“A rugged, indelible heroine
headlines a riveting tale.” ~ Kirkus
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Highest praise you can receive from one of the most respected journals in the country. Curious? Want to know more? Here's an excerpt from STATUS:MISSING:
“Get me the info on the flight.”
Other members of the task force were
filing in now, looking sleepy, tired, and pissed off. “Grab as many people as
you need. I want everything.”
“Aren’t you jumping the gun?” Jude
asked. “We aren’t even sure the plane is in trouble.”
“Do you really believe everything
is fine?”
Jude shook his head. “No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
The director clicked back on the
line. “What do you need, Major Sloan?”
Amazing what a phone call from the
right person could accomplish. “Global 2455. Somebody needs to make contact
with the flight deck. Try the radio first. If it doesn’t work, try the
secondary system.” Every airliner came equipped with the text-based Aircraft
Communications and Reporting System (ACARS). While radio communications were
mostly restricted to talking with air traffic controllers, ACARS allowed ground-to-aircraft communications regarding
weather, routing, and gate assignments, as well as functioning as a backup
system if radio communications were lost. “We need every commercial aircraft
within five hundred miles of Hawaii to try to contact Global 2455 on Guard
Frequency. That’s 121.5 if you don’t know.”
“I know what it is, damn it,” the
director grumbled. “I’ll get right back to you.” He clicked off.
I passed the handset to Jude.
“Sanchez! What have you got?”
More office manager than analyst, Sanchez hustled over with his familiar yellow pad.
“Shit.”
When Jude swore, it almost never
meant anything good. “What?”
“It’s gone. Disappeared.”
I searched the wall of monitors
for the tiny pinpoint representing Global flight 2455. “Just like that? It’s
gone?”
“Just like that,” Jude confirmed.
“Just like the others. Here one second, gone the next.”
Except we hadn’t been watching the
others when they disappeared. We’d found out after the fact on the others. This
was different. Because we’d been watching this particular radar blip, we might
have a chance of locating the plane in a timely manner. And, if our operating
theory proved correct, we might find the person or persons behind the missing
planes.
“Last known position?” I signaled
Sanchez to write it down. With no radar image to draw from, Jude rattled off
the coordinates. “We need eyes on this plane, or what’s left of it, right now.
Sanchez, get Rodgers on the horn again.”
Ordering fighter jets into the air
to search for a missing plane was way above my pay grade, and if there was one
thing I’d learned from my time in the field, it was to let each member of your
team do what they did best.
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