by JJ Aughe
“Bailey, I’ve been where you are right now. You’re full of overwhelming pain, grief over your loss and the helplessness that never seems to go away.”
She hoped that what she was going to tell him would, in some way, help him deal with his loss. “Bailey. After my parents died in a plane crash in Oregon I only had one relative, a cousin from my mother’s side of the family. A few years ago, while he was deployed in the Persian Gulf, Afghani terrorists beheaded him. The terrorists videotaped his murder and aired it on the Internet. Burney was a pilot in the Navy too. He was not just my only living relative, he was my best friend. When we were growing up we were almost inseparable and did everything together. His murder hurt so very much I didn’t think I could go on.”
“One day while in the midst of grief I remembered something Burney told me just before he left on deployment that last time. It helped me to accept his sacrifice so I could go on living a fruitful life.”
“Burney and I were at Woodland Park Zoo. Some small children were having a ball running back and forth between exhibits and I said something like, ‘Those kid’s parents need to have better control.’ For the first time in our entire lives Burney looked at me with what could only have been anger and said, ‘Jessie. The reason I, or for that matter any true American soldier, is willing to put his life on the line and go on deployment to Afghanistan, or anywhere else in the world, is so that kids, like those children right there, can have the chance to have a childhood. We fight to give those children a chance to be able to play and not always be worried about some terrorist setting off a bomb in their midst.’ Though his sacrifice still hurts, Bailey, to this day, remembering his words, I am able to go on.”
“Bailey, I see that faraway, hopeless look in your eyes now. That tells me that something awful happened to someone you knew. And I know there is nothing I can do or say to ease the pain you are feeling right now. Dredging up terrible old memories is never easy on one’s mind. The trauma of it can even cause a person to go insane. Like I said, I’ve been there, Bailey. I know what it’s like. I want you to know I am here for you. And I will be here for you as long as you want me to be.”
Bailey towered over her but as she finished she pulled his head down, kissing him gently at first, then with fervor.
Bailey’s mind was buzzing as she kissed him. Her cousin couldn’t possibly have been Castleman, could he? No! It just can’t be! But she has almost confirmed it. There couldn’t have been two pilots named Burney who were beheaded by the Taliban! Knowing what the implications were he again agonized, God! I hope for her sake, and for this country’s sake, they were different pilots!
Taking both her hands he gently pushed her toward the log. His voice firm, yet gentle, he said, “Sit, Jessie. Please sit.” When she was seated and expectantly looking up at him, he released her hands and took a couple of steps back.
“There is a question I need answered.” His voice broke as he said the last and had to pause to get a handle on his fear for her and his grief-filled emotions. When he thought he could speak without his voice betraying him, he finished with, “Now, Jessie, this may hurt. I don’t want you to answer if it hurts too badly. Okay?”
She silently nodded and, with another slight catch to his voice, he asked, “Y-your cousin? What was his last name?”
“Castleman,” she immediately answered. “Why would you ask that?”
Quickly turning away so she wouldn’t see the grief he knew was written like a neon sign on his face, he shouted, “CANNUS! GET OVER HERE! NOW!”
Jim Cannus, hearing the urgency in Bailey’s voice, immediately started running toward them. Bailey turned back to Jessie before Cannus arrived. “Jessie. What I am going to say to Cannus is going to hurt. But there is no way around it. There isn’t time! Just try to understand. Please do that for me?”
As Cannus slid to a stop beside Bailey, Jessie stood. “Whatever you have to say, Bailey, if it has anything to do with what I just said about Burney, I can handle it. I learned a long time ago that once anyone is dead all the crying in the world will not bring them back. So, go ahead. Say what you have to say. I can take it.”
Cannus was looking quizzically from one to the other when Bailey turned to him. “Jim. Jessie just confirmed my suspicions of a while ago! Almed is right here in the Puget Sound!”
Cannus’ face paled. Pinning Jessie with incredulous eyes he asked, “How do you know?”
Bailey answered for her. “She doesn’t, Jim. Really, she doesn’t. She doesn’t even know that her cousin, Burney Castleman, was my wingman!”
Whipping around, Bailey fell to his knees in front of Jessie. “Jessie! I didn’t know! Honest! I didn’t know until just now that Burney was your cousin! He was my wingman in Afghanistan, Jessie. We had flown dozens of missions together. We were so close that we seemed to know what each other’s thoughts were before the other even thought them. And I killed him just as sure as if I had swung that sword!”
Jessie’s face paled, turned white as a sheet. Bailey is the wingman Burney wrote me about? The one that saved his ‘bacon’, as he wrote, when a sniper at the Army base they had been training at had opened fire? My Bailey was the airman who pulled Burney down and out of the line of fire?
Bailey’s last words finally registered. “NO!” she cried. Calming her voice she continued with, “No, Bailey. That is not true! You weren’t even there when that terrorist killed him!”
“No,” Bailey harshly answered as he got to his feet. Calming his voice as much as he could, he continued, “You don’t understand, Jessie. I know I wasn’t there! But I’m the one who put Burney in that position! I was his wingman, the one who was supposed to be watching his tail. But, no! I saw a band of terrorists and peeled off to go after them. I heard Burney say, “Oh, shit!” and then silence. I looked back to check on him. Burney’s plane had exploded and he was in his chute. I know that if I hadn’t gone after that band of terrorists Burney wouldn’t have been shot down!”
“So, yeah,” he finished. “Burney’s being tortured and humiliated and even his death was my fault! And now it has come back to haunt me!”
Confused, Jessie asked, “What do you mean? Come back to haunt you?”
“Jessie. Do you remember the threat Almed made just before he killed Burney? The taunt he made to Burney just before he swung the sword? I remember it. I’ll remember it until my dying day! He said, ‘Your family will feel the edge of my sword, as will the evil pilot who murdered Allah’s men!’”
“Almed is here, Jessie! And he is not here to train terrorists. He is here for revenge and he will try to make good on his taunt and threat to Burney’s kin. He wants you Jessie!”
“He wasn’t speaking in general terms either when he spoke about the pilot who had killed his men. I was that pilot and I believe he was actually speaking directly to me! He was sending me the message that he had put a death warrant out on me and he was coming after me.”
“Bailey,” Jim Cannus interrupted. “Dennis O’Donald at Homeland Security just contacted me. There is a report of a small plane hitting power lines, crashing and exploding near Packwood. He believes it may have been the plane that first attacked you. Tracy Morris from H.S.D. is there and actually saw the crash. He says that from the force of the explosion the plane had explosives on board. Thankfully, no one on the ground was hurt or killed. Tracy thinks the crew was on a suicide mission and flying low so they wouldn’t be picked up on radar then crashing into some of the buildings of the town. The pilot must not have been familiar with the area, though. He flew right into the power lines. Morris said it isn’t a pretty scene.”
Bailey looked solemn for a space before returning in a matter-of-fact tone. “That is another confirmation that Almed is here. To atone for not knocking my plane out of the sky and killing Jessie and me it would be like Almed to order the crew to die by crashing into a populated area like Packwood.”
Concerned for Jessie’s safety, and for the safety of everyone at the scene, Bailey asked wh
en the Chinook chopper Cannus had said would arrive to airlift his ruined plane back to Seattle. He wasn’t surprised and didn’t even argue when Cannus told him that because of security concerns and so teams from H. S.D. and FAA could examine it more closely, the plane would be taken to a hangar at Joint Base Lewis McChord instead.
“Bailey,” Cannus whispered. “There is something I should tell you. I have been making a running report to Dennis and forgot my radio was still on. He heard everything you just said. He just told me that he has a team going over incidence reports and checking surveillance video he requested from Bellevue P. D. The reports are on the uncommon incidences you have had. Among the security tapes were some videos from a few of the businesses you have visited in the last three weeks.”
If it could have, being it was already so serious, Jim’s face got more sober as he finished. “He noticed something that happened at the bank that day the two of you met.”
Speaking directly to Jessie he asked, “Do you remember the man you almost ran into as you went back into the bank?”
Jessie thought for a moment then nodded, remembering. “Sure. I was in such a rush I almost knocked him down. Why?”
Shifting his eyes between each of them, Cannus answered. “Dennis recognized him, Miss Melano. He says you are very lucky you turned when you did to run back into the bank. A car had just stopped at the curb and the man you encountered had just removed an automatic pistol from inside his suit jacket. When you made that abrupt about face and nearly ran into him, he quickly shoved the pistol back inside his suit. Dennis is sure the man was either going to kill you right there or kidnap you. At any rate, the man watched your encounter with Bailey, smiled, then got into the car and it sped off”
Bailey interrupted. “You said Dennis recognized the man. Did he say who it was?”
“Yeah, he did.” Cannus answered. Then, with emphasis, he finished.“It was Almed!”
“I’m sorry, Bailey. But Dennis gave me orders. I hope neither of you have any pressing plans. It won’t make any difference anyway. Dennis wants to personally debrief the both of you and then, for the time being, wants you both sequestered in a safe house.”
Bailey quickly glanced at Jessie. Seeing her troubled emerald eyes caused his heart to ache for her. Still, he was sure she knew what he had in mind and would agree with what he was about to say. He glanced back at Jim, gave him a conspiring look, put his finger to his lips and pointed at Jim’s radio, silently asking him to turn it off. That man did so with a knowing nod.
Bailey spoke with matter-of-fact surety, “This changes everything, Jim. You and I both know Almed is vicious and thrives on putting terror in the hearts of his victims and enemies. He is relentless too. And he is here for one purpose and one purpose only! He wants to exact revenge on Jessie and me! Now that he knows his attempt on us has failed he won’t hesitate to strike again. And he will do it soon.”
“I know Jessie is scared and rightly so. So am I. We would be fools not to be! But I don’t think she would feel safe if we were to be sequestered somewhere unfamiliar to us. As for me? I am not going to sit by and let Almed do as he pleases. I am certain he doesn’t want to kill us. Not right away anyway. He wants to capture us. With us alive he can get his kicks by torturing us. I’ve seen the method he uses on his victims. They are unspeakably horrible.
Almed is canny too. He probably has resources we can only guess at. I’m talking about spies, Jim. He probably has a whole network of them at his disposal and I wouldn’t bet against some of them having infiltrated the FAA and Homeland Security.” He took a breath, then finished. “If he has, Jim, Jessie and I would not be safe even in a safe house. He will know where we are and will find a way to get to us. And Jessie means too much to me to take a chance he would get his filthy hands on her!”
Jim just shook his head. He knew what was coming. “Bailey, I can’t disregard Dennis’ orders and you know it!” Bailey started to argue, but Jim cut him off. “If you are thinking what I think you’re thinking I don’t want to know about it. For now, I’d really appreciate it if you would just go along with what Dennis has ordered. Okay?”
Bailey shrugged, gave Jessie a reassuring, conspiring glance and agreed.
Part Two
Chapter 6
Melissa
Bellevue, Washington, 9:42 pm, Friday night:
Melissa Calahan-Hough, executive assistant slash paralegal to Martin Holstedt, resident attorney and CEO at Milner Realty, a subsidiary of Milner Aeronautics, glanced at the time on her monitor. Shocked that it was past nine-thirty she exclaimed, “Oh my God! Kerry will be beside himself!” When it was time for her to be home her beloved dog, Kerry, an eight-year-old Irish Setter, would always be waiting at the front door eager for her to take him on his evening run. If she was late, which she tried never to be, Kerry would get antsy and be standing at the front window with his front paws on the glass when she drove into the driveway. If she was very late, as she was tonight, he would sometimes get so agitated he would start chewing on furniture.
She shook her head at the thought of what he might have ruined tonight and regaled herself for working so late. Since the file she had been working on was so important, she quickly saved the entire Minetsiac account file she had been so engrossed in since early that afternoon. Being the efficient person she was, she quickly closed and moved the entire file folder from the computer to her flash drive, ejected the flash drive and turned her computer off.
Wanting to work on the file at home during the weekend she lifted the heart shaped locket on a braided gold chain from between her ample breasts. As always, her emerald eyes misted with the memories the piece of jewelry brought to her mind as she gazed fondly at the locket for a second. Just a week before her ailing grandmother had passed away she had given Melissa the locket. Shaking the sad memories aside she snapped open the locket, placed the flash drive inside, snapped the lid closed and let the heavy locket slide beneath her blouse to rest securely between her breasts. Through her open door, she heard the soft, unmistakable swishing sound of the C.E.O’s door closing, and thought, Someone else is in the building? Instant alarm shot through her!
She had personally ushered Jody Sharpe, the last of the overworked employees, out the door at six-thirty and re-set the security alarm and her personal alarm, a special security feature Martin, the CEO, had insisted be included in the security system for each of the secretaries and executives. The system was set up in such a way that each executive and employee set their own combination of number, letters and symbol pin numbers for their personal security locks and had been instructed to activate the locks in case they had to be in the office after closing time. Even if Martin or any of the eight realtors or their secretaries who worked at the office had returned, they would have had to call her to have her deactivate her personal security lock
Her first thought was to call 911. She picked up the phone, put it to her ear and started to dial. There was no dial tone!
Now frightened that someone had been able to bypass even her personal security lock, she glanced at the security pad at the side of the double Mahogany doors leading into her boss’s office. Noting the red L.E.D. light was still on indicating the doors were locked and the alarm was armed, she slipped her arms into the flared arms of her Dior sweater hanging on the back of her chair, grabbed her Gucci purse and matching low heeled shoes from the floor and silently crept to her office doorway in stocking feet.
She cautiously glanced first toward the C.E.O’s personal entry at the end of the hallway. She wasn’t sure but she thought she caught a flash of light through the narrow window at the side of the door. She didn’t want to confront whoever might be in the C.E.O’s office yet, telling herself that she only wanted to make sure Martin hadn’t returned, she couldn’t resist the temptation to find out who was there and crept down the hall. She kept her back pressed against the wall until she reached the six-inch wide, floor to ceiling window panel at the side of the door. Leaning as far over as she cou
ld without falling she peeked through the partially frosted glass. She didn’t see anyone in the dark office at first. Then the high-backed leather executives chair behind her boss’s enormous mahogany desk began to turn. Fear swept through her. Without waiting to see who was there, she jerked erect. As she did her purse and shoes slapped hard against the wall with a bang she was sure could be heard inside the office. Now thoroughly terrified, she ran for the stairs to the downstairs lobby!
Hoping the security alarms hadn’t been completely disarmed she dashed through the lobby for the front entrance. As she neared the double doors she noticed the exterior entry lights were out and jogged left to use the left hand door. There was a sudden soft sounding pop like when someone pops bubble wrap and a hole appeared in the thick glass near the frame in the right hand door. Terror again went through her as she realized someone had just shot at her. Hitting the locking bar on the inside of the door with all her weight, she barreled through the door and down the steps as the security alarm went off!
The alarm screaming in the darkness behind her seemed to put impetus into Melissa's flight as she ran for her life. Her heart throbbing fiercely in her chest, she slowed to a stop at the corner of the building and peered cautiously around the corner at the parking lot. One of the two security lights in the parking lot was suspiciously dark, but the one right over her cherished Renault revealed it the only vehicle in the lot. She cautiously scanned the four-foot hedge enclosing the far side and rear of the parking lot for any sign of movement. Afraid whoever had shot at her would follow her she dug her keys from her purse, gathered her courage and sprinted for her car.
Halfway to the relative safety of the small car she sensed someone watching her. Immediately zigzagging to the right and left she felt something whiz past her head and knew, even though there was no sound of gunfire, she was under fire again. Attempting to keep the shooter from being able to zero in on her she continued to zigzag erratically. She made one last dodge to the left as she neared the car. She was frantically trying to insert the key into the door lock when she felt the material under her right arm suddenly pull toward the door. The window of the driver’s door partially imploded, leaving a gaping hole surrounded by fragmented glass.
