Grace Takes Off(34)

            I took a step closer. “What are you doing?”

            Evelyn came up behind me. There wasn’t enough room for her to navigate around us, but she was close enough for me to feel her breath when she demanded answers of her own. “What are you two doing back here? I looked up and saw Grace wander in. And you’re here, too?” she said to Pinky. Then to both of us: “This area is off-limits to passengers.”

            I didn’t wait for Pinky to reply. I stepped forward and grabbed what was clearly a bubble sheet of medicine from her hand. The almost empty ten-tablet foiled blister pack reminded me of the dispenser for the medication I occasionally used when my cat allergies kicked up. But these weren’t tiny antihistamine tablets. These were bigger, and orange. “What is this?” I asked, shaking the packet in her face, noticing at the same moment that she had crushed several of the tablets and sprinkled them into the food on one of the dinner plates. She hadn’t, however, crushed them well enough—I could still see tiny flecks of bright orange coating that hadn’t yet been mixed into the sauced entrée.

            “What are you putting into the food?” My pitch rose with biting anger. “Are you drugging all of us?”

            It took only a moment for me to comprehend the scene more clearly. She’d targeted only one entrée. When I realized whose, my knees went weak.

            She’d added the drug to the only plate that didn’t have asparagus.

            Bennett’s meal.

            My entire body reacted. Adrenaline and fury narrowed my field of vision. I saw her as though through a telescope. Her face was pale, her eyes panicked and wide. Sweat bubbled through her thick makeup.

            I stepped in, closing off any chance for her to escape. “What. Are. You. Doing?”

            Behind me, Evelyn’s voice rose in her own version of alarm. “What is that? Poison?” Her voice grew ever more panicked as she cried, “Who are you?”

            Face flushed, Pinky tried to shove past me. Where she thought she’d be able to go on a plane this size, I had no idea. I was taller and younger, and I hadn’t had four heavy-duty drinks to weigh down my brain. I spun her around, banging her against the plane’s fiberglass wall as I did so. Holding her arms shoved against her squirming back, I called for help.

            There was no need. By this time, just about everyone had made their way into the cramped galley. I heard Bennett’s voice above the others’ exclamations. “Gracie, are you all right?”

            “I’m fine,” I managed through clenched teeth. Pinky was trying to fight her way out of my grasp. “I need someone to hold this woman down. She’s got some serious explaining to do.”





Chapter 10




            PINKY FOUGHT, BUT WITH ADAM’S AND RUDY’S assistance, we managed to get her back into the passenger cabin, where the two men pushed her into a seat. I’d kept the blister pack tight in my hand and had the presence of mind to grab the tainted food as well. I studied the serving platter: Rectangular-shaped and as delicate as fine china, it nonetheless bore tall edges to prevent spillage. High-end airplane dinnerware. Who knew there was such a thing?

            For her part, Pinky looked ready to leap out the nearest door, parachute or no. Rudy held her in place with a grip on her bare upper arm, squeezing so tightly it looked as though he might break the skin. She winced as she wriggled against his grasp. Tiny tears formed at the corners of her eyes. “Stop,” she said, “you’re hurting me.”

            He pulled her upward, making her cry out. “Why were you attempting to harm these passengers? What is your reasoning?” Rudy’s free arm came up as though he planned to backhand her across her jaw. Without thinking, I dropped the blister pack and grabbed his hand.

            “Easy,” I said. “We don’t want to knock her unconscious.”