Chapter 37
The Air France flight from N’Djamena to Paris was an Airbus A320. Elaine’s seat, 24-B, was in the second to last row of the aircraft, just in front of the restrooms.
Elaine was sandwiched between a sullen-looking African man who was wearing Western style clothing, and a middle-aged woman with limp dark brown hair who seemed friendly enough. She politely moved her purse out of the way when Elaine sat down.
That was good. Elaine hoped she might strike up a conversation and somehow convince the woman to change places with her. Unless she held the sat-phone close enough to the window, it might not work, and she needed to monitor it for messages from Luna or Nick.
* * *
A few minutes after takeoff, Elaine was about to say something, and the woman glanced at her watch.
“Excuse me,” she said, glancing at Elaine. “Do you speak English?”
Elaine smiled. “Yes I do.”
“Do you happen to know what time we land in Paris?” The woman’s accent was clearly American. “Getting through that zoo of an airport, I forgot to check.”
“I think we get there about five-fifteen, local time.”
The captain came on the overhead speakers and gave a long monologue in French, then in English, giving the expected arrival time as five-twenty p.m.
The woman smiled at Elaine. “Close enough.”
Elaine smiled back, seizing the opportunity to make friends. “Were you in Chad on business or pleasure?”
“I was visiting my daughter,” the woman said, looking as if she wanted to have a conversation. “She’s a doctor, working in Darfur. You’ve heard of Doctors Without Borders?”
“Yes, of course,” Elaine said.
“Well, she works for them, at a clinic near Abéché. It’s very dangerous, but they’re doing amazing things there.”
That was a coincidence—Elaine wondered if the woman’s daughter might work at Doctor Tim’s clinic or one of the other ones that Stanley Ketchum had funded, but there were lots of clinics in Chad run by NGOs.
“You must be very proud of her,” Elaine said.
“Oh I am,” the woman gushed, and glanced out the window. They had broken through the clouds into a clear, azure sky. “But I worry about her so, this is such a dangerous place to live.”
“I think the clinics here are pretty safe, though,” Elaine said.
The woman looked curiously at Elaine, as if now only noticing the Muslim attire. “You sound like you’re American...”
With a split second of hesitation, Elaine said, “Yes, I am. I’m married to a Chadian who works in the American Embassy. I’m from Pennsylvania, originally.”
“Oh, nice to meet you!” They shook hands. “I’m Pamela.”
“Jennifer,” Elaine said, before realizing that she didn’t look remotely like a Jennifer, with her skin coloring and Muslim garb.
Pamela didn’t seem to notice.
The man sitting on the other side of Elaine glanced at them both, sighed, and looked the other way, as if their casual conversation annoyed him. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
Elaine tried to think of a reason to ask the lady to switch places, but the only one she could dredge up was that she was airsick and that looking out the window would help. Anyway, the ride was so smooth right now that, except for the steep climb angle of the aircraft, it was hard to tell they were even flying. Even though Elaine disliked turbulence, she hoped the air might get rough.
She rested her head against the seat, peering up the rows and rows of passengers in front of her. She thought she could just make out the back of Raj’s head in business class.
A moment later, one the flight attendants closed the curtains that separated the economy seats from business class and first class, and Elaine could no longer see him.
* * *
After the flight attendants finished serving the meal and drinks and the aisles were clear of the food trollies, passengers started lining up at the aft restrooms. Elaine noticed a couple of well dressed men come out of the business class section and head down the aisle, looking annoyed. Pretty soon the aft area of the aisle was crammed with people waiting to use the restroom.
“Excuse me,” Elaine said, when a female flight attendant pushed her way through. She was a slim redhead with freckles, wearing a name tag that said LUCIE. “Is something wrong with the toilet in the front of the plane?”
“It’s out of order, I’m afraid.” Lucie glanced at all the passengers queued up in front of her. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”
That’s just great, Elaine thought. Would Raj be able to fly for five and a half hours without using the toilet? She doubted it. That meant he would be coming back here and hovering right beside her seat, waiting for his turn.
She quelled her rising panic, and glanced at the woman next to her—now she really needed to sit by the window. She could lean her head against the glass and face away from the aisle.
As if on cue, the aircraft jiggled a few times. Then it gave a harder bump. There was a ding and all the seat belt lights went on overhead.
The intercom came on. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re experiencing some mild turbulence—the captain asks that you return to your seats and keep your seat belts fastened.”
None of the passengers waiting in line moved.
“What was that she said?” Pamela asked. The engine noise was quite loud, sitting all the way in the back, and apparently she hadn’t heard.
“Turbulence,” Elaine moaned. “I hate that.”
“Nothing to worry about.” She tightened her belt.
“I get airsick easily. It helps if I...”
Raj Malik came through the business class curtains, walking down the aisle in his expensive suit. There were some other passengers blocking his path, someone else getting out of their seats.
The plane bumped again.
Elaine quickly turned to Pamela. “Would you mind if I sat by the window? It really helps if I can look outside.”
“But you can’t see anything but sky.”
“Please, Pamela?” Elaine tried to look ill, and unbuckled her seat belt.
“Well, that’s fine,” Pamela said, a little miffed. “Can you just...?” Elaine tried to climb over her while she slid into the middle seat, and their legs tangled.
“Sorry,” Elaine said.
“That’s all right.”
“Thanks so much.” Out of the corner of her eyes, Elaine could see that Raj was only a few feet away. She turned her head and looked straight out the window.
He stopped right next to their row. Elaine could see him in the window reflection. He was looking down at the floor. He glanced at Pamela, and at her, then at the three passengers on the other side of the aisle.
Finally one of the toilet doors opened and he moved forward, out of view, standing by the last row.
Elaine’s heartbeat did not slow down until a few minutes later, when, through the window reflection, she saw him walk back up the aisle.
“Feeling better?” Pamela asked.
“Yes, thank you. I really appreciate it, Pamela. For a second I thought I might get sick.”
This was the truth.
* * *
When it seemed that Pamela had fallen asleep, Elaine made sure no one else was paying any attention and quietly opened her purse. She hid the sat-phone to her left, between the seat and the window. Then, she reached up with her free hand and pushed the button above to call the attendant.
The red-headed one, Lucie, came down the aisle and switched off the button over Elaine’s head. She smiled. “Yes?”
“Can I have a blanket, please?”
Pamela opened her eyes. “Me, too, please?”
Lucie pulled down the overhead compartment door and handed the two of them blankets that were wrapped in plastic.
Elaine opened hers, bunched it up a bit, and then leaned her head against the window. She reached down lower and subtly grabbed hold of the sat-phone.
Pamela spread her blanket out and huddled under it.
When Elaine sensed that Pamela was dozing again, she pushed the button to power up the phone, then watched the display, keeping it under her chin, with only the screen visible.
NO SIGNAL, the screen said.
Damn it, Elaine thought.
She leaned forward a bit, moving the phone to the corner of the window, hoping that changing the position might help.
NO SIGNAL.
She turned it upside down, then leaned all the way back in the seat, moving it to the other corner of the window.
Suddenly it vibrated.
1 TEXT MESSAGE RECEIVED.
She quickly opened it—it was from Luna.
DROPPED OFF THE KIDS AND TONY, AT THE MARSEILLE AIRPORT NOW, WILL BE IN THE AIR SOON. I HOPE MY FLIGHT ISN’T DELAYED—AIRPORT IS VERY BUSY.
Elaine lowered the phone and turned it off. I hope not, too, she thought. It would be a real challenge to organize Raj’s Custom’s search herself, airborne, with no ID.
She propped her head against the window as if she were sleeping, but was actually chewing on her lip, her mind working nonstop as she imagined various scenarios and what she would say.