Flight 12: A Novella Read online

  Contents

  Flight 12

  Copyright

  Also By J. Carson Black

  Foreword

  O'Hare

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter10

  Chapter 11

  JFK

  End

  Hard Return

  About the Author

  About the Twelve

  FLIGHT 12

  A LAURA CARDINAL THRILLER

  J. CARSON BLACK

  Copyright © 2014 by Margaret Falk

  All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  Breakaway Media 2014

  www.breakawaymedia.com

  First ebook edition: 2014

  ISBN: 978-1-939145-16-1

  140612

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to a real person, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Flight 12: A Laura Cardinal Thriller

  by J. Carson Black

  Cover design by © Cory Clubb

  Published in the United States of America

  Breakaway Media

  Never Miss Out! More Flight 12 adventures are coming soon!

  For new release notification, free offers, gifts, and general information for subscribers only, please sign up for The Twelve List!

  CLICK HERE to Sign Up For The Twelve List!

  Also by J. Carson Black

  The Laura Cardinal Novels

  Darkness On The Edge Of Town

  Dark Side of the Moon

  The Devil’s Hour

  The Laura Cardinal Novels (omnibus)

  Cry Wolf (novella)

  The Cyril Landry Thrillers

  The Shop

  Hard Return

  The Tess McCrae Novels

  Icon

  The Survivors Club

  The Maggie O’Neil Mysteries

  Roadside Attraction

  Writing as Margaret Falk

  Darkscope

  Dark Horse

  The Desert Waits

  Writing as Annie McKnight

  The Tombstone Rose

  Superstitions

  Short Stories

  The BlueLight Special

  Pony Rides

  FLIGHT 12

  FOREWORD

  Dear Readers,

  What do you get when a dozen bestselling, award-winning mystery/thriller authors write brand-new material centered on one heart-stopping event?

  You get FLIGHT 12, the revolutionary followup by The Twelve to the New York Times and USA Today bestselling DEADLY DOZEN. The groundbreaking FLIGHT 12 series will feature a new release from each member of The Twelve, plus very special guests, with a conclusion so thrilling it could only come from the minds of our readers.

  Join The Twelve in the ongoing FLIGHT 12 project. Don't just read about your favorite characters, participate in the story, win prizes, and see storytelling in a totally new way...

  The Twelve is delighted to present an exciting and unique reading experience we hope you’re going to love as much as we’ve loved writing it for you. Never before have 12 of your favorite thriller authors created an experience like this especially for you.

  Flight 12 brings your favorite characters from The Twelve to life in 12 connected books with a common ending and a terrific surprise epilogue. What is the epilogue you say? Come along for the ride and we’ll all discover that together!

  We’ll have events and giveaways during the trip, and in the end, YOU will write “the rest of the story.”

  Sounds amazing, right? Not to mention exciting and fun as well!

  Who are the passengers on Flight 12?

  Allan Leverone’s Kristin Cunningham

  When an FBI sting goes horribly wrong, Special Agent Kristin Cunningham - alone, unarmed and still recovering from a near-fatal gunshot wound - races against time to prevent a brutal human trafficker from escaping justice.

  J. Carson Black’s Laura Cardinal

  A young woman approaches Arizona DPS Criminal Investigator Laura Cardinal at the fitness center they share, telling her that she is slated for death and wants Laura to “investigate her murder.” Laura’s about to revisit the worst homicide case of her life—and this time she might not make it out alive.

  Diane Capri’s Jess Kimball

  When her Taboo Magazine assignment reveals a chilling killer from a modern Italian crime family, Jess Kimball speeds to New York City’s JFK airport to catch Flight 12 to Rome where Luigi and Enzo will be forced to choose between death and Jess.

  Cheryl Bradshaw’s Sloane Monroe

  A fancy hotel. A private getaway. For Sloane Monroe, rest has finally arrived, until the lights go out and her nightmare begins.

  Aaron Patterson’s Kirk Weston

  Kirk Weston has a problem--he can't keep his big mouth shut and this time it could cost him his life. Trapped and beyond the help of his old partner in crime Mark Appleton, he has only one chance to escape… Sometimes life gives you lemons… so go bash some heads and hope it works out.

  Vincent Zandri’s Dick Moonlight

  For Dick Moonlight, easy love doesn’t always result in a happy ending.

  Michele Scott’s Evie Preston

  Evie Preston has the most difficult decision in her life to make. Remain in the here and now and pursue the dream opportunity she’s just been given, or find her way to the dark portal (where she risks never being able to return) to discover what happened to her missing sister and dead boyfriend?

  A.K. Alexander & J.R. Rain’s Kylie Cain

  Kylie Cain and her team of PSI (psychic sensory intelligence) operatives must locate the only individual who is believed to be able to bring world peace. It’s a race against time and villainess Orlenda Kobach who seeks world domination under her order.

  Joshua Graham’s Xandra Carrick

  Having barely survived and thwarted recent terrorist attacks, Xandra Carrick wants nothing to do with the missing children cases that end up with their brutalized bodies discovered years later. Until her best friend’s five year old son gets abducted.

  Brett Battles’s Jonathan Quinn

  For Jonathan Quinn, there’s more than one way to make a body disappear.

  Carol Davis Luce’s Jessie Night

  Jessie Night, a witness to a grisly mass murder, must make a grim choice -- run to save her own life or stay and fight for the innocent man condemned to die for that crime.

  Robert Gregory Browne’s Nick Jennings

  When a killer resurfaces after a long absence, Nick Jennings dives into a cold case investigation that hits far too close to home.

  What do all 12 of these passengers have in common?

  May 12 New York (AP): A Skyway Airlines flight carrying 375 passengers and 13 crew bound for Rome’s Fiumicino airport from New York’s JFK International Airport has disappeared off the radar overnight according to airline spokespersons. Skyway Flight 12 had left New York at 12:00 midnight Monday evening and was said to be operating normally and in good weather conditions. According to sources on the ground, the plane, a Boeing 767, was piloted by an experienced flight crew who issued no alarm of any kind prior to vanishing somewhere over the Atlantic ocean east of Newfoundland. The 767 is said to be a reliable twin engine carrier that’s been in service since 1982 with an excellent safety record. While a catastrop
hic mechanical failure is presently being investigated, says an FAA spokesman, a criminal event is not being ruled out. Both sea and air rescue crews have been dispatched from the US, Canada, Newfoundland, and Ireland. This is a developing story.

  So, thriller fans, it’s time.

  Fasten your safety belts. Return your seat backs and tray tables to their full upright and locked position. Review the safety information card in your seatback pocket once more before take off.

  Ready? Here we go! Enjoy the ride on each of the 12 books in the exciting new series where Flight 12 Begins.

  And then, CLICK HERE to join The Twelve in the ongoing FLIGHT 12 project. Don't just read about your favorite characters, participate in the story, win prizes, and see storytelling in a totally new way...

  We’re really looking forward to hanging out with you! Thanks for coming along for the ride!

  Never Miss Out! More Flight 12 adventures are coming soon!

  For new release notification, free offers, gifts, and general information for subscribers only, please sign up for The Twelve List!

  CLICK HERE to Sign Up For The Twelve List!

  Your Flight 12 Crew:

  A.K. Alexander

  Brett Battles

  J.Carson Black

  Cheryl Bradshaw

  Robert Gregory Browne

  Diane Capri

  Joshua Graham

  Allan Leverone

  Carol Davis Luce

  Aaron Patterson

  J.R. Rain

  Michele Scott

  Vincent Zandri

  Chicago O’Hare International Airport

  2:35 p.m. CDT, May 11, 2014

  Jan DeWitt stared hard at her iPad. People were already lining up for the flight to JFK, but it would be a while before her row was called. She was transfixed by the headline, trying to block out the babble around her, her heart beating fast and hard. She was terrified of flying. Think about something else, she told herself. Read something! But that didn’t work. She’d read the headline three times before she understood what the article was about—a female student at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona, who had been found bludgeoned to death in the desert.

  The man in the black jacket and jeans across from her stood and slipped his shoulder bag onto his shoulder, headed for the line. He pushed right in front of her—it was as if he didn’t see her at all. At that moment, the loudspeaker blared again, announcing that American Airlines Flight 198, nonstop from Chicago to JFK, would begin its final boarding.

  The man didn’t look right nor left. A woman tried to corral her little boy—he dodged her and cartwheeled into the man, but the man didn’t react. He didn’t react to anyone or anything, just stood there like a statue, staring straight ahead. The man shuffled along through the line, his expression impassive. The person behind Jan stepped forward, knocking her in to the man in front—she bumped him with her carryon.

  The man in in the black jacket and jeans swung around abruptly and glared at her.

  “Excuse me,” she said. “I’m sorry, I . . . ”

  He looked right through her. His blue eyes were like two holes, staring out of a mask. She stepped back involuntarily, tried not to cringe. Stood diffidently on one foot, sideways, so she could keep an eye on him.

  She had a bad feeling. It made her think of hijackers in previous years, like the Shoe Bomber. She was petrified during takeoff—it was the worst part. She knew that if they got through takeoff and the plane reached cruising altitude, things would be okay until landing. Statistics said that it was extremely rare—almost impossible—for a plane to crash from cruising altitude. She usually had a drink or two in the airport bar, before, to steady her nerves.

  Takeoffs were the worst. By the time her plane reached its destination, she would have had another drink. She was always in a jolly mood by then. Flying in to an airport just seemed so much safer—she could watch the plane’s shadow come up reliably to meet them. It happened every time. Wheels down and it was done!

  But this man.

  Adrenaline flooded through her and she turned back, face-forward, trying to avoid his gaze.

  He could be a hijacker, or a bomber.

  She turned away from him, looking toward the end of the line. Even then, she could feel him staring holes into the back of her head.

  Jan wondered if she should say something. It would probably turn out badly if she made a fuss. If she talked to someone. He was very likely just a regular guy with something on his mind. Maybe he’d just gone through a bad divorce or someone in his family had died. Maybe he’d just lost his job.

  They hustled down the jetway and on to the plane. He was in the seat behind hers. She stowed her carryon above her and tried to avoid looking at him. He had settled in and was looking at a magazine.

  Anyone looking at the man would guess he was thinking hard about something, but they would be wrong.

  All his thinking was done.

  He opened the flight magazine and looked at the map of the United States. He followed the black arc from O’Hare to JFK. Approximate flying time to JFK was an hour and a half. There would be a long wait after that for the midnight flight to Rome. A very long wait.

  The woman in line behind him had been scared.

  She should be.

  His anger buzzed inside his head, like insects scratching their legs together. Like a nest of angry, ticking, teeming, scratching insects, ready to boil over.

  Nothing to live for. Not now.

  He tightened his fingers on the magazine.

  His heart started to thump, harder and faster.

  Anger. So much anger. It seethed inside him, twisting his gut, wringing him out like a washcloth.

  The love of his life gone.

  That bitch cop trying to take him down.

  Would he be harried and pestered for the rest of his life?

  He closed his eyes. He wanted to picture the formations of the Tsingy, but he couldn’t.

  He even tried to picture the only woman he had ever loved, but he could not. It was as if he’d never known her.

  It was that—the fact that she had left him—that made him do something he swore he would never do again.

  He had gotten drunk. Not just drunk, but falling-down blind drunk.

  He’d blacked out.

  The man stared at the seat in front of him, but didn’t see it. He could only picture darkness.

  And the black, empty air.

  1

  Laura Cardinal spent a lot of her down time at the gym. These days, it seemed like down time was all she had. She had plenty of time to work out, and plenty of time to work with her retired racehorse, Dust Prince. Plenty of time to put in at the shooting range, albeit with a replacement weapon. The weapon was the same make and model as her own, a standard SIG Sauer P226.

  But it still felt different. Newer, maybe. Stiffer. They had not become friends yet, and she hoped they never would. She wanted her own SIG back.

  She also read books—mostly police procedurals because she related to them so well—and binge-watched TV shows—shows featuring tough cops who got away with everything on God’s green earth. Laura envied them. If they got into a shootout, they would be back in the next episode saving the world again. No problem.

  But in DPS World (Arizona Department of Public Safety) there was no such thing as going from shoot-out to shoot-out.

  Three weeks after the shooting, Laura was still on administrative leave.

  She didn’t know why, but suspected: politics. Over the years she’d managed to get into a few shoot-outs, and sensed that the Powers That Be wanted to distance themselves from her. This was one reason they sent her to other parts of Arizona to troubleshoot homicide investigations. They wanted her out of their hair. Even though, these days, shoot-outs had become the new normal.

  Laura remembered old timers who told her they never had to draw their weapon in twenty years, let alone shoot somebody.

  But times had changed.

  Laura was on
her way to the women’s locker room after her workout, when someone called her name.

  “You’re Laura Cardinal, right?”

  Laura looked at the woman, who had come in right behind her, and recognized her immediately. Mid-to-late twenties, dark blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, a face that could have come from a Raphael painting. Delicate, almost fragile. Serious eyes, a slim body made for workout clothes. She was a regular. They had been made aware of each other during the course of their workouts. They’d used the same machines—treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, but had never spoken. Laura appreciated that the woman used her towel to wipe off the equipment, just as she herself did. And she had noticed the girl was movie star thin. Frankly, she’d envied her small, economical butt.

  But Laura came through the police academy at a time when it wasn’t wise to give away too much information, or even any information. To always be aware of her surroundings and of the people she met. It had become second nature—assessing people without giving much of anything back. So she said, “Who are you?”