Ace of Shadows (The Fifth Suit of Sin #1)

Chapter 1

IVY

“Chicken or Fish?” My smile doesn’t waver even as a tremor rumbles through the plane, making everyone’s lowered trays shudder and clatter in their seats.

“It’s just a little turbulence, Ma’am, and the captain isn’t worried. There’s no cause for concern.”

“Maybe the captain needs his head checked,” grumbles the passenger next to us as he tightens his seatbelt around his waist. “This isn’t normal.”

“I can promise you both that a little turbulence is perfectly normal,” I assure them both with the same practiced smile.

“It’s a pocket of rough air that we can’t avoid, but once we’re through to the other side, our flight will return to being as smooth as it was at take-off.

” My attention slides back to 32D as a subtle burning ache forms in my lower back from my bent over posture.

“So, would you like the chicken or the fish?”

She looks at me with a twisted mouth and a deep frown. “I can’t eat at a time like this!”

Another shudder rolls through the plane, testing my balance, and when I reach to grab the back of 33D for balance, 32D’s eyes widen.

“I knew it! This isn’t normal! We’re going to crash!”

“Ma’am, please calm down. I assure you that everything is in order and this turbulence really is natural. It’s like feeling the pull of a strong wind while driving or being out at sea and one wave crests higher than you expect. This is no different.”

She shoots me a withering look, clutching at her armrest for dear life.

Luckily, no other tremors shake the plane and a few minutes of smooth flying finally calms her down.

After assuring her once more that we’re in no danger, she finally chooses the chicken and an extra bread roll.

It seems being scared really worked up her appetite.

I resume my walk down the aisle, repeating the question to every seat with a light on until the food cart I’m pushing is empty of everything except the vegetarian option. Something the passenger in seat 46D is very unhappy about.

“I paid the same ticket as everyone else on this damn plane,” he scolds gruffly, clutching an empty miniature in his left hand. “I should get the same options as everyone else and when I say I want fish, then you'd better damn well bring me fish!”

“You’re absolutely right, sir,” I say with the same fake smile that makes my cheeks throb. “Let me head back on up and I’ll see if there’s a fish there for you.”

“There'd better be,” he snaps, blinking owlishly up at me. “Or I’ll be lodging a complaint!”

“That is your right, sir. I’ll be right back.”

“It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

“I’ll be two minutes.” Clutching the trolley, I straighten up and subtly stretch each leg while wheeling the cart back up the plane toward the dining area, quietly praying that no one decides to steal my attention.

An eighteen-month training course and two years on a shitty airline finally led me to my dream position as part of the cabin crew on Alpine Airlines, but it wasn’t until I got here that I realized the passengers on an airline as expensive as Alpine are just as full of complaints as any other commercial airline.

The beautiful uniforms and healthcare benefits almost aren’t worth the mix of entitled and just plain idiotic passengers.

“How was it?” Tasha, the other member of the crew in this section of the plane, flashes me a sympathetic smile when I come through the curtain.

“As expected. 32D can’t handle the turbulence and the man next to her in 32E is stoking the fire about the pilot’s abilities. 41H is pissed that I cut off his alcohol, and 46D is demanding fish.”

Tasha finishes laying out much more appetizing meals onto two gold trays and nods along. “There should be more fish in the back just there.” Her head jerks over her shoulder, causing the neat silver Alpine hairpin to unbalance from her tight bun.

“Let me.” I move forward and catch it, cupping her bun with one hand and sliding the hairpin back into place.

“Thanks.”

“I got you.” Ducking behind her, I open the cupboard and rummage through the leftover meals, but despite the number we have, there isn’t a single fish dinner left. “Damn. There’s no fish.”

“Are you sure?” Tasha turns to me, her pale brows knitting together. “Did we really run out already?”

“Looks like it.”

Tasha picks up the clipboard from my trolley, skims through it, and then gently edges past me to crouch down next to me. “Can you take those meals to the pilots for me?”

“Yes, of course. Do you think I miscounted?”

Tasha merely mumbles to herself as she starts counting.

Not wanting to disturb her, I pick up both golden trays and walk back through the plane toward the pilot’s door.

Just as I reach it, a subtle tremor rolls through the plane and my heart jumps faintly.

Turbulence is natural, but something about the long pause between each roll is setting my nerves on edge.

Typing in the code at the door, I knock twice and enter. “Hungry?”

“Oh, thank God,” groans George from the co-pilot seat. “My stomach’s been doing all sorts of somersaults, but it’s been far too rough out here to get anything.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” I pass him one tray with a warm smile and set the second down nearby, as our Captain, Derek, focuses his attention on the dark, rolling clouds in front of us. Lowering my voice, I gently squeeze George’s shoulder. “Tasha added an extra pudding for you.”

“What a star,” George groans, immediately diving into his steak. “Tell her I love her!”

“I will.” I laugh and quickly exit before my presence becomes any more of a distraction.

Just as the door closes and locks behind me, another bout of turbulence shakes through the plane and for the briefest moment, my feet leave the floor. On my way back to Tasha, I refuse to make eye contact with seat 32D while 46D yells after me.

“Where the hell is my fish?”

“We good?” I ask, closing the curtain and stopping behind Tasha.

She turns to me with a small frown and shakes her head, chewing on the end of her pen. “No. We’re missing eighteen fish, which is really weird because I haven’t even taken my trolley up yet. I can give you one of my fish if your guy is going to be a problem?”

“He is, but he’s been drinking and he’s a bit of an ass, so you keep your fish. How can we be missing eighteen, though?”

Tasha shrugs and sets my clipboard back down on the trolley. “I guess someone loaded on the wrong pallet or something. It’s weird but like… what can we do, y’know?” She flashes me a smile and then reaches out to tuck a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. “You sure you’ll be okay?”

“I think I’ll enjoy shoving veggies down his neck.” I chuckle. “Thanks.”

Tasha blows me a kiss through the air, takes her trolley, and disappears through the other curtain to sort out meals at the back of the plane.

I adjust my trolley and pick up one chicken and one vegetarian, then head back to 46D.

By the time I get there, though, he’s passed out fast asleep.

His seat neighbor gives me a grateful glance and asks for the chicken.

Back behind the curtain, I’m in the process of loading up the remainder of the food for the next trip when turbulence hits once more.

This bout is the worst of the lot and I lose my balance instantly.

Swallowing a yelp of alarm, I clutch at the counter for dear life while my trolley’s brake unlatches and rolls away from me, coming to an abrupt stop when it crashes into the wall with a loud clatter.

Thankfully, the clatter is lost under the rumbling and rattling that move through the plane.

This time, as the turbulence dulls, it doesn’t fade completely and a continuous, subtle rumble rolls through the air. Back on steady legs, I groan softly and rescue my trolley. As it wheels away from the wall, metal screeches softly and something thunks behind it.

Alarmed, I peer around my trolley and stare at the wall panel that’s somehow become dislodged after the impact of my trolley.

But that’s not the most surprising thing.

There’s something in the wall.

Securing the brake on my trolley, I crouch at the hole and cautiously reach out to touch one of the several white packages lining the wall. Three rows and four columns are visible where the panel fell, but judging by their position, these strange white packages run deeper into the wall.

I’ve seen the internal lining of a plane and this isn’t it.

With one touch, one of the packages comes free, hitting the floor with a soft thump. It’s rectangular with tan tape wrapping around the brick and crossing through the middle.

“What the…?” Picking it up, the white mass shifts under my grip. It’s not solid… It’s some kind of powder. In fact, it looks exactly like the kind of drug brick I see every Saturday night while sitting down to catch up on my favorite cop show.

But that’s impossible.

That makes absolutely no sense.

“Ivy?” Tasha comes back through the curtain with her rattling trolley, so I stand with the brick in hand and our eyes lock.

Confusion flashes across her face as she takes me in, then her pale brows knit together and she locks her trolley, darting forward. “Ivy, what are you doing?”

“It’s not mine! I swear. I just found it.”

“Where?”

I sidestep and we both turn to look at the hole in the wall. Tasha gazes down at the package, visibly confused.

“That’s not… is that…? No, it can’t be, can it?” She looks up at me.

“Is it drugs?” I ask softly. “Because it looks like drugs.”

“No…” Tasha shakes her head and squints. “In the wall? That’s… there’s no way!”

“We have to report this.”

“To who?” Tasha’s eyes widen. “It’s not like there’s an air marshal on this flight.”

“Derek?” I suggest as my hands start to warm around the package. Suddenly, touching this feels like a very bad idea, so I throw it down onto my trolley. “We have to tell Derek and George, and they’ll know what to do.”

“Because pilots get trained on what to do if drugs are found inside the plane?” Tasha hisses, clutching at my hands. “What if it’s one of the passengers?”

I scoff lightly despite how my heart starts to race. “There’s no way one of them could have put that there. This stuff is like… in the wall.”

“But if someone’s here to keep an eye on it? What if it is Derek? Or George?”

“Okay, take a breath,” I say, grasping Tasha’s arm as she starts to panic.

“There’s no way. We just… we have to tell them, and they’ll know what to do.

Maybe not exactly about this, but there’s got to be some kind of protocol to follow that’s similar or something, just…

okay, you stay here and make sure no one comes in here, okay? ”

Tasha nods quickly and brings her hands together at her chest, staring down at the discarded package. “Okay. Okay. Maybe the company changed the insulation and just chose a really bad design,” she whispers.

“Maybe. Wait here.”

Smoothing my hands down my waistcoat, I plaster that fake smile on my face and step out through the curtain just as a massive rumble tremors through the floor and the entire plane shudders twice.

I grab the back of the nearest seat to steady myself, then I’m suddenly weightless.

The plane drops a good few feet out of the air and sends the entire cabin into chaos.

Panic spreads like wildfire. Those not obeying the fasten seatbelt light join me in lurching up through the air, only to slam hard back down against the floor as the pilots regain control.

The drugs flee my mind as safety protocols take over. I give myself three seconds to lie there, catching my breath, then I’m on my feet and hurrying down the aisle toward the cockpit.

“What’s happening?”

“We’re going to die!”

“Mama, I’m scared!”

“I didn’t pay for this!”

Passenger screams and yells tumble over one another as the plane violently shudders once more and begins drifting down to one side.

“Put on your seatbelt!” I yell as loudly as I can above the screaming. “Remember the safety procedures at the start of the flight!”

No one does. The plane tilts harder and harder to one side as if something is pulling it down by the wing.

I scramble against seats to make it to the safety chair near the cockpit.

By some stroke of luck, I make it and throw myself in, bracing one leg against the wall to remain seated while fastening my belt.

Then I snatch the phone from the wall and press it to my ear.

“I need your attention, please!” My voice booms across the intercom as masks pop from the ceiling and dangle in front of every passenger. The entire plane rattles violently, jerking up and down through the air like we’re on some kind of rollercoaster.

“Please ensure your seatbelts are firmly locked in place! Masks have jettisoned from their pods in front of you, so please take the one directly in front of you and place the mask firmly over your nose and mouth!” My teeth rattle and clack together with each shudder and suddenly, the taste of copper floods my mouth.

“Pull the elastic over your head and secure it in place by pulling tight! Ensure your mask is securely in place before attempting to help your neighbor, and please—”

Suddenly, we’re free-falling. Every passenger within my view rises slightly from their seats, hair flies upward, unsecured cups and items escape their holders and rattle around in the air. The plane crunches violently, and half the locks on the overhead compartments burst open.

“Please remain calm!” I yell those worthless words as the freefall continues and air rushes past my ears at such speed that I can’t even hear my own heartbeat anymore.

We’re going down.

We’re actually going down.

I was wrong.

It wasn’t just a little turbulence.

My stomach rolls tightly, and nausea stings the back of my throat, but before another thought crosses my mind, a suitcase escapes the nearest overhead compartment. The last thing I see is the glittery pink label and gold wheels before it crashes into my face.

My world turns black in an instant.