First, he looked at Trish then Betty Sue. “Okay, BS you’re going to drive and if you don’t do exactly like I tell you, I’ll be in the backseat with her and I’ll shoot her.”
Dave dragged them out into the garage and if Betty Sue thought she was going to have more freedom, she’d been sadly mistaken. As soon as she sat down in the driver’s seat, Dave handcuffed her to the steering wheel. He pushed Trish into the backseat and climbed in behind her.
He reached over and pushed the garage remote to open the door. Then he reached between the two front seats and said to Betty Sue. “Put your foot on the brake.”
When she did, he shifted the gearshift into reverse. “Now start backing out into the street.”
She looked in the rearview mirror and noticed that the police cars were out of the way now so she began backing the car out of the garage and into the street.
* * *
As he watched Trish’s Escalade back out of the garage and especially when he saw Betty Sue driving, Matt got so mad he thought he was going to explode. Then his anger quickly changed to fear. What were they going to do now to get the two women away from that maniac?
“I don’t see how in the world you can just let them drive off like that without doing something to get Betty Sue and Trish away from him Hal?”
“We’re doing all we can do Son. We’ve got four snipers in place out at the airport on top of hangars with the plane sitting right in the middle of them. That’s the best we can do for now.”
Matt’s dad pulled him off to the side and said, “Don’t you want to go out there Matt?”
Before Matt could answer, Hal shouted, “Let’s go. Get in my car and let’s get out there.”
As soon as they got into Hal’s patrol car, the radio began crackling and calls were coming in from those who were following the Escalade from a safe distance.
Hal snickered. “That Betty Sue. She’s something else all right. She’s taking the longest route to the airport that she could possibly take. I only hope Hamilton doesn’t realize that and hurt them.”
Because of that, Hal was able to get to the airport before the Escalade and so did all the rest of the police vehicles. They had the airport surrounded and covered inside by the time the Escalade drove through the open gates in the chain-link fence.
All three men watched tensely as the Escalade drove up to where the airplane was parked out in the open. Matt didn’t know he was holding his breath until Hal said, “Why isn’t he getting out? This may be our only chance to get him.”
He received his answer when his cellphone rang and it was Hamilton. He quickly hit the speaker button so they could all hear.
“Wallace! What kind of a fool do you think I am? I’m not sure how all of you got here before we did, but I have a feeling that my little girl played a fancy trick on me by taking the long way.” He laughed then said, “That’s okay, I’ll deal with her later.”
Matt almost hit something then when he realized what Hamilton probably meant.
“Now you listen to me and you listen good. And if you don’t want anyone hurt you’ll do exactly what I say. You hear?”
Hal sighed. “Yeah, I hear you.”
“Now, I want every single one of these police cars out of the airport grounds and I’m only going to give you five minutes to do it too.”
“Okay, we can do that.”
“And Wallace. I’m smart enough to know that you’ve got snipers on the top of each of those hangars. So if I don’t see them coming out of those hangars and leaving with the rest of you, then I think you know what I’m going to do.”
This time Hal looked crushed. “Okay, I’ll give the word but it may take a little more than five minutes.”
“You’ve got five minutes starting right now.”
The phone went dead.
Hal picked up his mic and gave the message to all those in the area and asked dispatch to make sure the other departments knew too.
Matt watched as a police officer came out of each of the hangars and joined the rest before all the cars began filing out of the gate. Hal’s car was the last one to leave, but he only pulled a little ways past the gate then turned around so they could still see the Escalade and the airplane.
Nothing happened for another ten minutes, then both doors on the driver’s side opened. First Betty Sue stepped out of the front, and then Hamilton came out the back with Trish close behind him. He then grabbed both women and used them to sandwich him in so he wouldn’t be as visible.
Then they walked slowly to the plane. Betty Sue reached up, opened the door, and scrambled in. Hamilton followed and once he was inside, he pulled Trish in behind him and closed the door.
Matt hit the seat next to him. “What are we going to do now Hal?”
Hal shook his head and turned to face Matt over the seat. “All that can be done is being done right now. We’ve alerted every airport of all sizes between here and Dallas. But do you know how many small airports there are in the Dallas and Fort Worth area alone? There must be dozens, not to mention at least that many more private strips where a plane like that could land.
Matt leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes. He heard Hal and his dad talking quietly in the front seat. But his concentration was all on Betty Sue. There had to be a way that they could get to her somewhere.
All of a sudden, something Betty Sue had mentioned once in passing about her ex-husband popped into his mind. He jumped up in his seat and yelled out, “Hal, I’ve got it. I know where that skunk is going to land that plane.”
Hal and his dad both turned and leaned over the seat in anticipation of what he was going to say next.
“I’m almost positive that once when Betty Sue was telling me about her ex that she said his dad, the judge, had a huge ranch outside of Dallas and it had its own landing strip and that his dad had a plane too.”
Just then, the plane with Betty Sue and the others on it began taxiing down to the end of the runway. No one spoke as they all watched the plane lift off and begin gaining altitude.
Hal put the car in gear and roared off toward town. “That’s got to be it Matt. I’ve got all the information on Judge Hamilton back in my office. Let’s go get things rolling on that end. Judge or no judge, he’s not going to get his son off on a kidnapping charge.
As the three of them entered Hal’s office, his cellphone rang and he answered it. Matt couldn’t quite hear what was being said.
When Hal disconnected, he grinned at them. “That was the airport manager. He said he only had enough fuel to make the tank about half full.”
Then he seemed to think about it for a moment then hit his fist on the desk. “But there’s still no telling where the guy will land to try to get more fuel.”
Chapter Fourteen
When Dave had made them all just sit there in Trish’s escalade for so long, Betty Sue had grown more frightened by the minute. Then when all the police began leaving, her hope just sank to its lowest point. There didn’t seem to be any way that she and Trish could get away from Dave now. Tears began streaking down her cheeks again. The only comfort she had was that Dave couldn’t see the tears right then.
Now that they were all inside the plane, Betty Sue quickly looked around to see if there was anything she could find that might help. The plane had four seats including the pilot’s. Otherwise, there was nothing on the walls or floor that she could reach that might help.
But before Betty Sue could come up with anything, Dave handcuffed each of the women to one of the back seats and then slid into the pilot’s seat.
As Dave was checking things to get ready for takeoff, he leaned back and looked at them. “I know that once I get this thing going, I won’t be able to hear you two if you talk to each other. But if I look back there and see either of your mouths moving, I will beat it out of you as soon as we land.”
When he turned back to his instrument panel, Trish turned to Betty Sue and nodded. She was amazed that the woman was actually giving her a
small smile. She sure hoped Trish knew something she didn’t know. She didn’t think there was anything that either one of them could possibly have to smile about.
The airplane was in the air and gaining altitude when Betty Sue closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. She had to think of something that they could do to save themselves. She knew that they had to be heading to the big ranch that Dave’s dad owned. She also knew that once they landed there, things wouldn’t be good at all for either her or Trish.
While her eyes were closed, Betty Sue finally remembered something that she should have thought of before. She guessed she’d gotten so used to it after a while that she’d simply forgotten that it was there. But Matt had bought her an ankle holster for her small pistol. He’d said that a lot of cops used a holster like it for when they might get into trouble and not have the use of their regular service weapon.
She twisted her left ankle just to reassure herself that it was indeed still there with the pistol in it. Now, she needed to make Trish aware of it somehow.
Dave seemed to be busy right then with flying the plane so she thought then would be the best time.
She stared over at Trish until she looked back at her. Then Betty Sue looked down at her feet and back at Trish several times until Trish got the message, and looked down at Betty Sue’s feet. She then used her right foot to lift the hem of her slacks just enough for Trish to be able to see the holster all the while keeping her eyes on the back of Dave’s head to make sure he didn’t turn around and catch them.
When Trish saw the holster, she grinned back at Betty Sue and nodded her head vigorously several times. Message received. Great!
Now all they had to do was hope that he landed somewhere other than his dad’s ranch first. The sound of Dave’s cursing caused them both to look up at him.
“That cop friend of yours must want to get you killed. They didn’t fill the fuel tank. We don’t have enough to get to Dallas. I’ll have to stop somewhere to get more.”
Betty Sue tried to keep from smiling while Dave was watching. But when he wasn’t looking, she turned to Trish and they shared a cautious smile.
Now all they could do was to sit and wait until Dave landed the plane and hopefully be able to get at him somehow then.
Betty Sue tried to decide if it would be best for her to get the gun out now and maybe sit on it until she needed it or to wait. That was when she realized that Trish was trying to get her attention.
She looked at Trish who began tilting her head toward the floor several times. Then Betty Sue realized that Trish was trying to tell her to get the gun now.
So keeping her eyes on Dave, Betty Sue brought her left foot up to rest the ankle on her right knee. She panicked when the movement caused her slacks to ride up and reveal the bottom of the holster. She had to move fast now.
She moved her pant leg back a little more and quickly grabbed the gun. It was still difficult since she was handcuffed to her seat and could just barely reach the gun.
She quickly dropped her left foot to the floor praying that her pant leg would drop back down to conceal the holster. It did.
She leaned back in her seat and let out a relieved sigh and out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Trish did too.
Now all they had to do was wait for Dave to land and catch him off guard. But she knew that might not be so easy. He would probably have his gun out just in case the police had been able to alert whatever airport he chose to land at.
* * *
On their way back out to the airport, Matt looked at the digital clock on the dash of Hal’s patrol car. Of course, it was on twenty-four hour time and read 2017. He quickly converted it in his mind, 8:17 pm.
The plane with Betty Sue on it was gone. Now what? He was beginning to think he would go crazy long before they were able to do anything to save her and Trish.
They were within sight of the airport when Hal’s cellphone rang. When he finished the call, he turned to them and said, “That was the Highway Patrol. They have a plane headed this way and should be landing in about five minutes. There’s enough room for all of us on it.”
Hal drove the car up to the main building and parked. They didn’t have long to wait. Soon, Matt could see bright lights coming down from the sky and taking the form of a plane.
Matt surprised himself when he realized that he had been talking to God in his mind. Of course, he was begging God to see Betty Sue through all of this safely and bring her back to him.
He opened his eyes and realized two things at the same time. His dad was staring at him with a knowing look on his face and Matt also realized that if they could somehow get Betty Sue out of this safely, he was going to marry that girl.
A big grin spread across his face without him realizing it was happening. Then he noticed that both his dad and Hal were giving him strange looks.
He didn’t even stop to think about what he was saying before he blurted out, “I’m going to marry Betty Sue as soon as I can after we get her out of this mess.”
Hal snorted and shook his head but Matt’s dad placed a hand on Matt’s shoulder and said, “Let’s all pray right now for that to be able to happen.”
Soon, the door on the plane opened and a man stepped out just as a Highway Patrol car pulled up and the sergeant from before jumped out. He motioned to them to join him as he headed for the plane.
When they arrived, the sergeant looked at Hal and said, “We think the other plane is flying low to keep from being detected. That alone will slow him down but he’s probably flying slower to conserve fuel too. If we get in the air and head that way, we should be nearby wherever he lands to get fuel. Then we’ll be able to be there hopefully before he has time to take off again.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Hal said. “Let’s get going then.”
Matt noticed that the Highway Patrol plane was not only bigger than the other one but it also had two engines. He turned to Hal and said, “I hope you’re going to tell us that this plane is faster than the one they’re on.”
Hal chuckled. “You bet it is. We’ll get there a lot faster than they will. Hopefully, when they do land, the police down there can keep them on the ground ‘til we get there.”
Matt knew absolutely nothing about airplanes but as they climbed aboard the Highway Patrol plane, he noticed that there were six passenger seats, three on each side with a narrow aisle between them.
Hal quickly introduced them to the sergeant that Matt had seen talking to Hal outside Trish’s house earlier.
Soon they were all seated and then the plane took off quickly. Once they were in the air, the sergeant, whom Hal had introduced as Larry McCord, began speaking.
He turned to Hal who was sitting next to him and said, “Since we’ll more than likely not be in Missouri any longer, we’ll have to follow the lead of the local police. I’ve already spoken to the sergeant of the Highway Patrol Troop down there. He’ll try to meet us when we land. Let’s just hope they can keep that plane on the ground until we do.”
Matt was still processing that when the plane’s engines started to roar and the plane began to move toward the runway. He couldn’t control the emotions racing through his body.
Hal and the sergeant had taken the first two seats leaving Matt and his dad behind them and across the aisle from each other. After that, Hal and the sergeant talked quietly to each other.
Matt looked closely at his dad. He didn’t think he’d ever seen his dad so visibly upset. That scared Matt. His dad was usually so calm and confident that things would go the way he thought they should. What did that mean?
He laid his head back against his seat and closed his eyes. Almost immediately, something came to mind and he had to ask his dad about it.
He didn’t really know where to start so he just said, “Dad?” He waited until his dad turned his head to look at him before continuing. “Betty Sue has told me a whole bunch of things that I think I remember you and Mom telling me when I was a boy.”
&
nbsp; He frowned. “I guess you could say that was before I stopped listening to anything either one of you said about God.”
He was glad that his dad seemed to be waiting patiently for him to get to the point.
He blew out a huge sigh. “Well, I’ve seen how different Betty Sue is from all the other girls I’ve ever been around.” He quickly added, “Except Grace of course but she doesn’t really count.”
Finally, he sighed again. “Well, to put it bluntly, she says that she’s the way she is because she has Jesus in her heart.”
Matt fully expected his dad to jump in then but was surprised when he only smiled over at Matt.
“Okay, you’re going to make me say it, aren’t you? So, here it is. I want what Betty Sue has.”
Again, his dad surprised him when he only reached out with his palm up. Matt realized what he wanted and placed his hand in his dad’s hand.
“Okay Matt. Do you want to pray for that to happen right now?”
Matt couldn’t find his voice so he just nodded his head. Then his dad led him through the prayer to accept Christ into his heart.
When they finished, Matt knew that he was now ready to ask Betty Sue to marry him. He knew that he’d just crossed the last hurdle to that happening and he couldn’t be happier. But, wait a minute. He stopped to think for a moment.
Did he do what he just did only because Betty Sue wanted him to do it? No! He did it because it was what he felt like he wanted to do, what God wanted him to do. Then he felt a lot better about the whole thing.
But the seriousness of the current situation hit him and he became scared all over again.
His dad must have seen the looks crossing Matt’s face for he grabbed Matt’s hand again and said, “Now let’s pray for Betty Sue and Trish again.”
* * *
Every time Betty Sue felt the fear trying to take over again, she remembered the gun she’d placed under her right leg and she would begin to breathe a little easier right away.
Now, as she kept her eyes straight ahead and focused on the back of Dave’s head, she kept running possible plans through her mind for when Dave finally landed the plane.
Walking Straight (The Walking Together Series Book 1) Page 20
