by K E O'Connor
“How about setting up in business with Mickey Kill? He knows his way around games.”
The computer screen flashed up a skull and cross bones and a booing sound echoed through the speakers.
Alex chuckled. “He doesn’t seem to like that idea.”
“Do you know Mickey Kill listens in to what’s going on here?”
“Of course I do,” said Alex. “I let him. I gave him access to the webcams ages ago.”
“Isn’t that a bit risky? He can see everything you do.”
“Mickey Kill lives by the gamers’ code. Greg trusted him, so do I.”
“But not as a business partner?”
“It’s not his sort of thing,” said Alex. “He’s a great gamer. We all have our own specialities. His isn’t business.”
“Fair enough. But I know one thing for sure; you’ll never find any new friends if you spend your life on the couch. I know it’s not comfortable getting out there and meeting new people, but you need to do it. Coming to this air show today will be a first step.”
“I’m hardly going to find a new best friend at the air show.”
“Maybe not. But it will give you practice. You never know. You could meet some nice people there.” Or some truly horrible ones, the people who killed his best friend and left him lonely and unhappy.
“I can drop by for ten minutes.”
I heard the sound of a car horn and jumped to my feet. “Promise me you’ll come?”
Alex sighed. “I’ll be there.”
I wasn’t convinced. “Promise me on your gamers’ code.”
Alex grimaced. “You have no idea what the gamers’ code is, do you?”
“I’ve played more computer games in the last week than I have in the last decade,” I said. “Of course, I have no clue what the gamers’ code is.”
Alex grinned. “Fair enough. On the gamers’ code, I’ll be there.”
“I’ll see you later.” I hurried back to the Land Rover, where I could see Helen leaning over to press the horn again.
“I’m here.” I jumped in the back and sat next to Jessie and Flipper.
“What took you so long?” asked Helen.
“I was checking in on Alex,” I said. “He’s a bit down. He wasn’t sure he was coming to the air show.”
“Helen has been filling us in on the other suspects,” said Gunner. “Alex is one of them.”
“I don’t think he is,” I said. “He’s too much of a nice guy.”
“Nice guys can snap,” said Gunner. “I’ve seen it happen.”
“Not this one,” I said. “We need to keep focused on Harriet and Piers.”
“Alex’s fake best friend and the horrible girlfriend,” said Gunner.
Helen had been doing a good job of filling them in. “That’s right. Harriet is the guest of honor today. I’m sure Piers will show up at some point.”
“What about this sister?” asked Zach, as he drove us along the narrow lane and out onto the main road heading toward the air show. “Helen mentioned she might be involved.”
“I thought that at first,” I said. “She is keen on pointing her finger at her brother. Maybe she’s deflecting her involvement by focusing on him.”
“Will she be there today?”
“Most likely,” I said.
“Point the suspects out when we get there,” said Gunner. “We can keep tabs on them.”
The traffic increased as we got nearer to the air show. We joined a slow-moving queue of cars to enter the airfield.
“I did a bit of investigating into this place before we arrived,” said Gunner. “It’s mainly military aircraft here.”
I sat up straight. “I thought this was a dusty old museum for defunct planes?”
“There’s nothing dusty about this place,” said Gunner. “If you listen to the rumors, they do interesting testing here.”
“What do they test?” asked Helen.
“State-of-the-art military craft,” said Gunner. “Stealth planes, new types of propulsion systems. Unmanned aircraft.”
“Including armed drones?” I asked.
“Including armed drones,” said Gunner.
“This must be the place Alex worked when he took on a contract with the military.” My heart sank. If it was, then he was even more likely to have been involved with Greg’s death.
“Why are they opening today if the public isn’t supposed to get a look at this kind of thing?” asked Helen.
“To show they’re honest and not up to anything nefarious,” said Gunner. “They’ll keep the top-secret stuff out of sight. My contact in the local force gave me a summary of the case findings. Greg’s body was found in the field next to the airbase. He was shot in the back, which suggests he was trying to get away.”
That tallied with everything Greg had told us.
We stop talking as we reached the entrance gate and passed through. As we rounded the corner, I saw a dozen aircraft lined up on an airstrip and a huge open hangar with more aircraft inside.
The place was already busy with families looking forward to a fun day trip. Carnival music filled the air, and the scent of hot sugar drifted through the open window. I wasn’t in the mood to eat. I was in the mood to figure out who’d killed Greg.
We all climbed out of the Land Rover and headed toward the hangar.
“Oh no,” muttered Helen. “I’ve just spotted Harriet.”
I looked over and saw Harriet wearing a fitted cream dress with matching jacket. She was tottering along on high black heels, her hair curled around her face. She was on the arm of a middle-aged man in a suit, who was pointing things out to her.
“Keep an eye on her,” I said. “She’ll not be going too far in those heels.”
“There’s Piers,” said Helen.
Piers trailed along behind Harriet, a glass of beer in his hand. He looked distinctly bored and not at all amused to be there.
“At least they’re together,” I said. “It will be easier to keep track of them.”
“It doesn’t look like we’ll need to do much of that,” said Helen. “We’ve been spotted.”
Harriet left the man in the suit and stalked toward me, a scowl on her face. “Where is he?”
“Good morning to you, too,” I said.
Harriet waved a hand in front of her face. “Alex. I thought you’d be bringing him with you.”
“He’s on his way.”
“You’re supposed to be his assistant.”
I smiled serenely. “That’s right.”
“You should assist him to get here on time,” said Harriet. “I’ve been forced to look at far too many tedious aeroplanes. Alex should be here to keep me entertained.”
“Haven’t you got Piers to do that?” asked Helen.
Harriet glanced over her shoulder, and her cheeks reddened. “He’s just a friend.”
“A friend with benefits,” muttered Helen.
The sound of buzzing had me looking skyward. It was a drone flying overhead. “Have you had a go on that?” I pointed at the drone.
Harriet shrugged. “That’s not my thing. Actually, none of this is my thing. I’m doing it because Alex said I’d be representing him. He’ll be impressed by me being here in his name. It makes us official. I’m practically his wife if he wants me to do this sort of thing!”
“Not quite,” said Helen.
“You should try everything here,” I said. “It’s only right, you being the guest of honor.”
“The stupid organizer has been trying to get me to take part.” Harriet looked over her shoulder at the man in the suit. “He seems to think I’m interested in this.”
I suppressed a smile. I had played up Harriet’s interest in aircraft when I’d suggested her as the guest of honor. “You should still give it a try. There could be some good photo opportunities in it for you.”
She paused and looked around. “I haven’t been able to take any photos. I lost my phone.”
I inhaled sharply and pressed my lip
s together. It was still hiding in my bedroom. “When did you last see it?”
Harriet’s brow wrinkled. “Actually, at Alex’s. Have you seen it?”
“No. But I’ll keep an eye out for it.”
“Alex was always telling me I should put a tracker on it, so I could find it if this ever happened.” Harriet shrugged. “It’s time for an upgrade, anyway.”
I let out a gentle sigh. “So, how about the drones?”
“I already told you I’m not interested.” Harriet scowled at me. “Make sure you come find me as soon as Alex arrives. He needs to be by my side on this important day. People need to see us together.”
I watched as she stalked away and shook my head.
“She’s a charmer,” said Gunner.
“You’re seeing her good side,” I said.
“She isn’t keen on trying out the drones,” said Zach. “She could be hiding something.”
“Either that or she doesn’t want to make herself look like an idiot,” said Helen.
“Too late for that,” said Gunner. “That girl has a serious lack of appeal.”
“You think so?” Helen grinned at him. “She’s quite pretty.”
“Of course.” Gunner wrapped an arm around her waist. “She pales into insignificance compared to you.”
Helen giggled. “Shall we get candy floss?”
“No candy floss,” I said. “We need to keep focused on the suspects.”
“We can see Harriet and Piers from here,” said Gunner.
“And Alex isn’t here yet,” said Helen.
“What about Eva?” I looked around, but there were so many people, it was hard to pick anyone out in the crowd.
“I’ll look out for a pale woman in black while we get the candy floss.” Helen was already dragging Gunner away.
“A woman in black?” asked Zach.
“Eva is in mourning for Greg,” I said. “She had a bit of a crush on him.”
“What about the ghost?” asked Zach. “Has he put in an appearance today?”
“He rarely does,” I said. “He’s introverted. Every time we see him, he just seems sad. He doesn’t know who killed him, but he’s convinced it wasn’t Alex.”
“As are you,” said Zach.
“I can’t figure him for a killer,” I said. “You haven’t met him yet, but I know you’ll like him when you do.”
“I won’t like him if he killed his best friend,” said Zach. “I also won’t like him if he’s put you at any risk.”
I loved it when Zach got all macho protective of me. “He hasn’t. Alex is a decent guy.”
Helen returned with four sticks of pink candy floss. “We might as well enjoy ourselves while we’re here. We can hunt for our killers and eat this at the same time.”
I took the enormous puffy cloud of pink sugar and took a bite. I got an instant sugar rush, and my teeth ached.
“Isn’t that Camilla?” asked Helen through a mouthful of candy floss.
Camilla strode toward us. She wore a green jumpsuit and carried a helmet under one arm.
“What’s she doing dressed like that?” I asked.
“Didn’t you say she volunteers here?” said Helen. “Maybe it’s part of her volunteer duties.”
Another puzzle piece clicked into place. This was where Camilla volunteered. “I thought she helped out at an aeroplane museum. I’ve only just figured out she comes here to volunteer.”
“You won’t have regular volunteers on military airbases,” said Gunner. “It’s all skilled personnel at a place like this. Volunteers would be too much of a risk.”
“Maybe this one is different,” said Helen.
I lowered my candy floss. Maybe it wasn’t. If Camilla had easy access to this site, could she get her hands on a drone?
She raised a hand in greeting. “I’m so glad to see you here. What do you think of our little air show?”
“We wouldn’t miss it.” I introduced her to Gunner and Zach. “What’s the outfit for?”
“Oh, this,” said Camilla. “I always wear it when I go flying. It’s standard issue.”
“I didn’t know you flew.”
“That’s what I do,” said Camilla. “I’ve got my own small plane here. I love going out on a sunny day like this. I’m taking people up on flights today.”
“That must be fun.” Helen was too high on sugar to notice the connection. Camilla could handle a plane and knew her way around this airbase. But why would she want her son’s best friend dead?
“It’s lots of fun,” said Camilla. “Do you both fancy getting sky bound?”
Chapter 19
“Are you serious?” Helen grinned at me. “That sounds great.”
“I will be busy for the rest of the day, so you may as well get in before the crowds line up,” said Camilla. “I’m doing three flights an hour. Since the event is not officially open yet, you get the first chance to get on the plane with me.”
I did want to know more about Camilla’s involvement at the airbase but wasn’t sure about doing it while she flew us through the clouds. “We don’t want to stop other people from enjoying themselves.”
“Nonsense. I insist.” Camilla tapped the top of her helmet. “You can call it a perk of the job.”
“Come on. It will be brilliant.” Helen gave me a curious look.
I wanted to tell her my concerns, but there was no way of doing so without alerting Camilla.
“Hold on a moment. There’s Alex.” Camilla hurried past us before I could think of another excuse not to get on the plane. She grabbed hold of him and yanked him back toward us. “You’re late.”
“I got here as soon as I could,” said Alex. He looked at the group and nodded at everyone.
“You haven’t even showered,” said Camilla. “What have you done to your hair?” She tried to smooth down his messy hair.
“Mom, I’m fine.” Alex stepped out of her reach. “I said I’d come.” He looked at me and shrugged.
“It’s good to see you here,” I said. “Your mom was just offering to take us on a flight.”
“Sure, she does that,” said Alex.
“We didn’t even know Camilla flew,” said Helen. “Lorna’s too scared to go on the plane in case it crashes.”
“It’s not that! I’m sure you’re a great pilot.” I looked at Camilla.
“I’m excellent.”
“Mom was one of the first female pilots in the RAF,” said Alex.
“You’re kidding,” said Helen. “You must be really good.”
“I’ve flown hundreds of missions,” said Camilla. “I won’t crash. I value my beautiful plane far too much to do that.”
“Mom is good at what she does,” said Alex. “She’s been trying to convince me to get my pilot’s license, but I prefer the type of flying where I don’t need to leave the couch.”
I smiled at him. There was no surprise there.
“Let’s go, you two,” said Camilla. “I don’t have much time. We must keep to the schedule.”
I looked at Helen, who was bouncing on her toes with excitement. My gut told me it was a huge mistake to get on this plane, but I needed to know more.
“Let’s do it,” said Helen. “It will be fun.”
Forcing down my concerns, I nodded.
“I’ll keep an eye on Flipper for you,” said Zach.
Flipper was happily sniffing the ground with Jessie by his side. I had no concerns about him.
I leaned over to Zach. “Make sure you don’t let Harriet or Piers out of your sight.” I still had them in my firing line, but this new information about Camilla had muddled my thoughts.
“You can count on me,” he whispered and kissed my cheek.
I hurried along behind Camilla with Helen, leaving Zach and Gunner to get acquainted with Alex.
“This is mine,” said Camilla, as we stopped by a small white plane with red piping down the side. “It’s a Cessna TTx. I’ve had her for two years. She can go almost thirteen hundred nauti
cal miles.”
I inspected the plane. It looked safe enough. As for the pilot, now I wasn’t so sure.
Camilla handed us both helmets. “You need these, so we can talk to each other when we’re inside. It gets noisy.”
Helen reluctantly put on the helmet. “This will ruin my hair. I spent ages getting my curls just right.”
“Gunner will still love you, even though you have helmet hair,” I said.
Camilla climbed into the front of the plane, and we followed her. I took the seat right behind Camilla, and Helen took the one in the back.
“Can you hear me okay?” said Camilla through the helmet audio.
“Loud and clear,” I said.
“Me too,” said Helen. “Are you any good at doing tricks?”
Camilla laughed. “If you want tricks, I can show you plenty of those. It’s why I’m doing this today. The organizers want to give the crowd something to remember.” She ran through a few flight checks before starting the engine.
My stomach gave a nervous lurch. “Don’t do anything too dramatic.”
“We might as well have fun while we’re here,” said Helen. “How many chances are we going to get to be flown by a former RAF pilot?”
“Quite right.” Camilla taxied the plane onto the runway.
I took a deep breath. There was no going back now. It would be fine. I wouldn’t be at all scared. I needed time to process this new information about Camilla. Maybe I was getting it wrong. Just because she could fly an actual plane, it didn’t mean she had anything to do with drones. Even if she did, why would she want Greg out of the way?
The plane’s engine roared as we picked up speed. The take-off was perfect, and we were soon in the air, zooming above the crowds.
Camilla did a circuit of the village, staying low so we got a good view. “That’s our house down there to the left, the one with the circular lawn out front.”
I looked down and saw the house.
“You can see the church to your right and the woods just behind it.” We did a complete loop before Camilla took us higher.
“Do you ever get Alex and Eva flying?” I asked.
