Flight Risk

by Cara C. Putman

  Security was lax at the building as if the pilot had nothing to fear and felt above all accountability for his sins.

  That was fine. It had made it easy to substitute sleeping pills for the drugs the doctor had prescribed. Tonight the pilot would have a few moments of feeling weak, and then suffer the consequences for his evil.

  He had considered everything. How to enter. How to exit. What to do. How to force Tate’s hand to hold the blade. The man was just another weakling taking out his frustrations and appetites on those who were weaker still. But this time he would be faced by something stronger.

  A father’s rage.

  While people talked about the protectiveness of a mother bear, it was nothing compared to the rage that churned through his veins. What had been bottled up for so long had reached volcanic levels.

  He would no longer sit back and wait for someone else to act.

  The release tonight was months too late, but it would come.

  And when it did, justice would be served.

  Truth would be unleashed.

  He patted the envelope.

  It contained a single sheet.

  That’s all he’d needed to itemize the man’s crimes and his self-imposed punishment.

  And when he was found?

  Well, then the world would know the depths of this man’s depravity and why a death sentence was the only justice.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Savannah dropped her work bag next to the door and kicked off her kitten heels, then leaned down to rub first one arch and then the other. She stepped into the slippers she left by the door each morning.

  She felt . . . worn.

  The document review with John and Rochelle had taken all day, and she had the clear sense her clients were lying to her. The question she couldn’t answer was why.

  Frankly, she’d been stunned by what the two had revealed.

  They had a serious security breach if their tech was on that plane and they really didn’t know how it got there. She wasn’t sure she could defend Mnemosyne if she didn’t understand what had transpired to get their software on that flight.

  And she only had two days to figure out how much of their data had to be released to the FBI and what she could fight to keep hidden.

  Life bordered on a tsunami that wanted to drown her in its waves.

  Her phone rang from the depths of her purse. She didn’t want to answer. Still, she dug for it and glanced at the screen.

  Addy. The sight of her niece’s goofy photo tugged a smile free. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Aunt Savvy. You’re still coming to take me to Dad’s, right?”

  Savannah’s body sagged. “What time?”

  “As soon as you can. I want to spend as much time with Dad as I can. It’ll already be too short since I have school in the morning. You don’t think . . .”

  “No. You can’t skip.”

  There was a small huff but nothing else from Addy.

  “Give me thirty minutes and I’ll be on my way. I just walked in the door.”

  “Thanks!” Her niece’s voice vibrated with gratitude and enthusiasm, and then Savannah listened to nothing.

  There was something to be said for having a strong persona, one that let people know she could handle life on her own. Got something hard? Throw it at me. I can handle it. But as she walked into the kitchen, she felt like she slogged through thick mud, and she couldn’t pretend she was strong. A tear trailed down her cheek as her tuxedo cat meowed her way down the hallway. Another leaked out as Rhett stopped in front of her and raised to her hind legs, a plea to be picked up.

  If only everything could be solved by reaching down and cuddling a cat.

  Maybe that’s what God wanted her to do.

  She stroked Rhett’s silky fur. There was something soothing about the simple motion. The feel of the smooth coat and the rumbled purr. Stopping at the Humane Society shelter to look at kittens with Addy had been an inspired decision.

  Her phone rang again, and Savannah answered it without looking. “I promise I’ll leave in fifteen minutes, Addy.” She was just going to sit for a couple minutes. She sank onto the small leather love seat in her living room. Rhett settled in and placed her paws on Savannah’s shoulders, then stared into her eyes, as if trying to communicate a deep truth.

  “That’s great, but I wondered if you could grab a gallon of milk on your way.” Stasi’s voice sounded like a command rather than a request.

  “Not tonight.” Stasi sputtered, but Savannah didn’t care. “You can walk to the corner mart if you need one before the morning. See you soon.”

  She hung up, and Rhett licked her cheek. Something shifted in Savannah at the realization she’d said no. It felt so irresponsible, and good. Rhett hopped down and meowed before taking a step away, then meowed again.

  She stood and followed the cat to the empty water bowl. “Looks like you’re thirsty.”

  The cat wound between her legs, and Savannah high-stepped to avoid crushing her. After Savannah filled the bowl and set it down, she crouched next to her happily licking kitten. “Now what?”

  The cat ignored her as she took delicate licks from the bowl.

  “I’ll go give Addy that ride I promised her. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Savannah gave her one more long stroke down her back, and then pushed to a standing position.

  * * *

  Wednesday, December 16

  What time was it?

  The thought barely registered as Savannah’s hand scrabbled across the top of her bedside table, groping for her phone. The chiming bells jarred as she tried to free herself from the tangle of blankets. It felt like she’d been swaddled, she was twisted so tightly into the sheets.

  There.

  Her fingers finally gripped the phone.

  “Hello?” She cleared her throat and tried again. “Who is this?”

  “Aunt Savannah? I need you.”

  At the panic in Addy Jo’s voice, Savannah pushed to a sitting position against the fabric-covered headboard and brushed hair from her face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Dad’s dead.” The girl’s voice broke. “Please come.”

  Savannah pushed her legs over the side of the bed, toes reaching for her slippers. “Where are you?”

  “Still at his place.” The girl’s tone rose.

  “Right. I knew that.” She tried to clear the sleep from her mind. Catch up with what Addy said.

  “There’s so much blood.” The last word dropped away, and Savannah prayed she hadn’t heard correctly.

  “What?”

  “Blood. It’s everywhere.”

  Savannah lurched to a seated position with her legs over the side of the bed. “I’m on my way. Have you called 911?”

  “The police are here.” Her voice faded, and Savannah heard a thump like the girl’s arm had dropped to her side.

  Oh, God. What on earth had happened? Be with her until I can get there. Please.

  Savannah rushed to her closet and pulled a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt from a pile on the floor. She tucked her phone into her back pocket, then slipped her feet into moccasins and dashed to the hall. At the door she grabbed her keys and purse from the small table.

  Rhett reached up to be held.

  “Not now.” She eased the cat to the side with her foot and then hurried out the front door to her parking spot. What had Addy stumbled into? What did she mean there was so much blood?

  Her car clock said it was one thirty in the morning. As soon as she turned onto the road, she activated her phone’s assistant and had it call Stasi. The call rolled over to voice mail, so she placed another call. “Come on, Stasi. Answer the call.” When the second call also clicked to voice mail, she pounded the steering wheel.

  Poor Addy. It was going to take twenty minutes to get across Arlington to Dustin’s home. She pushed the speed limits as much as she dared. It would cost precious time if a police officer flashed his lights in her rearview mirror.

  Finally, she tur
ned on the road that ran in front of his apartment complex. The red and white swirling lights led her to his building. Her heart stuttered as she spotted the ambulance and pulled into a parking slot. People had spilled from their apartments and gawked at the action.

  A police officer kept bystanders from approaching the scene. However, the officer’s presence wasn’t keeping reporters from edging closer, and Savannah watched for a moment as she wondered how to get to her niece.

  There was only one way.

  Through.

  She sighed and then pushed her glasses up her nose and wished she’d taken a minute to brush on basic makeup, just enough to feel like she had her battle armor affixed. As she watched the officer guarding the building speak into her radio and then gesture for someone—a reporter maybe—to back away, Savannah knew it wasn’t going to be a simple process to talk her way in.

  She locked her car and then with a cautious smile approached the woman. “My niece called that she was inside her father’s apartment and there was a lot of blood. I came immediately to make sure she’s okay. Her name is Addy Jo Tate.” She swallowed as the officer considered her.

  Time seemed to stretch before the woman pressed a button on her radio. “I have a woman who claims to be the child’s aunt. Says she got a call from an Addy Jo Tate.”

  The answer was so garbled Savannah wasn’t sure how the woman interpreted it.

  “All right.” The woman met Savannah’s gaze. “An officer will walk her out in a moment. Stay right here.”

  Addy’s call hadn’t been part of some crazy waking nightmare as she’d hoped. “Thank you. I’ll wait here.”

  * * *

  Jett stood in the shadows of the building. He’d sent a quick video from his phone to the paper. Ted hadn’t been overly interested, but Jett knew something big had happened here. The address called in had matched Dustin Tate’s. It seemed too much of a coincidence.

  The ambulance and three or four police vehicles emphasized the serious nature of whatever had happened.

  The other thing that struck him was the lack of urgency.

  No one was rushing.

  Paramedics had entered the apartment building but hadn’t hurried back out. It had also looked like there might be a body bag on top of the gurney they’d carried up the stairs to the front door.

  While he hadn’t loved being roused from sleep, it was part of the job. When Phil, the night assignment editor, heard the police scanner sending multiple units to an address related to one of Jett’s investigations, the call had been automatic. If he hadn’t gotten it, he would have been ticked in the morning when he’d rolled into the office.

  Things didn’t look good for Mr. Tate, and that didn’t sit well with Jett. He might think the guy was scum of the earth, but that didn’t mean he wanted the man to get this kind of assistance off of it.

  He edged along the shadows trying to find a way around the policewoman guarding the sidewalk. She took a step in his direction, and Jett froze.

  “There’s no crossing the line.” Her hand rested on her gun in her utility belt.

  “Yes, ma’am.” The woman was good. He’d have to wait, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t look for another access point.

  He turned and took a few steps toward the street where he’d parked his car. After he glanced over his shoulder and confirmed the officer was distracted by another reporter trying to cross the line, he angled toward the line again, but this time farther away.

  Then he noticed another officer escorting a girl from the building. The girl looked small inside an overlarge jacket, and he couldn’t tell much about her other than she looked to be a young teen. Then she spotted someone and took off running through the halo of a streetlamp light with what sounded like sobs. He shifted to better see who she ran toward and froze when he realized it was Savannah Daniels.

  That woman kept turning up in relation to her ex-husband. For a woman who claimed there hadn’t been anything between them for years, she appeared a lot. The image of her looking at Dustin while he apologized from his hospital bed flitted through Jett’s mind.

  A man in a trench coat, shoulders hunched against the drizzle, approached the officer guarding access to the scene. The man looked like a detective or supervisor, so Jett reversed course and edged closer while trying to appear nonchalant.

  “We caught a reporter sneaking around back, so be alert.” Jett slid into the shadows. The man glanced around and paused when his gaze slid over Jett’s position. “We’ll be here awhile. It’s a messy one. Not good that his kid found him.” He shook his head and turned back to the building. “If you need backup, let someone know.”

  “I’ve got it handled.” The officer stiffened and returned her attention to the parking lot.

  The girl had to be Savannah’s niece. That girl had already endured more in the last week than any young teen should.

  It seemed eerily ironic that two of the men he’d discussed in his article had been on Flight 2840 just days later. How many planes flew across the world every day without incident? Now one of the men had died in the plane crash and the other appeared to have suffered worse.

  He didn’t like it.

  Didn’t like it one bit.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Savannah had to get Addy away.

  Addy clutched an oversized jacket around her shoulders as she raced into Savannah’s arms. “You came!”

  “I always will, Addy. Every time.” No matter when she called. What she needed.

  “I’m so scared, Aunt Savvy.” The teen trembled against Savannah with a pallor to her skin. Was there a way to get Addy someplace she could collapse?

  Savannah glanced around and noted a man in a trench coat talking to the female officer who had let her through. When the man turned back to the building, Savannah waved to get his attention while keeping Addy tucked within the circle of one arm.

  The red and white lights flashed across his face, illuminating the detective’s frown as he stepped toward her. “Yes?”

  “Can I take my niece home? I’m concerned about her.”

  His gaze shifted to Addy, and she noted a slight loosening of the tight lines around his eyes and mouth before his mask slipped back in place. “She’s a witness.”

  “To what kind of event? She’s fourteen years old.”

  “A suspicious death.” The tactless words thudded into the space between them.

  “A death?” Savannah’s heart sank as her fears were confirmed, and she pulled Addy even closer as if that action would shield her niece.

  The man rubbed a hand over his face. “Look, we don’t know what happened, other than there’s a man’s body in the apartment and this young lady called 911.”

  “That man was her father. And my ex-husband.” Savannah swallowed back a sudden rise of bile.

  “I’m sorry for your loss.” Again, there was a slight softening around his eyes. “I need to talk to her about what happened.”

  “I’ll bring her wherever you need tomorrow.” She pushed an edge into her words. “But right now she’s shattered, and I need to get her someplace where she feels safe. This isn’t it.”

  “Is there any reason to think she isn’t safe?”

  Addy stiffened and wrapped her arms tighter around Savannah’s waist.

  “I don’t know. But this isn’t the place for her to be.” She tipped her chin up, so she could better meet the taller man’s gaze. “I’m an attorney. Again, I will bring her anywhere tomorrow.” She fished a card from her purse and swallowed against the sudden clot of emotion. “This isn’t the time for an interview.”

  The man took the card and considered her. “Let me check that we have what we need for now.” He took a step back to the house, then paused. “Stay here. Please.”

  She nodded, wishing she could click her heels twice and transport them to her home. Addy could try to relax in her bedroom next to Savannah’s. And maybe then Savannah could learn what Addy had seen and help her process it. Because right now it w
as clear whatever had happened was a typhoon across her soul.

  She’d also need to alert Emilie that she was now lead on the Mnemosyne discovery for the FBI subpoena. At least for a day.

  It felt like an hour passed before an officer approached. The woman wore a sympathetic look. “Detective Jensen said you can leave, but first I need to confirm your contact information.” After Savannah gave it to her, the officer handed her a card. “Call if you have any questions.”

  “Thanks.” A minute later Savannah led Addy down the parking lot to her car. A shadow moved as she unlocked it, and she swiftly got Addy seated before she closed the door and squinted to spot what had moved.

  “Who’s there?”

  Jett Glover edged into the pool of light, his defined jaw clear as the shadows hid his expression. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “But your niece knows.” The man looked worried and worn.

  She crossed her arms and kept the car between them, not that she was afraid, but she felt the tug toward him and couldn’t decide if he was someone she could trust. “He never got back to me. After I texted or called.”

  The man nodded. “That’s what I gathered. But it’s not what I’m asking.”

  “Now is not the time to chase a lead for some story.” She went around to her side of the car. “I have to make Addy my priority.” She paused as a thought hit her. “He was going to prove your story was wrong.”

  “Did he give you anything?”

  “No.”

  “Then how was he going to prove me wrong?”

  “I don’t know. He’d just gotten home, and I wasn’t racing to his side.” Now it was too late.

  “Savannah, we can work together. Figure out what he meant.”

  His words stopped her where she stood. “Why?”

  “Alone, we might not get much information. Together, though . . .” She fought the urge to lean in and hear what he hadn’t voiced.

  “You want to use my niece.”

  “No. I would never do that.” His stance was relaxed, his gaze sincere . . . still.