Shaking Off the Dust Read online

  He handed me a smallish box filled with manila envelopes. “These are hair samples of twenty-three of the plane crash victims, all the ones Tom has mentioned to us that we could collect DNA on.”

  I sat down and took a couple of hairs out of each envelope. I called the name of the person written on the envelope. By the time I had called all the names, there was a crowd of ghostly visitors in the waiting room.

  Tom and Brodie stood behind my chair. I found a rubber band and tied all the hairs together and handed the box back to Enrique.

  “Hello.” I stared at the crowd. “My name is Hannah. You all know Tom, I think?”

  “You can see us.” A woman came forward. “You are the Hannah that Tom speaks of?” She was an older Spanish woman. She wore black and her hair was in an elaborate bun.

  “I am the only Hannah that Tom knows. These are my friends.” I pointed to Bill, Jack and lastly to Enrique. “They are the men who have been investigating the plane crash. Tonight they got very bad news. Bombs have been put in the Madrid airport and will go off by morning. I thought perhaps you might help them search the airport for the bomb. Your purpose for staying here could be fulfilled this day or so I believe. Will you help?”

  Everyone nodded, some eagerly, some in shocked silence.

  “Enrique, take a hair from each envelope and bundle all of them together. Make a dozen bundles and pass them to your men. They should be able to go from one end of the airport to the other, without restriction. Bill, Jack, will you be participating?”

  “We’ll be heading to the warehouse to join in the interrogations unless you need one of us to stay with you.”

  “You should take a bundle, so that you can call for assistance if you need their special skills. As for staying here, I know Takeshi understands that circumstances do not permit personal situations to intrude on what is more important. You all need to go and do what you do best. I suspect none of you is very good at handholding.” I tried to smile.

  Enrique said, “I am outstanding at handholding.”

  I laughed and hugged him for a long time, but eventually had to let him go. “Let’s get going. It’s not that long ’til morning. Where is Mateo?”

  “He’s in charge of the search of the airport.” Enrique squeezed my hand.

  I returned my attention to the ghosts. “You decide among yourselves how to divide up and search. Nothing can be ignored. Come to me the second you find anything suspicious.”

  Enrique gave me a cell phone and a list of telephone numbers for my favorite FBI and Spanish agents. “The numbers are already loaded in the phone, but I wanted you to have them written in front of you.”

  “I’m leaving too,” Tom informed me. “Call my name if you hear anything. I’ll pop in and out of OR. It’s going slowly, Hannah. He’s had a lot of bleeding and his pressure is extremely low.”

  “Oh,” I whispered over the lump in my throat. The room cleared and I was alone, waiting, praying.

  I don’t know how long I waited there. It had to have been over an hour since everyone left. Brodie was with me some of the time. He was popping in, checking on Takeshi, but he didn’t understand what was happening in the operating room.

  “They are talking about bleeders and more blood.” He frowned when he saw my reaction. “What’s the matter? What did I say wrong?”

  “Nothing, Brodie. They might not be able to save him,” I answered.

  “Sure they will.” His face was as stubborn as a twelve-year-old can make it.

  I paced, then turned on the TV and watched CNN. They showed scenes outside the airport, but I couldn’t understand what was being said, since it was in Spanish. Time crept by, with half-hourly updates from Tom on Takeshi, until three hours had passed.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Hannah?”

  I looked up to find Arturo and his sister Mia standing in front of me. “Yes? Have you found something?”

  “In the green glass of the ladies’ restroom. Inside of one of the hand dryers there is a piece of rectangular plastic hooked to wires.” Arturo was excited and nervous.

  “Who is closest to you? Are any of the investigators in the vicinity? Are any of my friends nearby?” I asked.

  “Mateo, he’s nearby. He’s so pretty,” Mia offered enthusiastically.

  I scanned through my list of numbers and called him.

  “The wire is attached to the key lock,” Mia said.

  I smiled at her. “Answer your phone, Mateo,” I grumbled.

  “Mateo, it’s Hannah. Arturo and Mia found something in the hand dryer in the ladies’ restroom closest to you. There is wire attached to the key turn. Be careful. Mia is not a bomb-squad member, so she may not understand what she is seeing.”

  “I’m here now. Have her show me which one.”

  I nodded to Mia. “Go to Mateo. Show him. Stay on the line, Mateo, until I know what’s happening.”

  “Hannah, I need to call the bomb squad. I can’t do that with you on the line. I’ll send Mia back to you to update. Hang up now,” he said softly.

  “You Spanish men always get your way, don’t you? Goodbye, Mateo, be safe.” I hung up the phone, more frustrated than before. “Tom!”

  He appeared next to me.

  “Tell me how he is?” In two seconds, I’d gone from assertive to pleading.

  Tom disappeared, this time for a while. When he came back, he was worried. “They brought in an orthopedic surgeon for the leg. Now there are three in there, each taking a wound. I found out from their conversation that Dwight Santiago is an ex-military field surgeon. He’s working on the shoulder gunshot that bounced around nicking some large vessels. He’s the one I would want working on me, very thorough and fast. They are pouring blood into Takeshi. His pressure begins to drop the minute they slow down the blood. I’m sorry, Hannah, it’s still touch and go.”

  I stared at him, heart heavy in my chest. I thought it would cave in on itself. It took me two tries to talk. “Mia found something, maybe a bomb.”

  “Where? I’ll tell the others.” Tom looked relieved to have something else to think about.

  “Women’s restroom. Mateo’s there. Go to them and pass it on. Keep me in the loop. It’s lonely here, with only my own thoughts and fears to keep me company.”

  “I can stay with you, if you want?”

  I could tell he wanted to do anything but that.

  I snorted. “Tom, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever done. No, you go be a hero and help them at the airport. Maybe if all the other ghosts see it, they’ll have a better idea of what to look for.”

  I checked the clock. He’d been in surgery four hours and he was unstable. A positive outcome didn’t seem possible.

  The cell phone rang. “Hello.” I tried not to cry.

  “Hannah?” It was Enrique. “Any news on Takeshi?”

  “Nothing official. Tom says it’s still touch and go. Did Mateo tell you we found something, maybe a bomb, at the airport?”

  “I have been out of touch. We have Sanchez now. He is being taken to the police headquarters for questioning.” Enrique sounded pleased.

  “Why?”

  “To be questioned. He can lead us to these terrorists,” he explained slowly. He thought I was too distraught to understand.

  “No, Enrique. I mean why the police headquarters? He needs to be at the airport. He might be more helpful there.” I thought the world had seen the Die Hard movies.

  There was silence on the other end, then a low laugh. “I would hate to be the poor soul who gets in your way. The angry Hannah is a scary person, but I think I like her as much as the Hannah I have known this last week.” He sighed. “I will continue my prayers for your doctor, that he will stay with you for a very long time. I’ll take your suggestion under advisement. Goodbye.”

  I was hungry, but afraid to move in case there was news on Takeshi or from the others. My hands shook. I wanted to call someone, my sister or Vicki, to come sit with me, bring me food, tell me everything w
as going to be all right.

  I could hear someone arguing out in the hall, in Spanish. Voices came closer to the waiting room. I didn’t need this right now. When the voices were behind me, I twisted around ready to vent my frustration on these poor unaware strangers.

  I turned to find Hector being wheeled towards me by an older woman. His mother? His face was swollen and stitched, and his right eye barely open. I went to my knees on the floor in front of his wheelchair, threw my head on his legs, crying uncontrollably.

  The woman, who had been in midsentence, stopped then stepped to the couch and sat down.

  “Poor Hannah. I heard the nurses talking about the lone American woman waiting to hear news on her Japanese boyfriend. I knew it was you. I couldn’t believe they’d left you alone to wait on news of Takeshi, unless there was something terrible going on elsewhere. You must tell me, Hannah. How is Takeshi? How are you? I could hear you screaming upstairs at the house and my heart was breaking. Each time the bed rocked against the floor, I despaired.”

  I was hiccupping now. “I’m fine, Hector. Didn’t anyone tell you?”

  “Bill assured me that you were safe. That’s all I remember until I awoke a while ago.”

  I unwound myself from him and scanned the room. The couch didn’t look long enough to support his length.

  “Hector, you need to go to your room and crawl back into your bed. You got hit a lot. Brodie stayed with you most of the time. We worried about you. Takeshi wouldn’t leave for safety until you were free. Go back to bed. I suspect that was what you and your mother were quarreling about.” I kissed his hand.

  “I’ll stay with you. Don’t make me argue, that takes much more energy than sitting on that couch and waiting with you.” His stubborn face was set.

  I moved the chair closer to the couch. “Perhaps your mom could go back to your room and bring pillows and blankets. I’ll kick you out if we can’t make you comfortable. Have her tell the nurses where you are. Do you think she’d mind getting me a candy bar? Anything to eat would be great.”

  He laughed and winced. He spoke for a long time to his mother. She started to disagree but he hit his fist on the wheelchair and shouted. She frowned at me and left a very unhappy woman.

  While she was gone, I filled in Hector on everything I knew from the night in the house, Takeshi’s injuries, the airport bomb threat, and Sanchez. I could tell he wanted to be there. I pointed to the TV and set the sound up a little. At least he could see what was on the news.

  His mother came to us with a nurse, both of them frowning, but carrying pillows and blankets. While the nurse helped him onto the couch and made him comfortable, I watched anxiously.

  “Hannah Campbell?”

  I turned to find Eduardo. I nodded a greeting to him.

  “We have found two more bombs.”

  “Have you told Mateo or the others?”

  “We came to you first. Tom said it was quicker to inform you than try to communicate with the others during stress.”

  I jumped up and pulled out my phone. “Tell me where, so I can let them know. You go to Mateo and make sure he finds them. Are these two bombs in the hand dryers like the first one?”

  “Tom had each of us go see the first one so we’d know what we were searching for. The two we found are in the vending machines for feminine products. The dispensers have a broken sign on them, and the bombs are wired to the handles.” He gave me details while the phone rang.

  “Hello, Mateo?” I said, rushed.

  “Hannah, we are busy diffusing the bomb.”

  “You’re about to get much busier. There are two more.”

  He cursed in Spanish.

  “Ditto that, I’m sending Eduardo to you. He says they are exactly like the first one, only in feminine product dispensers. It’s the female bathrooms that have bombs planted in them. I’d guess we are hunting for a female terrorist.”

  “Yes, it would seem so. Enrique is here with Sanchez. I’ll have him call you. Now tell me where I’m sending the bomb squad.”

  I got details from Eduardo and passed them on to Mateo. Eduardo blinked away. I hung up and turned to see Hector had been listening intently.

  “They need everyone to help. I should be there,” Hector grumbled.

  I put out my hand and sat next to him. He was on one end of the couch, his feet propped up on a chair.

  His mother came back, this time with a sandwich and carton of milk.

  “You must eat now and rest a while. You have a baby to feed.”

  “Is there anyone who doesn’t know about my personal life?” I ate and so did Hector, although he stuck to Jell-O and broth.

  Another hour passed as Hector translated any new news on the TV. I decided I’d waited long enough. “Tom.”

  He appeared and looked around. “Hector should be in bed.”

  “I know, but I’m a selfish bitch. Tell me how he is?”

  At least this time I had someone to talk to while I waited for Tom to return. When he appeared again, he wasn’t quite smiling, but seemed more upbeat.

  “Well?” I said impatiently.

  “His pressure is up. They still have a ways to go, but for the first time I think he might get through this alive.”

  “Yes.” The vise around my heart eased up long enough for me to burst into tears. Hector looked concerned until I told him Takeshi was better. Both men waited for me to gain control, Tom pacing impatiently. “Now go to Bill and our friends and tell me what is going on at the airport and warehouse.” I suspected he was hoping for permission to leave the crying lady.

  Tom nodded then left for about half an hour. When he returned, he was as excited as I’d ever seen him.

  “Hannah, you sent me to Bill. He is interviewing the janitorial staff. I recognize the guy as one of the men who put luggage on the plane that day. Call and ask him if this man could work both as a baggage handler and a janitor.”

  I had my cell phone out and dialed while I passed on to Hector what Tom told me.

  “Hannah?” Bill answered on the second ring. “Is everything all right?”

  “Bill, listen. Tom just came from there. He recognizes one of the janitorial staff as a man who was a baggage handler the day of the plane crash.” I nodded at Tom, and he blinked away. “He should be there with you now. He wants to know if that is possible, for them to work two jobs.”

  “I’m a little rusty with my Morse code, but he can show me the man and I’ll take it from there.” Bill sounded calm.

  I didn’t want to hang up. “I promised Bethann, that I would watch out for you. Be careful, Bill, or she’ll be mad at me.”

  “She’d never be mad at you. I have to go now, there’s a man and a woman in the janitorial staff who are shivering with the cold. I’ll assume our ghosts are touching them.”

  Tom showed up almost an hour later. He came over to the couch and sat on my other side. “The local bomb squads are transporting the bombs out of the airport to a field nearby. It is very tense and exciting. It seems that being questioned at the airport gave Sanchez the incentive he needed to cooperate. The old man gave up the name of the man to whom he sold the bomb materials.”

  I repeated this information to Hector then motioned for Tom to continue.

  “Bill and Jack think they’ve found the female terrorist among the evacuees at the warehouse. Mia recognized her from the airport on the day of the bombing at the same time I recognized the man. When she tried to run, Rachel tackled her and brought her down but was injured. Rachel is still wearing her ball gown and it was a tangle of clothes. She has a couple of broken ribs and her left ankle is a mess. They’re bringing her here. Tell Hector. It looked like a fracture dislocation. That ankle will need to be surgically repaired. They are still hunting for the man Sanchez described.”

  I turned to Hector. “They found one of the terrorists, a female. Rachel blocked her escape and is injured. A couple of ribs and her left ankle were broken. Tom said the ankle looks pretty bad, he thinks it will ne
ed surgery. They are bringing her here.”

  Hector appeared stricken. He wanted to go to Rachel, but he didn’t want to leave me alone. I could see it all play out on his face.

  I laughed at him. “I’m okay now that I know Takeshi is doing better. You have your mother take you to find Rachel. She is way more important than me. Go to her and let me know how she’s doing.”

  Tom paced in front of me. “I was right, Hannah. The man I pointed out to Bill was one of the terrorists, and I helped them find him. I did stay for a purpose, and it’s finished.”

  His expression was confused. “Hannah, did we do the right thing coming here? Was it worth Takeshi’s life to have found these terrorists and stopped this new attack?”

  “Takeshi would say yes. We both know that. Go to him for me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I was alone again. The sandwich hadn’t settled in my stomach. I was cramping and had been for hours. During the last bathroom break, I discovered I’d started to bleed and found a feminine hygiene machine. For a split second I worried about a bomb in the machine. I paused a moment before using it. I thanked Bill silently for giving me some money before he left.

  I suppose I could have gone to the emergency department. They’d have run some tests and done an ultrasound but I believed, as Takeshi did, what was meant to be would be. I was losing this pregnancy and being in a hospital gown as opposed to a scrub top wouldn’t make a difference. I sat on the couch and pulled up the blankets Hector had left behind. I waited for a long time alone, dozing.

  “Hannah.”

  I opened my eyes to Dr. Santiago standing over me.

  “He made it through surgery. I honestly didn’t think he would, but he fought to stay with you, I think. He’s in recovery, but he’ll be heading straight up to ICU. It will be several days before we know anything. His pressure’s holding, but he’s developed some coagulopathy problems from all the blood he’s gotten. It will be touch and go for a while yet. We plan to keep him out of it for several days. Some of our surgery was remarkably delicate. We want him not fighting us for a bit, to make sure those repairs remain intact.” He looked exhausted.