Chapter 3 #3
Gillian wanted to go to Andrea. Wanted to ask if she was all right.
Reassure her that they’d get out of this alive, that they just had to be strong.
But in her mind, the words just sounded hollow.
She thought about how she’d feel if that had been her Luis had grabbed.
She wouldn’t want to hear any platitudes from anyone.
Closing her eyes, Gillian tried to dredge up soothing thoughts about Walker once more, but found it was impossible. All her fears and worries were overwhelming her, and she couldn’t think about anything other than what Luis and his buddies might have in store for the rest of them.
Eventually, she did her best to get some rest, even if it was filled with nightmares.
It felt as if she’d only been asleep for seconds, but in reality, it had been hours when Gillian was painfully woken up with a kick to her side.
Crying out, she sat up immediately and flinched at the light shining in her eyes.
“Time for another call,” Luis told her brusquely.
“We need to know when Hugo will be freed and when the plane will be refueled. They’re taking too long, and we’ve been sitting around waiting on them long enough.
It’s currently one in the morning. They have until five a.m. to have this plane fueled and to set Hugo free. ”
“What happens at five?” Gillian asked.
Luis smirked and leaned down. “People start dying,” he said succinctly. “One every fifteen minutes until we have proof that our comrade is free. Make sure they understand. We’re starting with your friends. Maybe with that little girl.”
“No!” Gillian exclaimed. “Please!”
Luis grabbed hold of Gillian’s hair and jerked backward.
He held his knife to her exposed throat and growled, “Then make them understand we’re not fucking around!
You do that, and everyone lives. You fuck up, and they are all dead!
You’ll be last. I’ll make you watch every person on this plane die. Got it?”
“Yes,” Gillian whispered. She had no doubt he’d do exactly as he threatened.
Luis nodded then threw the cell phone into her lap as he stood. “And don’t try anything stupid,” he warned. “We’re listening.” And with that, he stood back and stared menacingly down at her.
Gillian’s fingers were shaking, but she clicked the phone on and went to the most recent calls.
She pressed on the last number received and waited for someone to pick up.
Her heart was in her throat, and for a second she thought no one would answer since it was the middle of the night, but finally she heard Walker’s voice.
“Yeah?”
“It’s Gillian.”
“Hey.” His voice immediately changed from the gruff, menacing tone he’d used to answer to a gentler timbre. “You all right?”
“Yeah. I’m supposed to give you a message.”
“Okay, but first, take a breath.”
Gillian frowned. “What?”
“Take a breath, Di. I can tell you’re stressed way the hell out. Just breathe.”
“Di?”
“Sorry, that just popped out. Diana Prince. You know, Wonder Woman’s alter ego? You remind me of her. Staying calm under pressure, looking for ways to help even when the odds are stacked against you. I didn’t see a golden lasso earlier, but you might be hiding it somewhere.”
Gillian was literally speechless. She couldn’t think of a damn thing to say in response.
“Are you breathing? Somehow I don’t think you are.”
She let out the breath she was holding with an audible whoosh and, amazingly, she heard Walker chuckle on the other end of the line.
“Good. Now, tell me what those assholes want us to know.”
And just that quickly, she was sucked back into her current situation. Looking up, Gillian saw Luis and Henry staring down at her with their arms crossed over their chests. She was definitely at a disadvantage sitting at their feet, but she tried not to let that intimidate her.
Hell, who was she kidding? She was way the fuck intimidated.
“They said you have until five in the morning to have the plane refueled and Hugo released. Otherwise they’re going to start killing people. One every fifteen minutes.” She gave him the message quickly, feeling bile rise in her throat at having to say the words out loud.
“The authorities are waiting for the sun to rise to start refueling,” Walker said calmly. “I can tell them they need to start doing it sooner. And I believe Hugo is being released in around two hours. Are they listening?”
Gillian nodded but couldn’t get any words out.
“I’m sure they are,” Walker said. “Go ahead, tell them what I said.”
How Walker could sound so calm and reassured, Gillian had no idea. She cleared her throat and passed along the message.
Luis and Henry immediately began talking to each other in Spanish.
“I don’t—”
“Hush,” Walker said swiftly through the phone.
Startled that he’d been so abrupt, Gillian swallowed hard and held the phone tightly to her ear.
She wasn’t sure what to say, or why she was still holding the phone.
She should hang up. She’d passed along the message.
But no matter how upsetting it was that Walker had been so terse, she couldn’t bring herself to break their connection.
She could hear him breathing on the other end of the line, and concentrated on that. She tried to time her own breaths with his. Surprisingly, it calmed her. He wasn’t huffing and puffing and wasn’t acting nervous or freaked out.
Luis and Henry finally stopped arguing, and Luis stomped away toward the back of the plane.
Henry ran an agitated hand through his hair, and he grunted before he too walked away from where Gillian was sitting.
He didn’t go far, only to where the first-class cabin stopped, but it gave her a bit of privacy.
“Walker?” she whispered.
“Sorry about that, Di.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“I needed to hear their conversation,” Walker told her.
Then Gillian understood. “What’d they say?”
“I don’t know. But my teammate will figure it out. He’s on his way, and he’ll listen to the recording of our call when he gets here.”
“Is that guy really going to be freed soon?”
“Yes,” Walker said simply.
“And the plane refueled?”
“I take it no one is listening to you right now?” Walker asked.
“No, Henry’s pouting. Oh! Luis, Jesus, Alberto, Carlos, Henry, and Isaac. Those are the hijackers’ names.”
“Good girl,” Walker said, the admiration easy to hear in his tone. “And this is going to be over soon.”
“They really will start killing people,” Gillian warned him. “They said they would start with the women.”
“I believe you, but it’s not going to come to that.”
“Promise?” She knew it wasn’t really fair to ask that of him, but she was desperate. Her heart fell when Walker didn’t immediately respond. “Sorry. Ignore me, I—”
“I’m not a fortune teller, sweetheart. I wish I was. I wish I could tell you for sure what was going to happen in the next few hours. All I can tell you is that I’m doing my very best to get you, and everyone else on that plane, out of there in one piece.”
“Please don’t let them take off with all of us inside this plane.”
“No way in hell,” Walker said fervently.
She believed him. “I watched as Luis secured the door. I’m sure I can do something to open it, or to make it not close right.
They can’t take off without the door being latched, right?
Maybe when the plane is refueled, someone can leave a gun or something in a secret compartment that I can get to and take them out. I can—”
“Diana Prince, right down to your toes,” Walker interrupted.
“What?”
“We’ve got this, Di. All you have to do is go with the flow, keep your head down, and not put yourself in the line of fire. Okay?”
“Okay. Walker?”
“Yeah?”
“That was you with the food and water, wasn’t it?”
“It was.”
Gillian felt a little stupid. Of course it was.
He’d confirmed it with his nod earlier. But her emotions were all over the place.
She was exhausted, stressed, and freaked out.
Not to mention, she had a feeling she smelled atrocious…
she couldn’t really tell, since everyone around her smelled awful too.
She hated that Walker had seen her at her worst. She wanted to impress him.
Wanted to look like the kick-ass women in the movies who could live through the worst and still manage to seduce the hero.
“I thought so,” she said lamely when the silence went on too long.
“What’s goin’ through your head?” he asked.
Gillian closed her eyes and rested her forehead on her knees. She hurt. All over. She was exhausted and terrified. And she was apparently vain enough to want Walker to like her…when they were in a middle of a freaking hostage situation. She was certifiably insane. “Nothing.”
“You want to know what I saw when I climbed that ladder?” Walker asked softly.
Gillian shook her head, but said, “Maybe.”
He chuckled softly—then blew her mind. “I saw a woman who was at the end of her rope, but who was still holding on. Not only that, but I saw a leader. Someone who everyone on that plane probably looks up to. Someone who might be scared, but was doing her best to power through it for the good of the rest of the team. I saw a woman who I admired, and who I vowed right then and there wouldn’t become a statistic or a quick blurb on a news story.
” And then, after a beat, “I saw a woman I wanted to get to know better.”
His words felt good. Damn good. Taking a deep breath, she asked, “You want to know what I saw when I looked at you?”
“Sure, Di, tell me.”
“Hope.”
They were both silent for a moment. “I like that way more than I should. Hang on just a little longer, Gillian. Stay alert, and be as calm as you can. All right?”
“Yeah.” Something occurred to her then. Something she should’ve thought about before. “Walker? You said you’re recording when I call you?”
“Yes.”
“What if I give them the phone back and pretend to hang up, but don’t?”
“No.”
“But—”
“No. If they realize what you did, they’ll hurt you.”
“They’re going to hurt me anyway. They’ve already hurt me.
So far they’ve just been toying with me, but I know the second they have the chance, Luis or one of the others will take great pleasure in making me suffer.
But if you can hear their conversations, then you might be able to catch them if they fly away. ”
“You’re more important.”
Gillian knew she’d replay those three words over and over in her head for the rest of her life…however short it might turn out to be.
She’d had her share of boyfriends, but for the most part, she’d never felt as if they’d put her first. She’d dated a musician who’d moved to LA to pursue his career.
She would’ve gone with him…if he’d asked.
He didn’t. Then there was the accountant who she hadn’t seen for three months around tax time.
Also, the guy who loved sports so much he never asked her over when his favorite team was playing because she would distract him.
Walker didn’t even know her, and he was putting her above capturing six ruthless terrorist hijackers.
“I’m doing it,” she told him. “I hope to be able to officially meet you soon, Walker Nelson. Be careful.” Then, without waiting for his response—because she had a feeling he’d be able to talk her out of it—she clicked out of the phone app and turned off the screen.
As it faded to black, she prayed her plan would actually work and the assholes who were keeping them hostage would actually say something incriminating, and that Walker and his friends would hear them.
She held the phone face up and waited for Henry to realize that he’d left her alone with his cell.
Surprisingly, it took another few minutes.
When he did, he raced back up the aisle and snatched his phone from her hand.
He shoved it in his back pocket and smacked her across the face. “What’d you tell him?” he barked.
“Nothing!” Gillian protested. “I hung up when you left.”
“You’d better not be lying,” he hissed as he stood over her threateningly.
“I’m not! I swear!”
Kicking her once more, Henry then turned and left. Gillian caught Andrea’s eye and tried to smile reassuringly. She wanted to tell her and the others that help was coming. That hopefully this would all be a bad memory soon, but she didn’t dare.
She hoped Walker was being honest with her, and that the hijackers’ friend would be released. Maybe then they could all get out of here with their lives.