The Missing Piece

by Sala, Sharon

  Barring complications, I’ll pick you up at Denver International at 10:00 a.m. I’ll text once I’m on the ground to tell you where. I’ll be refueling there before pickup. Bring me a coffee and anything resembling a sweet roll.

  Charlie blinked. “Damn woman.”

  He rolled over, set the alarm on his cell phone, allowing himself plenty of time to get to the airport and turn in his rental, then, God forbid he should forget, pick up refreshments for the pilot. When he looked back up at the TV, he realized the movie was over and he still didn’t know how it ended.

  So he sent a text to Carter Dunleavy, telling him the plan as it stood, and that he would call him again from the airport when they were en route to Colorado Springs.

  * * *

  Wyrick had dressed purposefully for the flight this morning. Her eye makeup was purple to match the formfitting purple leather she was wearing. She had long since been unable to startle Charlie with her getup, but she didn’t dress to shock him anymore. It was just who she’d become. This morning, she would get her boss back, and breakfast to boot.

  She left the apartment as the sun was coming up, feeling a sense of anticipation. She didn’t mind spending the day in the air. Keeping an ever-cautious watch on her rearview mirror, she arrived at the private airport where she stored her Ranger, certain she hadn’t been tailed. Benny was standing in the open doorway of the hangar, and the Ranger was out and ready for her.

  She parked her Mercedes inside, set its security alarm and walked back out.

  “Morning, Benny,” she said.

  “Morning, ma’am. Nice duds.”

  She grinned. Benny didn’t give a shit about how she looked, which made her feel easier around him.

  “I do what I can,” she said.

  “And you do fine. She’s fueled up and ready to go. I’ll walk with you through preflight check, in case you see something you don’t like.”

  Wyrick tossed her bag in the back of the chopper before beginning her inspection. Once she was satisfied all was well, she slid into the pilot’s seat to do a final run-through, then started the engine.

  She put her headset on for radio contact, adjusted the fit and gave Benny a thumbs-up as she revved the engine. Once she reached maximum lift, she went straight up and made a quick half circle to get her bearings. Then she headed north for Denver.

  The flight chatter on the headset was normal as she checked in with air traffic control at Denver Airport, informing them she was in the air.

  They radioed back with an altitude setting, and told her they had her on radar.

  Wyrick was good to go.

  She was flying with the early-morning sun on her right, glancing every now and then at the panel before her, making sure there were no surprises brewing.

  As she flew, her thoughts slipped back to when she began taking flying lessons, and how unhappy Universal Theorem had been with her for taking risks with her life when her work for them was so important.

  She’d told them then, in a calm, steady voice, which they knew was the only warning they’d get before she reached meltdown, that she gave every waking hour of six straight days to the company, and that they didn’t fucking own her—although she didn’t really know at the time that they sort of did—but they acquiesced.

  She blinked, coming out of that memory to ensure she was still on course, and popped a stick of gum in her mouth to keep from gritting her teeth.

  Her life would make a damn fine suspense movie if the viewers were ready to suspend disbelief. She’d suspected some of what had happened, but never in a million years would she have believed the depths of what they’d done. All she knew was that the world as she’d known it had died on the day of the clowns.

  It was how she’d compartmentalized the day her mother was murdered, and when she went to live with Cyrus Parks, the man who’d “rescued” her from the clowns and who claimed to be her father.

  The men in clown costumes were blamed for her mother’s murder, supposedly killing her in the act of trying to abduct Jade. They were arrested, arraigned and then conveniently died in jail before they ever made it to trial. It was all too neat for her peace of mind.

  Wyrick shelved the memories, although they never really went away. She existed because of the madness of men and of science—a fact she couldn’t outrun.

  When she finally reached the airspace of Denver International, she radioed in for landing instructions. After she’d landed and was on the ground waiting for refueling, she called Charlie.

  He answered on the second ring.

  “Your ride is here,” she said. “Do you have my breakfast?”

  “Yes, I have your food. How do I get to you?”

  “I have it covered. Write down this number.”

  “Wait a damn minute while I put your breakfast down,” he muttered.

  She grinned, but only because he couldn’t see her.

  “Okay, I’m ready,” he said.

  She rattled off a number, then followed up with instructions.

  “Call that number. Someone from Airport Personnel will ask for your location, then they’ll get you and escort you to where I am. As soon as we’re refueled, we’ll be out of here.”

  “Thanks. See you—” The line went dead.

  * * *

  “Shit. She hung up on me again,” he grumbled, and resisted the urge to drop her breakfast in the trash.

  Instead, he called the number, and before he was over his disgust, he was on his way to meet her, carrying the breakfast in one hand and pulling two piggybacked suitcases with the other. The young man from Personnel who accompanied him had little to say.

  When he finally saw Wyrick in all that purple leather, standing beside the chopper with her hands on her hips in a “what took you so long” stance, he wondered what Carter was going to think of her. A couple of minutes later he handed her the coffee and a sack.

  “Here’s your breakfast.”

  She accepted the bag and the large cup of coffee, peeled off the lid and gulped some down.

  “It’s still warm, too. Thanks. I’m starved.”

  He frowned. “Why didn’t you eat before you left?”

  She’d already taken a bite of a cheese Danish, so she chewed and swallowed before answering.

  “Because I didn’t want to be late and let you down.” Then she took another big bite, closing her purple-lidded eyes in sugar ecstasy, and chewed unselfconsciously in front of him.

  In that moment, Charlie realized that as aggravating as she could be at times, she had never let him down. She went above what the job required whenever he asked without complaint. He should probably calm down a bit when she started needling him. He knew she wasn’t cruel in any sense of the word. She just got under his skin, and the moment he thought that, it startled him. He’d didn’t realize it was that personal.

  Then she took another bite of the Danish, and as she did, a large flake of the icing caught on the edge of her lower lip. He started to point it out and then stopped. In staring at the sugar, he had unintentionally looked—really looked—at her mouth. He’d never bothered to examine that part of her before, because what came out of it usually bugged the hell out of him. But now that she wasn’t talking, he was shocked to see how pretty it was. Really full, sensual lips.

  “What are you staring at?” she snapped.

  He blinked. “That big piece of sugar hanging on your lip. I’m making bets with myself as to whether you’ll feel it and catch it, or it falls off without you knowing it was there.”

  Now Wyrick was the one staring, momentarily speechless. She snaked her tongue out and licked her lower lip, found the sugar and sucked it into her mouth and let it melt on her tongue...and obviously didn’t see the shock that flashed in Charlie’s eyes.

  “Thanks. I would’ve hated to miss that,” she said and dug into the sack again. “Thank
s for bringing two when I only asked for one,” she added.

  “I’ll deduct it from your Christmas bonus,” he said.

  She grinned.

  Charlie wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her grin before, either. Hell, this was a morning for surprises.

  “When can we leave?” he asked.

  She held up a finger and circled the chopper to talk to the guy refueling the tanks, then came back.

  “He said about five more minutes and we’ll be clear to fly.”

  “Then I’m calling Carter, so he’ll have an idea of how soon we’ll be there. How long do you think it will take?”

  “Oh, probably twenty or so minutes by air.”

  “That close?” he said.

  “Only as the crow flies. Or the chopper... You’d be driving mountain roads for a good two hours, maybe more, since you said it was on the top.”

  He nodded, then walked a distance away to make the call.

  * * *

  She watched him without thought as she downed the second sweet roll, and was fine until she focused on his wide shoulders, the narrow waist and muscular backside and legs. That was when she closed her eyes and turned her back on him to finish eating. Even though she had a lump in her throat. Even though she had to wash her last bite down with coffee that had finally gone cold.

  Before he was through talking, the tanks had been topped up. She did a quick check of the chopper itself, and by the time she was through, he was at the passenger’s-side door.

  “Are we ready?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Get in.”

  He tossed his suitcases in the back, then climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door. He was reaching for a headset as she got into the pilot seat.

  He glanced at her again, but she was down to business as she fired up the engine, then adjusted her headset and contacted the tower.

  As soon as she achieved takeoff power, they were up and off. Now she was flying due south with the sun on her left.

  Charlie seemed thoughtful, with little to say, which suited Wyrick fine. Neither one was interested in chitchat, so she left him alone.

  * * *

  Buddy Pierce was walking out of his house to his car when his cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID, then got in the car and started it before answering.

  “What now?” he said.

  “Carter Dunleavy has been found. He’s onto us, too. He was in hiding.”

  “Is he coming home?” Buddy asked.

  “Not yet. Not until they find who’s behind the attacks.”

  Buddy frowned. “That’s not good news. How am I supposed to finish the job now?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just giving you an update. If I hear anything different, you’ll be notified.”

  “Okay. I’ll be ready when you are.”

  The caller disconnected.

  Buddy Boy drove away. Right now he had other business to attend to.

  * * *

  Carter Dunleavy was packed and ready to go, although he was going to miss the quiet and solitude of this place. He did one last walk-through of the house, making sure he hadn’t left anything behind and taking care to leave it as pristine as when he’d arrived. He’d already emptied the leftover milk down the sink, brought the leftover food into the forest for the animals to eat, making sure not to leave anything near the house that would draw a bear’s attention.

  Now that he was finished, he carried his bags out to a bench in the shade of the small hangar. It was where he’d parked the car Rom had lent him to drive up here. He waited, watching the skies. When he finally saw the chopper coming, his stomach knotted. This was the next step he had to take, even if it took him farther away from home.

  As it came closer, he stood. And when it got close enough to identify, he realized it was a Bell jet. The chopper looked like one of the Long Rangers, and it was coming in hot, although when the pilot went from flight mode to landing, it was done with finesse. That was when Carter remembered Charlie’s pilot was a woman.

  He couldn’t see much of anything until the skids were on the helipad. The rotors were still spinning, but at a lower speed as two people got out and came to meet him. He picked up his bags and started toward them, but his eyes were on the pilot, and all he could think was that Charlie had found his own version of Wonder Woman.

  She was a good six feet tall. No hair, but the most striking face he’d seen on a woman in years. And then he realized she had no breasts, and all of a sudden the missing hair made sense. She wasn’t just some man’s wet dream. She was a warrior in a whole other sense of the word.

  “Good morning, Carter. Are you ready for your ride?” Charlie asked.

  Carter shifted focus to get a better look at Charlie Dodge. Finally, he had a face to go with the voice. “I’m grateful for your help and ready for whatever play you call next.”

  “Good. This is Wyrick, our pilot, but as I told you, also my assistant.”

  Wyrick nodded.

  Carter smiled at her. “She’s also a damn beautiful woman, but you neglected to mention that. Ma’am, it’s a pleasure to meet you, and I am grateful to you, as well.”

  Wyrick’s mouth opened, but she was so clearly surprised by what he’d said that she probably expected him to laugh it off as some kind of a joke. And then she must have realized he was serious.

  “Since you’re the first man who’s hit on me in a while, I’ll give you a pass for the unnecessary compliment. It will not, however, get you to Dallas any faster, so I suggest we all do something useful, like loading your dandy little ass into my chopper so we can be on our way.”

  Charlie must have seen the startled look on his face and arched an eyebrow, as if to remind Carter he’d been warned, but he barely noticed the gesture. He was busy grabbing suitcases and following Wyrick like a scolded child trying to get back in his mama’s good graces while Charlie brought up the rear.

  As soon as they’d stowed luggage and settled him into a window seat in back, Wyrick flashed him one more hard look.

  “Do you get airsick, Mr. Dunleavy?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Okay, but don’t try to be a hero. There’s a bottle of Dramamine in the pocket on the back of my seat. If you throw up in my chopper, you get to clean it up.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Carter said and buckled himself in.

  Charlie closed the doors on his side and got in. Wyrick was already in her seat, headset on, buckled and ready for takeoff.

  “Buckle up, Boss,” she said.

  They went straight up and made a little circle in the air as she got her bearings. “Next stop, Dallas.”

  Ten

  Back in Denver, sunrise in the Dunleavy household came with mixed feelings. They gathered for breakfast knowing Carter was alive and well, but somber at the thought of why he’d left so abruptly.

  “Good morning, family,” Jason said as he walked into the room.

  Edward was carefully dipping a corner of his toast in his coffee and then eating it. A habit he’d had since childhood.

  “Good morning, Jason,” Edward said in return.

  Jason grinned. “Hey, Uncle Edward. Don’t you think you might try a little jelly on that toast at least once?”

  Edward chuckled. “You know I like coffee toast better. What are you having?”

  “I’m going for bacon and waffles. But I’m having maple syrup, not coffee, on mine,” Jason said, as he began filling his plate from the buffet on the sideboard.

  “You don’t know what you’re missing!”

  Jason laughed. “Oh, you forget. I know exactly what I’m missing. I believe I was about ten when I finally asked you for a taste. You dunked that toast for me and I took a bite. Never wanted to spit food out as badly as I did that toast, but I chewed and swallowed it anyway because I’d asked for it.”

  Edw
ard shook his head. “I remember. That was before I lost my sight. I watched your face, and I knew you didn’t like it. But you took it like a man and swallowed it. I knew then you’d grow up into a person who kept his word.”

  Jason patted his uncle’s arm. “Thank you, Uncle Edward. I’d like to think you helped me grow into the man I am.”

  Edward sighed. “Given that I was never to father children, it was a joy to be with you.”

  Jason guessed that Dina was tired of the conversation being about someone besides her, judging by the way she greeted her son’s arrival.

  “Good morning, darling,” Dina said, giving him a big smile.

  “Morning, Mother. You’re looking lovely this morning. What do you have planned for the day?” he asked, and forked two waffles, a pat of butter and a serving of bacon onto his plate, then poured maple syrup over the lot and sat down.

  Dina eyed his food choices, but said nothing. Jason was still toned and fit, so all those carbs and sugars likely wouldn’t do him any harm. And he did have bacon, so there was protein.

  “Mother?” Jason said.

  Dina looked up. “What, dear?”

  “I asked what you were doing today, since you’re all dressed up.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I guess I was off in my own little world for a moment.” She reached over and patted Kenneth’s shoulder. “Kenny and I are going window-shopping,” she said. “Aren’t we, lovey?”

  Jason was chewing bacon, and watching the smirk on Kenneth’s face as she called him lovey. He looked all too pleased with himself, which suddenly put Jason on money alert.

  “Oh, shopping for anything special?” he asked, and cut a piece of waffle and popped it in his mouth.

  Dina batted her eyes before she answered, and when her gaze shifted to the side of his face instead of meeting his eyes, he knew she was about to spend a boatload of money on Kenneth. It was no business of his what she did with her money, and Lord knew they all had more than they could ever spend, but he hated her being used like this. She had yet to answer.