37. Chapter 37
Chapter 37
Life is short and complicated, just like me.
“Am I picking you up this afternoon or are you planning to stay longer?” Mari asked as she parked the plane in front of the fueling pumps. They hadn’t talked specifics yet, which was pretty common for Gary. She really didn’t envy him his job, having to work with politicians all the time, to be at the whim of their schedules.
Though clearly he must like it, or the very expensive things it afforded him—like the replacement plane he’d gotten as a loan until his was fixed. She was just glad his insurance was covering everything.
He’d stepped out of the plane, was stretching as she headed to the pump. “This afternoon is the plan, but if anything changes I’ll let you know before you leave.”
“Perfect.” She was glad she didn’t have to use a stepstool to fuel this particular plane. The fuel access points were on the leading edge of each wing, like most single-engine planes. But with this one, the wings were lower, something her short girl self, appreciated. With Cessnas and Pipers, she could technically reach up and touch the access points, but forget about actually unscrewing the caps and pumping fuel. All part of her short girl life.
As she connected the grounding cable in preparation to pump, she saw Gary reaching in and tugging her backpack out of the seat. She frowned at him, wondering what he was doing.
But then he smiled at her. “Just grabbing my water bottle,” he said as he pulled it out from underneath.
She grinned at him and ducked back out to start the refueling process. Once she was done, she parked the plane outside instead of in the hangar, then headed for the little diner to grab her burritos to go.
Everything was pretty much back to normal. “Yay,” she muttered to herself as she grabbed her cell phone from her bag. When she saw missed calls from Berlin, Bradford and Colin, she frowned.
She called Berlin back first since she’d called eight times. “Hey—”
“Are you safe?” Berlin demanded.
She straightened at her friend’s urgent tone. “Ah, yeah. What’s going on?”
“Your client Gary Sewall is behind everything.”
Ice slid through her even as she stepped out into the sunshine, burrito bag in hand. But her mind butted up against her friend’s words. “No way.”
“I’m not wrong about this. I have a ton of evidence, all of which I’ll let you look at, but get the hell back home.”
She turned back toward the diner, intending to sit down—or let her legs collapse on one of the booths. But she found herself face-to-face with her long-time client, Gary Sewall. Somehow, she found her voice, faked a smile. “Hey, Gary…”
That was when she saw the pistol in his hand. He held it low by his waist, his windbreaker hiding most of it. Not that anyone was outside. Nope, the few customers were inside eating and there was no one landing or taking off .
Berlin had gone silent on the other end of the line, but it didn’t matter because he plucked Mari’s phone out of her hand, pressed the end button, then tucked it into his pocket.
“If you make a sound, I’ll shoot you where you stand and then I’ll kill everyone in the diner.” The look in his eyes was terrifying. Flat. Calm. The eyes of a killer.
Mari felt as if she was staring at a stranger, not the man she’d spent years flying, but she was smart enough to nod. Because she didn’t think he was lying. There was a coldness in his eyes she’d never seen before, as if he’d just taken off a mask and shown her the real man beneath.
Not the perpetually exhausted middle-aged man who made dad jokes and recommended her services to people he knew on the regular. Instead, he seemed to be standing a little straighter and his hand wasn’t wavering at all. It was clear this man had killed before.
And he would absolutely shoot her if she made a wrong move.
As fear trickled down her spine, she started to put her hands up on instinct, but he hissed.
“No. Act natural and walk to the hangar. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”
Feeling numb, she did as he said and turned around, strode toward the hangar, simultaneously hoping someone was there, while also hoping it was empty. She didn’t want anyone else to get caught in the crossfire, but she still hoped someone could help, call the cops, something. In that moment, she hated what a coward she’d been with Colin. She was likely going to die today and she wouldn’t get to tell him how she felt.
“I hate that it’s come to this.” His voice was low, casual, calm as they made their way across the tarmac.
They walked past his plane and a couple others before the hangar opening came into view, the rolling door up .
She thought of Ackerman dying in a place like this. Her insides turned liquid. Would he torture her too? Or order someone else to do it? Oh god, she was going to puke.
“I didn’t feel bad about Ackerman, but I do feel bad about you. You will have to die, of course, but I won’t make you suffer.”
“Why?” Mari managed to rasp out.
“I mirrored your phone when you unlocked it this morning in the plane, so I heard your conversation with your little friend. Whoever she is, I assume it’s who helped you get back to New Orleans and avoid the couple I sent after you. And why? Money, my dear. And power, more than that. But it’s the things that money can buy, if I’m being specific.”
“Fancy planes?” She couldn’t keep the derision out of her voice. This piece of shit had hunted her and Colin, and now he was going to kill her if she didn’t figure out a way to escape in the next few minutes.
“I don’t care about that. Though it is nice to be able to travel without having to interact with others. But that’s not why I do this. I would explain it to you if I felt you could fully understand, but not many people do. I’ve created the world I want to live in, and I won’t let anyone else get in my way.”
“Like your friend Ackerman?”
Now he actually laughed. “That moron wasn’t my friend. To the world I let it appear as if he was an associate because it helped with the persona I’ve created. The smart political consultant who indulges his wife and has two vacation homes he lets friends use.” He sounded as if he was reading a sound bite. “In reality, Ackerman was just another tool. Albeit an annoying one, but the man had a lot of contacts and an in with a shipping company I’ve been trying to get into bed with for years.”
“So… he didn’t want to kill me?” She was pretty sure no, but wanted all the details. It was clear Gary planned to kill her and she figured she deserved th at.
“No, he didn’t. And for the record, those morons weren’t supposed to kill you.”
“The two shooters… I remember… I recognize the man from the hangar in New Orleans. I’ve seen him around before.” When she’d seen that man standing by the Land Rover at the bed and breakfast, she knew she’d recognized him from somewhere.
Gary simply nodded. “I needed to know what Ackerman told you on that flight. My people were simply supposed to figure out what he took from me and gave to you. The plane was supposed to go down and they were supposed to take your bag. They disabled the parachute system, and set the EMP—which they would have retrieved later. It was all so neat and tidy. Or it should have been.” He sighed as if annoyed about the weather.
“He didn’t tell me anything. Or give me anything.” She didn’t touch on the part where the plane was supposed to go down. He either had a lot of faith in her flying skills or he just hadn’t cared if she had died. She was guessing it was the latter, considering the pistol he was holding like a pro and the fact that he’d had his people disable the parachute system.
“That’s exactly what he told my men. But he was lying. Unfortunately he had a heart attack and died before we could finish with him. That’s far enough.”
They were halfway into the hangar now, near a plane that looked… Wait a minute. She realized they were standing next to the same Mooney she’d seen at Colin’s hangar. It was the same call sign.
Her heart jumped. Colin couldn’t be here, could he? No, that was ridiculous. She was just desperately hoping someone would save her.
She turned to face Gary, but kept her movements measured. She didn’t want him to accidentally shoot her.
Though with the casual grip he had on his weapon, she didn’t think he’d make a mistake.
“Drop your backpack on the ground and kick it over to me.”
“My backpack?”
“Jesus, Mari, don’t repeat everything I’m saying. Just do it.” He quickly glanced behind him to make sure no one was coming.
She wondered what the plan was. There weren’t any cameras inside the hangar, but there were a couple outside of it. And at least one in the parking lot. She didn’t think he’d kill her here, so he’d want to move her somewhere else. Maybe that would give her a small opening.
But she had to do what he said right now. With trembling hands, she dropped her bag of burritos, then she slid her backpack off and kicked it over to him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement behind a vintage red and white Piper Cub.
She couldn’t risk looking in that direction in case someone was back there.
Gary crouched down and began rummaging through her backpack, dumping out her protein bars, extra clothes, water. Then he unzipped the zipper in the back interior and pulled out a small flash drive.
“That’s not mine.”
The relief that flashed across his face sent fear snaking down her spine. Whatever he was looking for, he’d clearly found it. Ackerman must have put it in her backpack the day she flew him.
A loud crash from across the hangar had them both turning.
Gary slightly lowered his weapon as he looked toward where the sound had come from.
And then a blur of muscle sprinted out from behind the Piper.