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Ben heard the banging on his front door as he sat in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil. He glanced at the clock and saw it was just a little after 11p. He went to the door and looked out the peephole and saw the top of a girl’s head. She appeared to be crying. He opened the door and suddenly found a young girl crushed against his chest. She was definitely crying in huge sobs.
“Miriam?” he said as he recognized the fifteen year old from the Wallace’s house.
“HE’S DEAD!” she screamed and her cries got louder.
His first panicked thought was Daniel, Jr. He saw Gabriella drive off earlier in the evening so he knew Miriam was home alone with her 12 year old brother. “Who? Your brother? What happened?” he blurted, kneeling and holding the girl out by her shoulders. He looked into her face with concern.
“NO, DADDY!” she bawled and lunged forward to grab him around his neck.
Totally confused he put an arm around the girl and lifted her against him as he grabbed his keys and stepped outside. He locked the door and hustled over to her house holding the sobbing girl to his chest. The front door was open so he went inside, closed the door, and kicked off his boots.
“Where is Daniel, Jr?” he asked gently.
“He- he’s sleep- ping up-upstairs.” she hiccupped as she cried.
“OK, let’s make sure he’d OK then you can tell me what happened. Let’s be quiet though, OK?” he said and she nodded. She directed him upstairs and over to a door. They cracked it open and saw the young man peacefully sleeping. When Miriam’s tears threatened to start all over he closed the door and carried her back to the living room. He sat the young lady on the sofa and sat on a footstool facing her.
“Can you tell me what happened?” he asked the sobbing girl gently.
“It was on TV. I- I watched the news. Plane crash-” the rest was lost in sobs.
The front door opened and Gabriella stepped inside. She saw Miriam crying on the couch and the big man sitting on the stool at her daughter’s feet.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!” she bellowed in full mama bear mode.
“MAMA!” Miriam jumped up and ran to her mother who continued to stare at Ben with suspicion.
“There may have been an accident with Daniel. Miriam came over to my house just now crying. I think you’d better turn on the news.” Ben said carefully.
“DADDY’S DEAD!” Miriam cried into her mother’s chest.
Gabriella’s face went white and she stumbled. Ben was there and caught her arm, keeping her from falling. She nodded when she had stabilized. She walked towards the back of the house where the family room was. The TV was still playing and the story was splashed in lurid colors across the huge TV screen. A charter flight crashed shortly after takeoff in the Las Vegas desert. All twenty passengers and the pilot were killed. A series of pictures scrolled past and Gabriella and Ben both froze as they saw the faces of her husband and their neighbors on the screen along with a number of young women.
Gabriella’s legs gave out and Ben guided her to the sofa. Miriam crushed herself against her mother and continued to sob.
“They’re not supposed to report on this without notifying the families so maybe it’s a mistake?” she whispered aloud. The phone rang and she screamed a little which set Miriam off. Gabriella didn’t move to get the phone so Ben walked over and picked up the handset.
“Hello?”
“Hello, this is Sheriff Clarkson of the Los Vegas Police Department. Who am I speaking with?”
“Ben Shepherd. I’m the neighbor of Daniel and Gabriella Wallace.” he replied.
“May I speak with Mrs. Wallace please?” the man said curtly.
Ben looked over at Gabriella whose eyes had grown large and filled with tears. “I think you need to take this call.” Ben said.
“No… no, no, no, NO!” she said and clung to her daughter and the two began to wail together.
Ben didn’t know what to do so he took a few steps away and got back on the phone. “Uh, she’s not going to be able to speak with you right now. Can you tell me if this call is in regards to the news report we’re seeing on TV. They’re showing Daniel’s face on the screen and calling him a fatal victim of a plane crash. Seems irresponsible to report this BEFORE the families are contacted!”
He heard cursing on the other end of the line and the handset was muffled as the Sheriff started yelling at someone. He came back on.
“That was a terrible mistake on the part of the news channel. Listen I’m only supposed to speak with family members. Is there any chance you can get her on the phone? She needs to hear this from an official source. As awful as it is it helps in the long run.” Clarkson said.
“Hang on.” Ben said and went back to kneel in front of the crying woman.
“Gabriella. You need to take the call.” Ben said gently.
She opened her eyes and they immediately went back to the TV screen. Ben turned and grabbed the remote and shut it off. He turned back and handed the phone to the woman who held it in a shaky hand.
“H-Hello?”
“Mrs. Wallace?”
“Yes.”
“This is Sheriff Clarkson of the Los Vegas Police Department. I’m very sorry to tell you that your husband, Daniel Wallace was involved in a fatal plane crash earlier this evening. His body has been identified amongst the victims. The FAA is investigating the cause of the crash. I’ll contact you tomorrow to give you details on when we will be releasing his body. Again, I’m terribly sorry for your loss.”
Gabriella handed the phone to Ben, pressed her lips to her daughter’s head and rocked the young girl.
Ben walked back into the hall and listened to the handset.NôvelDrama.Org copyrighted © content.
“Hello? Mrs. Wallace?”