She's My Sleeping Pill

“How can that be?” Magnus questioned in whisper. He couldn’t believe it either. The odds of your flight being hijacked are 10 million to 1. And yet, this very little chance has happened to his son and daughter-in-law. “What airline is this? How can their security be so lacking?! If something happens to them, I will make sure that they’d be closing their business and not a chance of getting back to operation again.” His anger brought fear in Kyle’s heart for the first time. He knew that businessmen were ruthless since they have to protect their properties, assets and interests. He just didn’t witness it in person before. It was his first time to see Magnus getting angry.

When he realized that this man was Stefan’s father, he calmed down his heart and tried his best to be logical and rational at this point.

“Tristan is getting in touched with the airline to get some information. As of the moment, the hijacker is asking for the mayor to sign some form documents.” Kyle responded to Magnus. “Tristan will be calling us again for more update. He warned us not to leave the house. There’s more than one threat to us right now.”

Ferdinand sighed deeply and sat on the couch. He clutched his chest from pain which caused Dominic to run to his side. He had forgotten that this old man has caused so much suffering to his auntie and his family.

“Yen...Yenyen will be fine, right?” Luiz asked his brother as he wiped his tears away. “Bro, let’s go to the airport. I want to see them as soon as they arrive. I want to see them safe and sound.”

“We can’t.” Kyle replied regretfully. “We have to stay here and wait. We can’t really do anything to help them and I guess, Yen will be grateful if she knows we’re doing safe here.”

.....

Luiz nodded his head in understanding but he was still adamant with the decision to stay home.

Few minutes later, Tristan called them again...

“Are you kidding?! Why is he doing that?! It’s dangerous!” Kyle exclaimed upon hearing what Stefan has done. Apparently, the transmission was still on when Stefan got inside the cabin crew. Olivia was about to kill the man when the hijacker laughed. With the connection, Tristan has heard everything.

***

“Even if you kill me now, you won’t land safely. Go ahead! Kill me!” He taunted Olivia who was holding him with a sharp knife pressed on his neck. “Did you think I don’t have a second plan? We can all go to hell for all I care!”

“Stop it.” Stefan interrupted them and threw an encouraging look to the pilot who was sweating buckets. “I am Stefan Dumrique. I am not sure if I guessed it right but, are you talking about the new project in St. Martin which will start this spring?”

The man widened his eyes in surprise but soon, it was replaced with mockery and hatred. “So, you are one of those people who are forcing hundreds of families to leave their house. Just because it’s a government property doesn’t mean that the government can shoo people whenever they want to. Ha! The officials are all corrupt and only think of fattening their wallets and pockets! They never think of how we’d feel.”

“I am sorry. I didn’t know about the force evacuation. I thought there’s another settlement that the dwellers can temporarily use for relocation.”

“I don’t care about what you think and what you don’t know! I want that mayor to sign the documents to stop us from leaving! I don’t care how he’d do it.”

“Can we talk?” Stefan approached the man slowly with his hands up in the air. Olivia was still pressing the sharp knife into the man’s throat. She took it from the staff in the small kitchen. “She won’t kill you because I want negotiation.”

“What exactly is it that you want? Freeing the passengers? No way! I need their lives as bargaining chips and that includes you.”

Stefan put down his hands on his side and looked outside the glass window of the aircraft. The altitude was getting low which means that they were about to land. If he won’t be able to solve this within the man’s given time, they would all surely die. He could see that the man was not bluffing with his threat at all. He probably got another card in his sleeves.

“I am the person who planned to buy the land,” Stefan stated which caught the man off guard. “I thought there’s a relocation sight already because the mayor presented it during our meeting. And it’s better to deal with me than the mayor if you want to make sure that the dwellers will have a place to stay.”

“If you are lying to me. I’ll blow up this plane.”

“What’s the assurance that you will keep your words?”

Stefan looked at the microphone beside the pilot which was still turned on. “Everyone is listening to our conversation now, including the airline staff. My reputation matters to me and a lot of people can be used to testify to our negotiation.”

“What do you want?”

“Free everyone. Don’t succumb to murder. I will think of another way to deal with the project and help the dwellers of St. Martin. If you blow us up, the dwellers will still be forced to leave. Your family will be condemned. You will gain nothing.”

The man nodded his head and this time Olivia finally let go of the knife but he was still holding his arms tightly. “I have placed a bomb in this plane. The detonator is in my pocket.” Stefan took the detonator and pressed the red button to stop it. “I don’t care if I go to jail for this but can you really save the families in St. Martin? Also, can this be kept from leaking to the media? I don’t want people to know what I did. It’s enough for me to know that they have a place to live.”

“I can do that much,” Stefan promised as he turned around to leave the cabin. “I have a family and I want to protect them as well. Your purpose is good but you took the wrong step. I hope you can reflect on your crime properly in jail. Don’t worry, I don’t go back on my words with hundreds of people listening to our conversation.”

***

As soon as the plane landed, police cars and ambulances were waiting for them. Those who needed medical attention were immediately placed on the stretcher and some rational people were interrogated for testimony. When questioned about the dead man, all of the passengers testified that Olivia accidentally killed the man when she was pushed by the other. No one wanted to put their savior on a hot seat.

When some of the doctors saw the unconscious Cayenne in Stefan’s arms, they approached him to offer assistance but Stefan shook his head. “She wants to go home. I’ll just ask for someone to come over.”

“Understood Mr. Dumrique. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”

One of the crew assisted Stefan in getting their things since he couldn’t put his wife at the moment. It was the only thing she could do to express her gratitude. Three guards also escorted them to the terminal and they only left when Stefan and Cayenne safely boarded their car.

“Fortunately, we didn’t miss the time,” Stefan muttered when he saw the time on the car’s dashboard. They still have a few minutes before the new year starts.

Seeing his bodyguards’ faces, he finally allowed the stress and fatigue to take over his body. With his wife in his arms, he also fell asleep on the wide couch.