Silent Insanity

By Mary Mayers

In Toronto, Hannah meets Michael Anderson, a United States Federal Prosecutor from Seattle. They fall into a whirlwind romance that sweeps Hannah off to Seattle as his wife. Michael takes an unplanned leave of absence from the Prosecutor's office after City Officials and Law Enforcement Personnel are exposed for dealing in drug trafficking and money laundering. On the spur of the moment, Michael rushes off to Fresno where his $250 million business venture is buried knee deep in toxic soil, leaving Hannah all alone and pregnant. She finds herself being terrorized to the edge of insanity, not knowing by who and why until she meets Harry Perkins, an FBI Agent. He convinces her that her loving husband is secretly involved in drug smuggling and is the man behind the terror. By this time, people have mysteriously died and Hannah's best friend has disappeared. When Michael returns home, he must defend his position while faced by Hannah holding a loaded & gun, her mind struggling to hang onto reality. Hannah's dilemma - Should she listen to the FBI Agent and shoot? Or, should she listen to her heart and trust him?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796073867

Mary Mayers

Mary has stepped up as a new enthusiastic author. Her writing career began with heart touching poetry published in several volumes of The National Library of Poetry and Star Rising Magazine. She continued writing while raising four children, which inspired her to write a children’s book entitled, ‘Brazzleton’s Adventures’. Mary’s love of mystery and imagination evolved into writing fiction novels, finding success in any genre. She has written an Historical Romance/Mystery, two Murder/Mystery/Thrillers and a Science Fiction novel.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

CJFM Toronto. Good morning Toronto. It’s a hot and humid 9:00 AM. If you haven’t already checked your thermostats, let me be the one to break the news. We’ve gone and broken yesterday’s record high of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We are currently teetering on a sizzling 102 degrees and there is no sign of any change in the days ahead. It’s hot! For those of you who wish to conserve energy, today’s the day to fry those eggs on the sidewalks….

* * *

Hannah sat completely immobilized during the entire weather broadcast. She wasn’t at all disturbed with the uncomfortable temperatures that had been hovering above their fair city for countless days now. The streams of sweat running down her newly tanned form created small warm puddles beneath her short, shapely legs. Hannah sat staring. Her pale blue eyes shaded by her green rimmed sunglasses remained transfixed on the strong, well-built figure of a man, who stood manipulating the padded wheel of the 30 foot Bayliner. He was, in her eyes, the most attractive and sensual specimen of a man that she had ever had the pleasure of meeting. If beauty really did lie in the eyes of the beholder, she hoped that her eyes alone saw this wonderful man in just this way. If not, Hannah was quite prepared and willing to fight for his affections.

Hannah! called a deep voice. Heh! earth to Hannah, come in please. When Hannah did not respond, her thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched whistle.

It was Michael. The boat’s captain and her lover attempting to catch her attention. Hannah blinked away the haze that had momentarily disabled her senses. Looking more alert now, she met his sassy smile head on.

Were you talking to me? Of course Hannah knew that he was, they were the only two people on the boat. It was one of those responses that came automatically. No thought required. Hannah was a pro at those.

Shaking his head at her quick response, he retorted, Do you see anyone else aboard this fine vessel? Maybe you have someone stowed away beneath that compartment you’re sitting on. Of course I was talking to you. You are Hannah Burton, are you not?

Okay, okay; I get the picture smart butt. No more sarcasm or I’ll throw you overboard. Hannah pulled down the frame of her green dark shades, just enough to glance at him before sticking her tongue out at him. So there Michael my love. Be nice to me or you’ll find yourself in a lot of cold water.

Well, well, you certainly have a brave streak in you. Aren’t you afraid I might sue for damages? The emotional state of mind is not one to be tampered with. It could cost you millions. Being an attorney, you should heed my advice young lady. Michael threw back his head laughing at his expert rebuttal; something he learned over the years which made him the efficient and well-paid attorney that he was.

All right then, sighed Hannah shrugging her shoulders as if defeated. So I won’t throw you overboard Perry Mason. I’ll just tie you to the bow of the boat and parade you around Lake Ontario as my prize catch of the day. Now it was Hannah’s turn to lift her head in victory. She had won this round against her smug attorney.

Okay Hannah darling. You win fair and square. Now, are you ready for an adventure? That is, if you think you can handle it. Michael focused his attention back to the wheel and to the scenery ahead. Hannah watched as the cool breeze on the lake danced through the layers of his brown hair, which seemed almost gold in the sun’s light. She listened ever so attentively to the low uniform humming of the sleek Bayliner as it cruised up and over the wakes created by the numerous other boats that drifted like tiny, unrecognizable specks out in the distance; all looking for immediate relief from the life-draining heat that made everyday business impossible to conduct.

As her eyes scanned her immediate surroundings, Hannah found herself drawn to Michael’s tanned torso. She watched him as he moved, the muscles in his upper arms and legs distinctly visible. Life had taken such an incredible turn for her the day Michael entered her life. She found herself totally consumed with excitement in his presence. She felt helplessly drawn to him as two magnets attracting each other so naturally. No one had ever captured her in that way before. For the first time in so many years, THIS was real.

Gradually, the steady hum of the engine and the cool breeze faded away from her immediate awareness. Hannah’s thoughts drifted to another place, another time. It was the day she came face to face with Michael; a day she would have buried without question if it were not for that one chance meeting that had changed her life so dramatically.

Hannah could see it so clearly now. She saw herself running frantically through U.S Customs and Immigration stations, through Airport security checks, then finally through the doors of the transit lounge that led to the ramp where it all began. Flight 0197, JADE Airlines, departing Toronto International Airport for Seattle Washington at 10:25 AM. A passenger of flight 0197 had come into the Duty Free Shop of which Hannah was an employee of, and had taken upon himself to initiate the purchase of some, in Hannah’s opinion, needless bric-a-brac at the very last minute. All purchases for that particular flight had already been sent out and delivered to the passengers thirty minutes earlier. There were time requirements posted at various locations inside the Shop emphasizing, ‘NO LAST MINUTE PURCHASES PLEASE’. However, since it was not a legal issue, passengers would deliberately avoid the posted rules, attempting to unload unwanted pocket change in a last minute buying frenzy. Hannah remembered Michael was one of them. She recalled how she and her co-workers laughed themselves into tears in the back office after having made a total mockery out of the entire affair. Michael entered the store handsomely attired in a three piece suit toting a black leather briefcase. He ambled up to the sales counter fumbling in his haste to prevent his assortment of cheap souvenirs from falling to the floor. After having his merchandise tallied up on the register, he carefully pulled his wallet out from his back pocket and began counting ever so carefully the amount required. In order to reduce the amount of Canadian coinage in his pocket, he proceeded to extract the coins from his front side pocket. Snagging his expensive ring on the cloth interior, the inside pocket followed right along with his coin-filled hand. He looked frustratingly down as the coins struck the newly waxed floor, then watched as they spun off in different directions. Bending down to retrieve the coins, Michael miscalculated the distance between the counter and himself, managing to strike his head on the counter’s edge and leaving himself with a newly hatched bump. All the while Hannah stood and watched, taking in the scene which could have come straight from a Laurel and Hardy episode.

Amidst the unfortunate incident, last call for flight 0197 to Seattle had been announced and in a last ditch effort to regain his composure, he calmly announced he would not be needing the items after all, and that under the circumstances, ‘they’, whoever was within hearing distance could, quote-unquote, keep the change. Hannah recalled how hard Michael tried to cover up his frustration as he walked ever so proudly from the store. Hannah glanced at her watch to see how late it was. Shrugging her shoulders and with the utmost control in her voice blurted out; oh well, it’s too late, the flight is ready to leave. Then without an ounce of sympathy, Hannah burst at the seams and braced herself on the edge of the glass counter preventing herself from falling to her knees with laughter. It was more than she could handle. Before she had a chance to regain her posture, a familiar voice from the office rang out with a certain tone of urgency.

Hannah! Quickly; don’t just stand there. That was Michael Anderson who just left the store. Pack up his merchandise immediately and get it to the plane. You haven’t got much time.

Before she had time to wipe away what was left of her tears, Hannah was handed a red and white Duty Free bag and felt the soft push of a hand on her back. From over her shoulder she heard the sarcastic voice of her co-worker and friend call out, Go get’um girl!

While running frantically along the worn carpet path that she had so often walked along, she found her brain overloaded with questions about this man Michael. Who is he anyway? Doesn’t he know how to read signs, or he is exempt from following rules? What makes him so important anyway. He wouldn’t be the first passenger who had to leave his goods behind. Our Shop must be real desperate. That’s it. We’re going through a financial slump. Why else would I be out here chasing airplanes.

Hannah arrived breathless at the door of the Aircraft watching as it began closing ever so slowly. She attempted to convince herself to turn and walk away and to write it off as a ‘too late to deliver’ purchase, but some unknown force motioned her body towards the door, and to her surprise, she heard her gasping voice shout out, Hey, please wait! Don’t close the door yet! Instantly the door began to open and a very pretty woman greeted her with a smile.

Let me guess, she said with such a calm voice. Another one of THOSE passengers. Am I right? The airline attendant motioned for Hannah to pass through the doorway which now stood wide open. You’re on your own dear. I can’t help you track the culprit down. I’ve got to help get the passengers ready for takeoff.

Hannah took a deep breath hoping to slow the pace of her heart down. She had been faced with last minute deliveries before, but never this late. She slowly walked down the first aisle carefully scanning the faces in each seat. By the time she entered the second aisle, her attention was focused solely on her immediate dilemma, and that was to find Michael Anderson. She was not aware that her presence on board was not made priority knowledge among the flight crew. So for all intense purposes the passengers were aboard and all accounted for, making the flight ready for pushback. Midway down the second aisle, Hannah spotted him with his head buried inside a business magazine. Strange, she mumbled. He seems too young for that.

Distracted by Hannah’s abrupt approach, he noticed her obvious annoyance by the imprudent way she tapped her foot. He found himself speechless. It was something about Hannah.

Hannah lifted the red and white bag making certain the big black letters spelling out the words ‘Duty Free’ were as plain to see for him, as were his captivating blue eyes. She had only once before experienced such an intense jolt which caused her heart to skip a beat. That was the day she was the unfortunate recipient of a Bee sting which landed her on her backside. The same backside that grounded the stinger, and shortly thereafter, grounded her from sitting comfortably on any hard surface. But why on earth was she thinking of such a thing now. It was absurd. Hannah shook her head lightly, but effectively; just enough to bring her back to reality. She was relieved to see that Michael Anderson had figured it all out, the reason she was there. It saved her time having to go into any lengthy explanation. Placing the bag into the extended hand before her, she immediately turned to walk away. Her only wish now was to vacate the Airplane. Hannah’s face met Michael’s soft blue eyes one last time as she extended him a slightly gruff farewell. Taking what should have been a simple step forward, Hannah felt a short jerk which sent her tumbling off balance. She felt her fall being cushioned by a large strong pair of hands. She turned her head slightly, just far enough to see who rescued her.

Well, well, what a pleasant surprise. I was hoping we could meet again. I just didn’t think it would be so soon. Michael’s taunting remark was the very last thing she needed.

Panic engulfed her entire body. Hannah kept hearing herself repeat over and over again. This can’t be happening. They know I’m on this plane. I’ve got to get off, NOW! She managed to pick herself up and make a run for the front cabin. The flight attendants were busy at work going through the motions of inflight safety for those passengers who were interested.

Hannah’s unexpected appearance in the front cabin brought an immediate response from the crew. The pilot was promptly informed of his extra passenger, and measures were taken to notify their ramp personnel to cease pushback immediately. The plane made it’s way slowly back to it’s ramp while passengers of flight 0197 all sat patiently, wondering what the commotion was all about.

Meanwhile, Michael Anderson sat comfortably, donning a devilish grin, adjusting his position as needed in order to keep a clear view of Hannah’s derriere. He found the view enormously intriguing. Mumbling to himself with his hand cuffed over his lips as not to attract any attention, Michael whispered, I’ll see YOU later.

When the door finally opened allowing her to escape, Hannah cringed at the thought of what this was going to cost her. She already knew it was going to cost JADE Airlines at least a year’s worth of her wages to cover the additional ramp charges and lost time. If it didn’t cost her, her job, it would certainly prove detrimental to any future promotions. Oh God, the humiliation. What did I do to deserve this? I guess it goes without saying, what goes around comes around. You should never have laughed at Mr. Anderson when he came into the store earlier. Hannah wiped away the strands of blonde hair that hung in disarray across her face. As she crept up to the store entrance she felt herself taking several deep breaths, preparing herself for whatever disciplinary action was in store for her.

Hannah had not even reached the glass top counters from which she worked behind when the commotion began. Standing paralyzed near the center of the store with her mouth agape, she was greeted by every employee of the store with whistle blowing, cheers of approval and applause of such magnitude, the intense reverberation seemed to swallow up the entire room.

Mrs. Halloway stepped forward from the direction of the office. She could see the puzzled expression emanating from Hannah’s smooth pretty face. Before speaking, Mrs. Halloway cleared her throat several times in hopes of not having to repeat herself a second time. She wasn’t very good at admitting to making mistakes. As a supervisor, someone in charge, she prided herself in making good calls, remaining in control, and correcting everyone else’s mistakes, not creating them.

Fussing with her hair, attempting to regain her self-confident poise, Hannah attempted to speak. What came out was a tiny, garbled whisper, her lips struggling to move.

How did you know? This whole thing just happened. All heads turned in the same direction all at once. They were all staring at the bright red phone on the wall.

Hannah wasn’t certain what to make of all this. She was expecting a pink slip on her return, not a standing ovation.

Okay kids, we have work to do, chided Mrs. Halloway, and in the attempt of being a professional, I would like to extend my apologies to you Hannah for sending you out on that ridiculous late delivery. I should have known better; however, Mr. Anderson is a very important person around here. Well, I guess I just went overboard. Anyway, don’t fret over the repercussions that could very well result from this mistake. Who knows, maybe Mr. Anderson will come in handy. And with that statement made, Mrs. Halloway disappeared into the office.

Hannah wasn’t sure what was meant by that last statement. How would Michael Anderson fit into this whole fiasco, other then the fact that he was responsible for the entire event? Hannah did not realize that her thoughts were being heard. She turned in reaction to a tap on the shoulder, only to find her friend and cohort Katie standing there. She heard Katie say something to her but it seemed to escape her momentarily. Katie’s appearance was always a special event. Hannah, one of many acquaintances of Katie’s found it necessary to stop a moment and appreciate her day-today clothing statements, before any further business could be attended to. Today, Katie’s hair was somewhere between red and orange. Hannah thought she would rate it as ‘pleasant’ on the old tolerance scale. Katie’s colorful blouse in tie-dye fashion blended with difficulty with the lime green mini skirt left over from last year’s rummage sale, and black stockings topped off the yellow spiked heels. Her arms were adorned with numerous bangle bracelets which accented her ten rings, one on every finger. Hannah finished her daily observation as usual with the same warm pleasant, ‘I can handle this outfit today’ speech; then going back to the original reason of their meeting, Hannah smiled and asked, what did you say?

I said Hannah, He’s a big time attorney. Katie winked her eye at Hannah, then she turned and floated away in her yellow spiked heels.

Leaning up against the counter, she rested her head inside the palm of her hand. An attorney eh? Well bully for him.

Several weeks went by as Hannah recalled, before Mr. Anderson walked through the doors of Toronto’s Duty Free Shop again. By that time the incident involving flight 0197 had blown over, or had at least been worked out. Hannah was still employed and that was all that mattered. When Michael Anderson approached the counter, he came empty handed with the exception of his black leather briefcase. He was as before, dressed very stylish in a three piece suit, obviously traveling on business, and again, his destination was Seattle. Hannah knew this from the boarding pass he casually set down on the counter. When her eyes met his, all she could see was the softness of the lines caressing the corners of his baby blue eyes. The attraction she felt for him was undeniable. It was the same attraction he had felt towards her that brought him back time and time again. And so it began. The greatest love affair of all times. When they touched, sparks filled the air around them.

* * *

Hannah! Hello darling. It’s me, your lover. He killed the engine of the Bayliner and threw the anchor overboard to secure it’s position before Hannah realized they had come to a stop.

Heh there Michael, what’s happening? Hannah cleared away her long blonde tresses from her eyes to get a better view of that wonderful man of hers. She smiled then blew him a kiss.

I should ask you, ‘what’s happening’. You’ve been sitting there in a trance for the last twenty minutes at least. I was beginning to think you learned to sleep with your eyes open. Michael smacked his lips in her direction before taunting her with his usual devilish laugh.

Go ahead smart butt. Laugh all you want. I’m a big girl. I can take anything you dish out.

Michael loved that about Hannah. She was so cocky and always so sure of herself. It was her way of always keeping up with him. She wouldn’t allow herself to be easily defeated. Oh how he loved her. He would do anything to see to her happiness.

Hannah watched as Michael moved closer. She inhaled every moment of his presence and his sweet distinct aroma. Here she was, alone on a boat with the most passionate and desirable man imaginable. What more could a woman ask for.

Looking up at Michael, Hannah saw his hand reaching out to her motioning her to join him.

Are you ready beautiful? We’re here. He pointed a finger out towards a small island, one of several located in Lake Ontario, just miles from Toronto’s harbor front.

Michael, it’s wonderful, gasped Hannah, wrapping her well-tanned arms around Michael’s broad shoulders. She was surprised at the untouched beauty of the side of the island that faced them, and how peaceful it was except for the cawing and chirping of the local bird population. From what she could see, the place was deserted, they being the only exception. Hannah raised her face to Michael, asking,