CHAPTER THIRTY MAKAYLA
CHAPTER THIRTY
M AKAYLA
Makayla ignores the condemning stares from the few passengers in the middle row as Aubrey lowers her hands a second time so that Derek can assess her nose.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
Blood runs down her chin. Jemma gasps at the blood smeared over the lower half of the attendant’s face. Derek turns Aubrey by the shoulders to put himself in between her and Makayla.
“I’ve got this. Go use the medical kit,” he says.
Aubrey sidesteps through the middle row before heading for the rear, obviously going out of her way to avoid getting close to Makayla.
Derek grips her by the arm again and drags her toward the front.
“Wait!”
She turns to see his mouth set in a hard line.
He shakes his head. “No. That’s enough!”
She digs her heels into the floor when she passes Chad, who blocks his row like a security guard.
“ Please. Just let me see inside the carrier. Then I’ll leave you alone. I can’t sit down without knowing.” She lifts her eyes to meet Chad’s. There’s a darkness in them, she thinks.
Derek wrenches her sideways and tows her toward the front of the plane, forcing her to sidestep a few feet toward her row. She tries to wrestle her arm free, but Derek has a death grip on her flesh. She leans all her weight in the opposite direction, keeping her eyes locked on Chad’s.
“Why won’t you let me look? What are you afraid of? If my baby isn’t in that carrier, then show me!”
With gritted teeth, she jerks her arm to the right, twisting her body for added momentum. She manages to pull Derek back toward Chad’s row, but somehow, the flight attendant maintains his hold.
“Makayla, I’m ordering you to take your seat. Now!”
She winces from Derek’s tightened grip on her arm. She turns to him, her efforts to wiggle out of his hold only resulting in more pain in her arm.
“As soon as I see inside.”
“No!” Derek shouts, bringing his head closer to hers.
Makayla turns to Chad, now right in front of her, his expression flat. “Please ...” A sob erupts from her throat. “I won’t disturb your dog. I just need to find my baby. Please let me look.” Her voice wobbles as a tear runs down her face. “I—I need to know he’s okay.”
Makayla succumbs to a full-blown sob, her chest heaving with each breath while Chad displays no emotion.
“We already looked.” Derek’s voice is calm, softer now.
Despite his hold on her, Makayla pushes her shoulder against Chad’s torso to get to the pet carrier, but it’s like pushing against a linebacker. The man doesn’t budge.
“I have the flex-cuffs!” Britt announces from the front of the cabin. “And a seat belt extension.”
Derek grabs her from behind. Makayla screams in protest, flailing her arms and legs as he drags her backward to her seat. Chad comes toward them. He grabs Makayla’s ankles, effortlessly overpowering her failed attempt to kick him away.
Jemma stands from her seat. “Don’t hurt her!”
“She’s the one hurting people, babe!” Chad calls over his shoulder.
Makayla grabs hold of a seat back. After losing her grip, she’s flung into her seat by the two men.
Derek and Chad pin down her arms and legs. She fights against their hold as Britt buckles her seat belt, pulling it tight across Makayla’s lap.
“Let go of me! I need to find my son!” Makayla breaks free of Derek’s hold on her right arm long enough to pull her phone from her pocket. She tosses it on the seat next to her before the flight attendant secures a seat belt extension around her upper body, trapping her arms to her sides.
Makayla thrusts her body back and forth as much as the restraints allow. “Let me go!”
“You have the flex-cuffs?” Derek shouts at his coworker.
“They’re right here.”
Derek snatches something white from Britt’s hand. Makayla starts to tuck her hands beneath her legs, but she’s too late. Derek encases her wrists in a pair of adjoined zip ties.
“You’re cuffing me? I’m not a criminal!” A painful pulsation rips through the side of her temple. She squeezes her eyes shut before opening them again.
“We have no choice.” When Derek stands up, beads of sweat drip down the sides of his forehead. “You’re a danger to yourself and the other passengers.”
Britt heads for the rear, and Makayla writhes her wrists in opposite directions in a futile effort to free herself from the zip tie cuffs.
Seeing her phone still on the seat beside her, Makayla strains to twist enough to reach it. But with the seat belt extension pinning her elbows to her sides, she’s not even close. She turns to the girl sitting across from her.
The girl is already staring at her, giving her a judgy look while chewing a large wad of gum. Ignoring the painful pulsation in her head, Makayla offers the girl what she hopes is a disarming look of desperation.
“Could you please help me reach my phone?” Makayla tilts her head to the side. “It’s on the seat next to me.”
The girl stares at Makayla blankly and moves her gum to the other side of her mouth. Hope drains from Makayla’s chest. The girl lets out an exasperated sigh before she unbuckles herself and leans across Makayla’s seat.
She reaches a long arm across Makayla and plucks her phone off the seat before dropping it into Makayla’s lap. She plops back into her seat without a word as Makayla closes her fingers around her phone.
Fresh tears muddle Makayla’s already blurry vision. “Thank you.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a female voice says over the loudspeaker. “One of our crew has sustained an injury to her nose, and we are requesting any medical professionals on board to please come forward to see if you can be of assistance. Thank you.”
Makayla recalls the blood streaming down Aubrey’s face and feels a pang of guilt. She hadn’t meant to hurt anyone. But I need to find my son. Why can’t the crew understand that? She blinks back her tears and sees a new message from Cori.
Should I wake up Fletcher and have him make some calls? Maybe the Pacific Air CEO could get the crew to search the plane again.
Makayla wonders how much sway Fletcher could have with the airline. She knows he’s in finance, but she’s not sure on the specifics. But even if Fletcher did get the airline CEO to contact the flight, would the crew agree to search it again? When they don’t believe she brought Liam on board the plane?
Yes, thank you , she replies, figuring she has nothing to lose by Fletcher making the call. At this point, she’ll take all the help she can get.
More guilt stabs at Makayla’s insides at not knowing more about Fletcher’s job. Cori is always there for her when she needs her: staying up tonight and offering to help, listening to Makayla’s suspicions about Jack and Sabrina’s relationship, spending the summer getting Liam onto preschool waiting lists. What have I ever done for Cori?
She vows to be a better friend after tonight. She could call Jack again, but she’s afraid the crew might take away her phone if they see her on it.
She taps the most recent conversation with Jack, where she last sent Cori’s number for the FBI. Cori is such a good person. Would the FBI show up at her doorstep to question her?
She pushes the thought from her mind and types out a message to Jack as fast as her conjoined wrists will allow. They’ve restrained me! I’m in zip tie handcuffs and strapped into my seat! Fury builds inside her with each word. They’re treating me like a criminal. Not letting me look for Liam! Tell the FBI to let me look for our son! No one else is!