Page 1 of Cookout Carnage
PROLOGUE
Previously in Holiday Disasters… *
February 12 – Chicago, IL
United Lounge, O’Hare airport
11:07 a.m. US CST
The noise crashed through the glass walls of the airport lounge with such force that Ben felt his chest reverberate. Then the lights cut out.
‘What the fuck?’ yelled an American woman.
Two enormous fellow passengers ran like Special Forces gorillas, one towards the window, the other towards the door. Ben caught the eye of a man in a tailored three-piece suit sitting across from him in another bank of chairs and they shrugged at each other. The man had a British passport resting on top of a leather briefcase.
The speaker above Ben’s head turned on with a screech of feedback. ‘Please remain seated and calm—’
‘Like fuck I will.’ The brash, dark-haired American woman strode towards the welcome desk, where one of the great apes was talking to the lounge attendant asking about his flight to Edinburgh. Ben swivelled in his seat to watch the show. The woman tapped the big man on the shoulder like a woodpecker attacking a concrete pole.
‘Yo, Bigfoot. I got this.’
The man-mountain turned and looked down at her, raising his eyebrows.
‘Bigfoot?’ His voice a low rumble of disdain and annoyance.
‘You’re a Sasquatch, no?’
Ben grinned. Bigfoot/Sasquatch was also a Brit. So, with him and fancy-suit guy, that made three. The only other passengers in the lounge were the other gorilla, now walking back from the glass like he’d misplaced his grenade launcher, the loud dark-haired woman arguing with Bigfoot, and a small blonde frantically scrolling her mobile for answers.
The speaker shrieked back to life and another voice echoed from the ceiling.
‘Ladies and gentlemen. Lightning has struck a transformer in the terminal, and we are initiating emergency procedures. All facilities are being locked down while we resolve this situation and wait for full power to be restored. Generator lights will activate momentarily. You must remain in your seat and await further instruction. All flights departing Chicago O’Hare will be delayed.’
The lounge attendant scurried to the door, made an escape and locked it behind her. The loud woman let out a torrent of abuse as she banged on the wood, then turned to face the room and let out a sigh.
‘Who wants to get wasted? Or is it pissed?’ She looked pointedly at each of them, like a preschool teacher doing roll call. ‘Okay, Cranky Bigfoot, Farm boy, Hugh Grant, Prince William and Cheerleader, gather round. Let’s turn this shit into a show.’
‘Cheerleader?’ piped up the pretty blonde. ‘Then who are you?’
‘I’m Tabi Aganos. Come on, there’s only the six of us and a lot of time on our hands. I’m not good at being bored. But I can get us provisions.’
She leaned over the recently abandoned bar. After some more cursing, she flipped back over, holding wine, cheese and chocolate. She put them down and gestured for everyone to join her.
Ben caught the eye of the bloke in the fancy suit and they shrugged at each other as if to say ‘what the hell, why not?’ They both ambled over.
‘I’m Tristan,’ said fancy suit guy, extending his hand to Tabi. ‘Are you a thief?’
‘Today I am,’ Tabi grinned. ‘And funnily enough, this is from my winery, Prohibition Vineyards. I was on a sales call here in O’Hare signing the contract for this lounge to carry our hooch. I’ll pay them back so you can drink guilt free. Gather round children and taste some fine-ass Sonoma wine.’
‘I’m Ben.’
‘Sabrina,’ said the blonde. ‘And I’m not a cheerleader. Not even close.’
Tabi grinned at her. ‘By the end of this evening we’re going to know more about you than even your own mother.’
‘Hey, everyone, nice to meet you,’ said the blond farm boy crossed with a linebacker. He had the most open and honest smile Ben had seen in a long time. ‘I’m Jonathan.’
‘Hey, Jonathan,’ replied Tabi. ‘Who’s your surly older brother?’
