Chapter 3
Liz’s eyes flashed with anger. “I found one of those nasty pieces of rubber in Duchess’s mouth the other day. It has to be from the pilot throwing water balloons out the window. I have had it with this jerk. I’m driving right over to the township office and get the ball rolling.”
Gloria and Lucy exchanged a quick glance. “Maybe Lucy and I can tag along. She knows the township clerk.”
“I have some extra time,” Lucy said. “Gloria can give me a ride home when we’re done.”
Dot glanced at her watch. “I’m sorry to celebrate and run, but Ray is home waiting for me to start our Dot’s Hot Meals on Wheels afternoon run, which means Ruth needs to leave since she gave me a ride here.”
“I’m going to skedaddle too,” Margaret said. “Your home is fabulous, Liz. Congratulations. I hope you and Floyd have many happy years here together.”
Liz’s tone softened. “Me too. Thank you for helping me, for the delicious treats, for all you do and have done.”
“You’re welcome.” Dot gave her a gentle hug. “Don’t worry about the pesky pilot. I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to get him to stop.”
“One way or another.”
Ruth wagged her finger. “But not by shooting the plane down.”
“I was joking. Of course, I would never shoot at a plane.”
The trio of friends climbed into Ruth’s van and drove off while Lucy, Gloria, and Liz ran inside to straighten up the kitchen. Duchess, the couple’s Shih Tzu who had been napping in Liz and Floyd’s bedroom, promptly made a beeline for the door as soon as she opened it. “I need to take her out.”
After finishing, the friends hopped into the Range Rover for the short drive to the township clerk’s office.
As luck would have it, the person Liz had chatted with earlier was still there. She briefly explained she’d been the one to call earlier about the pesky pilot.
The woman appeared sympathetic to Liz’s plight and patiently listened until she finished. “As I mentioned on the phone, I’m not aware of anyone complaining about private planes, but there’s always a first.”
“You suggested possibly starting a petition,” Liz prompted.
“I did.”
While the woman talked, Liz jotted down a few notes. “Thank you for your help. I’ll start working on this immediately.”
Gloria waited until they were back inside her sister’s vehicle. “Well? What’s your next step?”
“To get signatures.” Liz opened her center console and removed a yellow pad of paper. “If you have a few extra minutes, I wouldn’t mind starting right now.”
“You drive, we’ll fly,” Lucy quipped.
Liz was a woman on a mission, strategically mapping out their route block by block, mile by mile, gathering as many signatures as she could along the way.
“We’re onto something,” she said after returning to the car and speaking with the homeowner. “I’m not the only one who is sick and tired of the plane. I only wish I would have done this sooner.”
“The more people who complain, the better your chance of getting results,” Gloria said. “It’s a shame we can’t figure out who the pilot is and go right to the source to handle it more directly.”
“So they can toss water bombs in our face?” Liz asked. “Yeah, we could try it but something tells me this person…pilot is intentionally antagonizing area residents.”
“How many more stops do you need to make?” Lucy asked.
“One more. I want to stop by my neighbor, Christi’s house.”
Back home, Liz trekked down the driveway and across the road.
The faint strains of classical music echoed from the open windows. Liz gave the door a light rap and waited.
Nothing happened, so she tried again. This time knocking louder.
Finally, her neighbor appeared, a mud mask covering every inch of her face except for her eyes, lips, and nose. “Hey Liz.”
“Hello, Christi. I’m sorry to bother you.”
“No bother.” The woman eased the screen door open. “I saw the camera crew over there earlier. How did it go?”
“Great, except for the annoying lawnmower in the sky that kept interrupting us.” Liz shifted her feet. “Before I forget, have you found small chunks of rubber in your yard?”
Christi thought about it. She shook her head. “No. Why?”
“Because I think the pilot is tossing water balloons at us.”
Her neighbor’s jaw dropped, creating a large crease in her mud mask. “Seriously? How awful.”
Liz held up the yellow pad. “I stopped by the township and talked to the clerk, who suggested I start a petition.”
“I’m so sick of it. Darren can’t stand those planes. If the guy keeps it up, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tracked him down.”
“Maybe we can nip this in the bud.” Liz handed a pen and the petition to her.
Christi promptly signed it. “There’s an app you can download to track planes in the area.”
“An app?” Liz echoed.
“Flight Radar 24 will give you everything you need to know. The pilot’s tail number, the airport they flew out of, the exact path they took.”
Liz grabbed the pad of paper and began writing. “What was the name of the app again?”
“Flight Radar 24. I just found out about it myself.”
“I’m on it.” Liz thanked her and hurriedly left. She returned home, where Gloria and Lucy stood waiting.
“Well? I’m sure Christi was ready to sign on the dotted line,” Gloria joked.
“More than ready and now I have this.” Liz triumphantly waved the pad of paper in the air.
“The signatures.”
“The signatures plus information about an app I can use to track the plane. I’ll be able to figure out who the pilot is, where he’s flying out of, and his flight path. This is gold.” Liz led the way inside the house, making a beeline for her kitchen desk and already open laptop.
Using the information Christi had given her, Liz created an account and logged in. She entered her address and clicked on the flight map. A small set of wings popped up. She zoomed in, noting a solid yellow line circling around several times.
“This is it,” she whooped. “This is the plane.”
Gloria slid her reading glasses on. “The only plane, I might add. It’s going to be easy breezy figuring out who has been flying over your house.”
Liz clicked on the plane. A new screen popped up, this one with information about the plane’s owner, their address, and the type of aircraft. “The plane is registered to Tristan Keller.”
“Pretty nifty.” Lucy let out a low whistle. “This is up there with Ruth level surveillance.”
“Does his name ring a bell?” Gloria asked.
“Nope.”
“Either way, you might not need to file a petition after all.”
“Maybe not. I can’t wait for Floyd to get home. Something tells me we’re going to get our peace and quiet back.”
Tink…tink. Gloria’s cell phone chirped. She slid it from her jacket pocket. “Paul is home and wondering how much longer I’ll be.”
“We should get going,” Lucy said. “Paige needs a ride to the repair shop. Her van’s muffler fell off.”
Liz followed her sister and friend out of the house. Duchess, who had trotted along behind, waited for Liz to scoop her up. “Thanks again for everything.”
“Good luck with your spy in the sky,” Gloria called out as she climbed into her car.
“Thanks.” Liz lifted Duchess’s paw and waved. As soon as they were gone, she returned inside to the computer with the flight radar app still open. Right next to it was the list of signatures. “You’re going to stop harassing us, Tristan Keller, one way or another.”
The rest of the late afternoon passed uneventfully. Much to Liz’s relief, the skies were quiet, with nary a single sighting of the pesky pilot. She briefly wondered if he had somehow found out she was gathering signatures to stop his harassment.
Near the dinner hour, she and Duchess meandered out onto the back porch to wait for Floyd who arrived right on time. Following close behind in her car was their tenant, Echo Quigley.
Liz gave her a friendly wave as she turned and continued driving toward her mobile home. She slid off the rocker and followed her pup across the front lawn, catching up with Floyd near the driver’s side door.
“I love to see a smile on my sugar lip’s face,” Floyd teased. “I take it the Elegant Estates by Evie taping and interview went well?”
“For the most part, except when the annoying plane showed up and kept buzzing around while we were filming the outdoor segment.”
Floyd’s expression sobered. “Still at it, huh? I guess we’re going to have to do something. We shouldn’t have to put up with someone harassing us and watching us at all hours of the day or night.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Liz clasped her hands. “I have some good news.”
“You made dinner,” he teased.
Liz laughed. “Not this time, but maybe I’ll try whipping something up soon.”
“So, what’s the good news?”
Liz filled him in on her conversation with the town clerk.
“It’s a start. Now you can start collecting signatures.”
“Already done. The list is sitting on my desk,” she said proudly.
“You have been a busy bee.”
“While I was at Christi’s getting her signature, she mentioned a flight radar app used to track planes, so I signed up and tracked down the name of the pilot.”
Floyd reached back inside his truck for his jacket. “Who is it?”
“You know how terrible I am at names. I’ll have to look again.” Liz, with Floyd by her side, returned inside to her open laptop. “It’s a nifty tool.”
She showed him some of the app’s features, along with how the plane had looped around their house several times during the day. “I also think he’s been tossing water balloons out the window.”
“Water balloons. Why?”
“I have no idea.” Liz adjusted her reading glasses. She clicked on the plane and the pilot’s information popped up.
Floyd leaned in to take a closer look. “Tristan Keller.”
“Pretty cool, huh? I wonder if we should try to track him down and ask him to stop.”
“There’s no need,” he said. “In fact, his harassment is starting to make perfect sense.”