Jack looked at Julie as if he anticipated a response. She kept staring at her feet.
“I found the steel wire I got from your bra. I thought we might find some use for it along the way. That reminds me.” Jack reached into the jacket pocket and took out a see-through plastic wrapper. “See what I found.”
Julie’s jaw dropped once more, and her eyes grew wide.
Jack extended his arms toward Julie. “Take it.”
Julie slowly reached for the plastic wrapper, her hand trembling.
“Smell it,” Jack said.
Julie brought the wrapper close to her nose. “It smells like chocolate.”
“Some hikers must have left it behind,” Jack said.
Julie’s face lit up. “You think hikers left it?”
“I thought you could use it to eat worms.”
Julie’s smile vanished. “Excuse me?”
“The sense of taste is strongly connected to the sense of smell,” Jack said. “So, if you smell chocolate while you’re chewing, you might not detect the taste from the worm.”
Julie’s shoulders sagged. “Jack…”
“You have to eat, Julie,” Jack said, and then he walked down by the shore, and systematically turned over rocks.
A while later, Jack came back with a handful of worms, his hands wet.
“They’re still moving,” Julie blurted out, sounding nervous.
“How do you kill a worm?”
“Excuse me?”
“I tried drowning them, but that didn’t work. So, I ripped one in half, but that didn’t work either. I just ended up with two worms sprawling around instead of one,” Jack said. “Chew a few times and swallow fast. They’ll stop moving once you swallow. The stomach acid kills them.”
Julie looked at the plastic wrapper and then shook her head. “I can’t do this, Jack. I’m sorry. I’m just not there yet.”
“Okay.” Jack dropped the worms on the ground.
“You’re not gonna have any?”
“I had plenty before,” Jack said with a crooked smile.
A while later, Jack and Julie sat next to each other on top of the pile of pine tree branches and watched the sun disappear behind the silhouette of the forest. Then they smiled at each other and kept eye contact. Julie closed her eyes, and leaned in toward Jack, her lips close to his mouth.
Jack cleared his throat and looked the other way.
“Sorry,” Julie said, and her face grew red.
“That’s okay.”
They sat in silence as darkness began absorbing the last contours of their faces. Jack still wore the sweater as a cape under the newly obtained blazer. They used Andrew’s pants as a seat cushion on top of the pile of pine tree branches.
“Sorry, I took so long before,” Jack eventually said. “I struggled getting the jacket off the fat guy.”
“I’m just glad you found a jacket.”
“They’re going to need a crane to lift this guy out of the water.” Jack chuckled. “Why would anyone do that to themselves?”
“Have you noticed you’re not coughing as much as before?”
“And I feel better too,” Jack said. “I saw another body floating in the lake also. It was far from shore, but I think it was a woman.”
“Could it have been Nancy?”
“No, this woman had dark hair. It couldn’t have been Nancy.”
“But if her hair was wet, then it would have had a darker look to it,” Julie said. “I’m as blonde as Nancy, but my hair looks a lot darker when it’s wet.”
“No, it couldn’t have been Nancy. At first, I thought it might have been Kevin’s wife, but I remembered she had short hair. This woman had long, dark hair, and she wore a red fluffy jacket,” Jack said, and bowed his head. “A lot of people died in that lake.”
Julie stared at her feet, and looked apprehensive.
“I’m not leaving you, Julie.” Jack sniffed. “You know that, right?”
“I know,” Julie muttered.
“I’m not leaving you,” Jack said decisively.
“You’re sure about that, Jack?”
“I’m positive.”
“It’s a long walk, Jack. Perhaps I could use a big branch as a cane.”
“No. We’ll move much faster if I carry you,” Jack said. “Don’t you worry about that. I’m as strong as an ox, and you’re as light as a feather. When you’re on my back, I hardly notice your weight.”
“Somehow I doubt that’s true.”
“No, I’m serious, I can hardly notice you back there,” Jack said. “Feels like I’m carrying a backpack.”
“Well, I have been dieting for the past week.”
“How to Lose Weight by Not Eating Worms,” Jack said laughing.
“That’s a better title. I give you that.”
“You’ll have to eat eventually,” Jack said. “It’ll be at least another week before we reach the ocean.”
“A week sounds fine,” Julie said. “I just wanna go home.”
Jack took a few breaths. “I’ll get you home. I promise.”
“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I’ll get you home to your boy no matter what.”
28 STOCKHOLM
Friday morning
As George Stanton looked across the office landscape, he noticed that the loud, buzzing noise of multiple conversations was no longer present. People seemed more at ease with the situation and didn’t rush around as much anymore. If anything, people seemed to have stopped working and instead were watching the news.
The ECC, Cayla Marsh, had been doing her best to keep the rest of the crisis team updated, but she had no new developments to report. The Emergency Location Transmitter still wasn’t providing a signal, and the Canadian authorities hadn’t managed to locate the missing plane. Security director Cliff Henderson seemed to enjoy talking to his former colleagues and friends at different branches of US law enforcement, but his efforts all appeared to be a complete waste of time.
George, on the other hand, wasted the days updating press releases. He produced more or less the same sentimental dribble as in his previous press announcements, except he made sure to move a few words around to give the illusion of working and producing fresh news. CEO Michael Williams had spent all day in the presence of a substantial number of lawyers and insurance representatives, which made George wonder if someone had already filed a lawsuit against the airline.
In his small (but also windowed) office across the floor, George noticed how Mike was finally alone in his domain, and how he kept staring at a particular document on his desk. George thought his boss had a look of defeat on his face. Suddenly, it occurred to him that perhaps the company was filing for bankruptcy, and that was the reason for the meeting with legal representatives earlier this day, and it might also explain the long meeting the day before with a few large shareholders.
George lingered on his way to Mike’s office where he gently tapped on the open door. “I’ve written a new statement. I thought I’d run it by you before I update the website.”
The CEO seemed surprised by the unusual gesture.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Mike said.
Yes, it’s just the same usual nonsense.
George glanced at the paper sheet lying between Mike’s elbows. He was curious as to what it said, but he struggled to find an appropriate way of asking.
“Any new development?” he asked hesitantly.
Mike obviously understood George’s intentions, as he glanced down at the sheet before he gestured to George to close the door and sit down. Then the CEO returned his focus to the sheet of paper on his desk. George thought his boss didn’t look like the handsome man from the week before. This man appeared to have aged at least a decade since then, and the black suit he wore brought out the gray color of his hair.