“I think we all need to sit and hear this,” said Ham. “We’ve got a lot of questions, colonel.”
“I’m sure you do. I tried reaching out to all of you but my contacts for you were hidden inside my office at the Pentagon. Once I went off-grid, I no longer had access to them and unfortunately, my memory isn’t what it used to be. You’re not easy to find.”
“No, we’re not,” smirked Ham. “My name is Hamish McDonald. That’s Gator Dougall, Jak Robicheaux, Bone and HG O’Neal, AJ Mills, Patrick Jordan, and Rush Anders.”
“Damn if y’all don’t look like your parents,” he smirked. “It’s nice to meet all of you. If I hadn’t faked my death, they would have killed me. Every time April called, I would try to let her know I wasn’t feeling well, little things, so that it wouldn’t be a complete shock when my death was announced.”
“Well, it was! How did you get so many people in on this? I mean, you had to have bribed the coroner, the police, everyone.”
“I’ve made a lot of good friends over the years, April. Some not so good. When I invested in Coastal Airways my intention was to one day run the airline. Hell, I’ve flown a few birds in my day and I could see that it was a regional airline that was needed.
“I did my due diligence and investigated the entire board, as well as the safety record of the airline. I thought it was a sound, solid investment. Then things started feeling off to me.”
“What things?” asked Gator.
“Unnecessary trips to Miami or Mexico. Airlines have a policy when flights aren’t full, or nearly empty, they cancel. They rebook you on the next flight out. Especially if they’re costly flights. On three separate occasions, I noticed that flights were taken with only one passenger on the plane. One.
“I decided to dig a bit on my own into those flights. There was a pilot, no co-pilot and no cabin crew. Just a pilot and one passenger.”
“And they went to Cancun?” asked Ham.
“That was the flight that was recorded but they did not go to Cancun. They flew to Havana once and the Caymans twice. The passenger was listed as Edward Smith. I knew that was bullshit.”
“Sir, I know this is obvious but why didn’t you notify the FAA or again, find someone that could contact us?” asked Dan.
“That would seem like the smart thing to do,” he grinned. “I think I was so worried about something happening to April I didn’t want to arouse suspicion. I would ask very generic questions, hoping to just get a little information at a time. Then I overheard something I wasn’t supposed to hear.”
“That’s how it usually happens,” smirked Eazee.
“There was a board meeting and I told them I would be attending. I actually was feeling ill but it was just a cold but would be going in and out of the room. Then I had this feeling, you know the one you get when something is telling you all hell is about to break loose?”
“We know,” they said in unison. April just stared at the men, then back at the colonel.
“I went down the night before, planted recording devices, made by you all – thank you. They said the fiberoptics and transmissions were working but not well enough. They needed greater clarity on the patterns of the military flight paths in order to stop them. My blood ran cold,” he said shaking his head. “Unfortunately, my cold gave me away while I was outside the room listening at the door. I sneezed.”
“Damn,” chuckled Ham.
“Yes. I entered the room as if I’d heard nothing, nodding at the men at the table. I apologized, told them I would sit away from everyone. They told me it would be best if I left, not wanting to get anyone else sick. I agreed, left the room without issue.
“Then things started happening. My car tires were slashed, my front windows in my home were broken, graffiti on my garage door. It was a warning and I knew it. So, I did what I knew I needed to do. I broke into the board president’s home to get information out of his office.”
“Oh, sir, that was not wise,” said Dan shaking his head.
“Yes, son. I’m aware of that but I had no choice and when I found that they were planning to harm April, I knew I had to do it. So, I did it. Then I placed all the information in that lock box, started making arrangements for my death and sent the message to April that if she was ever in trouble she should find all of you.”
“Grandpa, I got that message but I would never have been able to find them. They sent someone to kidnap me! If Quinn and his brothers hadn’t been there I don’t know where I’d be.”
“I know,” he said nodding, “I know I handled it all wrong and I’m so damn sorry about that. The man that took you, Greg Jones, actually works for Gustav Bernhard. Gustav is on the board and is the one that came up with this scheme.”
“What specifically is this scheme?” asked Ham.
“Simple. Neutralize U.S. forces, specifically in the air.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Sir, all due respect, but do you understand what it would take to neutralize air power for the U.S.? They’d have to hit planes, carriers, bases, everything,” said Jak.
“Unless they could neutralize with technology,” said the colonel. The men all stared at him and it was April that finally spoke.
