Chapter 15

Each 777 airliner's engines are as big around as the cross section of the smaller 737's fuselage.

The two huge engines were gently purring now, as they pushed the big Boeing along the ground to their assigned airport gate. Barbara yawned and stretched, looking out the window at the lush green surroundings of the Honolulu airport.

A flight attendant announced over the PA system that they were now allowed to turn on their cell phones and other personal electronic devices. Barbara dug her phone out of her purse and turned it on.

As soon as the phone acquired a signal, it surprised her by giving off a long string of beeps.

"Good heavens," she remarked to Raul. "Somebody's been trying pretty hard to reach us."

She connected to her voicemail and began working through the messages. The first few were congratulations from friends on their marriage, and wishes for a happy honeymoon. She was holding Raul's hand as she gave him a brief summary of each as she listened to them.

Then Raul felt her hand suddenly grip his tightly, the color draining from her face.

"Baby, what is it?" he asked urgently.

At first she couldn't speak as she gripped the phone.

"B... Bobby... is... he says Bobby is... I... oh god..." Her hands fell into her lap as she stared sightlessly in front of her. Raul reached down and pried the cell phone from her hand.

He hit the replay button for the current message in the queue. A detached but slightly somber voice began speaking, identifying himself as the night duty sergeant of the Columbia Police Department.

He expressed his regret at having to share this kind of news in this way, but he had to inform them that her son, Robert Taylor, had been at the scene of a police action earlier that evening, and was currently missing. He asked that she call him as soon as she received the message.

"Christ!" Raul exclaimed. He began working through the string of subsequent messages, most of them redundant recordings from other members of the police department, with no new information, all asking that she call them as soon as possible.

When he finally reached a message from Barbara's brother, he was startled at first as he listened to it, but then gave a long sigh of relief. He gently touched his wife on the shoulder, and whispered into her ear:

"They're both alright, honey. Here, listen."

Barbara took the phone from him, a hopeful expression on her face. "Both? What..."

"Just listen." She gingerly took the phone from him, and hit the message replay button.

"Hi sis and Raul, it's Scott. Hey, you may have heard some news about Bobby and Sammy, but please don't worry, they're both okay. Here, just a second..." There were some rustling sounds, and then Bobby came on the line, speaking very softly:

"Hi Mom, hi Dad. Hey, I'm okay, don't worry, alright? You guys just enjoy your honeymoon. I'm going to be taking a nap now. I'll call you when I wake up, and you can call Uncle Scott or Sandy if you want to talk to somebody before that. But I'm okay, and Sammy's okay. So if I hear you are coming back before your honeymoon is over, I'll be really mad at you all. Okay? I'll call again in a little while. Love you guys. Bye."

There were more rustling sounds, then her brother came back on. "Okay, so, give me a call when you land, and I'll tell you what's been going on. I'd put Sammy on the line too, but she's sleeping right now, and she's fine now too.

"So, please, don't worry. Teresa and I are going to stay in town for a few extra days just to be sure everything's cool, then Bobby and Sammy will be at the Simpsons' after that like you'd planned. So, give me a call, and please don't worry. Bye."