~ HOOKED UP ~
ISBN13: 978-0-7387-1110-2
“I think the pilot
is supposed to signal us when we’re supposed to drop the suitcases,” Ruby yells
over the noise from the plane. “Don’t worry. I’ll do it. You stay here. I think
it would be better if you don’t hurl all over whoever is waiting down there for
the money.”
I look around the passenger area. Evidently not many people fly in the plane on
a regular basis. There are two seats, a lot of boxes and a few parachutes I hope
won’t be necessary during this trip. I wonder if Paxton owns the plane or if the
pilot is a friend. Does he know we’re dropping ransom money? Maybe that’s how
Paxton means to keep us honest.
“I wonder how far out this is?”
“You’re not sick already are you?” She looks at me with a worried frown.
I kiss that place where her brows come together when she frowns. “I’m fine so
far. I just want to get this over with.”
“We’ll all be happier when John is home again. We can do this, Glad. It’s a
piece of cake.”
I hug her and hope she’s right. The plane is weaving back and forth like a race
car looking for an opening in the back of the pack. The engine sputters a few
times but continues on. There’s a little window near where we’re sitting but I
avoid looking at it. I don’t think anyone should have their feet this far off
the ground.
Ruby is in her glory. She takes off her seatbelt and dances through the empty
body of the plane. Her arms up in the air, she yells, “Look! I’m a bird!”
“Come and sit down before you fall and get hurt. They put these seats and
seatbelts in for a reason.”
“You sound like my mother.” She laughs at me and takes it back. “I’m wrong. My
mother isn’t afraid of flying. My father isn’t either. I don’t think my Granny
is afraid either.”
“Okay. You made your point. No one in the world is afraid to fly except me.”
“I’m sorry.” She sits down beside me again. “I shouldn’t make fun of you. You
can’t help how you feel.”
There’s a buzzing sound and the pilot’s voice joins us. “We’re approaching the
target area. You should open the door and get ready for my mark. When I say
drop, drop the suitcases.”
I take off my seatbelt and move the suitcases close to the door for Ruby. “I
hope these are old Samsonite. That’s the only way they won’t shatter and this
money fly all over a few acres down there. Remember those old commercials when
they dropped the suitcase and it stayed in one piece?”
Ruby positions herself close to the door. “I don’t remember those. I must’ve
missed them.”
That’s when I realize she probably was a baby when those commercials were on TV.
I try not to let those kinds of things bother me. We’re a few years apart, but I
know Ruby loves me. We might be different generations, but our souls are in the
same timeframe.
“Be careful,” I warn as she pushes open the door in the side of the plane.
“Don’t sit too close.”
“I’ll be fine,” she yells back. “Stop fussing.”
The pilot tells us we’re over the mark. Trees and roads form between cloudbanks
below us. I don’t see anything. It must be coordinates on a map. I push the
first suitcase close to the opening so it will be easy for Ruby to get it out
the door.
She grabs the handle and slings it out of the plane. It drops like a rock
through the misty clouds between us and the ground.
I push the next one toward her and she grabs the handle. As she struggles to get
the suitcase into the air, the plane takes a sudden dip and turn. Before I can
move to hold her back, Ruby falls out of the plane, still holding the handle of
the suitcase.
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