S. Bodeen - The Fallout

Did any of it even matter? Dad was gone. Phil was gone. I couldn’t believe anyone else had been involved. I could just give the contents of the PDL file back to Dr. Barkley. Except, if they were the lost research from the fire, what would I tell him? How would I explain that an exceptional high school student/intern somehow happened to have research that had been destroyed years before?

I couldn’t. It would have to be my secret to keep.

We reached the private airstrip and pulled up to the jet. Lexie said, “Will you take my bag on board?” She pointed at the office building. “I want to pee inside before we leave. I hate going on the plane.”

I nodded and got out, grabbing both our bags. I climbed the short flight of steps onto the jet. Tony was standing in the back, near the small kitchen area.

Eddy was stretched out on a seat, already napping from the looks of it.

Tony waved at me. “Want some juice?”

I nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” I sat down behind Eddy, in the second row of leather reclining seats, and stuffed Lexie’s bag under the seat next to mine. I started to shove mine under when my phone and the flash drive fell out. I picked up the flash drive and noticed the tiny P.A.W. on the edge. Did Phil put his initials on everything? I shoved it into my pocket.

Tony handed me a glass and I downed half of it. “Thanks,” I said. “I was thirsty.”

“Guess so,” he said.

“Hey, if you could not mention our… outing the other night, I’d appreciate it.”

He nodded. “I kinda figured you didn’t want Eddy to know you were posing as him.”

“Thanks.” I took another drink and finished the juice.

Phil’s middle name was still bugging me. What was it anyway?

I got out my tablet, went online, and Googled Philip A. Whitaker. The connection was slow, probably because I was on board the jet. Finally it popped up. The A stood for Anthony.

As I started to read more, my vision grew blurry. I rubbed my eyes, but it got worse. I stood up, but immediately felt dizzy and collapsed back into the seat.

“Whoa.” Was I sick?

Then Tony’s face was inches from mine. “Eli?”

“I don’t feel well,” I said. My words were marbles in my mouth. “Something’s wrong.”

“You’ll be fine.” Tony smiled. “Just be a good boy and take a nap like your brother.”

“What?” I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t. My fingers fumbled and my tablet slid off my lap onto the seat next to me. The screen blurred, but I could still see Phil’s name.

“Let me go,” I said.

I struggled, tried to stand, tried to push him away. But my limbs wouldn’t do anything I wanted them to.

Tony laughed. But then he stopped. “Do you know how painful this has been? To be nice to you all and pretend to be your little family friend? I’m so glad this is almost over.”

What? What’s almost over?

“I’ll tell the pilot.” I tried to stand up.

He simply pushed me back down and buckled my seat belt around me, cinching it tightly. “Just sit there and enjoy the ride.”

He lowered his head so he could look out the window toward the office building. “And here comes your pretty sister.”

I could no longer speak, but in my mind, I screamed at Lexie.

Run!

Get help!

Do not get on this plane!

But then my sister stepped on board and smiled at Tony, who handed her a glass of juice.

Nooo!

She took a drink, and then noticed me.

Her smile faded as she saw me and then Eddy.

She said something to Tony.

And just as Tony reached for her, everything went black.

I smiled.

What was that smell?

Lovely. So lovely.

Almost like perfume. But it was some kind of flower.

A tropical flower.

Plumeria?

Yes.

Gram’s plumeria trees in her front yard in Hawaii.

Reese made leis for the little kids one day. Pink and yellow plumerias.

I loved the smell.

My eyes fluttered. Blurry.

I could smell, but I couldn’t see?

I tried to reach up and rub my eyes, but my arms were heavy. So heavy.

I forced myself to hold up my head, but it lolled, a bowling ball on my neck.

I blinked and blinked, finally clearing my vision.

I was still on the jet.

Hadn’t we left yet?

“Eddy? Lexie?”

I heard a groan, but no one said anything.

And then I remembered.

Tony. Tony drugged me.

I had to find my brother and sister.

I tried to stand, but something held me down.

My seat belt. Still fastened.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, shake off the cobwebs in my brain. “Get a grip, dude.” My mouth was dry and tasted awful.

With a loud click, the seat belt opened easily for me, and I held on to the seat in front of me and got to my feet. My legs threatened to give out, but they held as I walked to the front of the jet, grasping seats on my way to steady myself.

Eddy was in the same seat he’d been in when I boarded the plane. He opened his eyes, then squinted and held his head. Lexie was next to him, but she was still out cold.

I found a bottle of water and drank about half of it. Then I took another to Eddy and he downed most of it before stopping to take a breath. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

I walked to the front of the jet and stepped into the open doorway. I squinted at the bright sunshine and had to hold my hand above my eyes.

A breeze hit me then. A distinctly warm, tropical breeze that held the scent of flowers. I chugged the rest of my water and set the empty bottle on the counter. Then I held on to the rail and, still feeling wobbly, went down the steps and onto the tarmac. A tarmac lined by coconut palms and plumeria trees laden with pink blooms.

Through the trees, I caught a glimpse of water. The ocean. Was it real? Could I smell it?

Yes. There. The scent of salt was faint, almost covered completely by the plumerias.

The jet had left Seattle, because I was most definitely on an island.

My legs gave out and I fell to the hot tarmac.

“You okay?” Eddy was behind me, and squatted beside me. He put a hand on my shoulder. “Dude?”

I tried to stretch my arms and legs, then shook them. I also slapped myself on the cheeks a couple times. Finally, when I felt strong enough, I got to my feet, still a bit woozy. “I feel like crap.”

Eddy slowly stood up, and staggered into me. “Me too.” We held each other up.

I said, “Something was in the juice. Tony drugged us.”

Eddy spit on the ground. “I can’t believe he’d do that. I trusted him.”

“Do you think it’s a kidnapping? Did he drug us and let someone fly us here?” Wherever here was.

“I don’t know.” Eddy scrunched his eyes shut and rubbed them. “My vision is so blurry.”

We heard a scream from inside the plane.

Lexie.

We got back up the stairs as quickly as we could, and found Lexie still strapped into her seat, eyes wide. She looked relieved when she saw us. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” I got a bottle of water and handed it to her.

She drank almost the whole thing. “Where’s Tony?”

Eddy and I looked at each other. He said, “I don’t know. We think maybe—”

“Maybe what?” she asked.

Eddy paused before saying, “We think it might be a kidnapping of some sort.”

“But it’s a YK jet!” Lexie tried to stand up, but fell back into the seat. “Help me up!”

Eddy grasped her arm and pulled, and when she got out into the aisle, I got on her other side for support. We headed for the door and slowly made our way down the stairs and onto the runway.