Justine hadn’t even realized she was still clutching Meredith’s hand beside her until the muscles in her fingers started to cramp. Five more minutes had passed. General’s timer beeped again.
“What’s he doing?” West asked. Justine didn’t have any answer for her son.
General was still in the back of the plane. It should have been good news. It meant that he was farther away from West. But Justine couldn’t keep herself from staring as he waved his gun at another young woman and told her to stand up.
“What’s your name?” he demanded.
“Willow,” she answered. Her hair was blue. Beautiful in various shades, all the way from teal to azure. She looked a little familiar. Where had Justine seen her before?
“Are you following what’s going on at the schools in Detroit, Willow?” General’s voice was low. Menacing. Like a snarling dog warning another animal to keep its distance.
“A bit,” the young woman answered.
“They’re building playgrounds on toxic land.” His volume increased, and his voice became more animated as he spoke.
Maybe, Justine thought, just maybe if he kept rambling, it would give the other passengers the chance to figure out some plan of attack. Maybe …
“They’re literally poisoning our children, and they don’t care.”
The young woman’s lip trembled. Even in her seat so many rows away, Justine was convinced she could hear the girl’s throat working to swallow.
“I’m sorry that I have to do this.” General raised his gun and took aim.
Justine willed her eyes to squeeze shut.
“Let her go.” The strong voice echoed throughout the entire cabin. It sounded as if the engines themselves had all shut off to help Grandma Lucy’s words carry throughout the airplane.
She was so short, she didn’t even come up to General’s shoulder, and yet the little old lady stood glaring at him until it felt as if General’s body shrunk a full foot and a half.
“What do you want?” he asked, but there was confusion in his voice. Weakness.
“I told you to let that young woman go.” Grandma Lucy took a step forward. West finally managed to squirm free and turn around in his seat, but Justine was too engrossed in what was happening in back of the plane to tell him to stay down.
“Why would I do that?” General snarled.
“Because she’s young, and you don’t want to take another innocent life.”
There was a filling, soaring sensation in Justine’s chest. Had she been holding he breath this whole time? Now that Grandma Lucy stood to confront the hijacker, Justine felt like she could finally remember how to breathe.
“This is the only way to get anyone to listen to what I have to say.” General sounded desperate. Scared. Like he was about to lose control any minute.
If the passengers could just find a way to communicate with each other, all it would take was a few strong bodies to bring him down.
Please, God.
Prayers rushed through Justine’s soul in the same hurried, unexpected way her breath had returned to her lungs at the sight of Grandma Lucy’s boldness. Her body felt warm. Ready for action. Ready for something to happen.
But what?
Grandma Lucy stepped in front of General’s gun. “If you need a victim that badly,” she proclaimed, so loudly that her words seemed to echo and reverberate off the walls of the cabin, “you can take me. I’m more than willing to meet my Maker.”
General stared at her as if considering, placed his hand on the trigger of his gun, and shrugged. “Fine.” The menacing growl was back in his voice, and his stature had regained its former confidence. He took a step forward until his gun was just an inch from Grandma Lucy’s forehead. “Have it your way, old woman.”