Read Online Runway Romance (Love in the Air Trilogy) by Merri Hiatt - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Merri Hiatt
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counter.
“Stacy, can you tell me if Richard Novatney is working today?”
“Is that the baggage handler? You found out his name before I did.”
“I ran into him again in the corridor.”
“Do I still get the cookies?”
“Of course.”
“Let me check.” It only took a few taps of her fingers on the keyboard for the answer to be revealed. “Yes. He’s assigned to flight #212.” Stacy shuddered.
“What?”
“Ghost flight. He’ll be loading bodies for quite a while.”
“Not by himself, though, right?”
“He’s alone for the first hour, then Charles Peterson will be joining him.”
“How many bodies?”
“Six hundred and nine. They’ll have to stack one on top of the other.”
Both women felt a chill shimmy down their spine.
“Is there some way I can get a pass to be on the runway?”
“During a ghost flight? Heavens no. Everyone will be on high alert. They don’t want even one body unaccounted for or there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Thanks, Stacy. I appreciate your help.”
“Anytime.”
Jenny returned to the lounge, waiting for another FA to show up so she could bum a ride home. She’d be seeing Rich tomorrow anyway for her first driving lesson. It was only a day away.
As she pressed her fingers to the glass, she wondered what Rich thought of handling all those bodies.
“Hi, Jenny. What are you still doing here?” Captain Alexander asked.
“Waiting for a ride home.”
“Is someone coming to pick you up?”
“No. I need a mercy ride.”
“I’m headed toward Mill Creek. I’d be happy to give you a lift if you’re going that way.”
“That would be great! I live in Mountlake Terrace.”
“This is your lucky day.”
Captain Alexander insisted on giving her curbside service.
“You really didn’t have to go so far out of your way. I just wanted you to drop me off at the intersection closest to the freeway.”
“That’s two miles from here.”
“Walking is good for me.”
“It may be good for you, but you shouldn’t have to do it in heels lugging cargo.”
“I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. I’m getting my first driving lesson tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll be able to drive myself in the near future.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
The house seemed to welcome Jenny when she opened the door. Even though she’d only been gone a couple of days, it always felt good to come home.
“Pajamas, here I come. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”
As she snuggled under her thick comforter surrounded by the familiar scents of her bedroom, she thought of Rich and Charles picking up black body bags with silver zippers, carrying them through dense fog and placing them inside the cargo hold of the plane. Again and again as the hour grew late and the sky darker.
She imagined they heard a sound; a low moan coming from one of the bags. Would they dare unzip it and look inside? Why weren’t the bodies buried in caskets? Were holes dug so long ago, before they used wood and nails to fashion a coffin, that bodies were simply placed inside and covered with soil?
What would it feel like to hold a body in your arms? Even if it wasn’t flesh-to-flesh, you knew you were holding more than skin and bone. This person had dreams, felt sorrow, experienced joy and pain, lived a life.
Do they know they’ve been uprooted? Does it change anything about their afterlife?
Jenny saw Richard hesitate before slowly lowering the zipper. The ripe stench of decay filled his nostrils. He coughed as bile rose high in his throat, but he didn’t stop.
He pulled the two sides of the bag apart to reveal its contents. Emaciated flesh with protruding bones met his eyes. Clothing half disintegrated and half embedded in such a way that you couldn’t tell what was leathery flesh and what was fabric.
Charles backed away slowly, not believing his eyes as the corpse’s mouth seemed to move ever so slightly as a whispered moan escaped through shredded lips.
Jenny thought she
“Stacy, can you tell me if Richard Novatney is working today?”
“Is that the baggage handler? You found out his name before I did.”
“I ran into him again in the corridor.”
“Do I still get the cookies?”
“Of course.”
“Let me check.” It only took a few taps of her fingers on the keyboard for the answer to be revealed. “Yes. He’s assigned to flight #212.” Stacy shuddered.
“What?”
“Ghost flight. He’ll be loading bodies for quite a while.”
“Not by himself, though, right?”
“He’s alone for the first hour, then Charles Peterson will be joining him.”
“How many bodies?”
“Six hundred and nine. They’ll have to stack one on top of the other.”
Both women felt a chill shimmy down their spine.
“Is there some way I can get a pass to be on the runway?”
“During a ghost flight? Heavens no. Everyone will be on high alert. They don’t want even one body unaccounted for or there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Thanks, Stacy. I appreciate your help.”
“Anytime.”
Jenny returned to the lounge, waiting for another FA to show up so she could bum a ride home. She’d be seeing Rich tomorrow anyway for her first driving lesson. It was only a day away.
As she pressed her fingers to the glass, she wondered what Rich thought of handling all those bodies.
“Hi, Jenny. What are you still doing here?” Captain Alexander asked.
“Waiting for a ride home.”
“Is someone coming to pick you up?”
“No. I need a mercy ride.”
“I’m headed toward Mill Creek. I’d be happy to give you a lift if you’re going that way.”
“That would be great! I live in Mountlake Terrace.”
“This is your lucky day.”
Captain Alexander insisted on giving her curbside service.
“You really didn’t have to go so far out of your way. I just wanted you to drop me off at the intersection closest to the freeway.”
“That’s two miles from here.”
“Walking is good for me.”
“It may be good for you, but you shouldn’t have to do it in heels lugging cargo.”
“I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. I’m getting my first driving lesson tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll be able to drive myself in the near future.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
The house seemed to welcome Jenny when she opened the door. Even though she’d only been gone a couple of days, it always felt good to come home.
“Pajamas, here I come. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”
As she snuggled under her thick comforter surrounded by the familiar scents of her bedroom, she thought of Rich and Charles picking up black body bags with silver zippers, carrying them through dense fog and placing them inside the cargo hold of the plane. Again and again as the hour grew late and the sky darker.
She imagined they heard a sound; a low moan coming from one of the bags. Would they dare unzip it and look inside? Why weren’t the bodies buried in caskets? Were holes dug so long ago, before they used wood and nails to fashion a coffin, that bodies were simply placed inside and covered with soil?
What would it feel like to hold a body in your arms? Even if it wasn’t flesh-to-flesh, you knew you were holding more than skin and bone. This person had dreams, felt sorrow, experienced joy and pain, lived a life.
Do they know they’ve been uprooted? Does it change anything about their afterlife?
Jenny saw Richard hesitate before slowly lowering the zipper. The ripe stench of decay filled his nostrils. He coughed as bile rose high in his throat, but he didn’t stop.
He pulled the two sides of the bag apart to reveal its contents. Emaciated flesh with protruding bones met his eyes. Clothing half disintegrated and half embedded in such a way that you couldn’t tell what was leathery flesh and what was fabric.
Charles backed away slowly, not believing his eyes as the corpse’s mouth seemed to move ever so slightly as a whispered moan escaped through shredded lips.
Jenny thought she
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