Soon a pilot-less jet approaches directly into their flight path, resulting in a midair collision, that damages Rayford's fuel line. He has difficulty getting radio or satellite phone contact with anyone on the ground, until he is finally informed that people have disappeared everywhere and the world is in uproar. Rayford does his best to reassure the passengers he will pass on information once he has any. The remaining passengers panic and demand answers. On Rayford's flight, the same strange event has occurred – several people, including his co-pilot Chris Smith, Kimmy, one of the flight attendants, and all the children on board, have simply disappeared. Chloe sees television reports of children and some adults disappearing, as worldwide panic sets in.
A driver-less car plows through the mall windows, and a small plane without a pilot crashes into the parking lot. Mayhem breaks loose as shoppers begin looting the stores. The same has happened to numerous others at the mall. As she hugs him, he vanishes, into thin air, leaving his clothes behind. Her suspicions soon are confirmed when an airport worker hands Chloe a pair of tickets for a concert in London that Rayford had ordered, indicating his trip was planned in advance.Ĭhloe brushes off another of her mother's preachings and takes her brother to the mall. Chloe suspects things are not fine between her parents – she had seen him flirting with flight attendant Hattie Durham and notices he has removed his wedding ring. He also assures Chloe things are fine between himself and his wife, who recently had become a proselytising Christian, much to Chloe's chagrin. Rayford shows up on his way to a flight and apologizes to Chloe for missing his birthday party, insisting he was called in to pilot a flight to London at the last minute.
While at the airport waiting for him, Chloe meets investigative reporter Cameron "Buck" Williams. However, her mother Irene informs her that her father cannot make it. University of Central Arkansas student Chloe Steele has flown home from college to New York to surprise her father, pilot Rayford Steele, for his birthday party.