Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (6 page)

He
ran his hand up the nape of her neck and buried his fingers in waves
of silky, raven hair. The girl, trembling, exhaled softly, as she
passed her hands across Jack's bare chest. Drawing her body against
his, he closed his hand around the cascade of dark, flaxen hair.
Pulling gently, but firmly, the pilot tilted her head back to view
her upturned face, awash with moonlight. Still grasping her hair,
Jack ran his lips along Maria's neck, biting softly. She sighed and
her knees buckled when he pressed his lips against hers. Holding her
body tightly against his, the duo melted together, and the rest of
the world ceased to exist.

■ ■ ■

First
light turned the inky blackness of the star speckled sky to deep
shades of blue smeared with scattered gray-white clouds. Gentle
songs of the first morning birds woke the sleeping Shepherd. Maria's
arm was sleepily draped across the Shepherd's shoulder,
and
he crawled slowly out from underneath, not wanting to wake her. He
stretched, glanced at the sleeping couple and strolled off to check
his surroundings in the light of day.

When
Maria woke, Fritz was nowhere to be seen. She checked her watch and
silently chastised herself for sleeping so late, although it was
only six-thirty. She pulled herself together, reluctantly leaving
the still sleeping pilot and headed to the shower in the office of
the old hangar. Maria passed the copilot as she raced through the
hangar. Like Jack, Brian was still sound asleep. Maria wondered if
this habit of sleeping late was a
guy thing, b
ecause
she had always been an early riser. Jack awoke when the sun cleared
the trees and passed between the old hangars. It was like looking
into a spotlight. He ventured a look at his watch and winced
painfully. "Damn, seven in the morning!" Steele laid on
his back watching the clouds pass slowly overhead, wondering if he
could fall back asleep. The beam of sunlight coupled with the
grumbling in his stomach told him that this would not be a likely
option. Yawning, Jack stretched, pulled himself together, picked up
the blanket and headed to the showers with Fritz following close
behind.

"Holy
cow, you look like shit!" said the ever cheerful copilot as he
lay stretched out on the small cot.

"Thanks,
but I feel better than I look," mumbled Jack, as he shuffled
past, smiling wryly. Steele didn't often allow himself those
pleasures because he was not yet comfortable with the idea of
someone getting that close to him. He had let the intensity of the
moment overtake him because he knew there was no chance of it
progressing, given to their separate geographies. Jack reasoned that
it would be a safe encounter.

"You
didn't..." said the wide-eyed Brian.

"Well,
I hadn't planned it, but yeah, we did... "

"Oh
man..." interrupted Brian as he sat up on the cot, waving his
arms, "I can't believe you. You are unbelievable! We're here
what, four hours? And you end up...” he was shaking his head
in disbelief, “Jiminy Christmas...”

“
Jiminy
Christmas...?” Jack sputtered, laughing, “Seriously?
What the hell is that...? It's not Jiminy Christmas anyway, you
freaking tard, it's Jiminy Crickets!”

“
Fuck
you, you know what I meant...”

Jack
shrugged, "Ok, so you'd feel better if she looked like an ogre,
right?"

"Never
mind..." Brian flopped back down on the cot. "I wish I
knew how he does it," muttered Brian out loud to himself.
Fritz made himself comfortable on the empty cot while he waited for
Jack to return from his shower.

■ ■ ■

Steele
strolled out into the hangar, refreshed, clean and dressed. Khaki
uniform shirt, dark blue Levis and boots. The only adornment on
Jack's shirt was the silver pilot's wings, pinned above his left
pocket. Jack plopped his flight bag on one of the cots, checked his
reflection in the office window and headed to the chart table, which
someone had thoughtfully loaded with breakfast items. Brian wandered
up to the table looking crisp and awake. "Wow, nice spread!
Good thing too, cuz I'm starved!"

"Yeah,
me too, say who brought all this stuff anyway?" Jack lifted a
jelly sweet roll of the selection and poured himself a glass of
milk.

"Maybe
your new girlfriend," said Brian, picking up a pastry and
pouring himself a cup of coffee. Fritz appeared next to the table as
if by magic and Jack slipped him a sizable sweet roll. Brian's eyes
widened. "Y'know that overgrown hamster eats better than most
people do..."

Jack
shrugged, unconcerned. "So what, he earns it." He turned
to the dog with a bowl of milk. "Right buddy?" The
Shepherd gave no answer other than to happily consume the whole bowl
of milk. “And she's not my girlfriend...” added the
pilot, while handing the dog another pastry.

"Hi
sleepyhead." Jack looked up to see Maria walking through the
open door of the hangar from the plane, tool bag in hand. "She's
all set, I checked all her fluids and looked her over real good. The
fuel truck just left, Susie's tanks are full..."

There
was a quiet sarcastic voice behind Jack saying something about fluid
levels, dipsticks and someone else getting the once over... Jack
raised his eyebrows, "Boy, you've been a busy little beaver."

Maria
frowned in thought, "Huh?"

Jack
wasn't sure which she had heard. He reached to wipe a smudge off her
face, "Oh, um, never mind, forget it..." he looked past
her, to the plane, "hey, who's that?" Brian stepped
forward and Maria spun around to follow Jack's gaze. The coverall
clad man exiting the open belly hatch saw he had an audience and
began to run towards the departing fuel truck. "Hey you!
What're you doing? Come back here!” he shouted. ”You
don't fuel a plane from inside it..." he growled. Without a
word exchanged, Jack and Brian sprinted off in foot pursuit before
Maria could react or speak. With his long legs, Jack quickly pulled
ahead of Brian. Fritz, eager to participate, passed between the two
running pilots and accelerated ahead like they were standing still.
The speeding Shepherd was closing the distance to the man in the
coveralls with almost alarming speed.

A
Jeep suddenly appeared, careening from across the field and slid to
a stop, scattering pebbles off the asphalt. As the escaping figure
jumped into the Jeep, he paused to draw a pistol from the pocket of
his coveralls to fire at the running dog. But the Shepherd,
rocketing across the ground, created an extremely difficult target.
The driver sped the vehicle away just as the man fired, sending the
shot harmlessly over the hangar. Fritz circled once and headed back
to Jack and Brian standing next to the plane.

Winded,
Brian stood bent over trying to catch his breath. "Whadd'ya...
think... he was lookin' for?"

Jack
wiped his forehead on his sleeve, "I don’t know, but I'm
gonna' find out!” The pilot disappeared up into the belly
hatch. "He found the carbines and the ammo!" he yelled
down through the hatch. "Doesn't seem to be anything missing
though." Jack fastened the top back onto the crate and
re-secured the ammo boxes.

"Why
was he looking in the first place?" asked Brian.

Jack
jumped down through the open hatch to the tarmac. "Curiosity? I
don't know and I don't care. We're not taking any chances, let's get
the hell outta' here."

Brian
nodded. "Good idea let's get our stuff.

Jack
called the dog over to the hatch and boosted him up into the plane.
"Fritz, you stay...” he told the dog, who peered down at
him from the dark opening. “Watch the plane."

Maria
met them at the doorway of the hangar, "I've seen him
before..."

"Yeah?
Who is he?" interrupted Jack.

The
group talked as they hustled to gather their gear, "I think...
I'm not sure, but I think he's a member of the Secret Police."
Maria looked genuinely afraid, "They pretty much do whatever
they want, they are very corrupt. They even deal openly with the
drug cartels who move contraband through here."

Brian
rolled his eyes and groaned, "Great, we're in the shit now...!”
He stuffed his things haphazardly into his bag. “What do you
think they want?"

"It
doesn't matter want they want," snapped Jack, gathering their
charts and flight log, "they're not going to get it. Let's get
our stuff and get the hell outta' here!"

"Take
me with you..." said Maria, taking Jack's hand.

"What!?
Hell no... Look, I don't have time to discuss this, I can't take you
with us, end of conversation..."

"There's
no reason for me to stay, no family, no job after today, and it
won't be safe for me here anymore...

"Not
safe, why?"

"They'll
think I helped you... they know who I am - they'll kill me..."

"Who...
why..." Jack rubbed his forehead, this was becoming more
complicated by the second.

"The
police. Look, just take me with you...
please
..."
Her voice was filled with urgency and the sound of sirens in the far
distance hastened the situation.

"The
police? Oh for the love of G... Ok. Ok," said Jack, holding up
his hands, "
whatever
,
just get your stuff and let's
go
!"

"No
one is leaving!" A man in dirty pants and torn shirt emerged
from the office holding an old, large caliber revolver. He took the
trio completely by surprise, a twisted smile on his face.

"Who
the hell is this?" asked Jack through clenched teeth.

"
Paulo
!"
hissed Maria, "what are you doing here?!" She turned to
Jack, "He is an ex-friend of my brother who thinks he loves me.
But he is
estupido
,
I
HATE
him!" she snarled, her voice filled with venom. "It's
because of
him
that my brother is dead."

"But
I
do
love you!" The man stepped closer. "And your brother died
because of his foolishness - I had nothing to do with it.” He
stood taller, more erect, “I am saving you from the fate these
American pigs will share..." The man's voice was filled with
hate and contempt. His wicked smile had turned to a fierce show of
teeth resembling a snarl. Stepping closer, he menaced Jack with the
revolver.

Jack
grit his teeth, "What
next
?
We don't have
time
for this bullshit!"

"It
was I who reported you to the police," gloated Paulo. "I
told them you had drugs on your plane." The wicked smile
returned. "They don't like people who don't pay their transport
taxes... They will take everything you have and imprison you for
life..." He stepped closer still, gloating, self involved with
his impending victory, looking smug. "Maybe they'll even kill
you."

"Jiminy
Christmas..." whispered Brian.

"Really?”
whispered Jack, shooting him a glance, “we're back to that
one...?”

“
Sorry...”
Shrugged the copilot. “That explains our first visitor,”
he added, changing the subject. "And I'll bet that's him on his
way back, with friends...”

"Probably..."
replied Jack.

"Shut
up, you!” The man waved the revolver and advanced for effect.

Jack's
mind was racing, he glanced over at the cot, his Kimber was in the
flight bag.
Too
far, never work
he thought. He began calculating the distance to the man standing
before them... Maria spoke and Jack grabbed her sleeve, keeping her
from moving forward or getting in the way. He needed to draw the man
closer. "Paulo, how could you do this to me? They will put me
in prison too! They might even kill me!" Maria's voice did not
waver, but tears of anger rolled down her cheeks.

"NO!"
he objected, "they promised me you would not be involved!"
Sirens wailing in the distance, grew louder, closer. Brian fidgeted.
Jack needed Paulo closer, so he tried baiting him...

"Fucking
brilliant... and you believed them?” He waved his arm
dismissively, “Are you that stupid? Of course you are...”
he waved again, “you've got to be the biggest dumbass on the
planet! Your mother must have fucked the village idiot to produce a
person as shit-stupid as you...."