Authors: Rick Mofina
Free Fall (31 page)
Acknowledgments
&
A Personal Note
T
he first thing you should know is that I have no fear of flying.
In fact, I enjoy flying and I believe it is one of the safest ways to travel. In crafting
Free Fall
, I looked at several aspects of the commercial airline industry and consulted a number of texts and final reports on accidents made public by investigative agencies around the world.
Still, I make no claim to being an expert or coming close to possessing any knowledge of aeronautical engineering, air traffic control or any other area of the industry. I apologize to the experts among you for the eye-rolling errors that would cause you to say “Things just don't work that way.”
Free Fall
is a work of fiction drawn in my imagination, where I exercised creative license and took liberties with technical realities, jurisdiction and the investigative process to present a drama concerning flawed human beings in an extraordinary situation.
I did benefit from the help of Ric Gillespie, a former aviation accident investigator and founder of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. Ric, a world-renowned expert, generously and graciously suffered my questions. For parts of the story that ring true, thanks goes to Ric. For the parts that don't, blame me for my transgressions as a fiction writer.
I'd like to thank Amy Moore-Benson, Brittany Lavery, Michelle Meade and the incredible editorial, marketing, sales and PR teams at Harlequin and MIRA Books.
Thanks to Wendy Dudley for making this a better story.
Very special thanks to Barbara, Laura and Michael.
It is important readers know that in getting this book to you, I benefitted from the hard work and generosity of many people, too many to thank individually.
This brings me to what I hold to be the most critical part of the entire enterprise: you, the reader. This aspect has become a credo for me, one that bears repeating with each book.
Thank you very much for your time, for without you, a book remains an untold tale. Thank you for setting your life on pause and taking the journey. I deeply appreciate my audience around the world and those who've been with me since the beginning who keep in touch. Thank you all for your very kind words. I hope you enjoyed the ride and will check out my earlier books while watching for my next one. I welcome your feedback. Drop by at www.rickmofina.com, subscribe to my newsletter and send me a note. I love hearing from you.
Rick Mofina
“Rick Mofina's tense, taut writing makes every thriller he writes an adrenaline-packed ride.”
âTess Gerritsen,
New York Times
bestselling author
If you loved
Every Second
by international bestselling author Rick Mofina, be sure to catch each action-packed moment in the edge-of-your-seat thriller series starring reporter Kate Page.
Terror claws into the lives of an American familyâ¦
A relentless reporter discovers an agonizing secretâ¦
Time ticks down on a chilling plan.
An anguished mother in a deadly stormâ¦
A journalist under pressure breaks the storyâ¦
A vortex of life-and-death forces.
Screams in the nightâ¦
A gut-wrenching phone callâ¦
A life-and-death race against time.
Complete your collection!
“Moves like a tornado.”
âJames Patterson, #1
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by Rick Mofina
1
Roseoak Park, New York
L
ori Fulton woke in the darkness of her bedroom to a strange pressure covering her mouth, forcing her head deep into her pillow.
A hideous face glared down at her.
Straining to breathe, Lori thought:
I'm dreaming!
Then her eyes flicked to her husband's side of the bed. It was empty.
Where's Dan? What's happening? Wake up!
At the peel of duct tape and the guttural noises of a struggle nearby, Lori's brain thundered awake with the horrible realization that the man above her was real. Again, she thought of her husband and her son.
Where's Dan? Where's Billy?
She thrashed against her attacker, who countered by seizing her throat.
“Don't move!”
The lights switched on and she saw Dan was across the room in his T-shirt and boxers, on his knees, hands bound behind his back. A band of tape sealed his mouth. Blood webbed down his cheek. His eyes met hers.
A gun was being held to his head.
Dan! Oh God, where's Billy?
The two men in her room wore loose mechanic-style coveralls over top of hoodies and white masks with grotesque faces. In an explosion of terror and rage, Lori fought back, shaking her mouth free to shriek.
“Billy! Where's my son? Billy!”
Lori's assailant pressed a strip of duct tape over her mouth then yanked her by her hair from her bed. Dan moved to protect her but was stopped when his attacker smashed the butt of his gun against his face. Lori was shoved to the floor, her nightshirt hiked up to her waist in the scuffle. Her attackerâThorne, according to the name embroidered on the patch on his chestâpaused to take in her body before dropping his knee hard on her stomach, knocking out her breath. He clamped her wrists in one gloved hand then reached for the duct tape.
Through her pain Lori noticed him fumbling, unable to find the start of the tape. He cursed, shook off his glove, peeled a lead and quickly wrapped her wrists like a rodeo cowboy in a calf-roping competition.
Thorne replaced his glove, then pulled Lori to her knees positioning her next to Dan, both of them now bound helplessly. Lori wheezed, her need for air contending with the ache in her gut. A muffled whimpering sounded through their open bedroom door. Shadows moved in the hallway as two more figures approached, dressed the same as the first two. Their name patches read Cutty and Percy.
Cutty, the largest of the four, carried Billy on his hip as if he were luggage.
Dan's muzzled growl nearly burst through his tape as Lori screamed under hers. Billy's hands and mouth were bound, his eyes wide with terror as Cutty tossed him on the floor next to them. Lori fumbled closer, feeling Billy's body trembling against hers as he sobbed.
Who were these monsters?
The man who'd been holding on to DanâVic, by his name patchâtook charge. He sat on the foot of Lori and Dan's bed, casually contemplating his gun, then the family.
Lori, Dan and Billy were on their knees before him, their armed attackers looming behind themâa portrait of contrasts. Dan was in his favorite Jets T-shirt, now bloodstained, and Billy in the new Spider-Man pajamas Lori had bought him for his ninth birthday last month. They'd been torn in the struggle.
Why had these people violated their home?
Vic tapped his gun to his knee as if coming to a decision.
“Are we calm now? Do we have your attention?” he asked. “I'll make it simple. If you do what we say and do it right no one gets hurt and this will be over tomorrow. If you fail at any stage, you'll die.”
Copyright © 2015 by by Highway Nine, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9781460395837
Free Fall
Copyright © 2016 by Highway Nine, Inc.
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