My Journey
Chapter One
Matt Flannery glanced at his cell phone. He grinned as he saw the caller ID register 'Emily'.
"Hello gorgeous! Please tell me you're calling to tell me you're on your way home."
Emily Lehman had been in Quantico for a conference on the roles and responsibilities of different agencies during crisis negotiations – compliments of Cheryl who hadn't wanted to go herself. Emily had been through four days of power point presentations and speakers who probably hadn't been involved in an actual crisis negotiation in the last decade. Four long days without Matt and lousy speakers to boot. She was more than ready to get back to LA.
Emily Lehman smiled back into the phone. She was so glad to hear his voice. Absently, she thought in the back of her mind that absence does make the heart grow fonder. Sleeping by herself all this time had not resulted in even a single restful night's sleep. She'd bet money that Matt was missing her just as much as she was him.
"Not missing me are you? I'm sure you've been living it up with Frank and Duff while I've been gone."
"I've lost every round in the kill house since you left. Frank just thinks he's that much better than me. Between you and me, he probably is. But, I pleaded that my head is just not in it…..its somewhere over on the East Coast."
"Oh come on. He actually bought that line of crap?" Emily teased as she smiled. She could easily identify with Matt's predicament.
"Well, not so much, but it sure made me feel better. Salvage the male ego and all. So you haven't said you're on your way home yet. Please tell me you're on your way home. Come on Em, I miss ya."
"I miss you too. Believe me, if I could leave now I would. But, I should be able to get out of here tomorrow afternoon. I've got reservations on the 3:00 flight out of Reagan. I should be landing at LAX at about 5:30 your time. I don't suppose you'd be willing to come and pick me up?" she grinned at the phone knowingly.
"Count on it. We'll pick up something to eat on the way back to my place. We'll see what we can do to celebrate your homecoming. Got any suggestions?" Matt asked suggestively into the phone.
"Hmm. I may have one or two. Just don't be late!"
"I wouldn't dream of it. Em," his voice dropped. "I'm glad you're comin' home. I miss you when you're not with me."
Emily's voice softened. "I've missed you too. But I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, tomorrow. Looking forward to it."
"Me too."
"Em..."
"Yeah..."
"I love you."
"I love you, too, Matt. Goodnight."
"Lia, hey, it's Emily. I've tried to reach Matt but I couldn't get through. I needed to let him know that I'm catching an earlier flight. The 'powers that be' decided to make the second session today a question and answer session. I just decided that I'm all out of questions."
"That's great. I'm sure Matt'll be thrilled to hear it. He's been in a lousy mood since you left. He's out in the field with Cheryl right now. They're finishing up a domestic dispute situation right now. Should be back within the hour."
"Great. Tell Matt that I'm catching American Flight 612. It should be landing at LAX at 2:10. He's supposed to be picking me up."
"Got it. American 612 arriving at 2:10. I'll tell him. And, Emily? It'll be good to have you back." Lia told her friend.
"Thanks Lia. I've gotta get on the plane, so I'll have my cell off. Tell Matt I'll see him when I land."
Lia was finishing up running some final analysis on some miscellaneous phone tips that the FBI had received. The computer whiz that she was, she often had the tedious job of checking the validity of those tips that could be easily verified with the use of computer rather than an actual agent, other than herself of course.
During the course of the day, the office often had the television in the break room tuned to CNN to catch any breaking news that they may not already be privy to. As Lia walked in to get herself a Diet Coke, she happened to glance at the TV screen. What she saw, she knew she'd never forget.
The screen showed what appeared to be the wreckage of an airplane crash. The reporter came on to report that so far only six survivors had been found and taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. So far, the death toll was over 50 with much more of the wreckage to be gone through. Firefighters were on the scene, trying to put out the inferno that consumed the remains of the plane. American Flight 612 had taken off from Reagan International Airport only an hour earlier, shortly after that reporting that it was having engine trouble with two of its engines. Fifteen minutes later, they radioed that they were going to have to make an emergency landing. Although complete details are not known for certain, it appears that yet another engine had caught fire. This had led to the plane making a crash landing in Western Ohio. The tail section of the plane seemed to have broken off on impact. The center section of the plane seems to have sustained the most damage, catching fire in the crash. He reported that they would be following the story and relaying more information as they received it.
Lia Mathers stood rooted to the floor. Tears sprang to her eyes and began silently running down her cheeks. At that moment, Matt Flannery and their boss Cheryl Carrera walked into the office. Matt spotted Lia standing transfixed at the television through the open doorway.
"Hey Mathers! What's up?" he called.
He was shocked when the intelligence analyst turned around to reveal that she had tears streaming down her face. "What's wrong? What happened?" Matt asked concerned. Cheryl followed Matt into the room, concerned about her friend and colleague as well.
Lia didn't even know where to begin or what to say to Matt. She just pointed to the TV. Finally, she found her voice. "The plane…there was a problem with the engines…it crashed…" She could tell that the importance of what she was telling them was not hitting home. She had to just lay it out there for them to understand. "Emily's plane…"
Matt looked at Lia as though she were confused. "That can't be Emily's plane. Her plane hasn't even taken off yet. Here, let me call her." He refused to put any credence to her claim. Though, in the pit of his stomach, he began to feel something wasn't right.
Lia braced herself. She took a deep breath in and slowly told Matt of Emily's earlier call. "Emily called here an hour and a half ago. She couldn't get a hold of you. She called to tell you that she was catching an earlier flight…Flight 612. She was supposed to be landing at LAX at 2:10."
All eyes in the room riveted to the television providing its coverage of the horrible incident on live television. The caption clearly read 'American Flight 612 crashes'.
Matt Flannery stood rooted to his spot. He couldn't move. His body didn't seem to work. He just stared helplessly at the television screen. He actually felt numb. This couldn't be happening. This doesn't happen! "No, no, no! She can't be on there!" He scrambled for his cell phone, pressing the buttons to get her number to dial. Her voice mail picked up automatically, indicating her cell had been shut off. Matt began to feel full fledged panic begin to set in.
Cheryl Carrera was more than Emily's boss. She also considered her one of her close friends. In addition, as her former partner, Matt was also very close to her. Cheryl could feel the beginnings of tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. She wanted to take control of the situation and see if they could come up with some concrete information before they all fell to pieces.
"Lia, I want you to see what information you can find out. Find out if she was actually on that plane, and if possible, where she would have been sitting. See if you get anything from a trace on her cell phone too. Matt, keep trying to get her on her cell phone. Try to hang in there until we know something more definite."
Matt went to the small cubicle area that he and Emily shared. He stared longingly at her red chair. After a couple of minutes, he moved from his chair to her chair, trying to feel closer to her in any way possible. He'd been calling her cell number every couple of minutes to no avail. After the first three times in which he'd left the message, 'Em, it's me. Please call me!' he didn't even bother leaving any more messages. Desperation and fear were beginning to eat at him. He was refusing to allow the possibility that Emily might be dead even enter his mind. He told himself that she'd be calling him any minute, sorry that she'd given them such a scare.
Lia returned from her computer wearing an expression that did little to inspire hope in Matt. Matt and Cheryl gathered together with Lia, Frank and Duff, who had since been brought up-to-date on the crisis at hand. The team, minus one of its crucial players. Lia began to relay what she had been able to gather.
"Based on the information that I've gathered from the airline, Emily was on that flight. She took one of the two last remaining seats on the flight. According to the ticketing information, she was seated in 16B near the middle of the plane." Lia took a deep breath, trying really hard to keep herself composed long enough to relay the rest of her dire news. "According to the preliminary information that I've been able to obtain, the greatest damage occurred in the center of the plane when the engine fires spread to the cabin. So far they have now rescued 15 people all sitting in the very rear of the plane. It looks like the very tail end of the plane broke away from the rest of the frame upon impact. They're still looking for survivors. Rescue teams are on the scene now. But, it doesn't look good, especially if she was sitting in the center of the plane."
Matt felt his legs crumble beneath him. He made no effort to stop them. Luckily, Frank was standing close by and helped to catch him as he began to sink to the floor. The four friends surrounding Matt looked at each other with similar expressions. Not only did they have to deal with the potential loss of one of their own, they were going to have to help Matt deal with the loss of the most important person in his life. Though the pair didn't go out of their way to share the developments in their relationship, meaning whether or not those three little words had actually been said, it was obvious that the negotiators shared a bond that was undeniably strong and unique. To say that they completed each other and complimented the other would not have been an exaggeration. They were as deeply in love as two people could be, it was obvious. For that reason, the four people watching Matt now began to speculate if their friend would ever be the same again after that day.