Destination Unknown

By Susan Egner

Following early retirement, Casey Click joined the ranks of flight attendants working for Winterland Airlines, a regional airline based in Minnesota. In her third year, she was selected to be part of an elite few who would attend to the needs of celebrities, politicians and other influential passengers on specially designed, luxurious charter flights.
Becoming a flight attendant at the age of sixty had opened new worlds to Casey, allowing her to visit many large and small cities in the US. History, always a fascination, pushed her to explore many of these previously unvisited locations.
In this new endeavor, her first charter would take her to Jamaica, home of coffee and fruit plantations, ancient legends of pirates and black magic and expanses of blue water fringed beaches. Her natural curiosity excitedly inhaled the new scents of the tropics and after a troubling tour of a deserted plantation, she invited her husband and friends to join her. Wherever Casey and her band of three friends gathered, trouble seemed to follow with its mysteries and danger. The mystery of the white witch of Rose Hall would throw them into a world of exotic stories, blood red-hued skies and the dark world of human trafficking.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Egner
• Release date: Jul 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781005500696

Susan Egner

Minnesota Author Susan Egner followed her father’s footsteps into the life of a newspaper reporter before turning her pen to fiction. Her father, Lou Egner, was the well-known photojournalist for the Florida Times-Union and the former Jacksonville Journal. Now married and living in Burnsville, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, the mother of two and grandmother of four, fondly recalls, “Daddy gave cameras to my two sisters and me when we were still in elementary school saying, ‘Wherever you go, always remember to take your camera.’ He felt a story could unfold anywhere and he wanted us prepared. That training resulted in my writing about female photographers.”Encouraged by friends after hearing the stories she made up for her own children, Egner wrote and published her own children’s book series, Has Anyone Seen Woodfin? She has made multiple guest appearances with costumed characters in seven states and Shanghai, China; appearing in bookstores, elementary schools, children’s hospitals and the Mall of America. Her work was featured as one of ten programming initiatives at a gala event held in Chicago’s Field Museum by PBS affiliate, WYCC.Egner’s previous writing experience also includes writing and editing for the Dakota County Tribune, a weekly newspaper. In addition, she was a freelance writer for the Dayton Hudson Corporation Santa Bear series.Egner made the transition to e-B­­ook publishing in 2012 with her five-star rated novel, Scotoma. A gifted storyteller, Egner’s characters face challenges and often undergo personal transformation as they confront issues in contemporary society. Her stories are about ordinary people who find themselves in adverse circumstances that could face any of us. The choices each makes—and the resulting consequences—weave a tapestry of mystery, intrigue, and romance that will keep the reader wholly absorbed until the last page.Susan Egner proudly supports Operation eBook Drop, which provides free access to uniformed men and women deployed in service overseas. Learn more about Susan Egner on her website, EgnerINK, on Google+, and on Facebook.

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Destination Unknown © 2019 by Susan Egner

Smashwords Edition

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the author’s written permission.

Thank you for purchasing this Susan Egner eBook.

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Cover design by Courtney Cardwell

Epigraph

Your words reveal your refinement; they tell the discerning listener of the company you have kept; they are the hallmarks of education and culture.

~ Paraphrased from Dale Carnegie

They look up with their pale and sunken faces,

And their looks are sad to see,

For the man’s grief abhorrent, draws and presses

Down the cheeks of infancy

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

For tis not in mere death that men die most

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Table of Contents

Copyright

Epigraph

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

About the Author

Other Books by Susan Egner

Destination Unknown

By Susan Egner

Chapter One

In military technology, a black site is a location where a black project, or highly classified military project unacknowledged publicly by the government, takes place. Special Agent Krahl knew this as he studied the papers he had just received. A growing sense of disquiet crawled through his core as he read his orders and placed the call.

Mrs. Click, this is Special Agent Krahl, are you free to talk?

I’m just on my way to meet the girls for coffee, said Casey.

Even better. Are you meeting at your usual Caribou hangout?

We are, she said, puzzled by the call.

May I join you?

You’re always welcome, Agent Krahl, but what is this about?

I’ll explain when we’re all together, he said as he clicked off.

Casey pondered Krahl’s call as she drove. Since becoming a flight attendant after retiring from her job as Marketing Director, she had worked with Agent Krahl several times. Unexpectedly, her job as a flight attendant had presented unplanned and unexpected links to national and international crimes. First there was the attempted murder of a high-end advertising executive aboard her plane, followed by the defection of a woman from Pakistan, then the unintentional airline participation in human trafficking followed by the serial killer who was an internationally known and well-traveled magician and hypnotist. All of these events had been a shock to mild-mannered though adventurous Casey Click and, as was constant in her life, she had quickly turned to her three closest friends for help.

Bertie, Bonnie and Kit had been her sorority sisters while in college and they had remained close friends ever since; including all four of them marrying the same year and buying, or in Kit’s case building, homes within a block of each other.

Casey steered her car into the Caribou Coffee Shop parking lot and noticed by the cars that all three of her friends had arrived. It was a balmy spring day and she felt a skip to her step as she walked from the car to the coffee shop. It wouldn’t be long before the perennial flowers would be sprouting in her ever-expanding garden. In another month, she would be laying out her design of annual plantings. She had a fondness for English gardens and, with her husband Max’ help, tried to duplicate them in her own yard. Though she had dozens of books on the subject, Max and she had used the pass privileges provided by Winterland Airlines to visit England several times. They had photographed over a dozen gardens laid out on the estates of dukes and duchesses. They still hoped to visit the gardens of Buckingham Palace, only open in August and September, but the previously mentioned crime sprees had delayed the proposed trip.

As she walked through the door, Casey could hear Kit expounding on her latest craze. Though neither Kit nor Bertie worked outside the home, Kit persistently took classes in an ever-expanding variety of topics. She’d taken everything from French to glass-blowing to magic.

I’ve always found the cultures of the Americas fascinating, said Kit. Especially the less studied tribes of the Caribbean.

Are you talking about Indian tribes? asked Bertie.

Well, right now I’m studying the Arawak tribe of Jamaica.

I’ve never heard of them.

Bertie only watched cowboys and Indians on TV, kidded Bonnie. Did you choose the Jamaica tribes because of the trip you and Mark just took to the Caribbean?

In a way. I had already decided that I wanted to study the history of the native Americans here in the United States; but when Mark and I visited Jamaica, I changed directions slightly. I’m going to start with the island tribes first.

How does that have to do with the history of the American Indians? asked Bertie.

You mean native Americans, and the Arawak tribe is considered an American tribe. In fact, it was the first group of native peoples to encounter Christopher Columbus.

Here comes Casey, said Bonnie, and look who’s right behind her.

As if watching a tennis match, the three women’s heads swiveled toward the door. Casey walked toward them, a smile of greeting spread across her face. Special Agent Krahl was also smiling as he followed her to the table.

When was the last time you saw Krahl with a smile like that on his face? whispered Bertie.

You’re right. Something’s up, said Bonnie.

Hello everyone, said Casey as she took her seat between Bertie and Kit.

May I join you? said Krahl, taking a seat between Bertie and Bonnie before anyone replied.

What’s up, said Bonnie.

Before I answer that, let me get some coffee. What would you like, Mrs. Click?

Just a latte, please.

Don’t you usually take a sweetener? asked Kit.

I don’t want to bother Agent Krahl with all of that.

She takes a half a shot of sugar free vanilla, snorted Bonnie.

I’ll be right back.

After he had left, the girls all spoke at once. What’s he doing here? Did something happen on your trip? This isn’t about Jason Oh, is it?

Whoa, whoa, laughed Casey. I’m as much in the dark as you are. He called this morning and asked if he could meet with us. I told him we’d all be here and that’s all I know.

Special Agent Krahl returned and handed Casey her coffee.

Thank you, she said.

Once he was seated and had taken a reassuring slug of his coffee, he said, Ladies, I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here.

Jason Oh didn’t escape, did he, challenged Bonnie. Bertie visibly blanched, color draining from her face. Casey placed a reassuring hand on Bertie’s arm. Only four months earlier, Bertie’s daughter Joanne had been kidnapped and held hostage by Jason Oh, the famous magician and hypnotist, a now proven serial killer of 28 victims.

No, no, Mr. Oh is in the highest level of security prisons. He won’t be seeing blue skies ever again. He gave Bertie a reassuring smile.

The reason I called Mrs. Click and asked for this meeting is completely unrelated to our past, uh… he looked from face to face before finishing with adventures together.

Then what is it? asked Bertie, showing her impatience.

Krahl reached into his briefcase and pulled out a small stack of brochures that he passed around the table. The front of the brochure depicted a tropical beach with the words Luxury Charter scripted across the top. The four women quickly opened the tri-fold of paper and read the information contained inside. Once finished, they rewarded Krahl with puzzled frowns.

When Mrs. Click reports for her next trip, she is going to be called into her Inflight Manager’s office. That meeting will be about working on any of seven elite, luxury charter aircraft Winterland Airlines reserves for VIPs.

Well, I’m jealous, said Bertie. You mean she might meet movie stars?

Every possibility, said Krahl.

Oh, Casey, this sounds so exciting. Lucky you, said Kit, always the first to give encouraging support.

Casey only looked bewildered. She had no idea that Winterland operated luxury charters.

What’s the catch? said Bonnie, and why are we included in this meeting today?

Krahl gave Bonnie an admiring smile. "Missed your calling, Ms. Durrand, as I’ve said many times before. Your question is very astute.

One of the requirements of Casey’s new position will be confidentiality. She will need to sign a document promising that she will reveal to no one but her husband the destination or identity of her passengers.

You mean she can’t tell us, her closest friends, when she meets a movie star? bellowed Bertie.

Good luck with that one, said Bonnie.

Krahl nodded begrudgingly and repeated, As I said, astute.

I wasn’t even aware we had such flights, said Casey.

That’s obviously because of the confidentiality requirement, said Bonnie. Why are you telling us all this?

Krahl took a long drink of his coffee, glancing around the room to determine the level of privacy of the area. At this late hour, there were only a few housewives gathered around a table near the front of the shop. No one sat adjacent or even within hearing distance of their table at the back of the coffee shop.

I wanted to meet with you to discuss Casey’s promotion, said Krahl.

I haven’t been promoted, said Casey.

When do you report for your next trip? asked Krahl

On Monday.

That’s when you will be summoned to your Inflight Manager’s office.

Isn’t this airline business? said Bonnie. What does it have to do with you?

I mentioned VIPs, and as Mrs. Holt correctly indicated, the majority of those will most likely be of the Hollywood variety.

Casey, this is fabulous, I’m so jealous, said Bertie, but, I agree with Bonnie, why are we here?

The four women, each sipping their coffee, nodded in agreement and waited for Krahl to explain.

Chapter Two

As you may well know, Hollywood celebrities or for that matter, luminaries of any kind, are constantly followed, often stalked by the press, said Krahl. Flight attendants who accept charter positions are sworn to never reveal their whereabouts to anyone as a way of securing absolute privacy for the VIP.

She can tell us afterwards, right? asked Bertie.

For all other flight attendants who have this job, no, he said.

You mean there will be an exception in Casey’s case, Bertie asked hopefully.

That’s exactly what I mean.

Why? asked Bonnie, her expression skeptical.

Movie stars will not be the only potential passengers. It’s highly possible, even probable, that Casey will be on flights with a variety of political names; some of them quite infamous.

As in dangerous? asked Bonnie.

Unlikely on charter flights such as these, but, even so, total confidentiality will be required.

Which makes absolutely no sense since you’re sitting here telling all of us about it, said Bonnie, leaning across the table to scrutinize Krahl more closely. Tell us the rest of it. She gestured impatiently with her palms up.

Under my recommendation, it was the Bureau’s suggestion that Casey be selected for this position. We guessed that Casey would most likely turn down the opportunity because she would consider herself unable to keep from disclosing details of her flights to the three of you. Or at the very least, we knew it would make her uncomfortable to do so.

So, I’m not going to be offered this promotion, Casey said, confused.

No, to the contrary, you will definitely be offered the promotion.

I don’t understand, said Casey, shaking her head in confusion.

There are only a select few flight attendants that are offered this opportunity. The qualifications are considerably more rigid than those required of the other, more standard, flight attendant positions. For starters, they must all be over thirty-five years of age.

Not mature enough before that, right? said Bonnie.

Krahl nodded, bestowing a smile in Bonnie’s direction, then continued. They must have a higher level of education and must be able to speak the ‘Mother tongue’ well.

The Mother Tongue? snickered Bonnie.

I don’t understand, said Kit.

English, Kit, basic good English, said Bonnie.

For starters, jumped in Krahl, there are few people under the age of thirty- five who can complete a sentence without the F word. Totally unacceptable under these circumstances.

I should hope so, said Bertie as she primly dabbed her mouth with a napkin.

In addition, understanding the correct use of words, primarily verbs, in their present and past tense is important. I can’t tell you how many people say ‘I have ate or I have ran or I seen’ and think they’re speaking properly. These are college graduates, mind you.

Hear it every day in the office, said Bonnie. You’re absolutely right. What other qualifications put Casey in the running?

Slow to anger, always gracious, continued Krahl. Care in dressing, in other words, her clothes are always in good repair, properly pressed. It’s the little things that make Mrs. Click and others in her league stand out in a crowd. Oh, did I mention posture?

You can thank her grandmother for that, said Bertie. She even worked on the three of us a few times, whenever we visited Casey’s house while her grandmother was visiting.

Well, hats off to your grandmother, Mrs. Click.

But what about us? asked Kit. I still don’t understand why we’re here.

The very reason that I wanted to visit with the four of you in person, said Krahl. The Bureau recognizes the value of your close friendship. That bond has been effective in working together to solve, or at least assist the Bureau in solving several crimes, as you well know. We think we can put that bond of friendship to positive and effective use.

You mean we get to go on these flights with her? asked Bertie hopefully.

Unfortunately, no, said Krahl. But, unlike the others, she may call you, send you pictures and talk to you about it as much as she wishes. You, however, may not share that information outside of this group of four, with the exception of your husbands. They, too, will be bound by a confidentiality agreement.

Why the exception, said Bonnie, her face a picture of suspicion.

Because, in the past, you have demonstrated as a group, rare moments of intuition, many times forewarning the Bureau of a potential crime far before it would have normally been suspected. It’s been a definite advantage for the Bureau. If only we could train that type of keen observation in a way that everyday citizens could put to use. said Krahl. In addition, you will all receive the same training…that is, if you agree and sign the confidentiality agreements.

I’m completely lost, spoke up Kit. Are we going to be trained as flight attendants?

Kit’s question brought a round of giggles among the ladies and a guffaw from Krahl.

No, Mrs. Watson, sorry, I didn’t mean to mislead you. Mrs. Click’s new position will require special training, not only for the work she will be doing with Hollywood celebrities; but also with the political end of things. The first phase of training will be right here in the Twin Cities. The second and latter phase will be at a government training facility in Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C.

Not the Farm, said Bonnie.

No, not the Farm. That’s CIA. But something very similar.

All of us will go? asked Bertie, beguiled by the thought.

Yes, all eight of you, if your husbands agree as well.

Krahl laid out the details of what would be required of the group. He suggested that they go home and discuss it with their husbands. If all were in agreement, they would meet soon to sign documents.

Chapter Three

After Krahl left, the three women sat in dazed silence until the reality of the situation suddenly sank in and they all began to chatter at once.

I’m sure Mark will love this, said Bonnie. I have no doubt that he will agree.

I feel the same way about my Mark, said Kit, her face beaming with excitement.

I’m sure John will be okay with it. I don’t know why he wouldn’t be, said Bertie.

The three turned to Casey, who had said nothing.

Well, Casey, what do you think? asked Bertie. Will Max go along with this?

After a minute, she nodded and said, I think so. Remember my first year with the airline when he was so resistant to my getting involved in the disappearance of the flight attendant?

The group nodded.

But then after Nisreen defected, he was pulled in a little, said Bertie.

And he was definitely onboard during the human trafficking situation and actually helped a lot with the capture of Jason Oh, said Bonnie. Seeing Bertie gritting her teeth in defiance,