Chapter 1 - The Man in Seat 2A
The man in seat 2A had less than a minute to breathe, and Evelyn Foster was the only person on the plane who noticed.
At 37,000 feet above the Atlantic, the overnight flight from New York to Rome had settled into a strange artificial peace.
The cabin lights were dimmed to amber.
Window shades were lowered.
Somewhere beyond the curved walls of the aircraft, there was nothing but darkness and ocean.
Evelyn had been a flight attendant for six years.
She had learned that people rarely said what was actually wrong.
Their bodies usually said it first.
That was why she kept looking at Antonio Vitelli.
He had boarded at Kennedy Airport with three men in dark suits who positioned themselves around him like a human shield.
He appeared to be in his late thirties, with dark hair swept back from a strong face and a neatly trimmed beard.
Black-and-gray tattoos disappeared beneath his expensive collar.
But what Evelyn remembered most was his absolute stillness.
Twenty minutes earlier, Evelyn had brought his coffee, and now it remained untouched.
Antonio's right hand gripped the leather armrest too tightly.
A thin sheen of perspiration covered his forehead despite the cool cabin air.
Evelyn stopped her beverage cart and returned to his seat.
She asked if he was feeling all right.
Antonio opened his mouth, but no words came.
His hand moved toward his throat as he struggled for a single shallow breath.
Evelyn immediately signaled the forward galley for the emergency medical kit and oxygen.
The enormous man sitting across the aisle stood up and demanded to know what was happening.
Evelyn ordered him to step back and give her space.
She checked Antonio's pulse, which was terrifyingly weak.
A pediatrician from Boston named Doctor Mercer hurried forward to help.
He diagnosed a severe allergic reaction and asked for the emergency medication.
They administered the drug, and for ten agonizing seconds, nothing happened.
Then Antonio finally inhaled a deep, rough breath.
Color slowly returned to his face as he looked past his security and straight at Evelyn.
He told her that no one forgets the person who gives him back his life.
The captain diverted the plane to Shannon Airport in Ireland.
When they landed, paramedics rushed Antonio onto a stretcher.
The head of security, Marco Bellini, tried to grab Antonio's black medication case from the overhead bin.
Antonio weakly ordered Marco to hand the case directly to the hospital and forbid his own family from touching it.
After the passengers were evacuated, Marco approached Evelyn in the terminal.
He told her that her hotel had been changed for her own safety.
He showed her a photograph on his phone of her standing near the plane, accompanied by an Italian message ordering her capture.
Marco explained that whoever tried to kill Antonio now knew she was the reason he survived.
Then Marco received a phone call that drained all the color from his face.
He looked at Evelyn with pure fear in his eyes.
He told her the hospital had opened the black case and found the poison.
But that was not the worst discovery.
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Tucked inside the lining of the assassin's case was a surveillance photograph.
It was a picture of Evelyn walking into her own apartment three days before the flight.
