AFRICA: 1998
"Darling, would you like a glass of champagne?"
"No, thank you. Is the little one asleep?"
"Yes, I fed him, tucked him in, poured a glass, and came to join my loving husband."
"Ha."
Jessica gazed out the window.
"It's quite stormy outside," Jessica remarked.
"Take a seat; you're going to spill the drink on me."
"Oh, my apologies." She settled into her seat.
"Make sure to buckle your seatbelt."
"Okay, okay, what's going on with you?"
"Sorry, I'm just a bit tired."
Jessica studied his face as he rubbed his eyes. She set down her glass and gently placed her hand on Josh's, her voice low and weary.
"It's about this marriage."
"What are you talking about? Cut the nonsense, Jess."
Jessica's eyes began to fill with tears.
"I know what you did."
Josh Hart's heart skipped a beat as he thought to himself, There's no way she can know about that. Who told her? Is it that cunning old fox? You're taking my company and your daughter?
"Honey?" She gently wiped her tears and offered a broad smile.
"Your mom mentioned that you want a second baby. After Oliver, I was happy, we hadn't been intimate much Lately, I wondered if you had lost affection for me."
"No, Jess, I've just been busy with the company. That's why we're here, after all."
Josh stood up, drew Jessica close, and embraced her tightly.
"I love you, you know that."
"Yes," Jessica replied. Yet deep down, she was aware of his infidelity.
"What a scene!"
A voice echoed from the cockpit, causing Jessica and Josh to turn their heads. A man dressed in black emerged from the doorway, gun in hand.
"Love is so beautiful," he declared.
"Who are you?" Jessica asked, her voice trembling.
Josh instinctively pulled Jessica behind him.
"What do you want?" he demanded.
The man was putting a silencer on the barrel of the gun.
"I want you," he replied coolly.
And then he fired. "Bang, bang, bang!"
Three shots struck Josh in the stomach and chest. He collapsed to the floor, leaving Jessica in shock, and tears streaming down her face as she looked down at her husband lying in a pool of his own blood.
The man in black wore a sinister smile.
Then, a second man appeared from the cockpit, his face concealed by a Black mask.
"Okay, job finished," he said.
Job finished, Jessica thought, suddenly feeling a sharp pain in her chest. She placed her hand over the area, realizing she was bleeding.
The masked man glanced at Jessica just before she collapsed to the floor.
"What on earth did you do?" asked the masked man.
"What did I do? I didn't intend for it to happen, and I had no idea the bullet would go through," he said, with a smile on his face.
"You did not know the bullet would go through. I know you are new, but I didn't know you were dumb, too."
The unmasked man, Smile Drop, put his finger on the trigger, ready to lift the gun.
"Stop! If you keep talking like that, I'll make sure you end up on the floor with them."
The masked man held his position and responded firmly.
"If they find out what we did to the girl, we'll both be six feet under alongside them."
"Then it's best they don't know," replied the unmasked man.
"Alright, let's move."
The two men, equipped with parachutes, approached the plane door when they suddenly heard a cry from the back of the plane.
"Let's go," urged the unmasked man.
"We can't," the masked man protested.
"Yes, we can. They wanted the boy and the husband dead, so what's the issue?" countered the unmasked man.
"Well, I can't."
The masked man made his way to the back, where the child was crying.
He gently placed his hand on the boy's head, and, in an instant, the crying ceased, replaced by an innocent smile on the child's face.
The masked man's heart sank as he bent down to pick up the child.
"Bang."
The bullet struck him in the back of the neck. He turned to see the grinning man without a mask.
"You're just a sheep; you don't belong here."
"Bang."
Blood splattered onto the child, prompting him to start crying once more.
"What a nuisance."
The unmasked man approached the child.
He raised his gun, locked eyes with the kid, and said, "Perhaps you're too innocent to exist among us," before pulling the trigger.
"Click, click."
"What the hell? No bullets."
He rummaged through the pockets of the masked man, searching for ammunition but found none.
"Well, tough luck for you, boy. You're about to burn."
"Dada," the child uttered, and the unmasked man met his gaze.
"Damn it, I'm not doing that."
He began dragging the lifeless body of the masked man toward the Entry Door, then tossed him out of the plane.
Cradling the child in his arms, he leaped into the open air.
As they soared through the sky, he deployed a parachute.
The child continued to cry, so the unmasked man pulled out a remote.
"Do you enjoy fireworks?" he asked, pressing the button.
The plane erupted into flames, and the child gazed at the spectacle, a smile spreading across his face.