The Matter of the Deserted Airliner

by Levi, Steve;

  “How much longer before you can snap it?” Jim was nervously looking over his shoulder.

  “None.” Mittles handed him the padlock. The wire and her strength and been enough. “When’s the great escape?”

  “Let’s adjourn to the men’s room.” said the Corporal.

  Chapter 24

  “Have you been a good girl and done your research?” The voice was on her phone again. Ingratiating. Patronizing. Smooth on the outside and choppy in message, like the ocean before a storm.

  “If you mean the Medusa connection, yeah. I found lots of earth, air and water images.”

  “Good. Good. You won’t have to worry about earth. Save it for another day. Like tomorrow. Concentrate on the other two.”

  “You know I hate riddles.”

  “Oh. Well, I think I could find another reporter who does.”

  There was silence for a moment.

  “I can live with the indignity.”

  “I thought so. Now as this caper winds down, Gerry, dear, it’s going to get a bit messy. Things happening fast. So you won’t have the luxury of time you’ve had so far. Do you understand me?”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning wear your tenny sneakers all the time. The next drop,” he chortled, “this makes me so excited! The next drop is going to be for another $5 million in gems.”

  “Numbers are going up.”

  “I love it when you talk that way. It excites me. Yes, the numbers are going up. $5 million so far, $5 million today, $5 million tomorrow and the balance shortly thereafter.”

  “If you can get away with it, it’s going to pay very well.”

  “It’s not IF we can get away with it; it’s when we get away with it. For a journalist you have a problem with your adverbs.”

  “Ooh, an educated man. Not many of them left. OK. Where do I go for this one?”

  “You had such a terrible time with the evil Chief of Detectives last time I’m going to take you right to the end of the chase so you’ll be there for the crowning moment.”

  “Where will that be?”

  “I’m not going to tell you now. I’ll call you with ten minutes to spare. You and your cameraman best be ready to roll when I call, Jah?”

  “Jah, we’ll be ready to go.”

  Chapter 25

  Ayanna dropped into the chair at the Command Center as though the weight of the world was on her shoulders. She had snagged six hours of sleep a day earlier but she felt as though she had barely closed her eyes when she was up and moving again. She even tried an old college trick, sleeping in her clothes, but hadn’t seemed to work. She was exhausted and had still spent the last four hours collecting the next ransom payoff, $5 million in stones.

  She was getting her 76th cup of coffee when the guards from the armored car came into the room with the $5 million in gems. The AIC spread them on the table and everyone oohed and aahed them. The AIC called Ayanna over.

  “Ayanna, I want you to see this because you’re making the delivery. What do you see?”

  Ayanna looked at him strangely. “I hope I see about $5 million in precious gems.”

  “That you do,” the AIC said. “What else do you see?”

  “A leather bag?”

  “Good.” The AIC tossed her the leather jewelry bag. “What’s inside of it?”

  Ayanna dug her hand into the bag and felt around. There was nothing there. “What was I supposed to find?”

  “You found it. Nothing. I just wanted to show you there is no directional device with the stones. Do you want to check the stones individually?”

  “No. I want you to catch the people who are extorting us.”

  The AIC smiled sickly. “We’re all in this together. The FBI just works a little differently. We’ll be behind you the whole way. You just won’t see us.”

  It was the ‘we’ll be behind you the whole way’ statement causing Ayanna concern. It was one of those clichés meaning exactly the opposite of what was intended. People who were behind you the whole way were not there at all. You were one your own. Until you succeeded and then you were part of the team. If you failed you were on your own. In the wilderness. ‘We’ll be behind you the whole way’ and ‘We’re all in this together’ were code words for ‘be sure and cover your butt because we will only be there to share in the glory.’

  “The extortionists will know you are there even without a tracking device.” It was an honest assessment.

  The AIC dodged the comment. “We’ve got agents on the ground all over town, cars will be tracking you with this,” he held up a directional device. “You will carry one on your person. We’ve got a speed boat in the Inlet and a chopper ready to fly. Wherever they go they are going to have a hard time staying ahead of us.”

  This did not sound good to Ayanna. What did they know she didn’t? She was going to carry the directional device on her person. On her person? That sounded a lot like they were expecting her to be taken hostage. This was definitely not good news. Speed boat and chopper? What kind of a drop off was this going to be? This was not turning out to be a good day.

  “I don’t know if I like walking around with a directional device on me,” she snapped. This wasn’t just unexpected; it was unacceptable. “What happens if I get searched?”

  “So what if you do?” The AIC was not pulling any punches. “They don’t care about you. All they care about is this bag,” he pointed to the leather gem bag bulging with $5 million in stones. “One other thing.”

  “I’m breathless with anticipation.” Ayanna was not looking forward to a surprise.

  “The thieves did not specify this Noonan character was to accompany you. So you’re going alone.”

  “But, he’s. . .”

  “He’s not part of the show,” the AIC flatly stated. “He went on the first drop because he was requested by name. There was no such request this time. He stays; you go.”

  Ayanna was still arguing with the AIC when Noonan made his appearance. He arrived as in he was suddenly there. One moment Ayanna was fighting to have him on the drop team and the next instant Noonan was right beside her agreeing with the AIC.

  Agreeing with AIC!

  What kind of garbage was this?

  Agreeing with the AIC?!

  Her partner in crime-stopping?

  “This is quite a surprise,” she said snidely to Noonan. “I thought we were a team.”

  “We are and the AIC is correct. They wanted me to be there for the first drop. Now they’re getting serious. Besides, I have other things to do.”

  “Do you know anything I ought to know?” The AIC used the penetrating stare FBI agents practice in front of mirrors every morning.

  Noonan returned the stare with a mild who knows? look. “I looked into the disposition of all the cargo on Unicorn 739.”

  “I didn’t authorize any cargo to be released,” the AIC was instantly animated.

  “None of it has been released,” returned Noonan. “There are at least two suspicious packages. One is an antique motorcycle which doesn’t look much like an antique and the other is a freight igloo which has been losing weight since it was shipped in New York.”

  “Losing weight?” The AIC clearly wasn’t sure he had heard correctly.

  “Odd but correct. It weighed 200 pounds in New York and is down to 136 here. I’ve put in a call to the company which sent the package, a freight forwarder in New York, but I haven’t gotten a call back yet.”

  “Losing weight as if someone is taking something out of the crate?”

  “I asked but, no, you can’t do that. Cargo goes in and gets shipped. No one gets into the cargo after it has been logged in.”

  “The FBI does. Harry!” A man with a flat top virtually snapped to attention when his name was called. He walked over to the AIC with the gait of a weightlifter.

  “Sir?”

  “Go with this man, Chief of Detectives Noonan from the Sandersonville Police Department. He is going to show you an igloo. Get a warrant to
open it.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Harry stuck out his arm to Noonan as if he were saying “Shall we go?”

  “Is there anything else I should know?” The AIC was not going to let anything slip his attention.

  “You know everything I know.”

  “Fine. That will be all.” Then he turned abruptly toward Ayanna.

  To Harry, Noonan said, “I guess that’s my cue to go downstairs.”

  Harry didn’t say a word; he just stood with his arm extended toward the door. “And the gesture,” Noonan said to Ayanna as he turned to leave, “is about as friendly as the FBI ever gets.”

  Chapter 26

  The ramp had not been difficult to construct. It had not been difficult to construct because it was not going to be a permanent structure. It only had to be stable for two seconds. No longer. Then it had to have the ability to self-destruct. No loud bangs, puffs of smoke or anything dramatic. Just a simple pull of a cord and the cement block footing would collapse into the water. No wood here. Wood would float.

  The Fisherman jumped from the shore back into the boat. Nosing his way out of the thicket carpeting the shoreline, he headed toward Anchorage. He was going to his favorite fishing hole: Sebastian Seafoods.

  Chapter 27

  This was getting ridiculous! If it wasn’t the fire alarm it was the plugged toilet or the spilled trash can. He’d been to the pharmacy twice in the last ten hours – once at three in the morning – for bandages, tampons, aspirin, and cigarettes. How could there be so many smokers? There were more smokers on this flight than in every waiting room on the West Coast! What the Sam Hill was going on? There had to be something going on. There was too much activity for these people. Yes, there were close to 100 of them but they all wanted something different. A lot of different. All the time.

  There were only two of them to watch the hostages. This was supposed to be the easy part of the caper. After all, how hard was it going to be to keep 95 people happy for two days? Everything they needed was in there! Food, pop, entertainment, games. What were they asking for? Radios, cigarettes, hair brushes, Windex and paper towels, Lysol and paper towels, diapers, pampers, Pop tarts, batteries for hearing aids. The list just would not end. Not a lot of repeats either. Right after he made one trip, the requests would start again. Cigarettes?! What were they doing, eating them?

  When the door alarm went off, the extortionist was prepared for yet another disaster. What was it going to be this time? By the time he got to the screen and flicked on the security cameras, the alarm had gone off.

  Gone off?

  What?!

  Panning the room by letting his eyes rove from screen to screen, all he could see was people milling around and looking at the television screen. Nothing seemed to be out of place. He gave special attention to the doors. All three of the conventional doors were secure. He could tell by the light over the doors. There was no way anyone could have gotten out those doors. He could still see the bracings which welded the door shut. The double doors were still secure too. The outside camera showed the truck backed up to the double doors just in case.

  That only left the massive warehouse door. It had been bolted too. He stared at it trying to see the lock. He couldn’t because it was behind fume hood and there was a wall of people between his view and the door.

  This was not good.

  When the warehouse door went up again, this time without the alarm going off, he was more than distressed.

  Chapter 28

  “I think you’re right,” Harry with the FBI said flatly to Noonan as they looked over the motorcycle. This was about as excited as an FBI agent every got. “It doesn’t look like an antique to me.”

  “I don’t know why it makes any difference,” Noonan responded. “Nothing is coming off the plane anyway. It is interesting.”

  “You said you contacted the owner?” Harry looked at the shipping label, “George Sampson?”

  “I left him a message. His recorder said he was on his way into Anchorage to pick up his motorcycle. He might be in the crowd of people downstairs waiting for something to happen.”

  “It’s worth a check. Now, what about this igloo.”

  Noonan took a step sideways and tapped an igloo. “This was originally shipped out of New York by a freight forwarding company. When it was loaded in New York it weighed 200 pounds. When it arrived in New Orleans it weighed a little over 160 pounds.”

  “New Orleans? What’s it doing here?”

  “It was originally shipped to New Orleans. After it had arrived, the freight forwarding company called and ordered it shipped to Anchorage on Unicorn. It was weighed in New Orleans as if it were new, incoming cargo. No one looked at the old manifest because, technically, it had arrived. It was not technically a transfer. It was a new shipment.”

  “So no one knew the weight differential.”

  “When it arrived here it was weighed again?”

  “No it hasn’t been weighed here. Just in New York and New Orleans. Logically it should weigh less now. Why don’t we just open it?”

  “It could get sticky if there’s evidence in there. A good lawyer could say it was an illegal search and seizure.” Harry was a by-the-book man.

  “A better prosecutor would say it was reasonable to assume it was intricately linked to a crime in progress in which about 100 lives were at stake.”

  Harry looked at him or a moment. “Just a second,” he said and whipped out his cell phone like he was drawing a revolver. He walked into the corridor to get a better connection while Noonan looked over the cargo one more time. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then Harry came back.

  “We’re going to open it,” he said flatly as he pointed at the igloo. We’ve got Airport Security on their way now. It’s in their chain of command. We’ll be professional witnesses.”

  “I’ve always wanted to be a professional,” said Noonan.

  Chapter 29

  Eighteen seconds after Ayanna left Anchorage International Airport, there was not a single reporter—print, tabloid, radio, television or public broadcast—who was not following her. The entourage, which included the FBI undercover and the Anchorage Police out of cover, was more of a parade than a kidnapping payoff drop. There was even a line of cabs, already retained, ready to follow wherever Ayanna went.

  The only reporter absent was Gerry McComber. She was sitting in a car staring at her cell phone, waiting for a call she was praying would come. She knew Ayanna was on the move –every radio station in town was tailing her. Gerry was stuck where she was. She had no control over the voice on the cell line. He had obviously called every news outlet in the city so where did that leave her?

  Chapter 30

  For Ayanna, the day had started badly and it was so much worse now she shuddered to think what the next hour would bring. She was wearing her tennis shoes so she could run; at least the pouch with the diamonds didn’t weigh much. She didn’t have her gun either. She went out the door of the Command Center and into a cab. Her instructions were to be at the telephone booth at the Railroad Terminal at exactly 2 p.m.

  She was.

  So was the crowd, not even staying far enough back to give the appearance of being unobtrusive. When the phone rang, Ayanna picked up the receiver slowly.

  “No small talk,” came the voice. “Your entourage is expecting something.”

  “Franz Kafka would have loved you. Why are you doing this?” said Ayanna calmly. “This may be a joke to you but there are 95 people whose lives are on the line. One screw up anywhere along the line and we are talking mass murder here.”

  “Naw! It won’t come to that, dear lady,” said the voice. “We have everything well in hand. Besides, this is America. How can you tell the press no?”

  “Well, let me tell you something you haven’t thought of. You can take the money and go to a lot of places on earth, places where no one will send you back. If one person dies, there’s not a country on earth where you’ll be safe.”

  “Love! It
’s all in the plan! Now, here’s what you are going to do. Take a cab to the Aurora Borealis Mall. Go into the Parking Lot. It should stall a few of your friends. Then take the escalator to the Fifth Floor. Do you know where the Ladies’ Room is up there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Right down the hall from the Ladies Room is an emergency exit. Go out the exit and then down the stairs to the second floor. Go back into the Mall and head for the Williwaw Steakhouse at the other end of the Mall. Go directly through the Steakhouse to the Emergency Exit there and down the stairs. Go across Fifth Avenue and go into the Knik Inlet Bookstore. There’s a payphone in the back. Be at the phone in ten minutes.”

  “What you are asking for is a tall order.”

  “What I am asking you to do is lose our friends with the press. They’ve had their taste. No one ever said this would be easy. Now, be a good little bird and do what you’ve been told.”

  The line went dead.

  Ayanna turned around to find a cab. The press was a mob on the sidewalk. Television cameras were being set up and newspaper photographers were snapping like crazy. She hailed the only cab in downtown Anchorage someone from the press had not already hired and headed for the Aurora Borealis Mall.

  The perp had been correct. There were so many reporters following her they had a hard time finding their own cabs much less following hers. The road from the Railroad Terminal to city center angled up a hill and Ayanna was well up the hillside before her entourage was in gear. Bumper to bumper they followed her through the downtown and then up into the Aurora Borealis Garage, parking for the Aurora Borealis Mall.

  If Ayanna had been walking with a baton she would have called the progression a parade. It looked like a parade. It moved like a parade or a convoy, everyone headed in the same direction. It did not have a route, every car simply followed the one ahead with the second car following Ayanna’s cab. Where she went they followed.