He drew a deep breath. “I have one failed marriage, which was largely my fault because I wasn’t there for most of it. I have a series of failed relationships which ended badly when I couldn’t come up with any plausible reason why I’d disappear for weeks at a time without calling. That’s it. No grand passions. No secret lovers in exotic places. Just a long list of women who think I’m a jerk.” His lips twisted in a bitter smile. “Welcome to the list.”
My hand flew out to touch his arm. “You’re not a jerk.”
“No; I just took advantage of your sympathy so I could get my rocks off, with a total disregard for your needs. Hell, no, I’m not a jerk at all.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” I squeezed his arm. “If I’d known the whole story, I wouldn’t have been so hard on you, either. I don’t want you to feel guilty. We’re friends. Friends forgive each other when they screw up.” I considered that for an instant. “Let me rephrase that in a way that doesn’t include the word ‘screw’.”
He winced, and I changed the subject. “So what did you find out from Yana? Did you know she was delivering the weapon prototype?”
“No, but I suspected she had something planned for this trip. That’s why I pushed and cajoled her into getting married. It was the only plausible way I could follow her to Vegas. She tried to dissuade me, but she had to maintain her cover, too.”
He frowned. “Though I still don’t know exactly what she wanted from me. Why not just kill me instead of stringing me along?”
When I returned a puzzled shrug, he sighed. “I know I didn’t act like it, but I was glad you were there. But saying those vows while you watched was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I kept silent.
After a moment, he continued. “When I hadn’t caught her at anything the whole time we were in Vegas, I realized that whatever she had planned would take place on this flight. That’s why I was so upset to see you on the plane.” His hand closed around mine. “I almost lost you. Thank God she killed Thomas first. I didn’t even identify that thing as a weapon.”
I swallowed hard at the memory of Thomas’s limp body. “Me neither.”
“Nice takedown of the other guy, though.” Kane gave me a piercing glance. “Aydan Kelly, bookkeeper.”
“Don’t start.” I pulled my hand away and diverted the conversation. “I see why she’d want to kill Thomas and me, and maybe you to get rid of witnesses while she delivered the weapons. But why kill the pilots? She’d crash with the rest of us.”
“No, she wouldn’t.” Kane rubbed wearily at the tense lines in his forehead. “Yana was a pilot. She must have been planning to take over.”
“But… why? Don’t the airports know who’s flying the plane? Wouldn’t they notice it was a woman’s voice instead of a man’s?”
Kane went still. “Yes… unless…”
“Unless she wasn’t planning to land in Calgary at all,” I finished.
“No, that doesn’t make sense,” he countered. “I don’t know anything about flying a plane, but I know about filing flight plans. If she diverted without telling anybody, the airport would be on alert right away.”
“But what if it was an emergency?” I asked softly. “Say, if the pilot died of a heart attack…”
“Or a brain hemorrhage,” Kane finished. “That silent weapon. Doesn’t leave an external mark. What do you want to bet it’s some kind of beam that goes through skin and bone and vaporizes soft tissue behind it? I’ve never seen a guy drop like Thomas did. He was dead before he hit the floor.”
My throat constricted. “Still smiling.” My voice came out in a dry whisper, and Kane squeezed my hand.
“Did you know him?” he asked gently.
“No. But he seemed like a really nice guy. So young…” I swallowed. “So is Fuzzy Bunny expecting an emergency landing at Calgary? Or was Yana planning to double-cross them and use her ‘emergency’ to divert to a different airport and a different buyer?”
“That’s the million-dollar question.”
We eyed each other in silence.
I sighed. “Do we really care?”
Kane looked affronted. “Of course we care. We’re not just going to give up.”
“No, I didn’t mean that.” I eyed him cautiously. “Mind you, I hope you realize that you’re going to have to be the one who lands this thing. I suck at video games. I can’t see how this will be any easier.”
“Oh, sure, make it my responsibility.” He grinned, and I wondered if he was as scared as I was. Probably not. This was probably all in a day’s work for him.
Or maybe not.
I recalled the naked appeal in his eyes when he’d kissed me. Maybe not…
I dragged my attention back to the conversation at hand. “What I meant was, if we do manage to land, what does it matter whether Fuzzy Bunny knows Yana’s dead and we know about the weapon? Maybe it’s better if we broadcast a distress call to the world. That way if we survive, they won’t dare try to get the prototype from the plane.”
“True, but I want both.” The predatory glint was back in his eyes. “I want to deliver the prototype weapon to Sirius for testing, and I want to nail Fuzzy Bunny for smuggling it into the country.”
“Well, they’re nailed anyway,” I pointed out. “The weapon is on their corporate jet. They can hardly deny that.”
Kane shook his head. “They can claim they knew nothing about it and Yana was acting alone. And it’ll blow my cover for sure and probably yours, too. Nobody will believe an unarmed bookkeeper and an unarmed oil and gas consultant managed to kill two operatives…” He hesitated. “Tidily, I might add… despite the operatives being armed with a devastating new weapon. It won’t fly.”
He grimaced. “And I’d like to rephrase that to something that doesn’t include the word ‘fly’.”
He fell silent, drumming his fingers on the armrest and staring into space. “Okay, let’s look at this from the other end,” he said at last. “Whether or not there’s another buyer is irrelevant. What matters to us is what Fuzzy Bunny is expecting.”
He held up two fingers. “Two possibilities.” He ticked off the first one on his forefinger. “One, if they’re expecting an emergency landing, it means they’d plan to remove the bodies and the weapon under the cover of the emergency response. The runway would be swarming with vehicles and personnel if there was the possibility of a crash, and it would be easy to slip things by in the chaos if they had somebody on the inside.”
“Or; two…” I added. “They’re expecting a smooth, normal landing that doesn’t attract attention, and the weapon would be removed from the plane in the service cart, probably with the excuse of restocking the bar. So they’d have somebody on the inside at food and beverage services.”
“Except how would they explain the bodies?” Kane asked.
“Maybe they weren’t expecting bodies. Maybe Yana planned to keep you on a string. If I hadn’t been here, nothing would have happened. And Thomas would still be alive…” My throat closed again.
“No,” Kane said firmly. “Parr told you to be on the plane, so he would have notified Yana. If she knew you were working with Fuzzy Bunny, she wouldn’t have any reason to kill you. And you had no way of knowing the weapon was on the plane unless she used it.”
“Well, there’s the answer.”
We stared at each other for a moment before speaking simultaneously. “She had another buyer.”
Kane sprang to his feet to pace. “She was going to double-cross Parr. He thought… thinks… this will be a routine flight to Calgary and the weapon will be removed by their contact in food services. But she planned to call in an ‘emergency’ and land at a different airport, where she’d be met by a chaotic emergency scene that would let her slip away with the weapon. Maybe even toss an incendiary device as she left, to destroy both the bodies and the plane.”
We grinned at each other in triumph until reality filtered through.
“So…” I hesitated. “You’re saying we can’t call for help.”
Chapter 44
Kane sank back into his seat. “Not if we want to nail them.” He frowned. “You realize this is big, Aydan. It’s a major airport security breach if they’ve been smuggling weapons via food services. We have to find a way to tell Dermott. Even if we crash and the weapon is destroyed, he needs to know about that leak.”
Fear seized me all over again, and I fought to hold my voice steady. “Well, the radio’s out, then. Even if we knew how to use it, they’ll probably be listening.” Inspiration struck. “How about one of Sirius’s secured phones?” I was already on my feet when Kane demurred.
“It probably won’t work. The secured system uses a ground-based cellular network. We’re up high and moving fast.”
“We could try it, though.” I hesitated. “Our secured phones shouldn’t interfere with the autopilot, should they?”
Kane shrugged. “You know more about computers and electronics than I do.”
“I haven’t a clue.”
We eyed each other in silence. He extracted a phone from his pocket. “Should I try it?”
“What if it turns the autopilot off?”
We both stared at the phone as if it was a live grenade.
“It shouldn’t…” I added uncertainly. “They couldn’t make the system that fragile. If it was, the commercial flights would confiscate everybody’s cell phones before they got on board…”
Before I could finish my sentence, he nodded and pushed the button. My breath caught in my throat, but the steady roar of the engines didn’t falter.
“It’s ringing,” he said. “…Dermott, it’s Kane. Dermott! …damn!” He lowered the phone to scowl at it. “It dropped the call.”
“Try again!”
He lobbed the phone in the direction of the garbage receptacle. “Secured phone. Single contact only. That one’s done.”
“Do you have any more?”
“In my luggage. Not with me. You?”
“One in my purse.” I headed for the sitting room, stepping callously over Yana’s sprawled body and trying not to look at Thomas. Sinking into the seat I’d occupied, I dragged the purse onto my lap and extracted the phone.
Weighing it in my hand, I shot a look up at Kane, who had followed me in to lean against the wall. “Do you think we should waste it?”
He shrugged. “We might as well. The only way to slow down and get closer to the ground is to turn off the autopilot…” He didn’t finish the sentence, and I clenched my teeth and pressed the button.
A garbled crackle that might have been a ring. Then another. The phone’s case emitted a small creak under my clenched fingers. A final crackle, then silence.
“Hello?” I raised my voice, futility seeping into my skin even as I did. “Hello! Dermott! Hello!”
A couple more staticky crackles, then nothing.
I got up and quietly dropped the phone into the garbage before returning to my seat.
Silence fell until I tried again. “There must be a satellite phone or something on board.”
“Probably, but it wouldn’t be secure.” Kane frowned. “How about internet? A high-end plane like this must have satellite internet. You could…” His face fell. “No, I guess you couldn’t. There’s no brainwave-driven network.”
My heart leaped. “But I have the portable generator and my network keys!” I sprang up to excavate my waist pouch.
“You brought the generator and keys on Fuzzy Bunny’s private jet?” Kane’s question held an ‘are-you-nuts’ inflection.
I grinned and held up the items in question. “Yep. You called it when you said Dermott’s reckless. He made me bring them.”
Kane blew out a breath, his shoulders relaxing. “I’m glad I didn’t know that until now, but that’s good news because I was completely out of ideas. Now we can secretly notify Dermott and call for help at the same time…” He trailed off, obviously noticing the dismay dawning on my face. “What?”
“Um. About that good news…” My voice came out in a dry croak. “I don’t suppose… you have another laptop?”
His eyes widened and he stared at the mangled electronic remains at his feet. His voice was almost as hoarse as mine. “You mean… you don’t?”
“No. Mine got lost at the hotel.”
“Oh.” The word came out on a whoosh of breath as if he’d been punched in the stomach.
We stared at each other in silence.
My knees began to quiver, and I sank into one of the soft leather seats. “Well, then.”
Kane sighed. “Well, then.” He stared blankly at the service cart. “No scotch.” He extracted a bottle of brandy instead and reached for a glass before shrugging and taking a swig directly from the bottle. “Drink?”
“Beer.”
He handed it over, and I steadied the bottle with both trembling hands while I slugged back a few swallows in silence. Kane stood staring at nothing, the brandy bottle dangling from his hand.
“We’ll have to call it in on the radio in about an hour and a half,” he said finally. “We can’t contact Dermott or mention Sirius; there are too many covert operations at stake. We’ll just have to report that we’ve been hijacked and the pilots are dead. If we survive, we’ll report the weapons and the security leak in person. If we don’t…” He shrugged and took another drink of brandy.
I swallowed some more beer. “Do you know how to use the radio? I’ve never even seen one close-up.”
“No, but it’s probably not much different than a field set. I’ll go and have a look.”
He straightened and turned for the front of the plane, and I rose to hurry along with him. Somehow I wasn’t in the mood for the company of dead people.
The cockpit wasn’t an improvement.
The pilot and co-pilot slumped to opposite sides, their heads resting against the windows like slumbering passengers. Kane handed me the brandy bottle and dragged the bodies out before turning to study the ranks of buttons and screens.
I leaned around him to peer at the complex instrumentation, renewed dread rising. “Um… not to be a downer or anything, but… I think the movies might have made it look a little more possible than it really is…”
“Aydan.” Kane turned, his face softening. “Look, I’m not going to sugar-coat this…”
“Don’t say it,” I begged. “I already know.”
He sighed, and I stepped against him to hide my face in his broad chest. His arms closed around me and he pressed his lips against my hair while he held me as if his arms alone could protect me from the bonds of gravity.
I pulled away after a long moment despite the temptation to just stay in his arms until the plane fell out of the sky. Feigning intent interest in the control systems while I pulled myself together, I studied the screens and seats and pedals…
“What’s that?”
Kane’s gaze snapped around to follow the direction of my shaking finger. “What? Is that…?”
I swooped down on the smooth, slim object tucked beside the pilot’s seat. “It’s a tablet computer!” The sleek device trembled in my hands. “It has a USB port, thank God! Oh, please, God, let it be charged…”
The screen bloomed to life, its vibrant colours more beautiful than heaven itself. Kane and I exchanged a single wide-eyed glance before hurrying back to the cabin with our prize.
I sank into the nearest seat, barely breathing while I balanced the tablet on my knees and plugged in the network generator.
I looked up at Kane. “Wish me luck.”
He stooped and kissed me hard. “For luck.”
Drawing a breath to replace the one he’d just stolen, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the network.
I wasn’t sure if it was a true sensation or just my knowledge that the data signal was bouncing out into space and back again, but the data tunnel felt dark and barren as I rushed along it. A moment later the bustling vastness of the internet spread out before me
and I dove into it like a dolphin riding the waves.
Bobbing up in buoyant relief, I tethered myself in the data flow and took my time spreading out dozens of tiny markers before turning back to share the good news with Kane.
“…Aydan! Goddammit! Aydan!”
My eyes snapped open to see Kane hovering above me, his face taut with the closest thing to fear I’d ever seen him display.
“I’m okay…”
“Thank God!” He crushed me in his arms, pressing his lips against my hair. “Thank God. I thought… Thank God.”
I hugged him. “I’m sorry. I forgot I was wearing the new key.”
He said nothing, just held me tighter.
“I’m sorry.” I gave him a squeeze before pulling away gently. “Jack and I did some more testing on the new key. It’s about a four to one ratio of network access time to unconsciousness. I was so eager to get into the network it never even occurred to me that I was wearing the new one.”
His composure didn’t seem to be returning as easily as usual. He nodded wordlessly and released me. As I sat up, the sight of the tablet lying on the floor sent a chill of fear through me.
“Oh, God, John, I didn’t break it, did I?”
He turned to follow the direction of my gaze. “I haven’t a clue. I didn’t even look at it.” His voice was still hoarse, and he rose as if using the last of his strength to reclaim the brandy bottle and take a longish swallow.
I could almost feel the alcohol burning my own throat when he croaked, “Please use your other key from now on.”
“I will.” I reached for the tablet with trembling hands. “Assuming the network generator still works…”
The tablet looked all right. I gingerly set it on the floor beside the seat and unstrapped the new wristwatch to exchange it for my old one. Absorbed in fumbling with the strap, I started when Kane touched my arm.
“Don’t go yet.”
I glanced up worriedly, but he had regained his usual calm. “Now that we know you can do it, let’s take a few minutes to organize our thoughts. I can’t communicate with you while you’re in the network, so you’ll be doing all the work.” His hand clenched. “I’ll just be sitting here doing nothing.”
Spy, Spy Away Page 33