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the last fucking flight of the day from Denver! Can you believe it? From now on they fly into LaGuardia. It doesn’t matter; I’ve already missed the fucking connection to Portland!” He adjusted the red pack on his shoulders and stormed off.
    â€œWell, I’m not driving all the way to Queens,” the editor said. “I’ll go home and wait for Susan to call me.”
    â€œThat’s all we can do,” the other man agreed.
    No, it’s not! Fiona’s heart was racing like a frightened child in the dark.Before the second plane landed, she’d thought that Lee might have forgotten to charge his phone or left it on the Taos plane. There would been no time to retrieve it or to call her. But if he hadn’t made this flight either, he’d have found a phone.
    She stood rooted to the floor by a more shocking idea. What if he had collapsed at the Denver airport and been taken to the closest hospital? No one would know to call her! If he were unconscious, he would not have been able to tell them. She pictured the paramedics trying to revive him, the wail of the ambulance siren peeling traffic out of the way, someone nestling his blue backpack beside his head.
    What if he was dead?

Chapter Six
    C OMB-OVER HAD BEEN replaced at the Voyager counter by a woman with gray hair and a serious face. She looked up as Fiona stepped in front of her. “Name?”
    â€œNo, I’m not a passenger, I need to find out about my—fiancé. Did anything happen to one of the passengers on the morning shuttle from Taos or when it landed in Denver?”
    â€œThe Day Star plane? I haven’t heard of anything.”
    â€œCan you check? Please? If anyone got sick?”
    The representative pushed her lips into a single line as she considered it, then began typing on her keyboard. After a moment she picked up her dark blue phone. “Hi, this is Edie. Any emergencies on flights today? Specifically”—she peered at her computer screen—“Day Star 101 out of Taos?”
    She listened, then said, “Uh-huh. Okay. Someone here is asking. Thanks.” A pause. “You too.”
    She hung up and looked at Fiona. “Interesting you should ask. They had a fuel line problem and switched planes, but the flight got into Denver with no problem. It was late, of course, but so was the feeder from San Diego, so they held our flight.”
    â€œBut no passengers got sick or went to the hospital?” A relief. Of course, a relief. But it didn’t answer her questions.
    Edie looked at her, blue eyes kind behind glasses. “Why don’t you tell me what this is all about?”
    This was what Fiona liked best about Long Island, that people cared enough to stop and talk to you. She glanced behind her, at the people and their luggage.
    â€œDon’t worry about them. I’ll get someone.” Edie picked up the dark blue phone again. As soon as a young man in a white shirt with the Voyager logo stepped behind the counter, she motioned Fiona to one side. Fiona could feel the curious eyes of the passengers burning her back.
    â€œMy fiancé was supposed to be on that plane out of Taos, but he wasn’t. Several other passengers didn’t make it either, so we just thought they’d be on the next Voyager flight. But they weren’t, and somebody said it was the last flight from Denver for the day!”
    Keep it together. Edie’s kindness and her own desperation made her voice ragged. “The other people had reasons their people might have missed the flight, but I don’t. I mean, he hasn’t texted me or called. He let me know he was getting on the plane in Taos. But then . . . nothing!”
    â€œAnd that’s why you thought he might have gotten sick. What’s his name, hon?”
    â€œLee Pienaar.” Automatically she spelled it. You may have seen his photographs in magazines.
    Edie moved away from her and picked up the phone. This