Emily — Learjet 60, Inflight
Emily slowly regained consciousness only to discover that she was tied to her seat inside a small jet airplane. She spied the label on the seat next to her-Learjet 60. Her eyes darted around the cabin. There was no one else in sight, but she could hear voices talking beyond the drawn curtain, several feet in front of her. The window shades on both sides of the airplane were pulled down. It was still light outside. They were traveling west, she thought, into a setting sun.
Replaying the abduction in her mind, she tried to remember as many terrifying details as possible. After Wilson had left the apartment to get the fax, she had stopped curling her hair and pranced to the open window overlooking Hotel San Fantin. She’d wanted to shout buon giorno and ti amo to Wilson as he came out of the hotel. That’s when she’d heard the hardwood floor creak behind her. She turned around quickly, thinking maybe it was Wilson already back with the fax, but it wasn’t him. Two men stood no more than six feet away from her-dark hair, swarthy skin, one with a mustache, and the other with heavy stubble. She’d never forget the terror she felt.
Whipping back around toward the window, she started to scream, but her cry was barely audible as the larger of the two men clamped his huge hand over her nose and mouth and grabbed her around the waist. The last thing she remembered was the smell of ether.
As she sat tied to her seat, she could only imagine what torment Wilson must be going through. She tried to move her arms and legs, but the leather lashings were too secure. Methodically weighing her options, she felt surprisingly calm and lucid, even though she’d been horrified by her captors only hours earlier. Wilson was right. This secret society, insider’s club, or whatever the hell it was, could not be allowed to continue in any form whatsoever. She wished she’d never questioned Wilson’s resolve to expose them. She’d only done it out of fear. Fear of death. Fear of harm. Fear of difficulty and struggle. Fear of being alone without Wilson. But now that her worst fears had materialized, she felt her a new resolve burning inside her.
She swore to herself that if she was able to get out of this alive, she would never again allow fear to control her. Never. She repeated the word never again and again until she remembered how her captors had fondled her body before she lost consciousness. She fought back the tears. Everything can be taken from you except your freedom to choose your thoughts and feelings, she said to herself, even in the worst of circumstances.
Wilson would be moving heaven and earth to find her. She knew that. The thought strengthened her. She would find a way to help him find her. Her emotions were on fire. The only way they could stop her would be to kill her.