Crash Position

SEVENTEEN

  The last big heist planned by Tanya could clear me of my debt to Simon. If I denied her my complicity in the heist, she would reveal my tattoo to the company and I would be gone overnight with no money left to repay any of the debts. And in the back of my head the thought of Jurdan and a Vegas balcony crept into my head at regular intervals. I could see his face, terrified he moves backwards further towards the rail, but I could not see who was pushing him.

  There was no secret meeting with a password to gain access to the lair of the council of evil. It was all very routine. The details had been discussed in plain sight, where no one would suspect anything untoward. They were passed on among the crew scheduled to be flying the Singapore-Bali route on that day. They were an all star team, selected from the pool of Tanya's special crew. The only reason I was there, was because I was a sure thing. I had debts to be paid, and Tanya had dirt on me for leverage. Simon, as her second lieutenant and whip was a natural choice. Maria, a veteran of the special crew, although prone to flapping her lips at the wrong time, would not turn down such an offer. Her taste for fine things was insatiable, and she had flown so many times with Tanya, she had an excellent feel for her style, and she had guts. Ella was bubbly and charming, controlled and a people person. No one could suspect her of anything devious. And she was particularly pretty. Mile High Mike wouldn’t miss the after-party that would follow. The others were faces I had seen around but didn’t now on a personal level, but when we met before the flight, the signature hyena laugh screamed that they were all part of the gang.

  But the one person needed to pull of something this big was someone with a little knowledge. Cam was gone. And no one had the true expertise to pull it off. To put it another way, they had the brawn, but lacked the brains. I hoped Tanya was kicking herself, having let Cameron disintegrate, needing him more than ever. But that didn’t stop her. She was greedy enough and arrogant to try it without him. I could have talked to him and asked him the details of what would be required to sedate an entire business class cabin. I could record the details over several visits to evade suspicion and follow them with careful precision under the watchful eye of Tanya. But I didn't. I did not want to enable her, or make her job any easier. Later though, I wish I had. Maybe less people would have been hurt if someone with a background in chemistry was giving the directions. He may have been a bad chemist, but maybe the results would not have been as disastrous as us acting on our own.

  “Dammit!” Tanya said, slamming her hand onto the table, looking at her crew list, “who is this bitch? Fuck it! Can’t anything go right?”

  I had never seen her be outwardly angry. She had never had an uncontrollable outburst. Her anger was usually expressed in what she didn’t say. Today though, she was nervous. Simon snatched the paper from Tanya’s bony hands. He looked at it and nodded his head in recognition. “I know her. She's a quiet one. I trained her. She’s okay. She won’task any questions.”

  “How can you be sure? She’s going to ruin this. I can see it.”

  “I’m sure. She’s the type who minds her own business and does her job. You can’t change your mind now anyway.”

  “Yes I can.”

  Simon tilted his head to the side and gave her a challenging stare.

  “But I’m not going to,” she said. “It’s a test. It’s all just a test."

  Simon looked suddenly relieved at her persistence to go through with the plan.

  “We will succeed. We will.” It was the first time she had spoken about us as a group, almost like a team captain giving an inspirational speech. 'We' were being tested, not her. I wished I could have said that she believed in the virtue of teamwork, that she thought great things happen through cooperation, but I knew her better. She was using us as a means to spread responsibility and possibly blame, if the plan fell apart.

  The task was getting bolder, more audacious now. We had someone else on the crew who was a liability, not an asset ready to he us with our little heist.

  "Liz, you're the people pleaser, the big fake. You can her caged up down the back with a distracting conversation."

  I did a double take as she stared at me, waiting for me to agree. Fake, the word rattled around in my head. You bitch. "Sure thing Tanya." Just play the game and she'll be out of your life soon. It dawned on me that the task of babysitting the u wanted guest would limit my involvement in the great aeroplane robbery.

  Looks like she's with us repositioning for a flight in a few days," deduced Simon from the numbers and acronymic codes next to her name on the crew sheet. "Lucky moll's got a four night layover.

  The lucky moll was Nicki Pittman, and she was really as nice as Simon said she was. I gathered he didn’t think she was good enough for recruiting into Tanya’s clique: too naive and just too sweet. I envied her.

  Our final plan of attack review was carried out at one of the many chain coffee houses in Changi airport. Holding it in the crew room would attract too many other employees who might just stick their nose in or overhear just a few too many incriminating words. Hidden in plain sight of the public was strangely enough the most secure way to conduct our war room discussion. Nicki was not on the crew list the night before. Someone at crewing, at the last minute had added her. We all knew Tanya had friends at crewing meaning she could get whatever trips with whomever she wanted. But I couldn’t help but suspect someone else knew about her plans. She surely had a reputation for no good. No one can really keep a secret and all it would take is one bitter defector to start the rumour mill churning. In any case, I took perverse pleasure in the thought of someone messing with Tanya’s mind, and her well-laid plans to make a bountiful getaway from the airline.

  It could have been Cam on the flight, but it was Nicki. It should have been Cam. It should have been him, but Tanya brought it on herself. She didn't have a knowledgeable, experienced member of the clique. She was letting him stay in prison, and she deserved to suffer the nerve-racking experience of having pretty, sweet Nicki along, hoping that she would stay down the back. Hoping she would see and say nothing.

  The Singapore to Bali flight had been a favourite of ours. It was less risky bringing drugs and other items into Bali than it was into Singapore. The exchange rate made bribery cheap, and it was somewhat socially acceptable on the holiday island. Singapore had better technology and disciplined staff to catch out traffickers and transnational criminals. Bali was a free-for-all by comparison. Singapore had more millionaires per capita and they wanted to holiday in Bali, they brought wealth with them. Carry on bags can hide a small fortune. Little wonder a flight out of Singapore was Tanya's choice for the final big job.