CHAPTER TEN ANNA
CHAPTER TEN
A NNA
A buzz from the interphone fills the cockpit.
Anna presses the “ATT” button on her intercom panel and keys the microphone. “Anna here.”
“It’s Aubrey.”
Anna recognizes the cabin supervisor’s voice.
“I have an update on the search. Can I come in? Popcorn,” she adds, using the code word they designated at the start of the flight that signals she’s not under duress.
Miguel lifts the toggle switch to unlock the cockpit door, ignoring the standard visual check protocol as he nods in approval.
“Okay, door’s unlocked.”
Aubrey opens the cockpit door and enters the flight deck. Miguel and Anna both turn, slipping their headphones off one ear.
After closing the door behind her, Aubrey steps closer to the two pilots. “We’ve searched everywhere. Again. There’s no sign of the baby.”
The mother must be freaking out. I would be. “How is that possible?” Anna asks.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Aubrey says, tucking her blond hair behind her ear. Her gaze falls to the hatch on the floor, leading to the cargo hold. “The mother asked Britt if she could see inside the cargo hold below, even though Britt told her there’s no access to it except through the cockpit.”
Anna glances at Miguel, knowing how he’ll respond. All the crew are trained to be wary of passengers creating a ruse, like a child abduction, to gain access to the cockpit. She’s surprised Aubrey would even ask.
“Well, she can’t. It would be a security risk to let her into the cockpit,” Miguel says.
“Britt told her that too. I just thought I’d let you know.”
“Thanks, Aubrey,” Miguel says, sliding his headphone over his ear. “I’ll let dispatch know so they can relay it to the FBI.”
“Flight 7038, dispatch, how do you read?”
Miguel presses his transmit switch. “We read you loud and clear, now, finally.”
“Roger. I’ve got FBI Special Agent Castillo on the line, and he’s requesting to speak with you. Are you available for me to patch him through to you?”
“Roger that. You can patch him through now.”
Anna pulls on her other headphone to listen to the call and turns up the volume knob on the overhead speaker so Aubrey can hear the conversation.
“This is Special Agent Castillo with the FBI. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, we read you loud and clear. Our crew has just finished the thorough search of the aircraft, but the baby hasn’t been found.”
It’s only been a half hour since dispatch relayed an electronic ACARS message from the FBI requesting the crew search the aircraft a second time, along with everyone’s luggage. So why is the agent calling so soon? It was her understanding that the captain would contact dispatch with the results of their second search, not the other way around.
“Okay. We need to know if any of the crew or passengers actually saw the baby on board before he went missing. Anyone besides his mother.”
Anna turns to Miguel. They’re doubting the baby’s on board?
“Stand by,” Miguel says over the radio. “One of the flight attendants is in the cockpit right now.” He lowers his headphones and twists in his seat to face her. “The FBI needs confirmation that someone besides the mother saw the infant on the flight before he went missing. Did you see him?”
Aubrey shakes her head. “I didn’t. But I can ask the others.”
“Ask the passengers too,” Miguel adds.
He dons his headphones as Aubrey leaves the cockpit. “That flight attendant didn’t see him, but she’s going to ask if anyone else did. I’ll contact dispatch and let them know as soon as we find out.”
“Thank you. We appreciate your help.”
Anna turns to Miguel after he signs off with the FBI agent. “It is strange that we haven’t found the infant yet, but doesn’t it seem awfully quick to be doubting the mother’s account of her baby being on board?”
“It does. But until we find him, I’m not sure what to think. There’s only so many places on this plane where he could be. It could be their protocol. They likely can’t rule anything out until he’s found.”
“Yeah, probably,” Anna says as Miguel opens his novel to his bookmarked page. How can he be so calm? Especially with a baby of his own on the way? Maybe he’s been flying long enough to hear almost everything. But she doubts he’s ever had an infant go missing in flight. She stares out the windshield at the full moon illuminating the night sky. “Unless they know something we don’t.”