Flight of Fear

Paula gripped her arm rests as the "fasten seatbelt" sign flashed overhead, willing the turbulence to stop. People weren't meant to fly. If they were, they'd have been born with wings. Three months ago, nothing in the world could have gotten her on an airplane. She was content to keep both feet firmly planted on the ground, thank you very much. That was before she met Adam Knight.

Adam just might be the perfect man ever made: he was smart, funny, caring and had a face and figure chiseled by the angels themselves. His blue eyes could melt the iciest fjord, and his sandy blond hair was meant to be touseled. Not to mention he was the heir to some Wall Street fortune, which was honestly just icing on the cake. The only problem was that he lived in New York, while Paula was an LA native. He'd been begging for weeks to meet her in person, and she'd finally cracked. She was nervous to meet him, sure, but a man like that doesn't just waltz into one's life every day. It would be worth it in the end... if only she could survive the flight out.

When the seatbelt sign finally turned off, Paula exhaled deeply and pried her fingernails out of the arm rests to check the screen embedded in the seat back in front of her. She was barely a half hour into the flight, with five long hours left to go. She groaned and rubbed her face in frustration. Five hours trapped in a tin can at 30,000 feet... she could barely stand it. Every fiber of her being willed the plane ride to be over sooner.

"Ma'am?" The voice of a flight attendant caught Paula's attention, and she looked up. A smiling face framed with neatly combed dark hair and light stubble looked back at her. "I said, would you care for a drink?"

Paula shook off the rest of her nervous thoughts then nodded. "Y-Yeah; a drink sounds great right about now. What've you got that has a kick to it?"

The flight attendant's dark eyes looked over the cart in front of him. "Well, we've got your standard soda pop, orange juice and water. I'm afraid you're out of luck with the harder stuff; we aren't allowed to serve it on such an early flight. Nervous flier?"

Paula nodded sheepishly. "The train was fully booked, and the bus would've taken too long. Um, I'll have a water, please. Thanks."

He echoed her nod and poured her a cup of sparkling water. "The bubbles help," he said. "Trust me. If you need anything else, just hit the button overhead, okay? It's my job to make sure everyone has a smooth, safe flight."

Paula felt herself blush, letting her eyes drift to the winged silver name tag pinned to the attendant's red velveteen vest. "Thanks, uh... Luis." After he walked away, Paula found herself staring at his back while she sipped her water. Luis was kinda cute. If she wasn't on her way to meet Mr. Perfect, she definitely would have asked him if he were single. A guy that good looking, however, probably wasn't unattached.

Another pocket of turbulence struck the plane, causing every inch of Paula's body to shake. She spluttered as water splashed all over her face and clothes, and some even went up her nose a little. She coughed, trying to clear the water from her airway, then grumbled at her soaked blouse. A little boy across the aisle pointed and laughed hysterically at her, but was quickly reprimanded by whom Paula assumed was his mother seated beside him. Paula waved off the mother's apologetic smile, then as soon as the plane stopped shaking grabbed her carryon from under her seat. Being naturally prone to planning, she'd packed a spare top and was very glad she did so. After fishing it out of her bag, Paula grabbed her purse and headed for the bathrooms at the back of the cabin.

As she thought, the water had washed off some of her makeup. She spent a fair bit of time touching it up after she'd changed, but honestly there wasn't much she could do about it. Most of her makeup was in her checked baggage, after all. She made herself somewhat presentable and was just about to head back to her seat when the door to the bathroom opened unexpectedly.

"Ocupied," she called out quickly. "I'm on my way out though, so just hang on for-"

A split second later, a rough hand clamped over her mouth from behind. She screamed into the palm and started to struggle, but stopped when something sharp and metallic pressed against the side of her neck.

"Make a sound," a harsh voice snarled, "and it'll be your last."

Paula's heart hammered against her ribs. She didn't know who this guy was or what he wanted, but she had a sneaking suspicion it was nothing good. She nodded slowly, trembling with fear but trying her hardest to stay calm and do as she was told. After a moment, she heard a second voice crackle through a radio earpeice he was wearing.

"Do you have the girl?"

"Affirmative," the stranger answered to a microphone hidden in his sleeve. "Send the ransom note to Mr. Knight's office. This payday will be our biggest yet!"

Paula's eyes widened. Mr. Knight? Were they doing all this just to get at Adam's fortune? They'd been talking online for months, and had a pretty decent connection, but she honestly didn't know him all that well. Would he really be willing to pay the ransom to these goons? Paula could only hope that he would.

"Message recieved loud and clear," the man's accomplice reported. "Parachutes are in the rear compartment. Deliver the package to the extracton point ASAP. Over and out."

Paula shook her head and started struggling again. These guys had to be insane. There was absolutely no way she was jumping out of this plane, no matter how badly she wanted to be out of it. She kicked and screamed, biting her attacker's palm to get him to let go. He snarled in pain and pulled his hand away from her mouth, shortly before slamming the pommel of the knife in his off hand into her temple.

The tiny, cramped bathroom swam before her eyes, and her head lolled to the side. She grew limp in her attackers arms, allowing him to carry her like a sack of flour to the very back of the plane. He'd just started fastening the straps of the parachute around her body when she gathered some of her wits back. Mustering all her strength, she drove her heel into her assailant's solar plexus. He grunted and fell back onto the floor, enabling her to unbuckle the parachute straps and hurry back to her seat.

Sweat ran down her back and she puffed for air, gripping the seats she zipped by for support. Her head was still aching badly, and her vision was blurry. She expected her attacker to be right on her heels, and he was... but he was moving very slow and calm down the aisle behind her. It seemed that he was trying to keep a low profile, avoiding eye contact with the other passengers and the flight attendants as much as possible. Paula slumped into her seat as quick as she was able, then reached up for the call button. She almost missed it because her vision was doubled, but her trembling fingers found the button just in time.

Moments later, her attacker caught up to her and took the empty aisle seat on her row. When Luis finally jogged over, his warm smile quickly faded. "Hello again," he said. "Is everything okay? You look upset."

"My wife is just a little airsick," the assailant explained, poking his knife into Paula's ribs. "We'll be fine."

"Wife?" Luis repeated, stunned and confused. He looked a few rows ahead for a moment, then back at the man suspiciously. "Do husbands and wives customarily sit six aisles apart? I remember helping you with your bag when you boarded the flight, sir. You and this young woman got on at different times, too."

"It's practically a full flight," the stranger shot back. "We were lucky to get on the same plane today. Are you always this nosy, or just when beautiful women are involved?!"

Luis straightened up, but kept his grim demeanor. "I didn't mean to pry, sir. I was just curious." His eyes softened as he looked over to Paula. She tried her hardest to show how scared she was, but was too afraid to speak. That, and her head was spinning very badly. Luis started to walk away, but paused for just a moment to refill Paula's drink. "Don't hesitate to hit the button if you need me again," he insisted.

Paula's eyes stung with tears after Luis left. She grabbed for her water anyway, thinking it would calm her nerves, but stopped when she noticed something scrawled on the cocktail napkin underneath it: "cough twice if you need help."

She held the napkin to her lips so her kidnapper wouldn't see the note, then forced out two loud, sharp coughs. Luis's head snapped back toward her, his eyes wide with alarm, but he didn't move toward her. He gave a slow, barely perceptable nod, then jogged toward the cockpit. A moment later, the pilot's voice came over the intercom.

"Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, but it appears one of our passengers has fallen critically ill. We'll be executing an emergency landing in Las Vegas within the next few minutes. Thank you for your patience and understanding."

The entire cabin let out a unanimous groan, except for the man seated beside Paula. He became suddenly nervous and angry, digging his knife deeper into her side. "You did something," he hissed. "You and that snoopy steward are gonna rob me of my early retirement! Unlucky for him, he won't live to regret it!"

Paula couldn't hold back a whimper of pain when she felt the tip of the knife cut through her cotton t-shirt and into her skin. The plane started descending less than a minute later, after which Paula saw Luis chatting urgently with another male passenger at the front of the cabin. When the older gentleman rose and started walking toward her she noticed a glint of brass on his hip, just barely hidden beneath the flap of his bomber jacket. Unfortunately, her kidnapper noticed it too.

Seconds before the air marshal reached them, the kidnapper leapt to his feet and dragged Paula up with him. He held the knife to her throat, making the woman across the aisle scream and hold her little boy close.

"Nobody move!" He demanded, brandishing the knife briefly before holding it to Paula's throat again. "Get back or she dies! I mean it!"

It was clear this guy was flying by the seat of his pants, and more than a little on edge by the shaking of his voice. He obviously hadn't thought about his original plan possibly backfiring, and hadn't come up with a plan B. Seconds later he started walking backwards, dragging Paula with him to the back of the plane again. Paula panicked, remembering the parachutes still stored in the rear compartment. She kicked and squirmed to get free, but every movement only brought the blade against her throat closer to her jugular. A scream of pain and desperation tore itself from her throat when she felt her skin split under the knife.

Moments later, Luis appeared behind the assailant. He whacked the kidnapper in the back of the head with a metal tray, stunning him, then struck him twice more in the back. The assailant released Paula and whirled around, waving the knife around wildly. Luis leapt back, avoiding the slashing blade, while Paula slumped to the floor. She laid there, dazed, while she watched Luis and her attacker wrestle over the knife, until her vision dimmed and faded to black.

When she awoke, she was wrapped in a blanket. An EMT was leaning over her, checking her vitals and shining a light in her eyes. Luis was perched on the arm of a seat a few rows away. He held an ice pack to his cheekbone while another medic wrapped a bandage around his left arm. When he noticed Paula staring at him, he managed a little smile.

"Hey," he said warmly. "I promise, not all of my flights end up like this."

Paula laughed weakly, then touched the bandage on her neck with a wince. "Don't make me laugh, please." She held out her hand to him, which he took as soon as the medic was finished with him. "Thank you," she sniffled. "If it weren't for you, I dunno what would've-"

"Save it," Luis grinned. "I told you, it's my job to take care of every passenger. I'm just glad you're okay." His eyes fell to the bandages on her neck and head, and his demeanor softened with worry. "You are okay, right?"

Paula winced as the EMT looking over her helped her to sit up. "I think so... but I'm never taking a flight again. Never ever."

Luis nodded his understanding. "I might be considering the same after today. Either way, I guess this means I have the day off now." He bit his lip, rubbing his thumb lightly across the back of her hand. "So... I don't know about you, but I could really go for some breakfast right about now. Would you like to join me?"

Paula blushed and smiled back softly. "Breakfast sounds good."