Cooper By The Gross (All 144 Cooper Stories In One Volume)

by Bill Bernico

  Gloria looked up at the wall clock above the office door. “Most likely,” she said and returned her attention to her laptop screen.

  *****

  Clay stepped back over to where Bonnie was waiting. “We’d better get out of the plane for now,” he said. “You know, just to be safe. We have to make sure there no fuel leaking beneath us or we could be joining the rest of these poor souls before long.”

  Bonnie grabbed her carry-on bag and followed Clay through a gaping hole in the front part of the right fuselage wall. He helped her down onto the ground and walked her away from the plane. They stood under a large pine tree and waited, watching for signs of fuel leakage. After fifteen minutes of not seeing anything wet under or around the plane, Clay walked with Bonnie back to the plane. He helped her step up into the body again and then looked around the inside of the plane.

  “We’re better off staying with the plane,” he told Bonnie. “If rescuers find the plane, we’d better be in it or near it. And they might not find us right away, so we’ll have to use whatever we can find to shelter us from the cold outside.” He gestured with his chin toward the front of the plane. “Go through whatever luggage you can find and see if you can find anything to wear. I’ll look for any blankets. We’re going to have to block off the back end of the plane from all that open space in the front.”

  Bonnie dug through several suitcases that she’d found under the seats. She pulled out several sweaters and shirts and pants and piled them all in the back of the plane, behind the seats she and Clay had occupied. In one suitcase, Bonnie had found a box of fancy chocolates, probably a gift for someone in Denver. Clay found eight blankets, one above each seat, and put them with the clothes Bonnie had found.

  “You’d think that out of those other six passengers that someone would have brought some bottles of water,” Bonnie said.

  “There’s plenty of snow outside,” Clay told her. “Probably best not to eat it, but we can always melt it down into drinking water. I’ll find some kind of a container to put it in and we can have a fire. See if anyone on board has matches or a lighter.”

  Bonnie winced and turned her head away from the dead passengers. Clay put his hands on her shoulders. “Why don’t you see if you can find something to melt the snow in?” He said. “I’ll check them for a lighter.”

  Clay began going through the coat pockets and pants pockets and purses of the other passengers. The poor fellow who had the bad fortune to switch seats with Clay had three hundred dollars in his wallet, several credit cards, and a driver’s license identifying him as one James Mitchell. He had all he needed to get by, but no matches or lighter. The woman across the aisle from him had a small bottle of aspirin and an envelope full of coupons, but was apparently not a smoker, either. The man with the broken neck, who had been sitting directly in front of Clay had one of those disposable lighters in his pants pocket as well as half a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket. Clay left the cigarettes where they were but kept the lighter.

  Beneath the seat ahead of him was a small carry-on, maybe twice the size of a box that might hold a pair of boots. It was leather and had a shoulder strap and several zippers. Clay pulled the bag out from under the seat. It was heavy and fully packed. When he unzipped the main compartment and pulled the flaps back, Clay’s eyes opened wide and he stood upright again.

  “Bonnie,” Clay called out the hole in the plane. “Bonnie, come in here, would you?”

  A minute later Bonnie returned with a jagged piece of metal from the plane’s right wing. “I think we can bend this into something to melt snow in, don’t you?” she said.

  “Hold that thought a moment, would you?” Clay told her. “You have to take a look at what I found in one of the bags.” Clay lifted the leather bag onto his vacant seat and pulled the flaps apart to let Bonnie have a look inside.

  She stared at the contents and then looked at Clay. “Is that what I think it is?” she said.

  “Looks like it,” Clay said, pulling one of the small plastic bags of white powder out of the leather bag. He took the jagged piece of metal from Bonnie and poked it into the bag of white powder, handing the metal back to Bonnie. Clay touched his finger to the powder and dabbed it on his tongue, spitting immediately and turning to Bonnie. “Cocaine,” he said, “and lots of it. Someone’s going to come looking for this stuff and we’d better hope they don’t find us before the police do.”

  “What do we do with it?” Bonnie said, her voice a little shakier than before.

  “Nothing,” Clay said, putting the punctured bag back in with the rest of the bags. He zipped up the leather bag and slid it back under the seat. He looked at his watch and turned to Bonnie. “Our plane won’t even be due in Denver for another hour. No one will even start looking for at least an hour and a half, when they try radioing the plane and no one answers.”

  “What about this?” Bonnie said, holding the piece of jagged metal out to Clay.

  “I think I can shape this into a pot of sorts,” Clay said, “and then wash it out with snow before we try to make drinking water. Can you see what you can find that will burn?”

  Bonnie left the plane and started scavenging for wood and paper. Clay stepped outside and found a large, round rock and several smaller ones. He laid the piece of metal on the large rock and began pounding the edges down with the smaller rock. In no time at all he had fashioned a shallow vessel from the piece of metal. He filled it with snow and rubbed it around, trying to remove any debris and dirt. Clay brought the vessel back inside the plane and picked up one of the shirts Bonnie had found in the luggage. He wiped the inside of the vessel out with the shirt and then set it down.

  Bonnie was just coming back toward the plane, her hands full of small branches. Clay found a newspaper on the seat next to one of the passengers. That would make perfect kindling, he thought. He went back to the large rock outside and gathered some of the smaller ones, placing them in a small circle. Clay crumbled up a sheet of the newspaper and set it inside the circle of rocks. He instructed Bonnie to lay some of the smaller branches on top of the crumpled paper and he lit the paper. A moment later the branches caught fire and Clay set the vessel on top of the fire, resting it on the small rocks.

  He and Bonnie scooped up handfuls of clean snow and dropped them into the vessel. The snow quickly melted and Clay hurried back into the plane to get the shirt he’d used to wipe the vessel out. He wrapped it around one edge of the vessel and lifted it off the fire, setting it down in the snow. The water quickly cooled and a few minutes later they both took a drink.

  “Not exactly sparkling bottled water,” Clay said. “But it’ll keep us alive.”

  “It’s got a bit of an iron taste to it,” Bonnie remarked.

  Clay looked behind him and spotted one of the wings several hundred feet behind him. He turned to Bonnie. “I’ll be right back,” he told her. “I just want to go have a look at that wing. Maybe there’s still some fuel in it we can use to make a signal fire.”

  “I’m going back inside,” Bonnie said. “I’ll see if I can hang those blankets around the back of the plane. It’s getting colder and we need to stay warm.”

  Clay hiked back to the wing that had been ripped off the plane when it caught a pine tree. It was twisted and bent and there was a big wet spot beneath it. Clay touched his finger to the wet spot and smelled it. It was fuel. Most of the wing’s fuel had spilled out on impact, but he could see a pocket in the wing’s interior that still held five or ten gallons. Now all he had to do was find something to carry it in.

  *****

  I looked at my watch again and compared it with the clock above the office door. “Dad should have called by now,” I said. “Do you think anything’s wrong?”

  “Maybe he’s like you,” Gloria said, “and he just forgot to call. He probably got caught up in talking to Harry and it just slipped his mind. When he does remember, he’ll call. He’s a big boy and he can take care of himself.”

  “I guess so,” I
said.

  “If you’re so worried,” Gloria said, “why don’t you call him on his cell phone?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Then he’ll think I’m some kind of worry wart.”

  “Well, aren’t you?” Gloria said. “Give him a little more time. He’ll call.”

  I sat back down behind my desk and tried to concentrate on my work.

  *****

  Clay walked back to the plane and looked up into the sky before he stepped back inside. Bonnie was busy hanging blankets all around. “Looks like a storm coming in,” Clay said. “We’d better make sure we have everything we’re going to need from outside. I’m going to melt some more snow for us, but I have to find something in here to put it in.”

  As much as he dreaded it, Clay knew he had to take another look in the cockpit. He had to just tell himself that the pilot was way beyond help and that he was feeling no pain and to try not to look at him. On the floor in front of what would have been the co-pilot’s seat, Clay saw a thermos bottle lying near the foot pedals. He picked it up and shook it. The glass hadn’t broken and it was full of something. He unscrewed the stopper and held the opening to his nose. It was coffee with cream. He took a sip and was surprised to find that it was still hot. He carried the thermos back to Bonnie and offered her some of the coffee.

  “That was good,” Bonnie said.

  Clay screwed the stopper back on and handed the thermos to Bonnie. “Put this in a safe place,” he said. “When the coffee runs out, I can store the water in there. I’m going back to the cockpit to see what else I can find.”

  Back in the cockpit, Clay reached through the needles of the pine branch that had taken the captain’s head off. In the captain’s pants pocket, Clay found a jackknife and a nail clipper but nothing else useful. He decided to check the other passenger’s pockets and bags again. He found a candy bar and a roll of mints in one lady’s purse as well as a ring of keys and a folding compact with a mirror in it. He put all these items in his jacket pocket and continued searching. Overhead in one of the compartments, Clay found eight small pillows and some plastic flatware, forks and spoons mostly. When he’d finished scavenging, Clay parted two of the blankets that hung across the back section and stepped inside. He handed Bonnie the candy bar and the mints.

  “Looks like these and that fancy box of chocolates are all we’re going to have to eat for a while,” Clay said, “so let’s try to make them last until I can get out in the woods and see what else we might be able to eat.”

  “What could there be to eat in these woods?” Bonnie said.

  “There might be a rabbit or two,” Clay explained. “Maybe even a deer. Who knows?”

  “So what?” Bonnie said. “Even if there were, how could you catch them?”

  Clay reached into his coat and pulled his .38 from its underarm holster and held it out for Bonnie to see.

  “How did you get that onto the plane?” Bonnie said.

  “It’s been such an integral part of my wardrobe for more than forty years,” Clay said. “I just automatically slip in on when I get dressed. I even forgot I was wearing it when I got to the airport.”

  “How did you get it past security?” Bonnie wanted to know.

  “Remember?” Clay said. “The regular airline is on strike and these little puddle jumper substitutes never even bothered checking. Hell, it didn’t even dawn on me until we switched planes in Flagstaff that I was wearing it.”

  “Well, I’m glad they were a bit lax today,” Bonnie said. “If someone other than the police finds us.” She didn’t have a finish for her sentence. A moment later she said, “What does it look like out there? I could hear some winds whipping up from in here.”

  “I think we’re in for a storm,” Clay said. “We obviously can’t have a fire in here so we’d better bundle up until it passes. Then we can build a fire outside.”

  “You know,” Bonnie said, “I don’t ever recall seeing anyone hunt for rabbits or deer with a handgun. I think it’s because they’re not accurate over a longer range. So you’d also better be good at sneaking up on those critters otherwise we’re going to be eating pinecones and berries.”

  “Ah, a sense of humor, too,” Clay said. “I like that.”

  Bonnie had arranged the other six blankets into two piles of three each. The extra clothes from the other passengers’ luggage had been spread out beneath the blankets, forming makeshift beds. Bonnie had already crawled into one of the beds and had Clay’s turned down, ready to be entered.

  “I’m going to take one more look out there before we settle in,” Clay said, and exited the plane. The skies overhead were growing dark and full of clouds. The wind had picked up as well and snow was beginning to drift against the plane’s mangled carcass. Clay picked up the makeshift snow melting pot, scooped it full of snow and brought it back inside with him, setting it aside for later use. He slid under the covers, pulled them up to his chin and looked at Bonnie.

  “It could be a while before the storm passes,” he said. “It’s bound to get pretty cold even in here. You might want to wrap your head with some of those clothes. You can lose a lot of body heat through you head, you know.”

  Bonnie grabbed a fleece jacket that she’d taken off one of the dead passengers and draped it over her head. She pulled the covers back up to her chin and settled in. “What about your head?” she said to Clay.

  Clay pulled a lined denim shirt out from his pile and draped it over his head, tying the arms under his chin. He pulled his covers up as far as they would go and lay back on four of the eight pillows Bonnie had found.

  *****

  I looked at the clock again and compared it to my watch. Dad had had plenty of time to talk to Harry and still call in. I picked up my desk phone and looked at Gloria. “Do you have Dad’s cell number?” I said.

  Gloria pulled her cell phone out of her purse, flipped it open and found the contacts page. She read me the number and closed her phone again.

  I dialed Dad’s number but it didn’t ring. Instead I got a recorded message that the party that I was trying to call was out of cell range and advised me to try again later. I hung up the phone. “I got a message about Dad being out of cell range,” I told Gloria. “I’m sure Denver has enough cell towers to accommodate everyone within range,” I said. “Unless Dad is not in Denver.”

  “Where else would he be?” Gloria said. “According to him Harry, or Fred if you prefer, lives right in the city. You should be able to get through to him. Maybe you dialed the number wrong. Try it again and use your cell this time.”

  I pulled my cell phone out of the leather case that hung on my belt, opened it and hit the speed dial button for Dad’s number. I got the same recording with the same message. I closed my phone and turned to Gloria. “Same results,” I said. “Something’s not right, I can feel it.”

  “Why don’t you call the Denver airport and see what time Dad’s flight got in?” Gloria said. “That should at least put your mind to rest.”

  I snapped my fingers and pointed at Gloria. “Good idea,” I said and dialed the information operator. I got the number for the Denver International Airport and asked for the information desk. They put me on hold for a few seconds before a woman answered.

  “Information,” the female voice said. “How may I help you?”

  “Yes,” I said, “can you tell me what time the flight from Flagstaff got in today?”

  “One moment please,” she said and put me on hold. A few seconds later she came back on the line and said, “I’m sorry but that flight is not in yet?”

  “What do you mean, it’s not in yet?” I said. “It was due in almost two hours ago. What happened?”

  “I don’t know, sir,” she said. “The FAA has been notified and they’re checking into the flight plan that was filed in Flagstaff. We’re still waiting to hear something.”

  “Well, how long before you know anything?” I said.

  “It’s hard to say,” the woman answered. “It could t
ake a while.”

  “Can I leave my number with you?” I said. “Could you call me when you hear anything?”

  “Go ahead,” the woman said. “Give me that number.”

  I gave her my office number as well as my cell number and told her to try the cell if I didn’t answer from the office. She assured me that she would and hung up. I turned to Gloria, who was now staring at me with a question on her face.

  “You heard?” I said.

  Gloria nodded. “What do they think happened?” she said.

  “Nobody knows at this point,” I said. “But two hours is a long time to be overdue. It’s beginning to look like the plane may have landed somewhere else besides Denver.”

  “You don’t mean landed, do you?” Gloria said, and then came over to where I sat and put her arm around my shoulder.

  I leaned into Gloria and sighed. “I hope he’s all right,” I said.

  *****

  The storm outside was blowing harder with every passing minute. The plane’s body rocked and shook whenever a gust of wind caught it. Bonnie and Clay huddled closer to each other, trying hard to stay warm and calm. Clay gestured with his chin at the thermos bottle.

  “I could use some coffee,” he told Bonnie.

  Bonnie pulled her arm out from under the covers and grabbed the thermos, unscrewing the cup that served as the bottle top. She unscrewed the stopper and poured half a cup before capping the bottle again. She handed Clay the cup and he took a sip, passing it to her now. She sipped and they passed it back and forth until the cup was empty. Bonnie screwed the cup back onto the bottle and laid it aside. They huddled under the covers again, their bodies shaking and quivering from the cold.

  Clay didn’t remember the exact moment it happened, but soon he and Bonnie both had fallen asleep. By the time Clay awoke, the howling wind outside had ceased. He sat with his ear cocked and listened. It was quiet. He shook Bonnie and her eyes fluttered open. She sat up, also aware of the silence outside.