by Kim Jewell
Then suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He turned back to Clint. “I guess I thought we would end up taking shifts and sleeping in the car. I figured we wouldn’t have so much time in Scottsdale. Where are we going to stay?”
“Bernie, my dad’s friend, has everything set up for us. He does basically the same thing my dad does – only for a different private airport. It’s a tight circle – Dad’s got friends all over the country. They have to work together to make arrangements for the flights.”
“That makes sense.”
“Anyway, Bernie’s got a bunkhouse there for any pilots that have to stay over for whatever reason. We can stay there when we need to crash. He’s also got a Jeep for us to use to buzz around town in.”
“Sounds like you’ve thought of everything.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve done this. Dad and I travel like this all the time, at least when he’s not working.”
“Nice.”
“It has its ups. It’s basically the only quality time Dad and I get together.”
That’s sad.
“Don’t feel bad for me,” Clint said, as if he could read Sam’s mind. “We’ve got a good life, Dad and I. It’s just not what was planned. But you cope with the hand you get dealt.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
As they started their descent, the tension increased inside the cabin. The girls both got quiet and each leaned towards their window to watch the landing. Sam did the same. He still had his headphones on, so he could hear Clint call to the air traffic controller and the directives given back to Clint from the radio tower.
Clint never looked at any of the knobs or levers he adjusted as he prepared for the landing. He looked at home in this cockpit, as if he had been flying for decades. He was a natural.
Sam watched the runway creep closer in the horizon. As the plane finally cleared the pavement, they floated just a few more seconds, and then Clint gently set the wheels down on the runway to glide the rest of the way towards the hanger. Sam heard two sighs of relief from the backseat, and hoped Clint could not hear it too.
Once they were parked in front of the hanger, Clint finally turned around to the girls. “You two okay back there?”
A nervous giggle erupted from both of them.
“We’re great. That was amazing, Clint!” Leesha said.
“Incredible!” Lexi doubled, gushing.
Oh brother.
Sam turned back towards the front to see a man, shorter than Clint’s dad, but dressed similarly in work clothes and boots, approaching the plane. Clint hopped out of the plane and bounded over to give him a half hug, half pat on the back. He turned back towards the plane and signaled for the group to join him.
Sam got out, then helped Leesha and Lexi dismount the plane. The three of them ambled over to Clint.
“Guys, I want you to meet Bernie Newman. Bernie, this is Sam, Lexi and Leesha,” he said, pointing at each of the kids as he introduced them. They each stepped forward to shake hands with Bernie.
“Nice to meet you guys,” he said, then turned back to Clint. “The bunkhouse is set up for you guys. There are groceries in the fridge – help yourself. Here’s the key to the Jeep. Just let me know if you need anything else, okay?”
“Okay, Bern. Thanks for everything.”
“Not a problem, kid. It’s great to have you back. Next time you’ll need to bring your old man!”
Clint smiled at Bernie. “Will do. He just wouldn’t fit in this time, and he refused to be strapped to the top of the plane.”
Bernie’s deep laugh was loud enough to wake the sleeping three miles over. “Well, you tell him I said hello.”
“Sure. I’m supposed to call him now to let him know I’ve landed.”
Clint turned back towards the plane and signaled the others to help him unload their gear. They needed to get settled in, then get to work. There was a lot of ground to cover this weekend.
The bunk house was a small building a short distance from the main hanger and control tower. Inside the front door was a kitchen and sitting area which led to four different doors - three small bedrooms and one bathroom. It wasn’t fancy, but it was a perfect headquarters for the mission at hand.
“This place is great, Clint,” Leesha commented as she set her bag down next to the couch. “Do all private airports have facilities like this?”
“No, actually most don’t. There was a time several years ago when they needed a place for a couple of pilots to stay on site for a few months on and off. They ended up turning this building, which was a small office building, into a living quarter. Dad asked Bernie if we could use it, and he said of course we could. It’s Dad’s way of keeping tabs on me,” he shrugged his shoulders.
“Whatever, man,” Sam smacked him on the back. “This is perfect. Thanks for setting all of this up. We’re going to get a lot done with all the extra time and space.”
Each of them spread out to stash their bags of clothes. Lexi and Leesha decided to share the bedroom with bunk beds, leaving each of the boys with their own bedroom. Sam set up his laptop on the kitchen table, which would be their workspace. Once they all came back to the table, they grabbed snacks and started mapping out their plan of attack.
“So where do you think we should start?” Leesha asked as she was looking over the Scottsdale map with Rowe’s office and home both highlighted and GPS coordinates noted next to each one.
“I was thinking we should start with Rowe’s office tonight,” Sam answered. “At this point, they are closed for the weekend. If we go after dark, we can scope out the office without being seen. I can walk around the building and draw out a rough map of the inside, and then we can send Lexi in if we need to retrieve any files or information from the office.”
“How are you going to get Lexi in?” Clint asked dumbfounded.
“He didn’t fill you in?” Lexi smiled. “I told Leesha all about it in the plane…”
“Tell me what?”
“My power is getting stronger! I can now manipulate my body matter to move through solid objects!”
“Nuh-uh. You can walk through things?” Clint looked skeptical.
“Yep,” Lexi beamed, then proceeded to demonstrate going in and out of the bathroom door. Sam just laughed at her exhibition while the other two cheered in delight.
“That’s fantastic!” Clint said. “I’ve never seen anything so weird… So you can pretty much walk right into the office building undetected?”
“That’s the plan,” Sam said. “I’ll be able to look through the office walls and tell her what to look for inside.”
Clint looked glum again. “And there’s nothing I can do at this point to help…”
“Stop. First of all, we wouldn’t be here with all this time and opportunity without you. And yes, I will need your help. I need you to help scope out any surveillance cameras. If the property is under surveillance, we need to know so that we don’t get caught on tape.”
“Okay,” Clint cheered considerably, knowing he was still a part of the mission. “I can do that.”
“Leesha, if there are cameras, I’ll need your help in diversion.”
“Sure. What did you have in mind?”
“Well, you’re the only one of us who can physically move something from a distance. Hopefully we can just move a tree branch or flag to cover the camera. We won’t know for sure until we get there. But worst case,” Sam frowned, “we may need to move the cameras away from wherever we are. I hope we don’t have to – it’ll be more obvious to anyone looking at the tape.”
“We’ll get it figured out,” Clint agreed, and looked at his watch. “It should be completely dark in another hour. Should we load up and at least drive by the place while there’s a little light?”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Lexi agreed. “How far is his house from the office?”
Leesha looked at the map. “Looks like about fifteen miles or so. I’ve got the addresses plugged into the GPS here. We can drive
by both places tonight if we’ve got time – get a feel for the land.”
“All right guys, let’s go,” Sam said and the four walked out the door and loaded into the Jeep.
Chapter Thirty-nine
Clint was at the wheel, since he was the most familiar with the area, though it was a good thing they had his father’s GPS gadget handy. The office building was close to the downtown area, and by the time they got there, dusk was setting in. It gave them just enough light to drive around the building and get a visual of the three security cameras on the medical office, plus two others in close proximity – on neighboring offices.
A storm was building up, so the winds made it understandable that two different tree branches were broken to cover the cameras on the front and left side of the medical office. The other camera, located above the rear door, would just have to be avoided by the Jeep and its four passengers.
The camera at the front of the building to the south wasn’t pointing towards the medical center, so was of no concern. The only other one in question was a rotating camera stationed on an art gallery that was closed for the evening. After much discussion, it was decided that Leesha would mentally stop the camera from rotating its full half circle, keeping its lens from taping the others’ activity at the medical center.
Once it was completely dark, Clint parked the Jeep three blocks away and they separated into groups of two to meet up back again at Rowe’s office. Leesha took her place on a bench near the art gallery and kept tabs on the camera.
“All right, guys,” Sam projected, while getting his wits about him. “I’m walking around the perimeter. I’ll keep my senses open – let me know if you see anything strange.”
“Will do,” they all said in unison, silently.
Sam started at the front door and walked around the front and towards the north side of the building.
Front room, reception, which leads into the main filing and admin area. Behind that, six private consult rooms. To the left, a bull pen of chemo chairs and medical treatment area.
He walked down the north side of the building, stopping short of the corner, not wanting to get detected by the camera on the back side.
Three offices, none belong to Rowe. Bathroom, break room.
Sam then backtracked to the front and began the same route on the other side.
Two more offices – bingo – the second one is Rowe’s. Next room, radiation lab, then bathroom.
He walked back to the front of the office and took the notebook Lexi was holding for him and proceeded to map out and label the office layout.
“Okay, Lexi. Here’s the schematic. I think there are two places you’ll want to start searching first,” he said pointing on his homemade map. “First is the admin area. I doubt there are any active files for us in there – we’re not exactly patients of the office. Plus, I would think if he’s got charts on us, they’ll be locked up and out of general circulation, but check anyway.”
“Got it,” Lexi said, looking at the map.
Sam moved his finger on the map. “Here’s where Rowe’s office is. This is where you’ll do the most digging. Hopefully you won’t run into any problems getting into drawers and any other nooks and crannies. But if you do, let me know, we’ll get it figured out.”
“Right. Okay, then. I’m off.” And with that she flickered out of sight.
“Lexi?”
“Yes?” she said, stopping just a couple of steps away.
“I won’t be able to watch you, so keep talking to me, so I know you’re okay.”
“I will, Sam.”
“And Lexi?”
“Yes, Sam…” She sounded annoyed.
“I’ll project to you if there are any problems out here.”
“Okay. Good. Sam?”
“Yes, Lexi?”
“I’m going in now.”
Please be careful.
He listened to her in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Leesha was stationed on her bench with camera duty, and Clint paced back and forth on the sidewalk a few yards away. Sam knew both of their minds were racing with thoughts, but he blocked them out so that he could concentrate on Lexi.
“Okay Sam, I’m in the admin office. Going through the charts now. Looks like they’re all in alpha order going back three years. Did you see another room of charts?”
“No. I didn’t…”
“They must keep their older cases stored electronically. I bet they do most of their records digitally now anyway.”
“You’re probably right. I can hack into that later, if necessary. Do you see anything with our names on it?”
“Nope. Nothing.”
“Okay, then head over to Rowe’s office to poke around there.”
“On it.”
Sam turned and projected the update to both Clint and Leesha who were both anxiously awaiting any news. He turned back to face the front of the building to listen for Lexi again.
“Sam?”
“Yes?”
“The door’s locked, and it’s metal. I can’t get in.”
“Did you try the walls?”
“Yes, no go there either. There must be lead panels in all the walls, due to the radiation lab here. I can’t get in…”
“Crap!” Sam said out loud and instantly Clint was by his side.
“What’s wrong?”
“Lexi can’t get into Rowe’s office. It’s locked and the place is full of metal doors and walls, so she can’t pass through them.” He projected the update to both Clint and Leesha, still sitting across the lawn.
Clint’s mouth twitched at the corners. “I can jimmy a lock.”
“Well, that’s not going to do us any good if you’re out here.”
Lexi materialized next to the boys, who both jumped, mostly due to an overload of nerves. “I’ve got an idea. Clint, take my hand.”
He did, and instantly they both disappeared. “Let’s see if we can get you through the front door with me,” she explained to him, turning towards the front doors.”
“Good thinking, Lex,” Sam said, then updated Leesha with the change in plans.
Clint turned to Lexi, who he could still see plain as day. “My body is tingling. Are we invisible?”
“Yep.”
“Weird… And how is it that you can get in the building, but not through the office doors or walls?”
“The front door is glass, so it’s easy to pass through. The admin door was wooden, which I can also go through. But the office doors and walls are metal. I can’t crack that yet.”
“And Sam couldn’t see that from his original scan of the office?”
“His powers are stronger, he can see through metal. I hope that eventually mine will be that strong too.”
“Sounds like you’re on your way,” Clint shrugged, partly jealous.
“Well, see. It’s a work in progress. Let’s see if I can get you through the front door with me,” she said as they approached the double doors in the front. “I’m going to go in first. Just follow me, you’ll have to step over the metal edging around the door.”
“Okay, gotcha.”
Lexi stepped in first then turned to watch Clint pass easily through the glass.
“Holy shit! That is so cool!” Clint’s whisper was getting louder with his excitement.
“Keep it down you two,” Sam warned from the outside. “I can hear you from out here.”
“Well, then turn down your bionic ears,” Lexi shot back. She turned back to Clint. “You’re going to have to keep holding my hand – we need to stay invisible in case there are any security sensors or cameras, okay?”
“Yeah,” he smiled. “I can do that.”
“Follow me, the door’s right over here.”
Once they got there, Lexi showed him the doorknob with the lock in question. Clint looked at it from every angle, and then pulled a Swiss army knife out of his pocket. Lexi shifted her hand up to his elbow so he could use both of his hands and she could keep the invisibility intac
t. He pulled a pair of tweezers out of his knife, and then opened up one of the knife’s small blades.
He bent one end of the tweezers and inserted it into the lock at a strange angle, and positioned the knife blade gently into the door jam, then turned to Lexi. “Can you try to turn the knob with your free hand?”
She reached out and the knob turned easily and instantly the door was open. “Clint, you’re a genius! Wait… Are you a criminal?” she smiled at him, teasing.
“Nope, just good with tools.”
“Sam, we’re in.”
“Great job guys,” he projected back to Lexi. “Now see what you can find in his desk and filing cabinets.”
The filing cabinets were unlocked, and after a quick shuffle of the contents, they determined nothing was of use to them. Lexi then reached for the desk drawers. The top drawer was nothing more then pens, legal notebooks and prescription pads. To the left of his chair, the drawer contents were filled with medical journals and research on various clinical trials.
Lexi then turned to the credenza behind his chair and discovered its drawers were locked. “Clint, can you work your magic on this one too?”
“I’ll give it a shot…” He looked at the desk from all angles. The lock itself was positioned at the top of each of the two long drawers. This time he took out a long narrow file from his knife and jiggled it along the top of the drawer jam, which adjusted the lock to the open position.
The top drawer was filled with personnel files. “Sam, I’ve got the staff records here. Do you want any of this information?”
“Yeah, but I hate to waste a bunch of time with photocopies,” Sam answered Lexi. “Is there a personnel form in each one with contact information?”
“Yes – it looks like the most recent updates are at the front of each file. Do you want me to read you addresses and phone numbers. You can make notes?”
Before Sam could answer, Clint interrupted with another idea. “What if I just take pictures of each form from my telephone?”
“Better,” Sam agreed. “Great idea, thanks Clint.”
