Third Half (33 page)

             
"Yes, but where would he have Jack?"  She glanced over her
shoulder to see if Eduardo was listening.  "I was through his home,
inside and outside.  I was at the club.  Jack wasn't there either."

             
"I wondered why they suddenly gave up trying to get the
things we'd hidden."

             
"What shall we do?"

             
"Smoke them out," Todd said as he turned to her with a smile. 
"But I can't do it with you here."

             
"What are you whispering about?" Eduardo returned to the
front of the plane.  "You thought I didn't know, but I have good ears.  I
heard you talking."

             
"We're talking about when we were children," Todd said
quickly.  "I was saying how sometimes we reminisce about the games
we played when we were growing up."

             
Liane listened carefully to what he was saying.

             
"Sometimes the things we pretended to be as children, we
grew up to be as adults."  He looked back at her as he spoke.  "Do you
agree, M.C.?"

             
"Yes, I think I know what you mean."  She was just beginning
to realize.  "Like the games Jack and I used to play."

             
"Right."  Todd looked over his shoulder at the man.  "And we
used to have many good television shows, too.  Not like the ones
today.  One of my favorites took place in South America.  Maybe
that's why I fell for Mary Catherine."

             
Liane was puzzled again.  She knew he was trying to tell her
something, yet wasn't sure what.

             
"Don't you remember Sister Bertrille?" Todd asked.  "Sally
Field played her."

             
"Oh . . .the . . ." She stopped as he darted her a warning glance. 
"I loved that show too."

             
"You remind me of her.  Except for one thing.  But I wish
you'd do that too."  He laughed in a suggestive way.  "Do you think
you could?"

             
"Well . . ." She sat bolt upright as she realized what he meant. 
No, not that!
  She swallowed hard, remembering so much counted on
her following Todd's lead. 

             
"A good Sister shouldn't," she said coyly, attempting to play
along, praying she could disguise her fear.

             
Eduardo was clearly interested now.

             
"I'll tell you what.  Why don't you liven things up for us?"
Todd said.  "Give it a try, okay?"

             
"Okay," she croaked, then turned to Eduardo.  "But on one
condition.  You promise not to look until I'm ready." 
If I'm ever
ready.

             
Eduardo licked his lips, looking at her through narrowed eyes. 
"What are you going to do?"

             
Something stupid.  Crazy.  Absolutely insane. 
"Something
nice, I promise." She forced herself to reply as she got up from her
seat.  "It's a long flight.  We have to do something to kill time."

             
"I don't know."  Eduardo still looked uncertain.

             
"What do you think I'm going to do, jump out of this stupid
plane?"  she asked finally.  "In this get-up?  What do you think I am,
nuts . . .?  Or a flying nun?"

             
"Okay, you go back and do what you were going to do,"
Eduardo finally said.  "But no tricks, because I have the only loaded
gun in here.  The weapons and ammunition are packed securely in a separate crates.  Remember I have good ears.  I will hear you if you try
to open them."

             
She didn't really want to leave Todd, but knew he had a plan. 
I guess it's time for a little trust.
"See you in a little while," she said
as she left them. 
I hope
.

             
Her legs felt like rubber as she located the parachute and put it
on, hoping she was doing it right. 

             
She hesitated a brief moment gathering up all her nerve.  Then
she thought of the bearded pilot who had grown to mean so much to
her.  She knew his life also depended on her doing exactly as he said. 

CH-13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

             
Her skirt seemed to billow up around her, blinding her.  But
then she remembered it was night and there was nothing to see.   She
forced back another wave of panic, trying not to think of her
predicament.  But what else was there to think about?

             
I've gotta be crazy.  Jumping out of an airplane in the
darkness!  Not even knowing where I am.  Who knows where I'll land? 
If I'll land.  If I'll live!
Her breathing grew even more rapid.  She felt
faint.

             
"Oh Todd, I hope you knew what you were doing when you
asked me to do this!"  She squeezed her eyes closed, even though it
didn't matter in the darkness.  She tried to envision Todd's face,
remembering his lips on hers, his touch.  For a brief moment she
forgot her fear.

             
She could hear the sound of the plane disappearing in the
distance.  "At least you have the benefit of a plane."  She realized that
for the first time in her life she wished she was sitting safely
on
a
plane.  Suddenly she laughed. 
I must be over my fear of flying.

             
Somewhere she remembered seeing a movie where a young
blind man had made his first jump.  "This can't be any worse than
that."
             
Then she was filled with renewed horror as she remembered
what had nearly happened to that man.

             
She listened carefully for any sounds of danger. 
There could
be high tension wires.  Traffic.  Anything!
All she heard was the
fluttering of her skirts.  Even that began to worry her. 
What if my
skirts foul up my lines?

             
She reached out, grasping the material, carefully trying to
bundle her skirt and slips closer around her.  As she did, she was able
to make out a light. 
The moon?

             
No
.  She realized it was a beam of light, and it was pointed
right at her.  Wherever they had been flying when she jumped,
someone had obviously been watching. 

             
As she drifted closer to the ground, she noticed several more
lights below.  It looked almost like light coming from the windows of
a building.  She was nearly down. 
Please leave my bones in tact!

             
For a moment after rolling onto the ground, she laid there in
disbelief, wondering if she was really all right.  Short of a few bumps,
she felt okay.

             
There had been enough light for her to finally recognize where
she was.  But she hadn't had time to figure out how Todd had
managed it.  She was sitting right in the middle of his runway!

             
Two men approached her, and both looked familiar.  Suddenly
she recognized them as the two agents who had questioned her in
New York.  They stood shaking their heads.

             
"Is that all you can do?"  She spat angrily as she looked up at
them.

             
Agent Knight suddenly laughed and reached for her hand to
help her stand, while Agent Steel gathered up her chute.  "I see she's
okay," he said, joining in his partner's laughter.

             
"Looks that way," Steel said.  "Marsh will be happy to hear. 
She was his main worry."

             
"Marsh?"  she asked.  "You mean Todd."

             
"Marshal Todd, that is," the first man said.

             
"But you're government agents!"  She remembered them
questioning her.  "And Todd . . .Marsh . . .whoever he really is, is he
one too?"

             
"Yes, and your brother."

             
"Then you know where he is?  Please tell me you do,"  she
pleaded.

             
"I'm sorry," Knight said.  "I wish we did.  But Marsh is
determined to find him."

             
"But what about him?  How did he know?  I mean, I landed
right here."

             
Both men laughed at her confusion.  "He planned that ahead of
time."

             
"You mean before I told him what I found out?"  She couldn't
believe what she was hearing.  "That would mean he had no intentions
of delivering the guns."  She placed her hands on her hips in agitation. 
"I think you owe me an explanation."

             
"Marsh will give you one himself when he lands.  If
everything goes the way he planned, he should be down soon," Knight
said, then looked to his companion.  "Maybe we should hear the rest
of what she was going to tell Marsh in the office."

             
"Yes, what were you about to tell Marsh before you were
interrupted by that Eduardo fellow?" Steel asked as they walked
toward the office.

             
"No, wait a minute."  She stopped.  "You mean you were there
all the time?"

             
"In the other room.  Dressed like this in case we were
discovered."  For the first time she realized the men were both
wearing dark blue mechanics uniforms.  "Luckily we weren't found. 
This Eduardo isn't as thorough as we thought he'd be."

             
"This is all so confusing."  Liane walked on shaky legs to the
chair behind Todd's desk.  "You're saying he planned my jumping out
of the plane.  But that still leaves him up there with Eduardo.  And
however thorough he is, or isn't, doesn't change the fact that Eduardo
has a gun, and I think
it
could be very thorough."

             
"We thought you should hear it from Marsh himself."

             
"Himself!  What if he doesn't come down?"

             
"He will."  Agent Steel laughed.  "There was only one chute,
and three passengers on your plane."

             
"And one gun," she added, still not convinced that Todd would
be safe.

             
"Marsh knows what he's doing.  He has a gun too, but he didn't
want to risk your life.  As long as you were on board you could have
been used as a hostage."

             
"This is all coming so quickly.  I'm sorry if it seems like I'm
being difficult."

             
"Not difficult," Agent Knight said.  "Concerned.  Confused. 
Maybe even a little angry at being tricked."

             
"Yes, that too, but I'll get to that when Todd, or whoever he
really is, gets down here. 
If
he gets down here," she added more
softly.

             
"I think this is him now," Steel said from the door.  "I see the
lights from his plane."  He pointed in the distance.  "It's only a matter
of a few minutes and we'll know how he made out."  They all hurried
back out the door.

I