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“West.” His voice was a tiny squeak.
“West?” She gave him a smile. “That’s a great name. Do you like animals?”
He nodded, his eyes wide.
“Do you have any pets back home?” Meredith asked.
He gave another slight nod, and Meredith smiled. “What do you have? A dog?”
“A guinea pig,” he answered.
“A guinea pig?” Meredith repeated, glancing behind her to see if the gunman was getting closer. “Does he like to cuddle?”
West nodded.
“What’s his name?”
West opened his mouth, but Meredith couldn’t hear his response.
Passengers screamed. West’s mother shrieked. Meredith’s body tensed, and her ears reverberated painfully with the sound of gunfire. The hijacker had just claimed his next victim.
“Five more minutes,” Bradley told the cameras pointed at him. “Five more minutes, and then another one dies.”
CHAPTER 9
Logan Airport
Meredith’s life as she knew it was over. Which meant that before long she’d have to decide if she was going to take Connor up on his advice. Make some new connections in the publishing industry. Right now, she couldn’t imagine doing anything other than writing, teaching, proclaiming God’s word to women around the world.
But was that door shut to her forever?
On her best day, Meredith would give herself some kind of pep talk. Remind herself that there were many women creating online presences for themselves without a six-figure publishing deal backing them up. She could learn the ropes, take her writing and her inspiration and her videos and go indie. Maybe now was the time. Maybe this was God’s way of moving Meredith forward.
So why did it feel like such a setback?
Yesterday’s meeting was a shock, and yet not altogether a surprise. Still, she hadn’t expected to lose her entire career in a single day. The final strike came a few weeks ago when Meredith brought up her memoir as a personal prayer request at the start of one of the weekly online board meetings.
“I’m writing about my experience of sexual assault in the church, and it’s bringing up some difficult memories. I’d love your prayers.”
Her request was met with silence until the chairman finally stated, “I thought you were doing that Bible study on Esther.”
Meredith tried not to let her exasperation show. “Yes, I’m also working on my Esther study on the side, and the final manuscript is still on target to be sent in this spring.”
“Well, I think you should focus on that.” Richard spoke with finality.
And Meredith expected the conversation to end there. She’d never needed Richard’s approval about what she wrote in the past, and she certainly didn’t need it now. It wasn’t until she received that email the following day, she realized Richard had gone behind her back. Talked to four of the six other members and then drafted a letter strongly urging her not to write about such a heavy topic, mentioning that readers had come to expect Bible studies from her, not self-help manuals.
It wasn’t until Meredith asked her assistant Angie to scour all the Living Grace bylaws when she realized that yes, technically the board could vote to decide if one of her books should be published or not, even though her contracts had always been signed under her own name and were distinctive from her work with Living Grace.
She should have seen then the turn that the board was taking against her, but she still thought of herself as the leader of Living Grace, the ministry she’d started in her studio apartment with nothing but a desktop and a dial-up modem.
“Well, look who it is.” A familiar voice interrupted Meredith’s thoughts. “I had a feeling God would bring us together again.”
Meredith glanced over. It was Grandma Lucy, smiling up at her in genuine pleasure. “Did you find out about your flight?” she asked.
“The Grand Rapids airport is closed due to the snow. I’m on my way to the ticket counter to see if I can get on a different one.”
Grandma Lucy smiled. “Well, if you don’t mind a quick detour to Detroit, that’s where my first plane’s going. Flight 219. Still on schedule to take off on time. Maybe I’ll see you on board.”
Meredith smiled. “Maybe you will.”
CHAPTER 10
Flight 219
Meredith was glad for her position in the front of the plane. Glad that so far, the violence had all taken place toward the rear. In the seat next to her, West was still clinging to his mother, but at least he didn’t seem so panicked anymore. In fact, most of the passengers appeared to be suffering from a combined sense of shock and resignation. Ever since the last murder victim fell, the only noise to be heard over the drone of the engines was the gunman himself, who spoke loudly into a cell phone camera.
“You might be wondering why I’ve taken control of this flight. Well, if you pay any attention whatsoever to the news, you’ll understand what it means when I tell you my children attend Brown Elementary.”
Meredith was familiar with the uproar it had caused when the city of Detroit built an elementary school on top of toxic land. The school board cited budget cuts and overcrowding, making it out as if there were no other valid options. Meredith understood the father’s emotions. She’d be livid if her children were sentenced to play on playgrounds riddled with lead and arsenic. The conditions were so bad that several adult workers at the construction site had been hospitalized last summer.
Meredith would be unhappy if her kids were forced to attend school there. Unhappy, yes.
Willing to hijack an airplane and kill innocent victims?
Absolutely not.
Bradley continued spouting off about how the city of Detroit had left him no choice but to murder and take over an entire plane. Listening to his rage, Meredith realized her problems with the Living Grace board weren’t quite as horrific as they’d seemed. After all, what did it matter that she’d just lost her job if she’d be dead in five minutes anyway?
She had one arm around West and was holding his mother’s hand.
He hid his face in his mother’s chest. “We’re going to be all right, honey,” his mother told him. “We’ll be home real soon. Safe and sound.”
Meredith had a hard time focusing on what she was saying. Words like home and safety had become vague concepts, not actual, tangible hopes to strive for.
For now, it was just waiting.
Waiting for Bradley to finish his speech. Hoping that when his timer went off, she wouldn’t be the next one he chose to kill.
CHAPTER 11
Logan Airport
“Can I help the next customer in line please?”
Meredith stepped forward and handed the agent her ID and boarding pass. “I need to get to Michigan, and my flight was just cancelled.”
The man clicked a few buttons on his keyboard and frowned. Click, click, click. “Looks like all flights are postponed to Grand Rapids due to the snowstorm.”
“I understand that. I was hoping you could book me to some other airport nearby.”
Click, click, click. The man’s expression didn’t change as he continued to stare at his screen. After a minute of typing, he finally said, “There’s a flight headed to Chicago. Is that close enough?”
“Chicago? I guess if that’s all there is,” Meredith answered. The cost of a rental car and a tank of gas couldn’t add up to more than it would cost her to get another night at a hotel here.
The agent frowned. “Looks like that flight’s full.”
Meredith tried not to let her impatience show. “When’s the next flight to Chicago leave?” she asked.
“Let me check.” Click, click, click. “There’s a flight to Chicago taking off in an hour and a half, but it’s departing from Terminal E.”
“That’s fine, I’ll take it.”
Click, click, click. “Unfortunately, that flight’s full, too.”
Meredith was ready to get home, however she go
t there, and then avoid traveling for at least the rest of the winter.
“Forget Chicago,” she finally said. “What flights do you have heading to Michigan?”
“Michigan?” he asked as if he’d never heard of the state before.
“Michigan,” Meredith repeated.
Click, click, click.
“There’s a flight to Detroit that still has one seat available.”
“I’ll take it.” She just hoped he’d book it for her before another passenger grabbed it.
Click, click, click. “Would an aisle seat be okay?”
“An aisle seat would be fine,” she answered hurriedly.
He pressed a few more buttons, printed up a boarding pass, and handed it to her.
“Here you go. Your one-way ticket on Flight 219, headed to Detroit.”
CHAPTER 12
Flight 219
“The people of Detroit have failed our children,” Bradley was saying. He still hadn’t put his gun away, and Meredith felt her body inching as far away from his as possible whenever he passed her in his relentless pacing up and down the aisle. “If the superintendent and his board of crooks had actually done their jobs instead of selling out our kids to the lowest bidder, I wouldn’t be forced to do any of this.”
Meredith had already decided that if the gun pointed in her direction, she’d use her body to shield little West and his mother. Far better to lose her own life than sit by and watch a helpless child die. The resolve gave her a new burst of courage, a sense of control, however imaginary.
“Until the superintendent of the Detroit school systems or the governor of Michigan himself calls me on my personal cell,” Bradley raged on, “one hostage will continue to die every five minutes. You have my word, and I promise you I always keep my word.”
The threat sent a chill racing up Meredith’s spine, but she’d already determined not to give way to fear. She had to be strong. Had to give West and his mother a sense of courage. In this situation it was the least she could do. Not much, but it was something.
Bradley pulled out his phone, looked at one of the cameras pointing straight at him and announced, “Thirty more seconds.”
CHAPTER 13
Logan Airport
“Flight 219 headed to Detroit will begin boarding in fifteen minutes.”
Meredith sat back in her chair. A young mother traveling with her son was asking the counter agent for an update on their seats. Her frantic tone made Meredith thankful to have her boarding pass in hand. Re-routing through Detroit would add a few extra hours to her day, but at least she’d spend tonight in her own home. Never had her own bed and her own pillow sounded so inviting.
Meredith’s seat was toward the very front of the plane, meaning that she’d be one of the last called on to board. She decided to use that extra time efficiently. It was all fine and good to wallow in self-pity for short bursts of time, but then she had to be proactive. Proactive and positive.
She pulled out one of the notebooks she always traveled with, turned to the first new page, and wrote on the top Things I can do after Living Grace Ministries. She proceeded to stare at the journal for several minutes. When the blank page proved too intimidating, she decided to give herself a little more structure. She divided the page into three columns and wrote Ministry, Career, and Totally Frivolous.
The frivolous category was the easiest to fill. For years, Meredith had told herself she’d take music lessons. Soon, her column was spilling over with ideas like hiring a piano teacher, finding a singing tutor, even starting up ballroom dance classes and joining a gym. For a minute, she tried to decide if she wanted to add travel to her list, but she was starting to enjoy the thought of staying home for a while. Maybe she could even get herself a pet.
The other two columns proved more difficult to fill in. For almost half of her life, ministry and career had been one and the same thing to her, and she wanted to keep it that way if possible. But what did she know how to do other than writing and speaking? And how could she do either now?
Always practical, Meredith realized the bills had to get paid. She didn’t live extravagantly, but she’d need a job to put food on the table, not to mention those music and dance lessons she was hoping to dive into now that she had so much extra time on her hands.
Maybe there was a church or a nonprofit nearby she could work with. Grand Rapids was full of Christian publishing companies and colleges, and with her old friend Connor willing to help her make new connections …
She thought about the manuscript in her backpack. It had been almost over two decades since she’d been taken advantage of by a Christian leader she trusted, but she’d only started talking about her experience a few years ago. In that time, she’d realized how many other women around the world shared similar trauma, often at the hands of pastors and youth leaders. And just as horrific as the abuse itself was how eager churches were to cover up sin to avoid a scandal.
She stared at the blank columns on the page. Tried to decide if she could see her career going in a vastly different direction.
Decided that change wasn’t always such a bad thing.
Start a ministry for victims of sexual abuse. Since she couldn’t decide whether it fit best under the column for ministry or career, she wrote it down in both.
And for the first time that day, she smiled, even though she knew nobody else was watching.
CHAPTER 14
Flight 219
Bradley broke out into a cocky smirk. “Time’s up.” He put his phone into his back pocket. “Let’s see what else I have to do to get my point across.”
Meredith steeled herself, ready to protect the young boy beside her and his mother if the gunman came anywhere near them. Instead, he made his way toward the back of the plane.
Was that a good sign? Did that mean Meredith was safe? Was she supposed to feel relieved?
Was she supposed to feel anything?
Meredith assessed her own mental state. It was a technique she’d taught Christian women for years. God, right now I’m feeling … Then let your mind fill in the blanks.
She tried.
I’m feeling …
I’m feeling …
God, help.
It was all she could manage to pray, the nonverbal equivalent of a squeak or a gasp.
“Stand up.” Bradley’s voice was strong and echoed from where he stood in the back of the cabin. Controlled. Where did his presence of mind come from?
West’s mom whimpered.
“It’s okay,” Meredith assured her, immediately recognizing the idiocy of her words. She squeezed the young woman’s hand and repeated once more, “It’s okay.”
How could she say such a thing? How could she even think such a thing? At least he didn’t pick one of us, Meredith told herself, remembering her resolve to protect West if she had to. She let out her breath.
God, I’m feeling …
She looked around her. Everyone was staring at the back of the cabin. Everyone was focused on Bradley, terrified and unable to move. Wasn’t that the whole point? Wasn’t that why he’d managed to gain control of the plane so quickly? If someone could just mobilize everybody, if they could just do something … But what?
God, I’m feeling …
Bradley had the gun pointed at a young woman with her hair dyed in beautiful shades of blue. Meredith couldn’t hear their conversation. Was that because they were too far away, the drone of the engine too loud? Or were her senses shutting down?
God, I’m feeling …
She didn’t want to look. Didn’t want to see. Wanted to wrap her arms around the helpless boy in his mother’s lap, shield both of them from the terror that was palpable in the cabin. And yet whenever she tried to turn her body, tried to pry her eyes away, she couldn’t. Like a frightening movie that you realize halfway in is far too intense. But once you get past a certain point you have to keep watching. Your mind won’t settle until it knows what’s go
ing to happen next.
God, I’m feeling …
And then she could hear Bradley’s words again, rushing in over the roar of the engine, over her own pulse surging through her ears.
“The people of Detroit have yet another victim on their hands,” he declared, holding the gun steadily. “Your time is up.”
Meredith squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t watch. It took every nerve fiber in her body to keep her eyelids from flying open. She wasn’t thinking about the mother beside her. She wasn’t thinking about the little boy she’d vowed to protect. All she knew was that Bradley was about to kill yet another innocent victim, and there was absolutely nothing Meredith or anyone else on this flight could do to stop him.
God, I’m scared.
CHAPTER 15
Logan Airport
“Well, isn’t this a blessing. I had a feeling I’d see you again.”
Meredith glanced up from her notebook where she’d been feverishly jotting down ideas for her future, a future apart from Living Grace. The board might have taken away her job and her salary, but there were many other things that belonged solely to Meredith. Her network of Christian leaders across the country. Her contacts with influential donors who were using their financial blessings to advance God’s work throughout the world.
Even though Meredith’s primary goal had been and always would be to teach Scriptural truths to women, her time at Living Grace had also given her a crash course in organizational leadership that no MBA or advanced degree could offer.
Start a ministry for victims of sexual abuse. She stared at her notes, her numerous mind-maps, her lists of people she’d contact to recruit for her startup team. Maybe she’d even invite Connor to be involved.
She’d been so lost in her vision-casting and daydreaming that she was startled by the old woman’s voice. She looked up in surprise.