you—”
“Huh?” Kerry’s head snapped back, realizing what the woman was saying. “Oh, um, no. No, thanks.” She ran a hand through her hair.
“He’s not my type.”
“Oh.” The woman glanced behind them. “Maybe I’ll go back and get him later then.” She gave Kerry a wicked grin. “If you don’t mind.”
Kerry nodded amusedly. “Be my guest.”
They ducked down a small, unmarked hallway, and the woman unlocked a plain door with her keycard, pulling it open and allowing a gust of cool, brandy-scented air to hit Kerry in the face. “Go on in and relax.”
Kerry stepped inside the Platinum Fliers Club door and was glad to hear it close behind her. She trudged to the courtesy desk and set her briefcase down, pulling out her wallet and handing her club card to the woman behind the desk. It was quiet inside the club, though many travelers were already taking sanctuary there, and she could hear the faint clink of glasses from the bar and a soft murmur of voices around the bank of modem-jack equipped cubes.
“Thank you, Ms. Stuart.” The woman gazed kindly at her. “Were you on the flight to Chicago?”
Kerry nodded.
“Would you like a drink?”
Kerry nodded again.
“C’mon.” The woman rose and took her briefcase, motioning her to follow. “You going to need a hotel room?”
“No.” Kerry found herself smiling. “Someone’s picking me up.”
The urge, at that moment, to see Dar’s face was so overwhelming, it almost made her cry. “But thanks for the offer.”
“No problem.’ The agent smiled at her. “You’re lucky you know someone in town. Hotels around the airport are not much fun to stay in.”
Kerry rubbed her hands, which had finally stopped shaking. “I certainly am lucky,” she agreed. “You think the storm will last ’til tomorrow?”
The woman led her to a nice, comfortable looking chair. “No, don’t worry. It’ll be nice weather tomorrow. You’ll get your flight out, no problem.”
Kerry sat down and sighed, having a flashback to her younger days wishing for snow to close school. “Okay. Thanks.”
DAR RESISTED THE growing urge to just tell the driver to shut up.
He wasn’t a bad sort, but he’d started talking to her the minute she’d gotten into the Lincoln, and all her attempts at not providing any conversational feedback had gone completely unheeded.
34 Melissa Good
“You been here before?”
“Yes.” Dar leaned her head against the glass window and watched the dark buildings go by.
“You like New York?”
“No.”
“Aw, really? Hey, it’s not so bad. People say stuff about the crime and stuff like that, but it’s really a great place.” The driver got into a groove. “We got lots of stuff to see; you been to the Statue of Liberty?”
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