Chapter 30
He wondered if the note was for him.
When he picked it up, he was that it was.
Abby change of plans go to the airport message for you at desk.
Carter frowned at the note. Why the change in plans? Did the man know that the cops were onto him?
But he reasoned that the airport would be safe. It wasn't like he was going to a deserted alley or something.
Pocketing the note, Carter headed for the airport.
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"Message for Abby Wyczenski?"
"Abby what?" asked the girl at the counter, cracking her gum.
"Wyczenski." The girl looked at him blankly. "W-Y-C-Z-E-N-S-K-I," he spelled out. He was reminded of when Jill had spelled the name for him, the first day he saw them in the hospital, and a wave of sadness overcame him.
"You're Abby?" the girl asked, amused, making no effort to retrieve the note.
"Look, could I just have the note?" Carter snapped. The smile slid off her face, and she handed the note over without a word. "Thank you."
He flipped it open, and a plane ticket fell out. Abby come here on the plane if you ever want to see Jill again.
Carter frowned as he studied the ticket. It was a flight to Los Angeles that left in two hours; if he wanted to go, he needed to make up his mind.
But was it safe? He would be in a strange city, alone, at the beck and call of a deranged kidnapper. But if he didn't go, he might be signing Jill's death warrant. Could he afford to take that risk?
He headed for the gate.
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Abby's fingers drummed on the table nervously. Where the heck was Carter? He had promised to phone in and tell her how things were going, but so far, she hadn't heard a word. Was he okay?
Losing patience, Abby picked up the phone and dialed his cell number. She threw it down in frustration when his voicemail message came on. He didn't have his phone on!
"Mommy? What's wrong?"
Abby turned her head to see Riley standing behind her. "I thought you were asleep, honey," she said softly.
Riley walked over to the sofa and sat in her lap. "I miss Jill," he said sadly. "I can't sleep in the room all by myself. Is she gonna come home soon?"
"I hope so, Riley. I hope so," Abby said, holding on tightly to Riley. Right now, all she could do was hope. Hope and wait for Carter to call her.
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"So, what brings you to Los Angeles? Or LA, as the kids say." The man chuckled at his own joke.
Carter gritted his teeth in annoyance. It wasn't anything personal; he just didn't want to talk. His daughter was missing and he didn't feel like cracking jokes with a strange, chuckling businessman. So he ignored the question.
"Me, I'm here to see my daughter," he said, as if Carter has asked why he was going. "Can't wait. Been almost five years." Carter didn't respond. The man shifted him large body and finally managed to get out of the seat and grab a package from the overheard compartments. "It's my laptop computer," he said, once again answering a question that hadn't been asked. "Using it to email my daughter. You can send one too, if you want to."
Carter shook his head. "No thanks," he said, but it reminded him of something else he needed to do. Picking up the phone, he dialed his own number. He knew it would cost a fortune to call from the airplane, but he had forgotten to check in with Abby before he left.
"Hello?" She answered on the first ring, and he realized with guilt that she had probably been waiting by the phone.
"It's me."
"Where have you been? Why didn't you call earlier? Where are you?" He could hear the worry in her tone.
"I'm okay. I'm fine. I'm on a plane."
"What? Why?"
"It was in the note. Going to LA."
Abby was silent for a moment. "Okay," she said slowly, trying to processes the flood of information she had just been given. "Call me if you hear anything new, okay?"
"I will. How's Riley doing?"
"He misses Jill. I do too. God, I hope this works."
"Me too."
"Okay, make sure you call me. In a couple of hours, even if nothing new happens, just let me know you're okay, alright?"
"Okay. I'll talk to you in a couple of hours."
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye."
As Carter hung up the phone, he wondered; had Abby actually sounded worried about him? It sounded like it. Did he have something to worry about?
Carter leaned back on the headrest. In a few hours, he would know whether this was real or not.
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When Carter woke up, there was confusion everywhere. What's going on? he wondered groggily as flight attendants ran down the aisle in panic.
Hmm, guess the plane in crashing. The plane is crashing?!?
Carter jumped from his seat, and realized that the plane was not crashing.
"Please, sir, take your seat," said a harried flight attendant.
We are experiencing turbulence. Would every passenger please remain in their seat and fasten their seat belt, said the announcement.
"Boy, that announcement sure is annoying, isn't it?" asked his jovial seat mate at he sat back down. "They've played it, what, seven times now? Don't they think we know to fasten our seat belts?" The man chuckled for no apparent reason at he attempted to stretch the belt across his bulging mass.
Carter shakily buckled his seat belt. The plane felt more like a wild bronco, trying to buck off its hundreds of passengers. A woman in the front row was screaming, talking about how she didn't want to die. Carter shook his head. Didn't she realize she was scaring her children?
An hour later, all of them were screaming. But by then, it was too late. All they saw was the ground as they plummeted towards it.
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She dialed the phone again. "Pick up, Carter," she urged. She felt like screaming with frustration when, once again, she got his voice mail. Once again, she left a message.
"Carter, it's me. Jill is safe. She's right here with me. Call me back as soon as you get this message." She hung up. Sighing, she drummed her fingers on the table. Why hadn't he turned on his cell phone?