Chapter Seventeen – Doubts

Joseph Patroni was positive for the first time in days as he bid the old and stern doctor good bye. The man had been an absolute pain in the ass, prodding him, poking him, admonishing him for his slight overweight but in the end the man had even smiled and cracked a joke to Joe's surprise. He'd been there to leave tests at the beginning of the week and the doctor had been satisfied with his vitals and test results. They'd shared some old war stories and then the doctor had nodded and turned serious again. At that moment, fearing the worst, Joe's heart almost stopped but then the man opposite him had told him that he was clear for another year of flying and that the accident had left no permanent means to him. Had the doctor been a woman he would have kissed her, now he settled for shaking the man's hand vigorously.

He nodded at the nurse who'd helped him when he walked by the administration desk and winked at her. Then he stepped out in the sun, his steps lighter than they'd been in weeks. He hailed a cab and gave the driver directions to his house. Joseph Patroni had never been a patient man so when he'd paid for the taxi he quickly dialed the office to let them know he was ready for duty. The only thing he regretted was that he wouldn't be able to fly with the little Frenchman again. He hadn't seen Paul Metrand for over a month and missed the guy, strange considering they hadn't been very acquainted before the accident. He just hoped that Paul was okay and that he'd continue to fly for the company. He knew Paul had hurt himself in the crash more than he'd let on to the others in the crew, he'd seen him up at the front covered in snow unresponsive for a short while. At that time Joe had hesitated for a moment, torn between helping his fellow captain and calm down the panicked passengers in the back. He felt a little guilty for seeing to the passengers even though he knew that was his responsibility – to aid the cabin crew when they'd landed. He'd let out a sigh of relief later on when he'd seen Paul make his way out of cockpit with a dour expression on his face but alive nevertheless.

OOOOOO

Flight Attendant Joanna Jones sighed in resignation and worked the kinks out of her back before ending up in front of the mirror in her single room at the fashionable hotel next to LAX.

She'd taken a national flight as her first tour after the so called incident over a month ago. The preflight check of everything in the cabinets had gone without a hitch and she'd been busy in the cabin serving the passengers, doing some small talk with her new colleagues and so on. A few hours into the flight the ride had started to get rough and suddenly all the memories of the ill-fated flight 28 had caught up with her and caused her to panic. The supervising stewardess had been kind to her and told her to sit down for a while and strap herself in. Joanna had nodded meekly and followed her suggestion. When the aircraft had landed at LAX the rest of the cabin crew had been concerned for her but she soon realized that none of them really understood what she'd been through. She missed her friends at FWA and various destinations abroad she'd visited with the company. Joanna ignored her gut feeling and forced herself to work at the national airline for another few weeks until she had exhausted herself and cried herself to sleep one night too many. That's when she realized that she had to go back, back to her friends and colleagues. That she couldn't hide from reality and that she had to face and accept the trauma she'd suffered. The accident and the experience she'd gotten from it wouldn't go away and the nightmares wouldn't leave her alone just because she started anew somewhere else.

It was with certainty that flight attendant Joanna Jones reached for the phone and asked to be connected to Federation World Airlines' office back in Washington.

OOOOOO

It had been three days since Gemma had visited her late husband at the mortuary but she was still shocked at the revelation and in rage when considering the fact that their common friend and family doctor had lied to her. She'd called the police and raised havoc amongst the ranks of officers until she found the lead investigator of the case. They'd had a long and serious conversation over the phone. She'd demanded to be brought into the loop and insisted someone had tried to get rid of Kevin. However, the investigator presented her another picture, one that was strangely familiar with some of what Maggie Whelan had told her.

Gemma had asked him tersely if he believed that the Buzzard drone had purposely tried to ram the airliner but he'd clammed up saying he couldn't give her facts about an ongoing investigation. It was then she realized that there was more going on behind the façade of Harrison Industries than met the eye. It both enraged and intrigued her to the extent that she'd decided to seek out Maggie Whelan.

The news anchor hadn't been too hard to find considering she'd been spotted in the area of a colleagues house. It was not without unease that Gemma Harrison parked on the street around the corner of Lennie Daniel's house and headed for the main entrance. She rapidly knocked three times on the wooden door, her expression grim as she waited for it to be open.

The door opened a minute later to reveal a young and slim woman in her early twenties with long brown hair.

"Can I help you?" she asked with a frown, studying the well-dressed woman standing on the porch.

"You can tell me where to find Maggie Whelan," Gemma returned brusquely.

"Mrs. Harrison?" a voice asked from inside and the moment later the blonde news anchor appeared in the doorway. Maggie beamed at Lennie's daughter. "It's okay Sanna," she said and gently ushered the younger woman away. She then refocused on the wife of her lover. "I didn't think I'd see you again."

"I think it's time you and I had a talk," Gemma answered with all the politeness she could muster.

Maggie nodded and hollered to Sanna that she would be going out for a while and then closed the door behind her. "Something is bothering you," Maggie stated.

Gemma chuckled without mirth. "A lot of things are bothering me," she corrected. "You are one of them but let's see beyond our differences for a moment."

They studied each other for a moment both weary of the other.

"Did you kill him?" Gemma finally managed.

"What?" Maggie asked in astonishment. "He died of a stroke, you said so yourself."

A tense silence settled over the two women.

"Listen, I don't know what lies you've been told but you're barking up the wrong tree. He duped me and he tried to get me killed. It was definitely not the other way around," Maggie protested.

"Why should I trust you?" Gemma asked.

"You want to believe me," Maggie guessed. "Why else are you here?"

"I'm interested in the truth, nothing else," Gemma returned in a tight voice.

"Good, let's find it then, together," Maggie suggested simply.

Gemma looked away for a moment suddenly unsure of what to do. "Kevin-" she began softly. "Kevin didn't suffer a stroke."

Maggie looked at her intently, eagerly waiting for her to continue.

"He died from a gun shoot wound to the head," she explained, her voice detached. "The officer in charge of the investigation tells me it was a suicide. But I don't understand why a wealthy man with money and a loving family would do such a thing."

"I have something you should see," Maggie said cryptically and reached into a leather satchel she'd grabbed inside the door before she went outside. "These are photocopies of the documents Carl Parker told me about. His wife delivered them to me just before I boarded the Concorde."

Gemma gently took them in her hand and watched the news anchor skeptically for a moment.

"Go on, look at them," Maggie urged.

Gemma's mood sank as she skimmed through the copies. It was all there, Kevin's handwritten signature, the dates correlated to the trip's he'd taken to Africa and South America. "No," she whispered.

"I had a hard time believing it myself," Maggie admitted.

"This is not the Kevin I knew," Gemma said seriously.

"Maybe they forced him," Maggie suggested. "Then when they had no need for him anymore they disposed of him."

Gemma shuddered at Maggie's suggestion but shook her head sadly. "No one forces Kevin to do anything," she let on. "He might have been a charming and benign man but when it came down to business-"

"What do you know about the Buzzard?" Maggie asked softly.

"Not much," Gemma admitted. "He gradually shielded me from the company until I had no insight left at all. I figured he needed to run it his way and I let him do so."

"You worked together?" Maggie asked in surprise.

Gemma nodded. "At first. I'm a civil engineer. We founded the company together," she answered.

They talked at length, discussing different theories until late at night and decided to meet up again.

OOOOOO

Across the Atlantic Ocean Captain Paul Metrand annoyingly reached for the alarm clock next to the bed, turned it off and stuck his head under the pillow. Within seconds a pair of petite hands sneaked around his upper body from behind him, eliciting a smile on his lips. Wordlessly he gently turned around and came face to face with Isabelle.

"Come on now, sleepy head," she said playfully as she blinked her tired eyes fully open. "It's a big day today."

Paul groaned. "No, it's one of those days you'd wish you'd never got up," he whispered tiredly.

"Why, my dear captain, do I detect nervousness?" she asked teasingly.

He sighed and raked a hand through his unruly brown hair as he let his head sink back in the fluffy pillow. "No, Isabelle," he let on seriously. "I just don't like hospitals, waiting rooms, needles and stern looking doctors."

She stretched lazily in bed and then got up, wrapping a gown around her sleek body as she went around the bed to drag him out of it. "You'll sail through the medical examination. There is no reason for you not too," she said as she took his hand and gently pulled him upright. "Unless there is something you're not telling me?"

Paul shook his head, a faint smile appearing on his lips as he got up. "I assure you, there is nothing wrong with me, Isabelle," he said.

"Then what's bothering you?" she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes, unable to tear them away from his lean and muscular torso.

"I-" he sighed. "I don't know. I've been thinking a lot lately. With everything that's been going on, I don't know-"

"Don't know what?" she asked softly.

"What if I can't handle what they throw at me in the simulator testing? What if I can't fly anymore?"

Isabelle stared at him, not knowing what to say to the normally confident man before her. "Who are you and what have you done with Paul?" she finally managed.

He laughed, a little nervously, at her statement. Then, when he looked up at her, she could see the steady resolve and the determination behind the blue eyes.

"I'll do my best of course," he said at length, the normal cockiness back in his voice.

It was then Isabelle knew that everything would be just fine. "I'm sure you can do anything but please take one thing at a time. If you need me I'll be right beside you," she offered.

He snorted. "Serves me right if you're not. I remember leaving you behind," he said regretfully.

"That's in the past, Paul," she said with an undertone of sadness. "I'll never leave you. I can't leave you. I need you. I love you."

"I love you too, Isabelle," he said confidently, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he leaned over to kiss her.

OOOOOO