Blink of an Eye

by Roy Johansen

  They’d finally reached the airstrip where his plane was positioned and warming for takeoff. Chester gestured toward it. “Yes, only one more refuel in Maui.”

  She wasn’t getting through to Noah. He seemed to have lost touch with reality. “Didn’t you hear what they said, Noah? You’ve lost. It’s over.”

  “I never lose. Though it may be more difficult now that they’ve taken my Charlotte away.” His lips tightened bitterly. “The first thing I’ll do when we get in the air is contact my friend Nick Parillo in Las Vegas and arrange a contract on both of them.”

  Dee stopped short and whirled to face him. “Leave them alone! I’m the one who took her away, you idiot. I knew all I needed to do was give Jessie the opportunity to make her move. I knew that bitch was going to kill her, and there was no way I’d let that happen.”

  He flinched. “You shouldn’t have told me that. I really preferred to ignore the possibility. I’m afraid I’ll have to punish you, too. I really owe it to Charlotte. But not before I’ve enjoyed you in all the ways there are. I’m afraid some of them will hurt very much, Delilah.”

  “Go to hell, Noah. So much for—”

  “Hush.” Noah stiffened and then turned back toward the rows of old planes behind them. “Do you hear that?”

  Chester nodded and raised his assault rifle. “They’re right behind us, sir.”

  “Not for long.” Noah whirled toward Dee and jerked his thumb toward his jet’s open loading stairs. “Get inside and move toward the back of the plane. Stay away from the door and all windows.”

  “No.” Her hands clenched into fists. “It ends here. I’m not going anywhere.”

  His hand lashed out and connected with her face with full force.

  Pain.

  Dizziness.

  She fell to the ground and was only vaguely aware of him standing above her. His eyes were blazing down at her and he was pointing his gun at her. “It could be that you’re right,” he said hoarsely. “Maybe it does end here. Maybe Charlotte was right about you.”

  She shook her head to clear it. “What a cowardly son of a bitch you are. What do you think you’re going to do?”

  “I’m finishing it.” He aimed his gun at her. “Go.”

  Dee hesitated; she had no doubt in this moment that he’d press that trigger. She had no weapon but perhaps she could find one on the plane and use it to go after him. He wouldn’t expect an attack from behind. At any rate, she’d have to make certain that Noah found a surprise if he made it back here to the plane alive.

  “Whatever you say.” She struggled to her feet and gave him one more defiant look as she started up the steps toward the plane. “By all means finish it, Noah. I’ll be waiting for you.”

  * * *

  With the sound of Noah’s idling jet engines as their guide, Kendra and Jessie made their way through the maze of old airliners.

  “We’re almost there,” Kendra said. “Just one more turn, and—”

  She and Jessie froze.

  Noah stood on the path in front of them, his assault rifle leveled at their heads. “Throw your guns down. Both of you.”

  “Let Dee go, Noah,” Kendra said. “Do that and we won’t try to stop you. You won’t get a better deal all day.”

  “Throw down your guns,” he repeated. “You won’t need them. Dee is already on the plane. If I get so much as a scratch out here, my pilot has been ordered to kill her immediately.”

  “Nice. Does she know that?” Jessie said.

  “It doesn’t matter. She’s a great prize but self-preservation is everything. If you really care about Dee, get rid of your guns. Throw them as far away as you can.”

  Kendra and Jessie looked at each other, then tossed their handguns.

  Noah cautiously looked around. “Where’s Lynch?”

  “We don’t know,” Kendra said.

  He gave her a suspicious glance.

  “I’m telling the truth. I have no idea.”

  “Let’s just hope he doesn’t do something foolish. It wouldn’t be good for you or Delilah.” He motioned with the barrel of his gun. “Step out onto the airstrip.”

  As Kendra and Jessie walked onto the airstrip, they saw Noah’s waiting plane. His hired gun, Chester, stood guard next to the plane’s open stairs.

  Noah stepped close to Kendra and placed his gun barrel under her chin. “You’ve caused me so much trouble,” he murmured. “I gave you a chance to just go away. You should have taken it.”

  “Why?” She looked him straight in the eye. “Your life is over, Noah.”

  “Funny. I was just about to say the same thing to you.”

  Before she could respond, they both heard the plane’s engines suddenly roaring, kicking up sand from the desert floor!

  They whirled to hear Chester screaming as his feet left the ground and he was sucked into plane’s left engine.

  Blood sprayed onto the jet’s tail, and the engine sputtered in a shower of sparks.

  Noah, Kendra, and Jessie stared in horror at the smoking engine. Then their gaze was drawn to the cockpit window.

  Lynch was in the pilot’s seat.

  “Nooo!” Noah screamed and raised his gun to point toward the cockpit. But only halfway, because in the next second Kendra lunged toward him with an object she’d taken from her windbreaker’s right pocket.

  She stabbed him once, then again, deep in the chest.

  Noah froze for a long moment, then dropped his gun. He took one step, then another, then looked in puzzlement at the ornate object protruding from his chest. He dropped to his knees, then finally fell unconscious onto the airstrip. Dead.

  “What in the hell is that?” Jessie asked, gazing at the weapon in Noah’s chest.

  Kendra kicked Noah’s gun away. “A gift from Lynch. A Lhasa Tibetan phurba. It’s for fighting demons.”

  Jessie slowly nodded. “I think it works.”

  They heard the pounding of footsteps from the jet’s stairs. Dee ran across the airstrip and threw her arms around Jessie. “I was so afraid for you.”

  “You were the one being dragged off,” Jessie said. “I knew you were going to raise hell with him.”

  “I didn’t have a weapon. So I had to go on the plane and look for one.” She turned around and smiled at Lynch, who was now coming down the steps behind her. Her hand made a little flourish in his direction. “And I found one!”

  Kendra turned toward him. “How in the hell did you pull that off?”

  “I got here a minute or so before Noah did. The pilot was obviously better with a flight stick than he was with a handgun.”

  “No, not that.” Kendra grimaced as she pointed to the bloody jet engine. “I mean that.”

  Lynch gently turned her away from the plane. “Just a matter of turning the throttle from minimum idle to full thrust. I noticed that Calderon’s thug was in flagrant violation of FAA safety rules. So I took advantage of the situation.”

  Headlights were suddenly piercing the darkness. They looked over to see a small convoy of FBI vehicles entering the Boneyard and roaring down the landing strip.

  Lynch smiled. “Just in time to do clean up.”

  “Kelland isn’t going to be happy about that job description,” Kendra said dryly.

  “You take what you can get,” Lynch said as he started toward Kelland’s vehicle. His attitude was brimming with pure triumph and a hint of malicious mischief as he stepped out into the beams of Kelland’s headlights. “We got the bad guys, so he has to settle for what’s left over.” He lifted his head and called out to Kelland: “Welcome. I was just telling Kendra you’re right on time. Let me tell you about it…”

  EPILOGUE

  Come on, Dee!” Jessie threw open the door of the FBI van Kelland had assigned to Dee while his agents took her statement. “The invasion has started. I’m getting you out of here.”

  “What are you talking about?” Dee jumped to her feet and ran toward the door. “What invasion? What’s happened?” Then as she pushed
past Jessie and looked outside, she stopped short. “Oh, shit.”

  Driving toward the plane graveyard was a virtual armada of vehicles of all descriptions, but principally jeeps and cars emblazoned with network news insignias and a cavalcade of television and cable trucks. Dee wrinkled her nose. “Invasion, indeed. I thought I’d have a little more time.”

  “And you will,“ Jessie said grimly as she grabbed Dee’s arm. “Come on. I’ll get you out of here. I’ve borrowed a car from one of Kelland’s guys and parked it on the runway. You’ve had enough to contend with, and I’m not going to let the paparazzi tear you apart.”

  “They’re not all paparazzi,” Dee said quietly. “There are probably quite a few first-rate journalists in that horde who are only trying to do their jobs. I’m a big story.” She pulled away from Jessie’s hold. “And the quickest way to get rid of them is to give it to them.”

  “Then let me do it.”

  She shook her head. “You opted out years ago and it’s taken me a long time to let you go.” She smiled teasingly. “And look at you, still being all protective. It’s no wonder that a kid like me could get confused.” She looked back at the reporters, who had almost reached the planes. “This is my life and I’ll figure it out. It may take a while and I’ll make mistakes. But I’ll stand tall and I’ll never be a victim again.” She gestured to the journalists now pouring out of their vehicles and running toward them. “So step away so that they can get some good shots of me that will please them. I’ll handle this, Jessie.”

  Jessie hesitated. “I would have let you do it. I just thought you needed a break.”

  “After all the sedatives that witch pumped down me? Be for real. If I were more relaxed, I’d be comatose.” She held up her hand as she was suddenly deluged by the crowd. “Hi, everyone.” Her smile was brilliant. “I’m so glad to see you. Now give me a minute to get my breath and I’ll try to give you something to tell those nice people who have been so concerned about me. First, I want to thank everyone in the media who was so helpful during the kidnap negotiations.” Her smile faded. “And I want to express my sadness at the loss of those who died because Noah Calderon was a monster. You’ll hear more about him and his ego and selfishness later, but that’s how I’ll always think of him. You’ll all receive a copy of the statement I gave the FBI regarding what occurred that night and here today, and it will be the entire truth. But after you receive that statement, I’ll never speak of what happened at that concert ever again.” A smile lit her face. “So accept that in another month I’ll be old news and let me go back to doing what I love and what I hope my audiences love. I actually think I’m going to surprise you down the road someday. Isn’t working to turn out something beautiful so much better than clinging to darkness?”

  But the questions and clamor from the journalists were becoming overwhelming and Dee instinctively took a step back. “Sure it is. Think about it. But I can see my friend Jessie here is getting nervous, so I believe I’ll have to leave you now. I’ll see that you get those statements by tomorrow at the latest. Trust me.”

  “Out!” Jessie was pulling Dee away from the crowd and ducking underneath the body of the plane to drag her toward the FBI vehicle she’d parked on the runway. She glanced over her shoulder but saw that only a few journalists had as yet managed to follow them. “Get in the damn car. I want to get you out of here.”

  Dee was already in the passenger seat as Jessie pressed the accelerator. She laughed as the car jumped forward. “This reminds me of when we bolted out of the gates of Kendra’s school and had all those paparazzi trailing behind us. Did I tell you how totally awesome you were that day?”

  “Well, don’t think I’m going to do a repeat.” She glanced behind her and saw that the reporters were once more in hot pursuit. “I made a few advance arrangements to ensure I’d get you away from here with absolutely no problem.”

  “Really? How are you going—” Then Dee started to laugh as she saw the string of FBI vehicles and police cars ahead of them blocking the storage facility entrance. “Now, that’s totally worthy of you.” She waved at Kelland as he motioned for two FBI vehicles to pull aside so that Jessie could get beyond the barrier and then close it tightly again. The media vehicles screeched to a halt as they saw Kelland walk casually toward them. “The FBI may be getting some very bad press,” she murmured.

  “Nonsense. You saw how charming and professional Kelland can be, and he’s totally within his rights. This is a crime scene and they have no right to disturb it. And by the time they get a helicopter out here, I’ll have you safely stashed away somewhere.”

  “And I’ll let you do it.” Dee smiled. “For the next four days. I figure it will take that long for me to complete my plans and set up my own exit strategy.”

  “Exit strategy?” she repeated warily.

  “You weren’t listening to my wonderful press conference. I told them what I was going to do. I just didn’t tell them how I was going to do it. I’m not sure of all the details yet myself, but when I was sitting in that van waiting for you, I realized it was going to have to contain an exit strategy.”

  “And are you going to tell me about it?”

  “Of course I am. But not right now. I’m going to enjoy these next four days with my good friend because I’m already feeling a little sad…” She leaned back in the seat. “But don’t worry, it will all come together…”

  * * *

  Palm Desert Airfield

  Southern California

  Five Days Later

  “Will you please tell me why the hell I’m here?” Kendra asked as she saw Lynch walking across the tarmac toward her. “I was supposed to stay late at the school today.” She glanced around the almost-deserted airport. “For that matter, I should ask where I am. My GPS wouldn’t even acknowledge this airport. If you hadn’t given me directions, I never would have found it.”

  “I would have tracked you down.”

  “Really? Until I got that text from you, I hadn’t seen or heard from you for the last week.”

  “You told me you were going to be busy catching up. I aim to please.”

  “I was busy. I’m still busy. I’m here, but I don’t know why. I should be working.”

  “No, you shouldn’t.” He smiled. “I spent a lot of time pulling strings and making arrangements and I won’t have you spoiling them.” He glanced up at the sky as a C-130E cargo plane that had been on the approach landed and was now taxiing down the runway. “And it looks as if that pilot understands it, too. He’s right on time. Dee will be pleased.”

  “Dee?” Kendra’s eyes narrowed as she gazed at the plane with renewed interest. “What does she have to do with that old beat-up cargo plane?”

  “Hey, it’s a little old but it’s not beat-up. Jessie would never have let her negotiate with me to get her anything but top-quality merchandise.”

  “Negotiate? What are you talking about?”

  “Ask her yourself.” He jerked his head at Jessie’s car, which was driving through the airport gates. “I’m just putty in their hands.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  But then Jessie had pulled up beside them and Dee was jumping out of the passenger seat. “It’s wonderful.” She dove into Lynch’s arms and gave him a hug. “Just what I wanted.”

  “It had better be,” he said dryly. “I went to a good deal of trouble to arrange your escape. I’ve spent less time and effort extracting a Saudi prince.”

  “Escape?” Kendra repeated. “What the hell?”

  “That’s what I said.” Jessie got out of the car and came toward them. “But the more Dee talked about it, the more it appealed to me.” She nodded at the cargo plane. “That’s why that cargo plane landed at a military base earlier today and picked up Dee’s orchestra and crew and flew them here.” She exchanged looks with Dee. “I didn’t really think she could pull it off in four days. But she managed to do it.”

  “Well, it was actually five days,” Dee said. “It took longer than
I thought it would for Lynch to get all those pesky documents I needed for me and the guys.”

  “Yeah, visas and passports can be so pesky,” Lynch said.

  “I didn’t say I wasn’t grateful,” Dee said. “I just said I didn’t count on it. I have a lot to learn.”

  He was suddenly smiling. “Maybe. But you learn very fast.”

  “Escape,” Kendra repeated to get them back on track. “What’s happening, Jessie?”

  She shrugged. “Dee decided that the media wasn’t going to leave her alone as long as she was easily accessible. This story was like a horror movie with so many elements of scandal, it would tend to feed on itself.”

  “She’s right there,” Kendra said grimly. “They’ve been rabid about trying to locate her since you whisked her away. The reporters have even followed me out to the school looking for her and trying to interview me.”

  “Told you, Jessie,” Dee murmured. “I have to shut it down.”

  “I never argued with you about that,” Jessie said. “But as usual you decided to do your own thing and involved Lynch in creating the scenario. I told you he’d end up by taking over the operation.”

  “But you also told me that he was probably the only one who could do it.” She beamed at Lynch again. “Did I tell you how amazing you are? Or how grateful I am?”

  “You mentioned it once or twice.” He grinned. “But you could prove it by turning around and getting on that plane. Setting this up on short notice required pulling strings and bribery. I didn’t do anything really illegal, but I came close a couple times. It could be awkward for me.” He made a shooing motion. “Have a nice flight, Dee.”

  “She’s not going anywhere until I find out the details of just why you’re so ‘amazing,’” Kendra said flatly. “I’ve been getting double talk from all of you since the moment you came through the gates.” She turned back to Jessie. “You left a message asking me to come here to meet you today. Now talk to me.”