“If it’s any consolation, I’ll be lucky to get a shot anywhere near them.”
“I’m not sure if I hope you do or don’t.”
Ed raised the rifle and sighted through the scope. “They’re already moving,” he said, then let off a shot. “Miss.”
He tracked the moving aircraft and fired again.
“Miss.”
The plane was approaching the midpoint of its run. Ed shot again.
“Miss.”
As the tires lifted off the runway, he pulled the trigger a fourth time.
“Miss.”
As the plane lifted into the air, Ed sucked in a breath and tried one more shot.
“Did you hit it?”
“Maybe.”
The plane continued to rise and soon disappeared into the stormy night.
“Or maybe not,” Ed said.
A gust of wind joltedthe Cessna, sending it sideways, then up several dozen feet, and then down the same before Bronsky could get it back under control.
Beside him, Parker clutched his seat. “How long until you get us above this?”
“I’m working on it.”
The plane wasn’t responding as well as he expected. The vertical climb had slowed considerably, and he couldn’t figure out why.
It could be the storm, he admitted to himself. It was worse than he’d let on, and in any other circumstances, he would never have left the ground. He’d also stretched the truth when he said he could get them above the storm. A light rain shower wouldn’t have been a problem, but this was no light rain, so he had no idea how high the clouds went.
He checked the GPS and frowned. He’d been so focused on gaining elevation that he hadn’t noticed until now that the GPS system wasn’t working. He punched a few buttons, but it remained dead.
He looked out the window, hoping to see something he could identify, but the rain was battering the plane from all sides, making it impossible to locate anything beyond a dozen feet.
He tried to remember how many turns he’d made in his attempt to get higher and thought it had been five…maybe.
Or was it six?
No, it was five, he decided, which meant if he turned forty-five degrees to the left, it should put them on the same path they’d been on when they’d taken off. And another twenty degrees in the same direction would have them on course to the mainland.
He took a deep breath and made the long turn.
As he leveled out, the plane shuddered and began to descend.
“Why are you going down?” Parker said. “We need to go up.”
“I didn’t do it!”
The Cessna shuddered again, and their descent angle increased.
“I-I think there’s something wrong with the plane,” Bronsky said.
