Flight 19 part ii, p.20
Flight 19, Part II, page 20
As Todd drove down S. Alameda Street, knowing they were only minutes from entering Skid Row, he told Michelle, “If we don’t find him today, maybe it’s fate’s way of telling me not to bother trying.”
Michelle thought fate was a complete load of bull. But she wouldn’t argue with Todd if it resulted in him giving up on this. “Alright, it’s a deal,” she said.
Half an hour later, they parked a few blocks from the Star Apartments. The walk was a safer option than driving this far into Skid Row.
When they reached the top floor of the apartment block, Todd found the door he was looking for.
He took one last look at Michelle. She reciprocated before turning and continuing to watch the other end of the hallway.
Todd tapped on the door.
He couldn’t hear any sign of activity inside the flat.
As he was about to tap once more, suddenly he heard something, perhaps movement behind the door.
Todd stood back and instinctively slipped his handgun out of the holster, but then thought the better of it and decided to take the mother of all risks.
The door opened.
Todd felt like he was looking at a ghost.
“Who are you, man?” Jason said, after looking Todd up and down.
Todd then snapped out of his daydream.
Now it was his turn to look Jason over. His clothes were shabby, but nowhere near as bad as they were when he last saw him. He didn’t come across as drunk or high.
His demeanor was non-threatening, if not particularly friendly.
Todd put his hand up and said, “I mean you no harm. First, I just need to ask you—is your name Jason?”
His half-brother stared at him for a moment, almost curious.
“That’s my name. What’s it to you?”
A tsunami of relief washed over Todd.
He’d found him.
But just as Todd was about to speak, a gunshot punctured the air.
Ross and Melanie hopped into the rear of the helicopter. But they weren’t alone; they had a guest.
“Are you guys sure you’re okay with me coming along for the ride?” Darcy said.
Ross and Melanie shared a glance before turning back to him. Ross said, “When it’s your helicopter, my friend, of course you can come along for a look.”
The ninety-minute flight was full of light conversation about everything and anything. But with the pilot able to listen in at any time to the conversations of his three passengers, there were certain things they didn’t discuss. They could do that in private.
“Are you still planning on going to Missouri?” Ross asked at one point.
“Yes. Funny you ask,” the billionaire said. But every time he thought of Missouri, he felt his blood run cold.
He stared out the window for a moment, hoping the feeling of nausea would pass.
“I was hoping to tie it into our trip to the Mojave Desert for our little excursion with Berty, but I think the flight to the heavens has been delayed again. So I may end up going there at the end of this week.”
Ross put on a smile for his friend.
“Well, I look forward to hearing how it goes out there,” he said.
Darcy gazed out through the helicopter windows before looking back to Ross.
“You’ll be the first to know, Roscoe,” he said.
“Wow.”
“Wow.”
“Wow.”
They all had the same reaction.
Melanie turned to Darcy. “So you like the look of the place?”
Ross thought it was beautiful. He’d always dreamed of living in a house with ocean views. And there were ocean views from just about every room in this Tuscan-style home Melanie had found online.
Ross walked out onto the front deck and instantly fell in love with what he saw.
Sitting to one side was a two-seater swing seat.
A six-burner barbecue with a hood and side burner, all built into a reclaimed wooden bench, sat nearby.
It was enough for him to turn to Melanie and say, “I love it.”
Melanie stared into his blue eyes. “I think we’ve just found our home, future hub,” she said.
“Can you two withhold the gushy stuff for five seconds?” Darcy roared at his own humor before walking to the edge of the deck, having noticed something going on in the house next door.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said.
As the three Flight Nineteeners stood there watching, a woman was hammering a sign into the front lawn of the house next door.
After she was confident it was secure, she noticed three strangers watching her.
“Beautiful day to be in Monterey,” the real-estate agent said, before adding, “Are any of you in the market for a new home?”
Melanie shook her head, but said with sincerity, “I think we’ve just found it. Thanks anyway.”
“You know what,” the woman said. “Maybe you should just come over and have a quick look. You never know. Julia Reichstein, at your service.”
Darcy, Ross, and Melanie looked at each other and thought, why not?
They had ample time. The helicopter would be waiting for them at Monterey Regional Airport no matter how long they took.
“Okay, then,” Melanie said. “Let’s see what you have over there, Julia.”
Only when she entered the driveway of the house next door to her dream home did a thought enter her mind.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The facility was like the one beneath Homey Airport but more impressive. It was easily five times bigger.
But what made this facility so much more incredible was that half of it looked like it wasn’t a top-secret facility at all, but a movie set, built to look like a small, picturesque township. Tim could see a main street lined with shops and buildings. At the other end of the town was a luscious oasis of trees. On a second look, Tim realized that it could have been a small lake or something similar, sitting in the middle of the area.
Tim followed Ben along a glassed-in corridor that gave him a much better vantage point of the facility.
He could see the other half of it now. It was a cutting-edge aerospace hangar.
A vast array of equipment divided into pods identical to the one at the shop sat on the other side of the hangar, opposite the aerospace area. In each of these pods were more examples of test craft that they’d obviously been experimenting on over the years.
“Amazing, huh?” Ben said in a near whisper as he motioned for Tim to keep up.
When Tim caught up to Ben, he said, “What’s the point of the place below Homey Airport, if this one exists?”
Ben walked on for a few feet before he said, “It’s a long story. We’ll cover that off later.”
Ben studied both sides of the facility. Every time he walked up there, he was still in awe of the place, even though it was familiar to him.
The two Erwins walked another twenty feet or so. At the end of the catwalk, Tim could see a staircase that would lead them down to the floor of the facility.
Ben said, “We will brief you in a few minutes, with the intention of then getting you to meet someone very special to us.”
“The lone survivor,” Tim said.
“He said what?”
Lee repeated the words. “He asked if you’d consider taking him back.”
All Tammy could picture was Tony: the boyish good looks, the hair, the grin, the ears. She loved all of him. The last thing on earth she would ever do was get back with Brandon now. And Brandon was an A-grade cheater, with none other than Tammy’s own sister. Even without Tony around, hell would freeze over before she went back to him. With relationships, she always held onto the belief that if it ends—you never go back.
Tammy eventually met Lee’s gaze and said, “Has the man lost the plot? What would possess him to think that would be a good idea? And that I would ever consider it?”
Lee had waited for Tammy to get back to her apartment before she poured herself a wine.
She held up her finger, signaling that Tammy should hold on one second, before heading over to the kitchen cupboard and pulling out two wine glasses. Once she’d poured herself and Tammy a glass, she handed Tammy’s to her and said, “Bottoms up.”
As soon as she’d had a sip, she said, “There’s something else you need to know.”
Tammy sat a little more upright. “I’m listening.”
Lee came and sat next to her on one of the kitchen barstools.
She studied her glass of wine for a moment as the vision of Brandon’s busted-up face came to mind.
“Annie. Um, she…” Lee seemed to hesitate, so Tammy took another drink. That helped.
Tammy shook her head and said, “Annie did what?”
“Broke his nose. You’ve never seen two black eyes like it.” Lee shook her head. “It was like she used a baseball bat.”
Tammy went pale.
It was happening again.
Annie was losing her shit. She was going off-reserve.
The last time Annie lost it, she’d tried to kill Tammy. And out of nothing but pure luck, Tammy’s life had been spared.
In an instant, her thoughts instinctively switched to worry for her two children. Her own safety would come a distant second.
Her gut told her something bad was on the horizon. All she wanted to do was take Beth and Noah back to California that very night. She felt much safer there.
“Shit,” Tammy said.
“What are you going to do?” Lee put her hand on her best friend’s shoulder.
“I need to get out of here,” Tammy said.
Lee knew she was talking about St. Louis.
“But what about Beth and Noah?” Lee said.
Tammy studied the clear liquid swilling around in her glass.
“I think I’m just going to have to take them with me,” she said resolutely.
Lee said, “Do you mean you’re just going to take them without anyone’s consent?”
Tammy silently nodded. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes.
“What choice do I have? Annie’s a complete wack job. I’m worried sick she’ll do something to harm them.”
Lee scoffed. “Surely she’d never harm those two defenseless children?”
Tammy shook her head. “What better way to get back at me? And if she knew Brandon wanted to come crawling back, what better way to get back at him too? It would be a double whammy.”
Todd locked the car doors the split second Michelle’s passenger-side door closed. He started the car immediately and pulled out from the curb. Fortunately, at that moment there were no cars driving down his side of the road.
He turned to Michelle and said, “Thank you will never be able to cover it.”
“If I had to work Skid Row,” she said, “I’d have to consider wearing diapers.”
They both broke into nervous laughter.
When they’d driven another block or so, Todd said, “Jesus. The gunshot sounded like it was right next to us.”
Michelle wiped her forehead and shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever jumped that high.”
But as Jason had explained to Todd, living in Skid Row was like living next to an airport. Whether it was planes or gunshots—you ended up zoning out once you’d heard enough of them.
“So it went well, huh? You happy?” Michelle said.
Todd drove on, believing things had gone well.
“He was a bit standoffish at the beginning, but once he let me explain who I was and why I was there, he seemed to warm to me,” he said.
“So what happens now, my man?” Michelle inquired.
Todd tapped on the dashboard with the hand that had been sitting across the top of the steering wheel. “He agreed to meet me again in a week or so,” he said. “I’m just going to buy him a coffee and a sandwich.”
When he’d given her a quick look to confirm she’d heard what he said, he added, “I’m going to take it slow. I just want to see if I can get to know him.”
Michelle thought it seemed a reasonable idea.
She’d always known Todd had a heart of gold, and could see he was trying to do the right thing.
“Do you think you can help him?” she said.
“He was more articulate than I thought he would be. To be honest, I was expecting him to be a thug. Maybe I caught him on a good day, but he came across as just a normal kid, doing it hard. I think there’s hope for him.”
Michelle looked out her passenger window as the streets of Clement Junction flew past. The one thing that came to her mind was what concerned her the most.
Todd might think everything would be peachy-keen with this attempt to establish a relationship with his half-brother. But someone else, with considerable pull in this town, might have other ideas.
Andrew Roberts.
Michelle wasn’t intimidated by Todd’s father. But her superior officer? The guy she answered to?
That was a different story altogether.
And when the Mac reported to Andrew who he’d seen Todd with, things would unravel for Todd’s friend Michelle.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ben led Tim into a large room, which at second glance Tim realized was a boardroom. The impossibly large table was surrounded by high-backed leather chairs.
The main wall was dominated by four enormous screens. To the left of the room, Tim could see the township, and to his right, in stark contrast, was the aerospace facility.
Tim knew the amount of money spent on “black-ops” projects was significant.
But looking around this facility, which Ben had called “Joe,” Tim wondered if this was where a big portion of all black-ops money had gone. He wasn’t far from the truth.
Ben offered Tim a water before telling him he’d be back shortly. He disappeared through the door, which shut silently behind him.
Ben was gone for about ten minutes.
Tim wasn’t fussed. He’d spent most of his time toggling his fascination from one side of the facility to the other. He still considered pinching himself a couple of times, to ensure he wasn’t in bed lying next to Sandra and dreaming it all.
“Sorry I took so long,” Ben said as he entered the room. But he was not alone.
A tall, serious-looking man came in right behind Ben.
Tim could tell by his demeanor the guy was top dog at Joe.
“Dad,” Ben said, watching the man walk to Tim, “I’d like you to meet our boss here.”
“Steve King.” The guy shook Tim’s hand with vigor.
“I like a man with a strong handshake,” Steve said. He turned to Ben. “I wouldn’t expect any less from Ben’s father.”
Tim took the compliment comfortably, and as he withdrew his hand, said, “It’s an honor to meet you, sir. You have one hell of a facility here.”
Steve and Ben sat down in chairs next to Tim.
“This was originally built by the British in World War II. It was much smaller then, and was one of their most secret submarine facilities in the world,” Steve said. “When the war ended in 1945, they basically abandoned the place. The Brits decided it was too remote for any future purpose.”
He studied the black screens on the far wall before continuing. “When the CIA found about it almost by accident, they offered to take it off the Brits’ hands for a tidy sum. When the British government agreed, the agency made just one stipulation for the deal.”
“A man of your experience may probably guess what that is, Tim Bernard Erwin,” Steve said.
Tim didn’t freak out that the guy knew his middle name. Hell, he probably knew the last time I took a whiz, Tim thought.
“The facility was, as far as anyone knew, blown up?”
“Spot on. The CIA acquired the place for one sole purpose,” Steve said.
Tim put two and two together.
“A place to hide him,” he whispered.
Steve grinned. “There’s a company man. He’ll always whisper no matter where he is. I can assure you, you don’t need to worry about that here.”
Okay, Tim thought, I’ll try the hell to relax.
Steve turned back to Ben, indicating it was time to get things moving.
“Dad, there’s someone we want you to meet.”
Ben reached for the phone sitting on the boardroom table.
“Bring him in,” he said to someone on the other end of the line.
Jesus, I’m about to meet someone from another planet, Tim thought.
Steve could tell Tim was clearly more nervous than a pimple-faced sixteen-year-old boy on prom night about to try and kiss a girl for the first time.
“Relax, Tim,” Steve said, looking at him with a grin. “No need to fret.”
A moment later, the door opened and two guards entered.
As they parted, Steve and Ben rose to their feet.
Tim decided to do the same.
Tim turned to the person between them and three words came to mind immediately.
What.
The.
Hell.
If this is what an alien looks like, there must be billions of them on planet earth.
He looked like a normal, everyday man.
He was about six feet tall, and moderately built. He had short hair, a snub nose, and friendly eyes. His complexion was fair. For a split second, Tim felt as if he was looking at someone he knew.
He wore civilian clothes: mustard-colored corduroy pants, and a shirt Tim thought a little old-fashioned, tucked into the pants and finished off with a big belt and brown shoes.
Tim watched as the man walked up to him.
He stared at Tim for a second without any hint of expression.
Tim could feel the butterflies in his stomach going crazy.
Ben was about to say something, but then the stranger spoke.
“I understand I have you to thank,” he said as a small grin appeared on his face.
Tim looked to Ben before turning back to the man and saying, “Thank me for what? I don’t understand what’s happening here.”
Steve stepped to Tim’s side and patted him on the shoulder.
“I think what he’s trying to say,” Steve said, “is he’s here thanks to you, Tim Erwin.”
