Chapter 7
The plane began to descend shaking her from her sleep. It had been a long night and the dark blue New York horizon had completely disappeared. Adjusting her position in the seat she sat up staring out at the beautiful cerulean blue sky. From the front of the small plane she could just barely make out the ground patterns to the sides. She stood up. While undoing her seat belt she realized that she was still clad in her Marchesa gown from the night before. Turning she headed towards the back of the plane picking up her bags that Cole had previously brought to the plane the night before they had left. Spotting the bathroom in the back of the plane she walked towards it to change. She turned the handle only to find that it was locked. She tried again. Still locked. Why would the bathroom be locked? Stunned she turned around heading back to the front of the aircraft to the cockpit.
"Cole," she said finding him sitting in the co-pilots chair.
He turned taking the large aviation headset he had on off.
"Morning," He said. She couldn't make out his eyes from underneath his dark aviator sunglasses but she sense they were the calm grey she had become accustom to.
"The bathrooms locked."
"Well there's one to your left around the pilots' chair," he said pointing a finger towards a small door on her left, "Your stuff is on the seat in the back." He said taking in her appearance, the dress from the night before.
She held up her bag, "Got it. Thanks," she said walking to the little bathroom to change.
Daniel sat there crouched in an uncomfortable position on the small sink in the corner of the planes bathroom. His heart rate had jumped.
Someone had come to the door. What if they knew he was in there? What if they didn't? How long were they going to believe that the door was just locked? Or did they? Were they going to bust the door down? Were they going to kill him? He sat there in complete and utter silence listening. The footsteps had gone away. He prayed to God that they would not return.
~x~
As the plane began to descend further he realized that he needed to find a way off without being caught... and fast.
"Blending in isn't one of your specialties is it?"
She turned just in time to see Cole emerging from the door of the cockpit. She looked down taking in exactly what she was wearing. Wooden soles heels, her red ring that resembled a skull that she had received last year from a benefit honoring Alexander McQueen, and an orange dress which draped over one shoulder clinging to her body everywhere else.
"Not the outfit," he said as if reading her mind. He pointed to her neck. On it sat the green diamond. She had completely overlooked the fact that it was there. She had grown accustomed to its presence.
"You might want to take that off."
"No, i think I'll--" Her words were cut off by a sudden click and then a loud crash. She whipped her head around just as Cole shot out In front of her before she could move. He was moving past her towards the back of the small plane. Towards the locked bathroom. As he got closer he slowed down silently, listening. Then out of nowhere he shot his leg out kicking the door in by its hinges. Wilhelmina was shocked as she rushed over to see what he had found. The bathroom was empty.
She scanned the place from underneath her sunglasses as people passed through the security lines with no problem. Cole told her he didn't expect to be stopped but just in case they better split up. She turned her head back noticing that she was now the next person in line.
"Morning ma'am," Came the voice of the women behind the desk at the security checkpoint. Wilhelmina pulled out her bag placing it on the catering belt as she walked through the security system, closing her eyes. Just like Cole had predicted she came out clear. The woman smiled at her handing her bag back as Wilhelmina continued walking through the checkpoint just as Cole had said. Don't make eye contact and wait for me at the bathroom. She walked quick paced through the piers security point locating the nearest restrooms. She looked up checking that there were no cameras and walked in.
Standing in front of the mirror she scanned the restroom, pretending to fix a strand of hair. From her angle she could see under each of the short stalls. One was occupied. She grabbed at her bag finding what she was looking for as the woman in the stall came out. She waited until the other women had walked out before following her. She caught the door as it began to swing shut. Quickly she scanned the place before pulling out the magnetic 'Out of Order' sign Cole had packed for her in her bag and sticking it on the door. She walked back inside knowing that she was now alone. Cole had said he was about five minutes after her. She stood there, staring into the mirror, letting her thoughts race. Instantly they shot back to the night before.
Her heart skipped at beat as she saw his figure emerge from a sea of cameras at the entrance of the grand ballroom. She let her eyes linger on him for a moment to long and she could have sworn he had a distressed look painted on his face. Did he know something? She snapped back turning full her attention to the people she was talking to. Then out of nowhere he had found her and was calling her name causing quite a ruckus in the room. She had to avoid being stared at as much as possible. It could detract from the plan. She quickly silenced him. Then he said something she had not expected him to say. He mentioned her apartment saying that it had been ransacked. For a millisecond she had frozen. How could he have known about her apartment already? She and Cole had only just finished adding the final touches to the destroyed masterpiece about thirty minutes prior to the party. Realizing that she had been standing there for a good length of time she turned back to him.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she had said. The look in his eyes told her that he wasn't about to give it up that easily. Just then from behind her back she began to make out four sets of shapes with her hands just as Cole had instructed her to do if she got stuck.
"You're apartment!" Daniel had said. She began to think on her feet as quickly as possible for a way to evade his question till Cole arrived.
"You must be out of your mind. Who would go searching through my apartment? For what?"
Without warning Daniels glare fixated on something behind her as the warmth of Cole's presence touched her. Quickly he brushed off Daniel getting the two of them out of the sticky situation in time.
She stood at the bottom of the steps where Cole had led her to. Their plan was running remotely smoothly. The next part was for Cole to set up a distraction. On his person he had a small bomb that he had brought with him. "One that won't kill people," She recalled from him telling her previously. It was to go off at exactly 10 o'clock. Staring up at the clock she realized it was just 9:58. Turning she spotted Cole in exactly the spot he had said he'd been in. Focusing her attention back to the stage with 30 seconds left to go she watched as Claire Meade walked up. 5…4…3…2… as according to plan a loud bomb shook the whole room. She watched for a split second as the people surrounding her fell to the floor. Turning she began to book up the stairs as Cole had said, running for a room at the top on the left.
Wilhelmina opened her eyes realizing that she was still standing in front of the mirror. Then the memory of jumping out the window flooded her mind followed by Cole's voice explaining to her why they had 'ransacked' her apartment.
"We have to make it look like we were run out of New York to make it less suspicious."
"And how are we actually planning on getting out of here without being noticed?"
Cole shifted in his seat, "Tonight at the Meade's Annual Ball were going to make our escape."
"How?" She said genuinely surprised.
"With this." Cole turned, searching for something in his grey coat pocket. Looking at it she realized that his whole ensemble was made entirely out of a black and white color scheme. Obviously finding it Cole turned back to her pulling out something small.
"What is that?"
"A bomb," he replied completely casually.
"A BOMB?!" She questioned, "What are you planning on doing with a bomb!?"
His eyes found hers as he calmly placed the small odd figure on the table separating them.
"It's to set up a disturbance. At precisely 10 o'clock tonight this will detonate causing a small but effective explosion. Only harming the things in a six foot radius around it," He said seemingly reading the look of horror on her face.
Her face went pale. She looked into his eyes almost shocked to see them completely still and unruffled like he had been talking about sunflowers and daisies.
"What about the people?" She asked regaining her ability to speak.
His eyes smiled almost looking like a laugh, "I'm not planning on hurting anybody Willie. This is to cause a commotion to make it so people will be so distracted by it that they won't be focused on us as we make our way quickly out of there unscathed. By the time anyone realizes were gone we'll be on a plane out of here and they'll be left to assume that someone has gone through your apartment causing you to leave town."
She stared away from his eyes thinking over what he had said.
"Wilhelmina trust me, this is a bomb yes, but it's a special one made by the CIA. One that won't kill people."
She looked at him again trying to read through the grey eyes. All she could see was sincerity. Slowly she nodded her head as to agree with the plan.
Just then as the memory of previous events faded the door to the women's restrooms opened.
Daniel shook himself for the third time that minute. His tux was completely soaked from jumping out of the float plane only minutes ago. After jumping he had swam the short distance from where the plane had been resting to the shore. Looking around he wondered where he was. He didn't have any freakin idea.
Now semi dry he stood in line at what looked like to be a security checkpoint for boarding ships. But not just any ships. Cruise ships. With his mind spinning he focused his eyes ahead in the line. At the front was a man. Tall and heavy. He looked like he was slightly hunching. The man behind the desk signaled for him to go through the security check. As he did so the alarm light on the top of the machine turned red. Daniel blinked not believing what he had just seen. In the blink of an eye the alarm had turned back green. The man passed through just as the shorter man behind the counter stepped out. He walked up to him bringing a hand held checker with him. He held it up to the taller man scanning him his head to his feet before turning him around. Daniel could now see the front of the man's face. He was defiantly hunching but there was something else that made him seem even more abnormal. On the man's right arm was a cast. Daniel looked at him wondering how a man that big could injure himself that badly to need a full blown cast. The man who was scanning him seemed to be at a loss and turned the man around again signaling him through. As he exited the piers security center he walked down the dock disappearing to the left.
Wilhelmina spun around as fast as her shoes would let her. From the cracked open door of the restroom she could just make out the figure of a tall heavy looking man. What the hell is a man doing in the women's restroom? She stared at him as he walked further in.
"Who the hell are you?" she questioned trying to keep the unease out of her voice. The figure continued inching closer. By now she could make out how tall he was even though he was hunching. She looked at the intruders face seeing the same pair of aviators Cole had been wearing previously.
"Cole?" She asked completely unsure.
The figure stopped just in front of her. With one hand he removed his glasses revealing two grey eyes.
"Cole what the hell."
"Did you really expect it to be anyone else?" He asked as if teasing her.
"I don't expect anything anymore." She said looking at him.
He looked at her holding her stare, "Good."
He began to remove his coat that had been slung over his shoulders.
"What's with the cast?" She asked now taking in the full blown cast circling his right arm. He didn't answer but instead removed the piece revealing a perfectly fine and muscular arm. Turning the cast over he placed it on the sink, reaching inside. To her surprise he pulled out a pistol.
"What the--"
He then opened the cast to expose a tiny glowing screen on the inside.
"This creates a field that metal detectors can't distinguish." He said. "It's also good for sneaking things through security points," He said smiling at her face of shock.
Daniel passed through the security point quickly only receiving an odd look for his damp attire.
"You have a loose board," He said making up an excuse to explain his appearance to the man behind the counter as he looked him up and down. As if with understanding for the odd apparel the man nodded summoning someone over to find the unstable board on the dock. Daniel went through. He had last seen Wilhelmina a good few minutes ago in the opposite line. As he recalled he had not seen Cole so he expected he had already made it through. Walking through the busy pier he tried to spot her again. With no luck he stopped, looking up at the sign reading 'departures/arrivals.' Where the hell was she planning to go?
His question was answered as a rush of orange exited the women's bathroom headed towards the docks. His eyes followed her as she began to turn the corner around the bathrooms. He followed noticing that she seemed to be in a rush. No one else on the pier seemed to have noticed. He quickly sped up noticing an 'out of order sign' posted on the bathroom she had just exited. Turning the corner he saw her push her way through the crowd. From his direction she seemed to be heading towards dock 17. Daniel slowed noticing a small line in front of the docks entrance. From his angle he watched as she weaved her way into the line finding someone. A tall man in a blue button down shirt and khaki pants turned letting her stand next to him as she got into line. Daniel immediately recognized the man. Cole.
A/N: For Jaz. Smile babe! These chapters take a little more explaning or else you wont understand what happens next! Thanks for the reviews by the way! you guys are awesome!
