Missing

by L C Lang

  Even though it had been several years since she had last gone down the side of the hill, Maggie made pretty good time. It had taken her fifteen minutes to get down six hundred feet. At the bottom, she waited a few moments, catching her breath. The worst part was going to be walking up the other side, but she hoped the handholds on the other side were still there too.

  After walking across the small creek, she looked at the hill in front of her. At some point in time, spring rains had washed out part of the hill where she needed to go, taking with it a few of the smaller trees near the edge, and her first handhold. If she didn’t cross here, she would have to walk fifty feet down and would have a harder time finding the handholds to get up the other side. But she had come prepared. Unhooking the rope from her belt, she slid her hand down to one end, where there was a hook.

  The full moon overhead gave off enough light so she could see what she was doing. Finally, she located a nice sized tree she could use. It took three throws before the hook finally went around the tree and caught. She pulled on it, making sure the hook would hold her weight. It did. Going hand over hand on the rope, she began walking up over the washed out area and onto the ground above. She left the rope attached to the tree, knowing she would need it again when she came back down.

  She quickly found the handholds and slowly made her way up the hill. It took her twenty-five minutes to get to the top. When she finally stopped, the land had now leveled off. She was at the beginning edge of the hundred feet wide cleared out area. To make sure she wasn’t seen, she moved twenty feet to her left and then moved up to the edge of the trees. She now had a clear view of the back of the house. The only thing there was a black car. There were four windows upstairs, two downstairs and all of them were dark.

  Maggie knew there were twelve people inside the house, including the first man she had seen arrive. So, why weren’t there any lights on? Of course, nine of those twelve went downstairs. Were they still downstairs, or had they gone to another part of the house? Somehow, she doubted it. Maybe that explained why there weren’t any lights on. At least in the back. Maybe the bedrooms the other five used were at the front of the house. Just as she stepped out of the woods, she heard a sound.

  She backed up and crouched behind a tree. Looking to her right, she saw a pickup truck coming up the road that passed the airport. It was a dark truck and looked like the same one she had seen yesterday evening. She watched as the truck approached the house, then pulled in the driveway and came around to the back of the house. It parked close to the back door. A tall man got out of the truck, opened the back door and walked inside. Maggie had gotten out the camera she had brought with her, which included a long-range lens, but still couldn’t see his face. All she saw was a darkened face inside the truck and the back of his head as he walked inside the house. She didn’t have any idea who he was or why he had now come two days in a row.

  The whole situation didn’t make sense. Then again, maybe it wasn’t as strange as she thought. Maybe there was an explanation. Maybe she was still too new of a detective and questioned things that didn’t need questioning. Deciding she had seen enough, she backed into the woods and headed back down the hill.

  Forty minutes later, Maggie walked through the door of the porch. She was tired from her walk up and down the hills. She was going to sleep good tonight.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  THE HOUSE

  The man walked in the back door. He went into the kitchen, where he found Walter washing the silverware.

  “You know, I could have someone do those for you,” the man said.

  Walter turned to look at him and shook his head. “No, that’s alright. I get bored around here and need something to do.”

  The man laughed a few moments and then got serious. “So, what’s going on in there today?”

  Walter pulled the plug in the sink and then reached for a towel to wipe off his hands. He put the towel down on the cabinet and then turned towards the man, who was leaning against the cabinet.

  “Apparently, they ran into a problem today. Seems one place had put in some security blocks since the last time they were in there. He has been working on getting around it all day. There’s been a lot of yelling.”

  “At who?”

  “At everyone in there. He took his frustration out on everyone. I thought for a while I might have to call you, but then everyone got up and left the room, going upstairs to the bedrooms for a couple of hours. During that time, he managed to work out the problem and got back on track. The rest finally came back down, but it has been really quiet in there.”

  The man shook his head. He was glad he didn’t have to put up with it. At least things were now back on track.

  “Anything you need?”

  Walter shook his head. “No, I brought a lot with me, plus I have my computer, so I’ve been sitting in here a lot and working.”

  “Playing a few games too?” The man asked, smiling at him.

  “How did you know?”

  The both laughed for a few moments.

  “Do I dare go in there?” the man asked.

  Walter shook his head. “I wouldn’t. I don’t go in there any more than I have to. And that is mainly to bring in the meals.”

  “Okay. They didn’t respond to me very well yesterday anyway. As long as everything is going all right, then I will leave. If you have another situation come up like that again, call me. Its close quarters in here and I am sure the stress level is up, but we can’t have that going on. There is only one more day to go.”

  Walter nodded. They said goodbye and he watched as the man walked out the back door. One more day. Would it really be over then? He hoped so.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  MONDAY MORNING

  WASHINGTON FBI OFFICE

  Colin was already at his desk when Matt walked in on Monday morning. They were both back to wearing their dark suits. Matt was still tired after the long trip over the weekend.

  “Catch up on your sleep?” Colin asked.

  Matt shook his head. “No, can’t seem to get this case out of my mind. There are too many unanswered questions that don’t make sense.” He sat down at his desk.

  “I know. All I dreamed about was black powder.”

  Matt laughed. “You and Sean did a lot of dusting.”

  “Yeah, no kidding. Had to wash my clothes twice to get the black powder out. I think my jeans changed colors.”

  Matt laughed again, shaking his head. Just then, his cell phone rang. He pulled it off his belt, looked at who was calling, and then answered.

  “Agent Palmer, this is Stan Boyer. Are you going to come in and pick up the tape from the security office at Heathrow sent over for flight 3351?”

  “Oh, I forgot about that. I think the long trip frazzled my brain. We’ll be right over.”

  Boyer laughed. “I can imagine. I figured you would want to see it. I’ve got it in my office.”

  “Okay. See you in a little while.” He closed the phone, clipping it back on his belt. Then he stood up and looked at Colin. “Come on. I forgot Boyer said the security tape was coming in late last night. Maybe our luck will change.”

  “I hope so,” Colin said, grabbing his suit coat off the back of his chair. “After the way Saturday and Sunday went, we could use some good luck.”

  With the morning traffic, it took over an hour to get to Stan Boyer’s office at the DAC Airlines office building. When they walked in, Boyer was wearing the same ill-fitting brown suit he had worn last Friday when they first saw him. Matt wondered if that was the only color suit he had. They shook hands with Boyer and then sat in the chairs in front of his desk. A computer disk was sitting in the middle of his desk.

  “Have you looked at the tape?” Matt asked.

  Boyer nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. They look like common people.”

  Matt nodded, but knew that unless they looked like they were from the Middle East, everyone was going to look normal.

>   “Okay. We will take a look at it and see if any of our sources can identify them. Is the plane still secluded and locked?”

  Boyer nodded. “Yes. We have been getting a lot of questions about it from crew members, but we haven’t said anything.”

  “Does anyone know it is flight 3351?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so. There are only five of us here in management, including Mr. Dawson, who know about it and we are trying to keep it that way until you tell us otherwise. Security is watching it, but even they don’t know.”

  “That’s good. We need to keep a lid on this for the time being. At least until we figure out what is going on. If it gets out the crew and passengers are missing, then the media will go nuts with it.”

  Boyer closed his eyes and nodded. “I know. John Murphy and Peter Collins’ wives have been calling since Friday evening. I made sure all the calls were directed to me.”

  “What are you telling them?”

  “At first, just that the plane was delayed. I explained there had been a series of storms going through England and flights were delayed or canceled.”

  “How well did that go over?”

  “Oh, they believed me. At first, anyway. By Saturday morning, I had to come up with a new excuse. Then I told them I found the flight got canceled and they were stuck in England for a few days.”

  “Did they accept that?”

  He shook his head. “No, they didn’t. They both said they had tried their husband’s cell phones, but got no answer. They also informed me that if there was a problem with their husband’s getting back, they would have called. Then, they asked again what was going on. I had to tell them I needed to get to a meeting to get out of the calls. After that, I just didn’t know what to tell them.”

  “Have they called this morning?”

  Boyer nodded. “Yes. But, I have nothing I can tell them. So, I’ve given instructions for whoever answers their calls to tell them I’m in a meeting and take a message.” Boyer slumped down in his chair. Matt thought he looked exhausted.

  “Well, maybe with the security tape we can see who the passengers are and be able to figure out what is going on. Maybe then you’ll have something to tell them.”

  “I hope so. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

  “We’ll do what we can. Is that the copy of the security tape?” He pointed to the CD sitting on his desk.

  Boyer sat up. “Oh. Yes, it is. They copied it onto a CD to make it easier.” He picked up the CD and handed it to Matt.

  “Thanks. Oh, just so you know, we checked the addresses for the passengers. The names and addresses are real, but they aren’t the people who were on the plane.”

  Boyer narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re kidding? They always ask for a driver’s license when they buy their tickets or when they check in.”

  “The driver’s licenses are fake. We went to three of the addresses. One was for a man who died three years ago. One was a six-month-old baby boy, and the last one was a woman who worked at the Rutgers University School of Nursing. The pictures may have been theirs, but the information wasn’t.”

  Boyer shook his head. “I had no idea.” He leaned back in his chair and hung his head, deep in thought for a few moments. “How are we going to prevent this happening again in the future? How are we going to know people are giving us the right information?”

  “That is a good question. You may have to go to thumbprint.”

  Boyer nodded. Matt thought he looked defeated. He felt the same way. Someone had thought this all out. Until they found out who they were dealing with, they wouldn’t even remotely know how to solve it.

  “Did your forensics find anything else on the plane?”

  Matt shook his head. “No, they didn’t. We found a couple of larger boxes on the plane which we figure the two bodies were in, but they had no prints on them.”

  “No prints of any kind?”

  “No. Whoever was on the plane knew what they were doing. They were probably wearing gloves.”

  Boyer shook his head. “This is getting worse.”

  Matt nodded. “Yes, it is. But, hopefully this tape will let us know who we are dealing with.” He stood up. “Well, we are going to head back to the office and take a look at this.” Colin stood up too.

  Boyer looked up at them. “Okay. Please let me know what you find.”

  “I will. We’ll be back in touch.”

  Just then, there was a knock on the door. They all looked at the woman who had stuck her head in.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” the older woman said. “Mr. Boyer, you’d better turn on your television.”

  Boyer sat forward in his chair. “Why?”

  “There is a breaking news story on the television about flight 3351.”

  Boyer sucked in his breath, then picked up the remote off his desk and turned on the flat screen television located on the far wall. Matt turned to look at the far wall. The television blended in the dark paneling and he hadn’t noticed it.

  On the television screen, a woman reporter was standing in front of the DAC airlines terminal. She pulled up the microphone she held in her hand. She identified herself as Sue Warren, a reporter from a local television station.

  “I am standing in front of the DAC airlines terminal at the JFK airport. It has come to our attention that there has been a missing flight from London. The flight was supposed to have arrived last Friday. From our source, the plane didn’t arrive until yesterday morning, with no passengers on-board. The source did say they there were several investigators on-board the plane when it landed. We have been unable to find out how many passengers were supposed to be on that flight, but our source tells us the investigators took a couple of bodies off the plane. There is no word yet who the victims are. We will be back on the air as soon as more information can be found.”

  Matt stood rigid for a moment, and then turned back to Boyer, glaring at him.

  Boyer was wide-eyed, a look of panic on his face. He looked at Matt. “I didn’t tell them. Management agreed to keep this quiet. Maybe one of the mechanics or ground crew called it in.”

  “No one was supposed to have been in that hangar,” Matt said, his voice louder than he had wanted it to be.

  “As far as I know, no one was. As I said before, we had security on it so no one was supposed to come anywhere near the plane. Someone must have gotten curious and slipped in without security knowing it. Someone had to have seen the plane come in and gotten suspicious.”

  “Well, this is really going to hamper our investigation now. If the passengers, or those behind the plane hijacking see this, they are going to hide even further from us.”

  Boyer opened his mouth, but closed it again, saying nothing. He looked to be in a state of shock. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. With this news, the wives of the pilot and first officer are going to be very angry. Management isn’t going to be happy either. Matt couldn’t blame them. He wasn’t happy about this either.

  “Do not let anyone give out any information on who was on that flight or there is going to be a media frenzy on this that is going to get out of control very quickly. Not to mention, the pilot’s wives are really going to be on your case.”

  Boyer nodded.

  Matt shook his head, turned and stomped out of the office, with Colin right behind him.

  It was a quiet ride back to the office. Matt was still angry someone had tipped off the media. Whatever security Boyer had placed obviously didn’t work. As they walked back into the office, he took a deep breath and tried to relax. He knew they were just going to have to work around this new problem. Sitting down at his desk, he leaned back in his chair. He let out a deep sigh. Oh well, there is nothing they can do about it now anyway. The word was out and they are just going to have to work around it.

  Matt turned to his computer and turned it on. When it was ready, he pulled the CD out of his suit coat pocket and slipped it into the computer’s CD slot. Colin br
ought his chair around and sat down close to Matt.

  The Heathrow Security tape began forty-five minutes before flight 3351’s scheduled departure last Friday morning. There was no sound, but there was a ticker with the date and time on the bottom of the screen, so they could watch what time things happened. At first, there was minimal movement. Ten minutes into the tape, the three flight attendants walked into the passageway. Another ten minutes later, the pilot and first officer, along with two more men dressed in white shirts, dark ties and dark pants entered the passageway. Matt assumed these were the backup pilot and first officer. After that, airline personnel would occasionally walk across the screen as they prepared to admit the passengers on the plane. Fifteen minutes later, they began loading the passengers. One by one, each of the six passengers passed by the camera as they entered the passageway to the plane. They walked singly, with at least ten feet in-between them. None of them appeared to be traveling together. The tape went ten more minutes, but there were no further passengers. When the tape cut off, Matt and Colin sat for a few moments staring at the blank screen.

  “What do you think?” Colin asked.

  “They don’t look like terrorists, but, then again, who knows what a terrorist looks like anymore.”

  “They seemed to be near the same age group.”

  Matt nodded. “Yeah, I noticed that too. And, all of them had carry-on luggage. Luggage that wasn’t on the plane.”

  “Yeah, I know. None of them seemed to know each other either.”

  Matt nodded. “I noticed that too. But, that doesn’t make sense. Since it now appears the passengers took over the plane, them walking in singly has to be an act.”

  “Like a diversion?”

  “Yeah, sort of.”

  “What now?”

  “Well, first, we need to get pictures printed out of each of the crew and the passengers. Then we need to match the pictures of the passengers with their real names. And we need to report to Petersen.”