The Mystery of Flight 2222 Read online

  The Mystery of Flight 2222

  by

  Thomas Neviaser

  The Mystery of Flight 2222 - Text copyright © Thomas Neviaser 2018

  Editing and Cover Art by Emmy Ellis @ studioenp.com © 2018

  All Rights Reserved

  The Mystery of Flight 2222 is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and events are from the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  The author respectfully recognizes the use of any and all trademarks.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s written permission.

  Prologue

  The Law of Karma

  Nothing happens by chance or outside Universal Laws.

  Every action has a reaction and consequence, and we reap what we have sown.

  In other words, what goes around comes around!

  Chapter One

  Kate entered the bedroom. He couldn’t find a sink in his own bathroom.

  Frank Mason, her athletic, six-foot-two husband of nine years—a handsome man with relatively sharp features to his full-shaven face, short brown hair, and steel-gray eyes—was late for his flight and frantically searching the closet for his dress shoes. She had often been told he resembled Rod Serling of the famous television show, Twilight Zone. God, she’d never get over how he forgot where he’d put things.

  Without a word, Kate reached behind an old overcoat in the closet, and, voila, there were his shoes.

  She held the shoes up and turned to Frank, raising her eyebrows. If he lost it, Kate always found it. She smiled, shook her head, and while her husband continued packing, she left the room. She would know by the increasing sound of footsteps and cussing if he needed her to reappear.

  What would he do without me? He's such a take-charge type of guy at work.

  As Kate waited for him to find everything he needed, she was torn between wanting him to be successful in this venture and his absence for possible weeks away while she was pregnant. It was her first pregnancy, and she really needed him there for support and love during this scary nine months that would change their lives forever. She hated his trips with a passion. As with every new mother-to-be, worries about what may happen always popped into her head and made her fearful.

  Frank’s job—the thing that took him away from her—was a stock analyst for a very distinguished corporation. His twelve years of steady, positive input had been rewarded continuously by the board with substantial salary raises as well as intermittent, sizable bonuses.

  Life was good! His traveling was one small bone of contention at times, but even though she hated being apart from him, Kate understood that his rise in the company would depend on his ability to travel. All of this scurrying here and there would end someday.

  She sighed. This trip to Buenos Aires hadn’t been in the cards. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision by the upper echelon of the company. He had been hand-picked for his tenure and excellent people-management skills. In Argentina, there was a fledgling company with a hot-shot CEO, and Frank’s bosses thought it would be a spectacular chance for his corporation to get in on the bottom tier financially before it became well-known.

  With Frank’s flight leaving at eight that night and having to get there two hours early, Kate planned a sumptuous dinner for Frank at five, a bit earlier than usual. She needed to have that special time with her man, and she didn’t want him leaving on an empty stomach. She worked feverishly to make it outstanding, giving her something to do to take her mind off her worries.

  Kate showed an inexplicable expression of uneasiness while they sat for dinner, causing Frank to pick up his plate and glass of wine and move to the seat closest to her. Kate smiled, grasped his hand, and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Wow, soft shell crabs? What an exquisite dinner! Man, I haven’t had these forever,” Frank exclaimed, waving his hands above his shoulders as if he had just scored a touchdown.

  “Brenda told me about this guy who comes up from the coast with these frozen every Friday and Saturday, so I bought some. Cheap, I think,” Kate replied.

  “How much?” Frank asked.

  “Two for seven bucks.”

  “Wow, that’s a bargain. Get some more so I can have them when I get back,” he said.

  After dinner, they both huddled around the sink, Kate scrubbing off the plates and Frank putting them in the dishwasher. As he closed the door to the washer, he said, “Mighty fine dining here tonight. I think that’s worth a twenty percent tip.”

  Kate held out her hand in response, waiting for his extremely extravagant tip. Then she laughed and replied, “Get your butt up there and be sure you didn’t leave anything like your ticket, glasses, and...”

  Frank had already started upstairs to check if he indeed did overlook anything, so she didn’t get a chance to list all the things that he had forgotten in the past. Without a doubt, an object would slip his mind, for sure, so he always checked. Despite his ritual, Frank would fail to remember something important, so it became a game for them as to which one found his last item.

  “Kate! Have you seen my nail clippers?”

  “Geez, Frank, get one at the airport,” she said with a snide soft giggle as she stood by the stairs below.

  Kate knew he’d given up hunting for the clippers and felt confident he did not leave anything else behind, for he appeared at the top of the stairs and proceeded to descend in a cocky posture to where she was waiting with his cellphone in her hands.

  “Dang it and hang it, I really thought I had you this time,” he said.

  Kate dangled the phone above a little purple canvas bag in which she had placed one of Frank’s favorite snacks so he did not have to stand in line to buy some munchies at the airport. Frank had confided in her that he had made a habit of never looking into this gift bag straight away, always hoping to be surprised by her ingenuity later on.

  Kate watched while he took the phone, put it in his inside coat pocket, and placed the purple bag in one of the pockets of the cargo travel pants he always wore on flights. He then pulled his travel-weary bag, applying pressure to the inside of the handle to compensate for the one wobbly wheel on the outside. She shook her head as her knight approached the front door on his way to his mighty steed, the family SUV.

  “Uh, you forget something, Frank?” she asked.

  “As if there would be a day I wouldn’t forget, but this time I didn’t forget it. I left my briefcase in the car. So there, fancy pants. I win! Ha!”

  “Oh my, such a wonderful man, but not very thoughtful.” She laughed, pointing to her pursed lips.

  “Christ! I lost again. Damn, I was going to come back and smack those luscious lips. You knew that, right?”

  “Sure. I knew that, right?” Kate replied, mimicking the question he’d just asked while trying her best to look sexy.

  “Yeah, you caught me again,” he said sheepishly.

  The wooden stairs to the porch creaked as he ascended to his damsel. Their arms entwined, and a long kiss ensued. Their heads separated, and they stood face to face looking into each other’s eyes. Kate’s welled up, and tears began flowing. It always happened when he finished kissing her goodbye. She always knew he felt somewhat guilty every time he left, knowing she would be alone for a week, sometimes weeks at a time. He slid his hand down to her ex
panded belly and patted it, caressed it, and leaned down and spoke to her abdomen.

  “And I’ll be back to love you, too, sweet cakes!” As he rose up, she hoped her face was magically illuminated with a glow of everlasting love.

  “It’s not as if I’ll be on a raft for fifty-two days, mi amor. Besides, how the hell can I ever forget that face?” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll get things done as fast as possible, love.”

  How can I get through this trip without him?

  She then laughed and shrugged, rotated to her left, and jiggled her rear. Frank laughed, too, and carefully backed down the steps, their hands slipping from their outstretched arms, and he then turned toward the car. He got in, closed the door, and started the car as Kate anxiously waited. He looked up, saw her, opened the door, and ran up the stairs for one more embrace and another long kiss. Once again, he backed down the stairs, slowly holding her hand again until it slid out.

  As he drove out of sight, he continued waving out the window as he rounded the corner well out of Kate’s sight. She had told him she always continued to wave even though she realized he couldn’t see her, too. They both knew, in their hearts, the other was still waving, and each did not want to stop for fear the other would.

  ~~ ~~ ~~

  Frank drove the SUV into the parking garage at the JFK Airport, being sure to be as close to the exit to the terminal as possible so he didn’t have far to walk when he got back. The excitement of leaving was enough to give him energy to drag his luggage, his carry-on, and briefcase with his computer. He placed the parking ticket in his briefcase and marched toward the terminal for the Air USA Flight 2222. He had chosen an economy seat just to show the partners that he was frugal and not a spendthrift. This irked him tremendously, since his legs were long and really cramped in the ‘cheap seats.’ Once he had his boarding passes, he kept his driver’s license in his hand to be sure he would be able to show it to the TSA’s attendees along with his boarding passes. He just hated ‘disrobing’ and placing everything in his pocket into one or two of those gray baskets, pulling his computer out of his briefcase, and taking his shoes and belt off. Once it was his turn to go through the body scanner, he threw up his arms in the proper position and was notified that he had something in his pocket and had to remove it. He patted his trousers but didn’t feel anything. He was frisked with a wand first, and the buzzer went off over the pocket containing Kate’s purple bag.

  “Dang, I forgot, Officer. I’m sorry.”

  He gave the bag to the agent, and as it was opened, there were his nail clippers. The agent replaced them, gave the bag back, and signaled for him to pick up the rest of his gear.

  “Thank you, sir,” he said as he started to redress himself. He felt like a fool not remembering the bag was stashed away in the lower pocket of his cargo pants, but he accepted his mistake and trudged off to Gate 47. Once there, he scanned the waiting area for a seat, hopefully with an empty one next to it, to place his carry-ons. He then sat and tried to relax.

  Relaxing was not easy for him, though. His mind was continuously mulling over everything: his ticket, keys, driver’s license, proper paperwork for the meetings, and telephone numbers needed to call for information in Argentina. Over and over, he ran these types of things through his brain to be sure he had everything. After all, he knew he easily forgot things, and Kate certainly could vouch for this.

  Helen Hampton left the shop early. Although she was worried, her employees knew that this trip was one she had to make. Her mother-in-law’s illness had hung over her marriage for so long that her husband, Ricardo, had become disillusioned with her. Her mean remarks about Rick’s mother pretending to be sick to get his attention were cute in the beginning, but as the disease started to consume her mother-in-law’s body, those comments had been very much out of line. Possibly because she was so involved in her own flower business, she just never saw Maria slowly wasting away.

  Helen had met Ricardo, a stylist, in a hair salon. She was impressed with his ability to cut and style hair to each woman’s anatomical features and their personality. The dashing way about him, his laughter, and mannerisms all captivated her, and she fell in love. She knew Ricardo felt the same way, but it took a year of Helen being his customer before he finally understood what love was.

  Their marriage started with a visit to Argentina to meet his family. Everyone there seemed to be impressed with Helen, and she felt at home. Life was hectic with Helen starting her own business and Ricardo trying to expand his. They had no children. Neither wanted any, and it was never discussed, just understood. Both felt children would be a drag on their successes, and they were probably correct in thinking so. Helen was an only child, and being the only one, she felt she was a princess. She always thought that if she had a sibling, she might have resented her or him, and that resentment may well have destroyed their family.

  After five years, Maria got sick and wasn’t able to get good care in Argentina. The family there was not wealthy enough for what care was available, either. Helen encouraged Ricardo to apply for a special visa and to get Maria to the United States and get the proper care, and after several years of misdiagnoses, they found out that she had a debilitating disease that was causing her muscular wasting. Helen was not a patient woman. For years, the doctors didn’t know the reason for Maria’s symptoms, and Helen eventually came to her own conclusion that Maria was making it all up to keep her son close and away from her. It began as a game to Helen. Maria would say one thing, and Helen would rebut her with some funny or whimsical remark, but as time passed, she became more angry at Maria. Her barbs were increasingly caustic and sometimes downright mean. Helen was sure that Maria was trying to break up her marriage and take Ricardo from her. That was when she opted to start her own business, to get away from Maria during the day and only have to see her late in the evenings.

  She had been so consumed by being successful with the floral business that her marriage suffered, and, being headstrong and a control freak, she spent her waking hours fighting for every bit of business she could. This stress caused her to consider her mother-in-law a verbal punching bag when she was home with Rick. He loved his mother with all his heart and began to pull away from Helen in silent disgust. Not until Maria was finally diagnosed with a rare disease was it obvious she had not been pretending to be sick. Helen finally realized her torturing of Rick and Maria with snide comments had been terribly mean and divisive, but Rick could no longer abide by her actions and words. Rick took his mother home to Argentina and stayed there.

  Rick and Helen had been divorced for two years. The news of Maria’s passing was not unexpected, but still, Helen was surprised. Why, she did not understand. When she finally faced her emotions, she knew she had to go the funeral whether or not Rick and the rest of his

  family liked it. She had to pay her respects, and, at least in her mind, make amends. Was it enough? For them, probably not, but for her, she hoped yes. She was so overcome by guilt at times, she couldn’t even get it together enough to conduct the daily activities of the business. Ambivalence was not just a word now. It was an overwhelming feeling pulling her apart for hours at a time. Her guilt was intense, totally engrossing her daily. She just had to do something, and this trip seemed to be the answer—at least, in her mind.

  Folding every blouse and skirt meticulously, she placed each item of clothing neatly in her suitcase, the larger clothes on the bottom and the smaller ones packed snugly on top. Her final addition was a plain, newly ironed black dress. She held it up in front of her, walked to the full-length mirror in her bathroom, and gazed at it for a while, wondering if she was making the correct decision. She folded it and laid it on top of the rest of the garments. She stared at it as if it would give her some answer to her conundrum. Then, she touched it as if to goad it into giving her some response. She turned to place the last few makeup items in the bag, and, with one last swipe, she smoothed out the black dress slowly and deliberately.

  Visions of her in
that dress appearing at the funeral and the subsequent home visits for family and friends popped in and out of her head, some frighteningly offensive and others of being ostracized completely. She had to have some kind of closure whether or not the rest of the family wanted to have anything to do with her. She had decided not to inform them she was coming but often thought she should at least tell them of her arrival. Then again, she thought she was so disliked, the family would change plans just to avoid her. Helen felt uneasy with this awful dilemma. She finally stuck with the surprise visit and hoped for the best.

  Helen turned to the bathroom mirror and studiously examined herself; her pudgy face, overly pink cheeks, brunette hair in ringlets on one side opposed to the stringy broken ends on the other. She wondered how anyone would ever be attracted to her and how she’d ruined her marriage with Rick.

  Her psyche had been severely damaged, and it was all her fault. She should have known better, but for some reason, she had been so sure Maria had been faking it.

  How could I have been so damn dumb? All the signs were there. I never saw them. How blind can one be and be able to see? On the other hand, Rick never saw my side of it. If he had, he would have noticed Maria was often mean-spirited.

  She definitely missed Rick’s ability to style her hair. None of the salons she used now could match it. She ran her fingers through the forest of stringy hair as she stood gazing into the mirror that was reflecting a very disparaging image of the woman Rick had fallen in love with. She stood sideways, pushed out her stomach, and then sucked it in.

  “Godzilla, the female monster, right here, ladies and gentlemen.” She turned away from the mirror, switched the light off, and exited the bathroom.