Free Fall by Rick Mofina Read Free Book Online

wires.
    I’ve been pushed off this story. Why do I care?
    Because deep down it was her story.
    She had an emotional connection to it. The image of Diane Wilson’s farewell video to her family burned in Kate’s mind as she tried to imagine the horror of what the people on that flight had faced. One moment you’re living your life. The next moment you’re falling from the sky, expecting to die.
    What happened to that plane?
    No one had broken any new angles on the story. She put her phone down, finished dressing and went to the kitchen where Vanessa was working on her laptop, concentrating behind her glasses, hair curtained to one side. For a moment Kate acknowledged some facts of her sister’s tragedy. She had not just been found, she’d been a prisoner before she was rescued, and the man who’d held her all those years had allowed her to read. In fact, he’d given her all kinds of books—novels, text books, encyclopedias and dictionaries. Books had become her lifeline. Her reading and comprehension skills were remarkable, the therapists had said. Despite her nightmare, her lost years and everything that she’d endured, Vanessa had emerged a poised, self-assured, beautiful young woman, Kate thought.
    â€œYou’re up early,” Kate said.
    â€œGot a test coming. I need to study.”
    â€œCommerce?”
    â€œEconomics. I made some raspberry tea.”
    â€œThanks. I could use it.”
    â€œYou got back later than we expected. How’d things go for you yesterday?”
    â€œAwful. I’m thinking of leaving Newslead. The place is falling apart.”
    Vanessa looked up from her work, pushed her hair back.
    â€œBut you love it there. You’re devoted to that place.”
    Hands cupped around her mug, Kate shook her head, sipped some tea and told Vanessa about her ordeal. When Kate finished, Vanessa considered the matter then said, “You don’t want to quit over this.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œYou’re bigger than that.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œJust let it go.”
    â€œBut what happened is wrong on so many levels, and I don’t see it getting better.”
    â€œIt all comes down to bumper sticker clichés, Kate. ‘What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.’ Suck it up, step back and look at where we’ve been and where we are now. You’re tougher than Sloane and Reeka and you know it.”
    Absorbing Vanessa’s suggestion, Kate caressed the guardian angel necklace she always wore as she looked to the wall, at the framed cover of the book they’d written together: Echo In My Heart: A Relentless Story of Love, Loss and Survival . For years, Vanessa had been locked up by a madman, and Kate had helped rescue her. Through it all, neither of them had quit and neither of them had given up hope. Vanessa was Kate’s inspiration.
    â€œYou make a good point,” Kate said.
    â€œThink it over. I’ve got to get dressed.”
    Vanessa smiled before she left. Alone in the kitchen, Kate couldn’t suppress her need to know more about EastCloud Flight 4990. She got on her phone and again researched the plane. Again, as far as she could tell, the Richlon-TitanRT-86 was a new model, without any known history of major problems. The crew said it was a malfunction, not turbulence. And in its statement, EastCloud had said the flight had “encountered a situation on its approach into New York.”
    Kate was mulling over what she knew when her phone vibrated with a text from Tara Lawson, a reporter at Newslead.
    OMG the rumors were true! Chuck Laneer is back!
    What? This a joke, Tara?
    I’m looking at him in his office now! Maybe he can save us all?
    Kate’s spirits soared. Chuck was back. This changed everything.
    â€œMom? Did you hear me?”
    Kate looked from her phone to Grace.
    â€œCan I get new shoes, pink ones like Amber got?”
    â€œNo, sweetie. The shoes