CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN MAKAYLA
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
M AKAYLA
Makayla stares at the illuminated fasten seat belt sign above her head. “I know Cori very well. She lives in Tribeca, and we talk almost every day.” Why is Jack asking? “This is ridiculous. We need to find Liam.”
“The FBI wanted to know if either of us had any suspicious encounters with anyone since my feature in Forbes last spring. Even if it seems like nothing, it could be important.”
“So, they are considering that Liam has been kidnapped.” At least they’re taking his disappearance seriously. She thinks of how much money Jack manages. It makes sense that someone could’ve taken Liam in hopes of a large ransom. But how would they have known she’d be on this flight? With a sinking feeling she remembers all the social media posts she’s made to her public account, detailing her trip—and that she and Liam were heading home tonight. She feels sick to her stomach.
“How did you meet her? And when?”
“Cori’s my friend . Not a suspicious encounter.” Makayla glances around the cabin. The few passengers she can see have their eyes closed, attempting to sleep despite the overhead lights. And her missing baby. “I met her briefly at our mother’s group park day last May. Then we connected through the group’s Facebook page and realized we have a lot in common.”
“Like what?”
“We need to find Liam.”
“I know. What do you have in common?”
The air deflates from her chest. This is so stupid. “Her mother is Snow Browning. She wrote First Kiss ,” she adds, ignoring the pain in her head. She knows Jack would recognize her latest book since it was adapted into a movie.
“So, you met her after the Forbes article about me came out. Have you been to her home?”
“Jack, stop. No. She’s been in the Hamptons all summer.” Makayla winces from the familiar throb of pain right behind her forehead. Not now. The last time she got a migraine was right before she had Liam, and it left her bedbound for a whole day. “And she’s been spending her summer vacation helping me get Liam onto the best preschool waitlists in our neighborhood.”
“But you did meet her, right?”
Makayla unlatches her seat belt and stands from her seat. She’s not going to sit here like nothing has happened when Liam could be stuffed inside someone’s suitcase, suffocating. “Yes!”
Pain soars through the front of her head, so sharp she nearly loses her balance. Oh, please not now. She needs to stay focused. Liam needs her. Especially when she’s the only one on this plane who’s even looking for him. She grips the top of a seat back.
“Jack, you’re wasting time. You need to convince the FBI to have them search the plane again— everywhere !”
Every head in the cabin turns in her direction. She hadn’t meant to scream the last part.
Rose frowns in disapproval when Makayla approaches her seat. “Keep it down.”
“Okay—I will. I promise,” Jack says. “Just send me Cori’s phone number and her Facebook profile so I can give it to the FBI.”
Makayla surveys Rose, recalling the commotion the woman made that demanded the flight attendants’ attention when Makayla got up to use the lavatory. Had Rose done that on purpose to create a distraction?
Cori’s text runs through her mind. Are there any elderly people on board who might’ve taken him? Could the older woman be using her age and faking dementia to keep from being suspected?
Makayla’s blood runs cold as the elderly woman returns her attention to the screen in front of her. If she had, Makayla thinks, she couldn’t have acted alone. She would’ve needed help.
Makayla steps away from the woman’s seat, considering the possibility. Her lungs deflate as she remembers Rose was already out of her seat before Makayla got up to use the lavatory. Rose couldn’t have known I would be getting up right then.
I’m grasping at straws.
“Jack—”
“Makayla, you’re right. It’s probably nothing, but what if it’s something?”
She reaches the lavatory where she should never have gone without Liam, glancing over her shoulder at Rose’s white hair sticking up over the top of her seat. “It’s your job and you being on the cover of Forbes that the FBI should be concerned about.” She remembers Jack’s excitement when he told her Lionel had pulled some strings to get him on the cover of Forbes . Despite having a baby, she’s hardly seen Jack since the article came out. Since then, he’s been busier than ever, getting flooded with new clients, along with a series of smaller media-outlet interviews. And now this. “You should be thinking about people you’ve encountered—not a friend I met at mother’s group.” She stops, staring at the ajar door. “Have you gotten any new clients lately? Or anything strange happen at work?”
Her vision blurs. She closes her eyes and opens them again. But her vision is still hazy. She presses her hand against the lavatory wall, resisting the urge to cry. Having a breakdown won’t help find Liam. “What about Lionel?”
A pause. “What do you mean?”
“Have you called him? If the FBI thinks we’ve been targeted because of the firm, maybe he’s had an encounter that could help us.” Although, if Liam has been kidnapped for a ransom, why hasn’t Jack gotten a ransom demand? “Lionel has access to more money than you do,” Makayla says. “What if he’s gotten the ransom demand?” Makayla checks her phone screen to make sure their call hasn’t dropped. “Jack? You still there?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m here. I’ll ask him. And send me Cori’s info.”
Makayla blinks in a futile attempt to clear her vision before sending him a screenshot of Cori’s phone number and social media page. She’s filled with immediate regret, knowing she is nothing but a genuine friend. It’s also a waste of time, but maybe giving the information to the FBI will appease Jack.
“Fine. I sent it to you. You happy? Now you tell the FBI to have this plane searched again and get us on the ground as soon as possible.” She refrains from stating the obvious before lowering her phone to her side: that if they don’t, Liam may not still be alive when they land at LaGuardia.