Plastic Gods, A Rich Coleman Novel Vol 2

by William Manchee

  Chapter 29

 

  The plane flew north toward Kansas City and the weary group settled in for the long flight. Matt reclined his chair and pulled a Bible from his carry-on bag. He said, “‘Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.'”

  “'For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.'”

  “'Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, . . . '”

  Everyone stared at Matt in silence. Finally, he smiled and said, "That's one of my favorite passages. It's from Ephesians. I thought it was appropriate for this momentous occasion."

  "It was inspiring, Matt, but what are we going to do now?" Cheryl asked.

  "Nothing. We've done all we can right now. The ball is now in Senator Goss’ court. If he fails, then perhaps the forces we have unleashed against the MidSouth bank may yet be lethal."

  "It will hurt them sure," Jason said, "but without the evidence coming out and a congressional investigation the bank and Frank Hill will survive and just get stronger."

  Cheryl shook her head and said, "Well, you've done more than anyone in the last twenty years to expose the crime being committed against the American consumer, Matt. I think you should be proud."

  Matt looked at Cheryl and smiled. "Thank you, Cheryl, but nothing short of the total destruction and eradication of MidSouth Bank and all other predatory banks will ever make me feel proud."

  Cheryl embraced Matt and gave him a peck on the cheek. Matt smiled and hugged her warmly.

  "I wonder how Wally made out," Jason asked.

  "He's probably dead," Cheryl said

  "I doubt it,” Matt said. “I imagine they kept him alive to pump him for information."

  "What if he tells them our plans?" Jason asked.

  "We're screwed then," Cheryl replied.

  "I don't think we have to worry about him talking," Matt said.

  "Why wouldn't he?" Jason asked.

  "Eduardo told me he was a real professional," Matt replied. "He had a lot of pride in the services he provided. He knew one day this could happen and he knew that he was a dead man whether he talked or not. . . . No, I'd be willing to bet my life that he didn't talk."

  "You just have," Cheryl added.

  Matt shrugged.

  "Doesn't the pilot have to file a flight plan?" Jason asked.

  "I asked him that, too. He said it wasn't mandatory. A lot of pilots never bother to file one," Matt replied.

  "Well, I guess we'll find out when we get to Kansas City if you're right about him," Jason said.

  Several hours later the plane made its approach to a small airstrip outside of Kansas City. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they landed and no one seemed interested in them. They rented a car and drove to Kansas City International Airport, getting there just in time to catch their flight to Chicago. It was a packed flight, so they had to split up. Matt and Cheryl sat together since they were pretending to be husband and wife.

  "I feel terrible about Wally. He did such a great job getting us out of the country." Cheryl said.

  "I know, I wish we could have brought him along,” Matt said. “It's too bad we didn't have a bigger plane. I know I could have pulled him aboard."

  "You did all you could."

  "Do you think Frank Hill knows what's going to happen?"

  "No, he just figures if they kill me they'll stop whatever's coming down,” Matt replied. “What they don't know is that it's out of my control now. Even if they did kill me, it wouldn't matter."

  "I wish you could communicate that to them so they'd quit chasing us," Cheryl said.

  "I think we lost them. Wally was pretty smart sending us to Chicago and then to Vancouver. They probably have the Mexican border pretty well covered, but I doubt they'd figure we’d go to Canada."

  "I'm exhausted. I'm going to take a nap," Cheryl said.

  "Good idea, I'll probably do the same thing after we get airborne."

  Cheryl laid back and closed her eyes. Then she took Matt's hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. Matt froze up for a moment and then remembered this was his new wife, at least in theory. For the first time he noticed how attractive she was and how long it had been since he had held Lynn in his arms. He took a deep breath, smiled, slipped his arm out and put it around Cheryl's shoulder. She squirmed a little bit to get comfortable and then fell asleep. As the plane took off into the heavens Matt wondered if Lynn was watching. He looked out the window at the fluffy white cumulus clouds surrounding the plane and whispered, "Honey, they're going to pay . . . believe they're going to pay!"

  "Huh," Cheryl said without opening her eyes.

  "Nothing, go back to sleep."