I'll Be Home For Christmas
Chapter 8
Frank shivered as Collig's words sank in. He suddenly felt the cold December wind seeping into him, into his bones. Two hostages; one male, one female. One injured. They really only needed one hostage to get their demands met. Two armed men would assume a female would be easier to intimidate, easier to handle. An injured man would just slow them down. Frank swallowed hard, knowing deep in his heart if he didn't get on that plane, Joe wouldn't live to see another Christmas.
"Well," Frank said quietly, his eyes riveted on Chief Collig. "Are you ready to hear my plan now?"
Collig glanced at Fenton, who laid a supportive hand on Frank's shoulder. He nodded in defeat.
"I can go onboard immediately," Frank started shifting his gaze between his father and the chief. "Once I'm in the cockpit I'll start the preflight check. Assuming these guys know nothing about flying a plane, I'll turn on the intercom between the cockpit and the control tower." He stopped and looked directly at Chief Collig. "You can station a man in the tower; he'll be able to hear everything going on in the plane."
Collig held up a hand to stop Frank and turned to Con Riley. "Get a man up in the control tower – now!" he yelled, then turned back to Frank. "Go on…"
"You'll have to let me actually taxi out of here and take off." Frank glanced at his father when he spoke again. "I'll have to see what kind of shape Joe is in – if he'll be able to help subdue them or not. If it doesn't look like he'll be able to help, I'll use the autopilot so Vanessa and I can do it ourselves. It'll be a little trickier and I'll have to improvise…" he shrugged. "But all I have to do is catch them off guard long enough to get the guns. Even if Joe's out of it, Vanessa and I can tie them up, and after what they did to Joe she'll be more than happy to take them out if they so much as blink. Then it's just a matter of flying back here and getting Joe to a hospital."
Collig listened to Frank's plan, not liking it one bit, but the sinking feeling in his stomach told him they had no other choice. "Too many civilians involved," he muttered, shaking his head. "We don't know how badly Joe is hurt, if Vanessa will freeze under pressure…there are too many variables!"
"Maybe," Frank acquiesced. "But there is one thing we know for certain."
Collig arched an eyebrow in a silent question.
Frank looked at his watch and then back at Collig. "If I'm not on that plane in three and a half minutes, Joe's a dead man."
oooOOOooo
Laura and Andrea returned to the Hardy home and began their vigil; a vigil no parent should ever have to go through, especially on Christmas Eve. Despite the shared fears they were both silent, each lost in thoughts and memories of her own child. Laura walked to the Christmas tree and stared at it, mesmerized. The brightly twinkling lights that had brought her such joy only a few hours ago now brought her a sorrow so intense she felt it in her bones. What right did this tree have to be so beautiful when her child was hurt, suffering…
"I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me…."
She reached out and gently fingered an old, worn ornament made of fading green and red fabric.
"Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree…"
Laura wasn't even sure what it was anymore, but it was the first Christmas ornament Joe had made in kindergarten.
"Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light gleams…"
He'd been so proud of it when he brought it home from school that day that he and Laura had immediately found a spot for it on the front of the tree. And it had retained that place of honor every year. Gently pulling the faded decoration from the branch, she held it to her chest, over her heart.
"I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams…"
'Please,' she thought desperately, looking at the angel atop the tree – Joe's miracle angel. 'Please bring my son home for Christmas.'
Clutching the tattered ornament tightly, she bowed her head and cried…
oooOOOooo
Joe shivered and tried to open his eyes, his lids still too heavy to obey. He shifted and moaned involuntarily as a lightening bolt of pain scorched through his shoulder and down to his fingertips. Someone's arms tightened around him.
He inhaled a shaky breath and tried to focus on a whiff of perfume. 'Vanessa…'
"Joe? Joe, can you hear me?" Her voice sounded small, and very scared.
This time Joe forced his eyes open and saw a man staring back at him impassively. As everything came flooding back, pride won out over pain. Using his left arm, Joe pushed himself up to a sitting position next to Vanessa. If he was conscious and there was still a breath of life left in him, he was going to make sure anyone with the slightest intent of doing harm to Vanessa would have to go through him first.
"M'okay," he mumbled to Vanessa, trying his best to glare at the man watching them. As his mind cleared a little more, he looked around and realized they were seated in a small plane. Glancing out the window, he was relieved to see the plane was still in the hangar. His eyes grew wide as he also realized the plane was surrounded by police officers! That meant they still had a chance…
"No!" The single word caught Joe's attention and he turned to the front of the plane, now noticing the second man. He was seated in the small cockpit talking on a cell phone but twisted in the seat so he – and his gun – were facing Joe and Vanessa. "You seem to forget Chief, that I'm the one holding the hostages therefore I make the demands. Now for the last time, get me a pilot! If there isn't a pilot on this plane in five minutes, one of your precious hostages dies!"
Snapping the phone shut viciously, the man stuffed it in his pocket. He sat for a minute longer, watching the law enforcement officials scurrying around in the hangar. Getting up, he moved forward until he was standing in the small aisle, his eyes fixed on Vanessa. "If someone isn't here to fly this plane in five minutes, your boyfriend dies. And if they're stupid enough to think I'm bluffing after that, you'll die too."
Blinded by anger Joe tried to rise, protecting Vanessa the only thing on his mind. Before Joe could even move, the man who had threatened her grabbed his right shoulder and spun him around, twisting his arm behind his back.
'NO!' Joe screamed the word silently to himself as dots danced in front of his eyes. Another tug on his arm sent him to his knees, pain washing over him in blinding waves. He heard Vanessa crying out, begging the man to release him. He felt a small trickle of blood running down his arm. Another hard tug and the trickle became a steady flow as everything started to fade into a gray haze. Fighting not to succumb to the darkness, Joe thought he heard some kind of commotion and the sound of a latch being released. He heard footsteps and the sound of the latch again, then another voice. A male voice, eerily familiar, swirled around him.
"I'm your pilot."
Finally he was shoved forward hard. Barely clinging to consciousness, Joe was certain delirium was setting in. The pilot had sounded exactly like Frank…