Emily — Eastern Seaboard, North America
Emily immediately stopped breathing when someone touched her and then gently raised her from the cot. Whoever it was had the touch and scent of a woman, probably the same woman who’d worn the Venice carnival mask on the plane, Emily thought.
“Do you need to use the bathroom?” an automated voice said into Emily’s earphones.
Unable to speak because of the tape on her mouth, Emily nodded her head.
The woman untied Emily’s legs and hands. Another person, a man, joined the woman and the two of them lifted Emily from the cot and walked her to the bathroom. Once inside the small bathroom, the woman removed Emily’s blindfold and the tape from her mouth. It was the same woman from the plane with the same mask. “I’ll wait for you outside,” the automated voice said into the earphones as the woman’s lips moved. “Knock on the door when you’re finished.”
Alone in the bathroom, Emily relieved herself while frantically searching for something, anything, that would identify her location. Her eyes darted to every nook and cranny in the four-foot square space. Then she saw it. She lurched forward, then stopped. They could be watching her. Please God, let it be something I can use. It was the corner of a moldy, water stained match cover folded into a wedge between the floor and the toilet stand to keep the toilet from moving. She leaned hard to one side of the toilet, and then with her arm behind her, she discreetly removed the match cover, trying desperately not to destroy it. When it was free, she buried her head between her legs as if cramping and unfolded the aged match cover. Thank you, God. The printing was barely legible but she could read it:
Teterboro Jet Services, 24-Hour Maintenance and Support to Business Jets, 141 Charles A. Lindbergh Drive, Teterboro Airport, Teterboro, NJ 07608.
She memorized the information and carefully replaced the moldy wedge. Her heart was soaring as she washed her hands and face in the small sink next to the toilet bowl. Then she knocked on the door.
The masked woman entered the bathroom and replaced the blindfold but not the tape to her mouth. Emily was escorted to a straight-backed chair and told to sit down. Her legs were tied tightly to the chair, and a table was pushed in front of her.
“Here is some soup and crackers,” the automated voice said, as the woman guided Emily’s hands to the bowl and crackers.
Emily picked up the warm bowl and raised it to her lips. Vegetable soup; it tasted good. She quickly inhaled the soup and was given another bowl. When she finished, she expressed her thanks.
“You’re welcome,” said the automated voice.
Emily had been silently rehearsing what she was about to say. “My parents expect me to call when I return from Venice. If they don’t hear from me, they’ll start asking questions. If I could just leave them a voice message, that would be…”
The automated voice cut her off, “Let me see what I can do. Do you have the number?”
Emily told her the number. Then the tape was reapplied to her mouth and her hands were retied to the chair.
A few minutes later, the woman returned. “You can leave a brief voice message for your parents,” the automated voice said. The tape was removed from her mouth along with the earphones. A phone was placed next to her ear and mouth. “When you hear the click on the line, you will have thirty seconds. Don’t do anything stupid or the recording will be erased before the message is sent,” the automated voice said.
Emily knew exactly what she was going to say. When the click came, she spoke quickly and enthusiastically:
“Mom and Dad, it’s me. Sorry I missed you. Just wanted you know that we’re back. We had a glorious time. When we arrived by sea at the San Marco port and I saw the Campanile d’Oro and the Palazzo Ducale, I started crying because it was so wonderfully beautiful. And, where we stayed was only minutes from San Marco. Never fear, I’ll tell you all about it when we visit you next week. I love you.”
When Emily was finished, the earphones and tape were reapplied and she was left alone. She’d done it. Now, Wilson and Hap Greene would have to decipher the message.