Chapter Seven
“We’re gonna crash!” Janet screamed.
“Not if I can help it!” Hunter declared defiantly.
Brian deactivated the transponder as Hunter deftly navigated their precarious route. The collision avoidance system continually called out warnings of potential impacts with protruding canyon walls on either side.
“I’m beginning to hate that voice,” Hunter said dryly.
Although taking only minutes to negotiate the rugged canyon, the intense concentration and focus seemed interminable until they suddenly burst out the other end, skimming across open desert once again.
Hunter continued to grip the yoke but otherwise felt immediate relief.
“Take her up to fifteen hundred,” Brian suggested. “And let’s do what we can to avoid the heavier air traffic areas.”
Hunter complied, guiding his aircraft higher until leveling off. He finally took a deep breath of air in an attempt to calm his frazzled nerves before asking, “So how did you know about that canyon?” he asked Brian.
“I... uh... I was in the Air Force. I did a couple of tours in Iraq. We used to fly practice runs out here in the desert and one day a couple of us decided to play chicken.” Brian shifted in his seat. “I know, stupid to do that with expensive military aircraft, but what the hell, we knew we might die anyway once we were in combat,” he explained. “Caught heck for it though.” He laughed.
Hunter didn’t respond but instead yanked something from his shirt pocket and held it up so Janet could see. “What do you make of this?” he called back to her.
“Money?” she replied.
“Yeah, money,” he said re-pocketing it. “That whole case was full of money, wasn’t it Brian?” Hunter’s tone was more of an accusation than a question.
“Yes, it was.”
“Did you know it would be?” Hunter asked.
“I did not. I was just as surprised as you were when that thing popped open. But I knew I was a dead man because of it. No loose ends, you know?”
“Loose ends. What kind of people are you working for? You were part of their crew, weren’t you?”
“In a manner of speaking. I was trained to do a job but it wasn’t until I was taken to a remote location to board that helicopter this morning that I realized this was going to be more than a simple pickup. You don’t need an armed aircraft for that.”
Hunter glanced out his side window, then at his navigation display. “I guess that means we’re all loose ends which means we’re all in a whole lot of trouble!” He stared straight ahead. “Well, hot-shot, now where to?”
“I have no idea,” Brian replied. “Like I said, I thought I was just helping out on some simple errand. Good thing I was wearing that vest.”
Hunter frowned. “Yeah... about that vest. If you thought you were on a simple errand, as you put it, why wear the vest?”
Brian let out a nervous laugh. “To protect myself.”
“To protect yourself. So, are you going to level with me, or keep secrets? Because we’d probably get along a whole lot better if I knew what you are up to. Why should we trust you? Maybe that whole incident was staged for our benefit. Maybe you were planning all along to hitch a ride with us.”
“Hitching a ride with you, as you put it, was a stroke of luck. Honestly I didn’t know how I was going to get out of that mess. The minute I climbed onboard that chopper, I knew my number was up. If I hadn’t managed to get on this plane, I’d be dead.” He looked at Hunter with a steady gaze. “And that’s the truth.”
“Are you going to tell me who you really are and who you really work for? And what about this special assignment you just mentioned. What’s the assignment and who’s running the show?”
Brian stared ahead. “The assignment was given to me by a guy named Ham. He wanted me to try to find out about some drug running. I had been working as a two-bit actor.” He chuckled. “You know... trying to earn a few bucks,” he glanced at Hunter who managed a crooked smile.
“Been there,” Hunter said.
“Yeah, well then you know how it is. There’s a lot of competition for bit parts and walk-ons so I was showing up for anything and everything... whenever and wherever. I just needed to make enough to pay rent and feed myself until I could find a permanent job.... not acting by the way.” He laughed. “No offense, but there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of room at the top of that ladder.”
Hunter chuckled. “You pretty much have to build your own ladder, I’m afraid, but you’re right. It takes work and the competition is definitely stiff. Getting some lucky breaks along the way helps a little too.”
Brian nodded then continued, “I didn’t even own a car. I had to take the bus, walk, thumb rides... whatever it took to get around. Anyway, I guess I got someone’s attention showing up at all those tryouts because I got a phone call one afternoon asking if I’d be interested in something long term. They quoted a price for the work and I accepted. I was excited because it would be steady employment, at least for a while, and give me a chance to relax a little without the stress of constantly showing up for cattle calls.”
“I remember,” Hunter acknowledged. “So who called?”
“I thought it was an agency. At least the whole proposition felt like it was coming through an agency. A woman called and said her name was... Linda, or something like that. Very pleasant. I was given an address where I was to show up the first day, so I went, met a few folks... they took photos... it felt like an agency type of thing.”
“Anybody else there for the same reason?”
“Yeah there was about six of us, as I recall. Five guys and one gal. I never met Linda, who called me, but there were a couple of men who greeted us and pumped us up. We were all pretty excited. So they provided each of us a script and assigned roles then told us to go home and study our parts then come back in a week. So we did.”
“Was this a production of some kind?” Hunter asked.
“I thought so. We all showed up, went through a few scenes... they filmed us so we could watch it later for critiquing. Anyway, this went on for about six weeks. The next time I showed up, I was alone. They said they had to cut everyone else and that I was exactly what they were looking for.”
“Interesting,” Hunter said thoughtfully.
“Yeah. I was thrilled, of course, but at the same time, something didn’t feel quite right because I thought everyone did a great job during rehearsals and this decision seemed kind of quick and unexpected. Anyway, even though something felt weird I couldn’t put my finger on it. Besides, it was steady work and I really didn’t feel all that comfortable saying anything to anyone else.
“So, they put me in a limo and we drove out to the desert near Palm Springs to an estate. Big place. Once we got there, they put me in a jeep with a couple of other guys and we drove further out into the desert to this compound-looking place. It was out in the middle of nowhere, in like a depression... you know. I mean the area was like a shallow bowl with rocky and barren hills all around. That’s all you could see. I was told it was a movie set and we’d continue rehearsing and filming there.”
“Did you stay at the estate?”
“On the grounds yes, but not in the mansion. They had barracks in the compound for us to sleep in. It was like they were part of the movie set too. It was pretty stark. In fact the place was fenced with chain link and razor wire on top, but that was out beyond the perimeter, so you couldn’t actually see the fence unless you went for a hike. Hiking, however, was discouraged.
The whole estate was fenced?” Hunter asked.
“No... just the compound where we were filming and living. It was beginning to feel more like a military installation than a movie set to me. Hell, they even had armed guards. I guess at this point it finally dawned on me that we weren’t making a movie at all and that I had naively managed to get myself into a very serious situation.”
“What about the sc
ript? What was it about?” Hunter was getting more interested.
“Military action type script. We practiced invasion techniques and there was a lot of target practice. We practiced hand-to-hand combat presumably for scenes that would require it. Everything was choreographed... the fight scenes... everything. We’d go through stuff in slow motion to get the right angles, and learned how to duck and roll and... I don’t know. Even the dialogue was practiced over and over,” Brian said with a yawn.
“You must be tired,” Hunter said.
“Sorry, but yeah. I am a little tired,” he apologized. “I’ve been up since before dawn,” he said with another yawn then got back to his story. “Anyway, at first it was kind of exciting and I honestly thought the armed guards were actors too. That is until one of them pulled off a shot at a jack rabbit one afternoon. He laughed his head off then got chewed out. I was hustled to another building but I heard him say something like how bored he was and when was he going to see some real action.”
“It sounds almost like you were hand-picked for something,” Hunter said.
“Yeah. We spent a lot of time going through the scenes and tactics. They always had cameras and a film crew going through the motions, but after a while I began to wonder if they really were filming anything at all because they stopped letting us view the dailies.
Hunter nodded. “Not all directors and producers expect the actors to view the dailies unless they need someone to see how they’re doing for some reason.”
“I know,” Brian agreed, “but the whole atmosphere started to change. It stopped feeling like a movie set and more like a staging area for something else.”
“Okay, but how does all of this work into that Arizona handoff?”
“Well, before I get to that, I wanted to tell you about someone else who had been working this so-called movie with me. His name was Zack. He said he’d gone through the same routine... getting a call, showing up for a shoot and ending up at the compound. He said he’d overheard some conversation between crew members and picked up on what sounded like some kind of smuggling operation. He was kinda scared about it because he said he didn’t want anything to do with anything illegal.”
“Did you trust him?”
“I wanted to, but something told me to just listen and keep my mouth shut. Besides a couple of days later, he was gone. I was told he quit, but I didn’t get the feeling anyone was at liberty to quit their job voluntarily. By this time I didn’t trust anyone and didn’t want to get caught saying something or doing something stupid in front of the wrong people. Even so, I got my hands on this vest by accident when I was sent to a tent to get a prop. I forget what I was looking for. All I remember is seeing a large crate. The lid had been removed but was sitting a little cockeyed on top of the crate. So I took a peek and found all kinds of stuff in it, including some of these vests,” he patted his chest.
“What else was in it?”
“Mostly guns and boxes of rounds. Without thinking, I took one of the vests and hurried to find a place to hide it near an outside wall of the tent. Then I stepped out of the tent to let them know I couldn’t find what they wanted. Then this guy comes charging over and grabs my arm like he wanted to yank it out of the socket and demanded to know what I was doing in there. I’m trying to explain I was looking for a prop when the director comes over and tells the other guy to cool it.”
“Do any of these people have names?” Hunter asked.
“Just first names like Jake, Bull, Dusty... names like that.”
“Bull?” Hunter laughed.
“Yeah, well he’s the one who wanted yank off my arm.” Brain shook his head. “So I’m lying low, doing everything they tell me. I didn’t ask any questions or look at anyone unless I was supposed to. I just did what I was told. Anyway, later than night I headed for the latrine before going to bed and I was alone. So I managed to retrieve the vest and put it on under my shirt. I slept in the thing and started wearing it every day.”
“The vest,” Hunter said. “Sounds uncomfortable.”
“It’s not that bad, but yeah, maybe a little, but getting back to your question,” Brian continued, “about three weeks before today’s fiasco, another guy shows up. I’d never seen him before, but everyone else seemed to know who he was.”
“What did he look like?” Hunter asked.
“Needed a haircut, shave, and a bath.”
Hunter laughed. “I expect just about everyone there needed the same. I mean, you’re pretty scroungy looking at the moment.”
“The dried blood doesn’t help much,” Brian agreed running a hand through his hair.
Hunter nodded, “Okay, so back to this guy. What can you tell me about him?”
“I was told he went by the name of Ham. He hung around for about three days talking to different people and once I noticed he was looking at me and talking to Dusty, the director dude the last day he was there. After a while he found me and we started talking. He asked a few questions, nothing very interesting. We walked toward the fence and he stopped with his back to the compound and told me to look at the desert and act like we were talking about cactus and stuff. I mean, it was weird... until...”
“Until what?”
“Until he asked me how I liked the job. And I did my best to sound like it was great. Then he asked if I’d seen anything unusual going on around the compound as he pointed out to the desert and pretended to laugh at stuff.”
“What was he up to?”
“He asked if I’d like to make some extra money. I said no. He gave me a sideways look as if he didn’t believe me and I had to look away. I could tell he knew I was lying. In fact now I know he knew I wanted out of there.”
“So what happened?”
“He took a chance and told me he needed an inside man and said if I could help him out, he’d get me out of the compound.”
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to, but I was scared, to be honest. For all I knew, he had been brought in to lull me into his confidence and...”
“I get it. Then what?”
“He said I didn’t have to answer him, but if I’d keep my eyes and ears open, and help him out, he’d make it worth my while. Then he slapped me on the back and we headed back to the main area of the compound. Dusty walked up to us and looked at Ham, who smiled and said, ‘He’s alright.’ I gave him this dorky smile and looked at Dusty, who was grinning. Then he slapped me on the back and put his arm around my shoulders and said, ‘That’s my boy’.
“Two days later, I’m on that chopper headed for Arizona and so was Bull. I knew he hated my guts for some reason. Once we were airborne he leaned over and told me he didn’t trust me and that Dusty was a fool to trust me. I knew right then and there I was in trouble.”
Hunter took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, so you fly into that airport, we make the handoff happen, you go back to get onboard the chopper and the attaché dropped.”
“Yeah, and that was Bull’s fault. I handed it right to him. I think now that he was so set on finding a reason to kill me that he might have dropped it on purpose. And there was all that money. So I’m running around trying to grab the loose bills to give to him and he shoots me!”
“So you’re a pilot... flew for the Air Force... is there anything else you’ve forgotten to tell me?” Hunter asked firmly.
“Can’t think of anything at the moment,” Brian replied then gazed out the side widow and took a deep breath. “I knew I was going to die. I knew Bull was going to see to that.”
Hunter looked at Brian, “Who was flying that rig?”
“Don’t know. Never saw him before. In fact I never did see his face, only the back of his helmet. I don’t think Zack quit, either. I’m sure he’s dead or something. They probably dumped his body in the desert somewhere.”
“I find it a bit unbelievable these people would go to so much trouble to hire others with the understanding t
hey were going to be in a movie, just to use them for something like this,” Hunter remarked.
“Do you?” Brian asked in surprise. “I don’t. They hire a bunch of struggling and hungry people and train them to do their dirty work then dispose of them afterward. That way they can legitimately say they didn’t do it... whatever ‘it’ was that needed to be done. We were all trained to act our parts and when they were through with us... they’d dispose of us. Just like that.”
“And you never saw or heard from Ham again?”
“Nope.”
“You think he ratted you out?”
“Ratted me out?” Brian laughed. “If he did it would have been based on a gut feeling rather than anything I said or did... because I didn’t say or do anything. I just stood there and listened.” Brian got quiet. “Thanks for pulling me onboard, by the way. You saved my life.”
Hunter smiled. “So, you want to take the yoke for a while?”
A smile creased Brian’s face. “Seriously? I’d love to.”
Hunter eased out of the pilot seat and moved back into the cabin to sit with Janet. “Interesting conversation?” she asked.
“Yes.” He sat down in the seat adjacent to hers so he could keep an eye on Brian then filled her in on what they talked about.
“Do you believe him?”
“Maybe. We’ll see.”
“You sure you want him flying your plane?”
“For a while, yes.”
“You have autopilot.”
“I know but that doesn’t mean we can get up and walk away from the cockpit. Besides, I needed to get up and move. My legs were getting stiff. Too much going on for one day.”
“I agree,” she said.
Hunter took Janet’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You have any plans for the rest of the week?” he asked.
“Just work. Why?”
“No personal plans with family, friends... a boyfriend? Anything like that?”
“No, why?”
“Because you just quit your job.”
“I what? But...”
“Think about it,” he looked at her soberly. “You and I flew to Arizona today, at Gerry’s request, naively believing we were simply going to drop off a briefcase with paperwork in it and fly home. We were met by a very suspicious black helicopter in the middle of nowhere which was armed to the teeth.
“I hand off the case to Brian who has the misfortune of losing some of the contents which happened to be a lot of money. Someone on that chopper shoots at both of us. He hauls his sorry and bloody backside onto the plane then the three of us high-tail it out of there hoping to avoid getting blown to pieces.” He paused to take a breath.
“Anyway, your boss and my former friend got us into this mess. You sure you want to go back to work?”
“I guess not,” she conceded with a sigh. “So where are we going?”
“I don’t know, but you’ll have to trust me.”
“Trusting you isn’t a problem, but I’m not so sure I trust him,” her voice dropped to a whisper again as she looked toward the cockpit. “So what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know, at least not yet. We’ll have to play things by ear,” He looked at her and squeezed her hand again. “We’ll be fine.” He stood up. Guess I’ll go back up front.” He glanced at Buster sleeping in front of the cabin door. “At least he seems content enough.”
“I’m going to try to sleep for a while,” Janet said.
Hunter rejoined Brian but signaled for him to continue to flying. “Think of anything else?” Hunter asked him.
“No. But if I do, I’ll let you know.” Brian tried to shift in his seat. “I know you don’t trust me. I don’t blame you. But I’m not one of them. And like I said, I’d probably be dead right now if you hadn’t helped me out, so... thanks... again.”
“Okay,” Hunter said with a nod then changed the subject. “I think we need to put down for a while to stretch and work on a plan.”
“Okay but where?” Brian asked.
“Right there,” Hunter said lightly tapping the navigation screen.
“What’s there?”
“A whole lot of nothing,” Hunter replied reaching for the yoke. “I’ve got the controls.” Hunter adjusted the flight path and plugged their destination into the computer. “Won’t be long,” he said. “It’ll feel good to walk around without having to hunch over like we do in the plane.” He let out a laugh. “I once talked to an aircraft design engineer and asked how much it would cost to custom-design one of these with a little bit higher ceiling.”
“What did he say?”
“He just laughed, told me to upgrade to a larger plane, and walked away.”
Brian smiled. “At least you can get up and move around. Fighter jets are a little more cramped.”
Hunter nodded. “That’s true. So what did you fly?”
“I was trained in a Tomcat, the F-14, but ended up flying an F-15 for most of my missions. On my last rotation I flew an F-16 but took a hit on my last run. Made it down okay, but I lost an engine. It was kind of dicey because I felt like a sitting duck. One of my buddies wanted to fly my wing to make sure I got back safe, but I told him to get out there and kick some butt.”
“He make it back?”
“Yes he did. He had a successful run. Anyway they cut me loose after that and I came home. Spent some time getting treated for PTSD then I was able to go to college on a federal loan. I got my degree in business administration. Not sure what I’m going to do with it, though. I can tell you this, I don’t like killing people. And from the air, you can’t see who you hit. You never know. I do know we killed civilians... everyone did... and in that respect I guess we were all bad guys because either way, death is death.”
“I understand,” Hunter said. “I flew in Vietnam. I did two tours. When I came home, there were no parades welcoming me back. Instead I was spit on and cursed... accused of being a drug addict... and accused of being a good-for-nothing son of a...” he didn’t finish his thought. “There were no benefits of any kind, no college loans or scholarships, and no jobs.
“We served our country and our country turned its back on us. They didn’t do one damn thing for us when we came home. Not a thing.” Hunter became quiet for a moment then continued, “Over 58,000 men and women lost their lives during an almost 20 year war that we lost. We lost to some... what was it Henry Kissinger said? He called them a fourth-rate power. You know, it was the only war the United States had ever lost to that point in time. We were no longer invincible, and even after the war, there were far more casualties. More soldiers ended up committing suicide than actually died during the war.”
“I didn’t know that,” Brian said quietly.
“They don’t teach kids that stuff in school. They like to gloss over stuff like that... make it seem like nothing really bad happened. But bad stuff happened. And then we had guys suffering from the effects of Agent Orange. You know what that stuff is? It’s an herbicide and choppers would fly over the jungles spraying it on everything, just like a crop duster. And not just on trees, they sprayed it on villages and streams, rice fields... everywhere... even our own guys. It killed all the leaves on any vegetation but it also killed people and still does. It’s a slow and painful way to live out what’s left of your life.” Hunter got quiet again. “I’m sorry. I thought I’d put all that behind me... but I guess not.”
“Did you get any treatment for PTSD?” Brian asked.
“We got nothing. No help, no veterans benefits, no money for education... nothing. Absolutely nothing because our government didn’t want to acknowledge that there was anything wrong with us. We were expected to simply pick up where we left off, like nothing ever happened. We served in a war that had no real purpose and then we came home to another war... one with our own government and townspeople.” He exchanged glances with Brian. “You take advantage of whatever you can. Wha
tever’s available. Take care of yourself.”
Brian simply nodded.
“Hey you guys?” Janet called out. “Do you know where we’re going yet?”
“We’re going to put down in about twenty minutes so we can get out and stretch,” Hunter called back to her.
It wasn’t long before he began a gradual descent, finally circling a small uncontrolled airfield in the southern part of Colorado on the edge of the Great Plains. Easily setting down, he rolled to a stop then turned his aircraft and taxied back to the head of the runway, pulling into an empty but wide parking area. He shut everything down and sat back.
“Not exactly how I expected the day to go,” he said.
“Me either,” Brian agreed, then eased himself out of the cockpit. He opened the cabin door and set the stairs then climbed down.
Hunter joined Janet. Buster looked up expectantly. “It’s okay. Go run around.” Buster hopped down and headed for the grassy area to sniff and explore.
Hunter and Janet climbed down and stood on the small apron watching Brian who was a distance away staring across the prairie with his hands stuffed in the back pockets of his jeans.
“You have a nice nap?” Hunter asked.
“I did,” Janet replied.
Hunter breathed in deeply. “Feels good to stretch and move around.” He continued to watch Brian. “He and I had a long chat. We shared our military experiences. He flew in Iraq. Two tours. Nearly got shot down on his last mission.”
“So what do you think of him?” Janet asked.
“He seems okay. But we’ll see.” He took her hand. “Let’s walk around.” Eventually they joined Brian.
“I didn’t realize you two were a couple,” he said.
Hunter let go of Janet’s hand. “We’re not. Just friends.”
“I see,” Brian said and grinned.
“No, seriously,” Hunter insisted. “Just friends.”
Janet gave him a sideways look and shook her head then gazed out across the prairie. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyplace so flat before, and it’s cold.” She shivered. “I need my jacket. Be right back.” She ran back to the plane.
Brian looked at Hunter with a frown. “I’ve been thinking about everything and I have no idea why you or Janet are involved in any of this.”
“We were part of the handoff.” Hunter said.
“Yeah, but why?” he asked. “Why you? Why not someone else or some courier service? And why Janet? If she’s not your girlfriend along for the ride, why involve her?”
“She works for Gerry... or did. I told her she quit her job today.”
“Gerry?” Brian asked.
“Allensby. The producer. He produced my last movie.”
“How does he fit in to all of this?”
Hunter laughed. “He’s the one who sent us on this so called exchange, for crying out loud! Janet was his assistant.” Hunter explained. “He gave her the attaché and the coordinates for that airstrip.”
“I’m still confused,” Brian said. “Why is a successful movie producer involved with these people? And if she was his personal assistant, why put her in harm’s way?”
“Good question. And I don’t know.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Brian said.
Hunter glanced back at the plane just as Janet was climbing down the stairs. “Brian, did those guys know about your military background?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. You’d think they must have vetted me before taking me to that compound.”
“Yeah. You’d think so.”
Janet pulled her jacket tight around her chest as she rejoined the men. “I’m still cold and so are my feet.”
“You shouldn’t have worn sandals,” Brian said.
“I thought it was going to be a quick turn-around trip today, not an unscheduled adventure,” she retorted. “Plus, I’m hungry.”
“Check the storage areas,” Hunter suggested. “There should be some snacks onboard. I try to keep a few things on hand. And there should be a blanket in one of the compartments.”
“I already checked for food, and couldn’t find anything. But I’ll go look for that blanket.” She hurried back to the plane.
Hunter waited then looked at Brian, “So what do you think?”
“I think we have a giant bull’s eye on our collective backs.”
Hunter nodded in agreement. “You hungry too?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Me too. I know a place we can go. Another small airfield. It’s out of the way, but with a small café. The food’s pretty good.”
“You’ve been there before, I take it.”
“A few times,” Hunter grinned. He whistled for Buster. “Let’s get going!” Buster bounded back happily. “Feeling better?” he grinned at his dog.
“Nice dog,” Brian remarked. “Had him long?”
Hunter eyed Brian. “Long enough.”
“Nice collar.”
“So I’ve been told,” Hunter replied as he headed toward the plane. “Let’s go before it gets any later.” Both men settled into the cockpit. Soon they were airborne.
Hunter called over his shoulder to Janet, “How’s the blanket?”
“Feels good. Thanks,” she said, pulling it up around her more snuggly. After a while Brian drifted off to sleep, snoring lightly. Hunter smiled as he watched the afternoon sun continue to settle into the western sky.
Suddenly Brian coughed and sat up. “Sorry. I guess I was dreaming or something.” He shook his head and frowned. “I was dreaming but...” he grabbed for his phone.
“What is it?” Hunter asked with some concern.
“Damn!”
“What!”
“Our phones,” he said. “They’re like tracking devices. We need to take the batteries out. Now!” He fumbled with his own phone, pulling the battery.
“Tracking devices...” Hunter started to say.
“Yeah. Anyone can get a ping off of them. They have secondary processors and GPS!”
Hunter fished out his phone. “Here!” he handed it to Brian. “You’ll need to get Janet’s.”
Brian climbed out of his seat and headed to the back. Janet was still tightly wrapped in her blanket. “Janet,” he said quietly giving her a gentle shake. “Janet.”
She opened her eyes with a start looking into the face of Brian. “What do you want? Where’s Hunter?”
“Flying the plane, but I need your phone.”
“Why?”
“I need to remove the battery.” he said.
“Absolutely not!” she argued then yelled for Hunter, “He’s trying to take my phone!”
“Give it to him right now!” Hunter ordered. “Don’t argue. Just do it!”
Angrily, she pulled out her phone and shoved it at Brian.
“Thanks,” he said. Quickly disabling her phone, he gave it back, but kept the battery. “I’ll hang on to this for now,” he said, and returned to the cockpit.
Furious, Janet threw off her blanket which landed on top of Buster. He stood up with it hanging off his shoulders and watched curiously.
Making her way to the cockpit, she demanded to know why Brian had to destroy her phone.
“He didn’t destroy it. He just disabled it,” Hunter explained.
“But why!”
“For our protection!” Brian said adamantly, and then went on to explain. “The bad guys can track us by getting a ping off our phones and then using several cell towers to triangulate our position.”
“What?”
“Even when we turn them off, there is a secondary processor that listens for incoming calls from nearby cell towers. The call comes in, and the phone wakes up enough to react to the signal, even if you don’t know it. That’s why you can get a missed call and not know it. Not only that, someone could send a hidden virus... like a Trojan virus, via text or email, if you check email that way. Anyway, if
that happens someone could, in essence, take control of your phone, at least in some ways.”
“Well, then, they’ve probably already found us!” she snapped at him.
Ignoring her outburst, he continued, “Either that, or they are tracking our flight path to determine where we’re headed.”
“That’s just great,” she said and sat down on the floor behind the cockpit. “We’re never going to escape these people. They will hunt us down and...”
“That’s enough!” Hunter ordered. He pointed to the navigation screen. “We’re headed here,” he pointed. “Time for dinner.”
“But if anyone sees us... you especially...” Janet was concerned.
“I have a plan.”
“You care to share?” Brian asked.
“The guy who runs the service counter at this small airfield knows me. I’ve flown in and out of his field on numerous occasions. They don’t have a tower, but he monitors radio transmissions with a scanner just in case someone needs something.”
“And we need something,” Brian said.
“Exactly. There’s one frequency he and I have used in the past. I’ll let him know I’m coming and he’ll make sure the fuel truck is ready. I’ll also ask to have four burgers ready for all of us. He’ll bring out the food and make sure we get fueled up. No one needs to leave the plane. I’ve done this sort of thing here before when I’ve travelled through. I’m usually in a hurry.”
“Okay. I like it.”
“But can you trust him?” Janet asked.
“I can trust Mike.”
“So give him a call,” Brian said.
“I’ll send it Morse code, just in case.”
“Even better,” Brian said grinning.
Hunter found the frequency then used his communication button to tap out the message. Shortly thereafter he got a reply.
Brian looked at Hunter. “Not good.”
“We’ll have to take our chances.” Hunter tapped another message. ‘Understood.’
“Now what?” Janet asked. “What’s wrong?”
Hunter sighed, “He said he got a fax about half an hour ago from the FBI asking all small airfields to be on the lookout for this plane. It included the ID. He says he hasn’t shown it to anyone yet, though.”
“That’s good,” she replied. “I guess.”
“It should be fine for the short time we’ll be there. But he’ll have to post it and maybe respond at some point so he doesn’t get into any trouble.”
Another message came in. “That’s great.”
“Now what?” Janet asked.
“Apparently they’ve also notified all the TV and radio news stations with a photo of me,” Hunter was irritated.
“I’m scared,” Janet said nervously. “What if we get caught? What will they do to us?”
“Let’s not worry about that yet. Mike will do what he can and we’ll just have to roll with it.”
Minutes later they touched down. Hunter taxied close to the fuel truck that was ready and waiting for them. He recognized the attendant and gave a slight acknowledgement. “He’s okay,” Hunter said.
A small pickup truck pulled up moments later. Hunter opened the cabin door and a smiling Mike handed him a bag emitting the wonderful aroma of food. Hunter shoved some bills at him.
“Keep it,” Mike said. “Doris didn’t ring it up. No paper trail that way. Same with the fuel.”
“But you can’t afford to do that. The burgers, maybe, but not the fuel. Take the cash. Stick it in your pocket. No arguments.”
Reluctantly, Mike accepted the money. “Doris and I turned off all the TVs,” he said. “No one’s in the diner right now, but we just want to play it safe for now. If anyone asks we’ll say something’s up with the service. Once you’re gone we’ll turn them back on.”
“Thanks, Mike. Now get out of here. The less you’re seen with us the better.”
“I know this is all hyped up, Mr. Blake,” he said. “Safe trip.”
“Thanks.” Hunter shook his hand then closed the cabin door and secured it.
“How long will it take to finish fueling?” Janet asked nervously as Hunter handed her the bag of food.
“Not long so belt up.”
Eventually the fuel attendant tapped the side of the jet and gave a thumbs-up. Hunter waved in acknowledgement and waited for the truck to pull away before starting his engines. Anxiously waiting until each one was at peak performance, he kept an eye on the airfield. Once ready, he guided his aircraft to the threshold getting ready to take off.
What they weren’t expecting was the sight of a sheriff’s unit, siren wailing and its array of lights flashing, race onto the tarmac from a gated entry near the café and head for the runway.
“Hang on everyone!” Hunter ordered. Pushing the throttle forward he pulled back on the yoke propelling his aircraft down the runway as the official vehicle careened onto the end of the runway heading straight for him.
“It’s gonna be close,” Brian said focusing on the vehicle ahead as the distance closed rapidly.
“Here we go,” Hunter said pulling the back on the yoke back. Wheels up!” The private jet roared into the airspace with elegance and speed, clearing the tops of the sheriff’s vehicles by only a few feet. Climbing higher, both he and Brian let out audible sighs of relief as the landing gear locked snuggly into the belly of the fuselage.
A muffled voice from the cabin called out. “Are we safe yet?”
Brian looked around and chuckled. “She’s wrapped up in her blanket head to toe. We’re fine!” he answered. “You can come out now.”
Yanking the blanket off her head, Janet looked out the window and down at the ground far below then sat back and closed her eyes. “Will this day never end?” she whined, still hugging the bag of food. “I am so done with all of this!”