The phone book was in the front hall cupboard. I pulled it down and went back to the living room. I opened up the book, flipping pages until I found what I was looking for. I dialed the number. It was probably going to be busy. There had to be hundreds of people calling in. Hundreds. It started to ring! But that didn’t mean they were going to pick it up.

“Come on, come on, be there…answer the phone,” I pleaded.

“Hello, Thai Airways,” the voice said.

“Yes, I need to book a flight to Thailand as soon as possible.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Beth, are you sure you want to do this?” Tad asked. He was driving, and his eyes were fixed on the road, but I could see by the expression on his face that he was worried.

“I don’t have much choice.”

“You could just stay home. That’s another choice.”

“I can’t just sit at home and do nothing!”

“You could sit at home and do something.”

“What could I do?”

“Make phone calls, or wait for someone to call you. What am I going to tell your parents when they call and you’re already halfway to Thailand?” Tad asked.

“You’ll tell them to call me so I know they’re safe and that they should meet me at the airport.”

“What time do you arrive?”

“It’s a twenty-five-hour flight including a layover in Tokyo, and there’s an eleven-hour time change…so…around five or six in the morning. And remember to tell them that I’m coming into Bangkok, not Phuket International.”

Phuket International was the airport where we usually landed but it had been closed to incoming flights.

“By the way, thanks for volunteering to stay at my house and man the phones.”

“It was the least I could do.”

“And thanks for driving me to the airport, too.”

“Again, no problem. How much time do we have…when does your flight leave?”

“It leaves at twenty after five so I need to be there…” I looked at my watch. “Soon.”

“We will be there soon. Less than ten minutes. Do you want me to park and come inside with you?”

I shook my head. “There’s no point. I have to get right through Security. Besides, I want you to get back to my place as quickly as you can, in case they call.”

“Are you sure you have everything?”

“I think so. Passport, money, credit cards.”

“Ticket?”

“Waiting at the counter.”

“And do you really have everything you need in your purse and that little backpack?”

“I hope so.” I wasn’t checking any luggage. I had the two carry-on pieces—one big, the other small—and that was all I was taking. I needed to travel light.

Tad turned and we entered the grounds of the airport. Up above were signs directing us to Departures. This was all so familiar. It was only a few days ago that I’d been here dropping off my parents. That seemed hard to believe, as if it were a million years ago.