AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
They mounted up and pulled out.
Twenty minutes later, true to his word, Ghost rolled down some backstreets near the airport. They were over on the southeast side, off to the side of the end of one of the runways. He turned down an old driveway that was overgrown with shrubbery. It looked like at one time it had been the entrance to some type of restaurant, judging by the signs that were now partially grown over with vines.
It was back in an area that obviously got very little traffic; in fact it was the last place on the dead end. The drive in was maybe a hundred yards in from the turn off. It opened to what once must have been the parking lot, but grass and vegetation were now starting to break through. The place looked like it could have been the setting for a scene from a zombie or apocalypse movie. That’s how abandoned and deserted it felt.
Ghost pulled to a stop in front of the doors and they both climbed off. Pulling her helmet off, Jessie got her first up close look at the building that was glooming in the dark of night.
It looked like an old French farmhouse from the turn of the century with white stonewalls and turret towers with shingled conical tops.
She noticed an old WWII era jeep parked in the overgrown grass at the front like some kind of weird statue.
“What is this place?”
Ghost paused beside her, one booted foot up on the curb, and he tipped his head back, admiring the place with her. “It used to be a themed restaurant. It was designed as a replica of a 1917 French farmhouse. It was called Flying Aces for the fighter pilots that flew in WWI and WWII. It was filled with tons of military and aviation memorabilia. Some of it was left behind.”
“Left behind?”
“The place never really took off, and the owner died of a heart attack. It sat empty for years. His widow finally put it up for sale for what was owed in back taxes. I happened to have an in with someone in the family, and she sold it to me.”
“No other restaurant company wanted it?”
“Naw. The location was great for the idea…letting customers look out over the airport, watch planes land, but the neighborhoods you have to drive through to get here are not the best, and it kept a lot of people away. It was a cool idea, though. You want to see inside?”
“Yes, but, you bought this place? You own it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“But, why?”
He shrugged. “At first I just thought it would be a cool place to live. I got it dirt-cheap. But times have changed, and the neighborhoods around here aren’t as bad as they once were. I think it might just make it as a nightclub now or maybe an event location.” He shrugged again. “Just a dream, really. Come on, I’ll show you the inside.”
He led her through big massive double wooden doors. They entered an area she supposed was once the hostess station. The walls were stone, made to look like plaster with areas showing the exposed stone beneath. He led her up a set of winding stairs; only they were made to look as if they were lines with sandbags, like it was a bomb shelter or something. When they got to the top, there was a set of coat hooks on the wall with old vintage WWII bomber jackets hanging on them, and aviator caps and goggles. To the left was a bar with a large mirror backing it and shelving with more memorabilia. To the right was what must have been the dining room with a bank of plate glass windows that overlooked the most amazing view of the airport in the distance. She could see the runway landing lights and the control tower off in the distance.
The ceiling had big exposed beams, and there was a huge stone fireplace anchoring the other side of the room. In between, where she supposed all the tables had once been was now some living room furniture.
“So…you live here?”
“Yup. Come on, I’ll show you the rest.” He walked her through the room to a doorway on the other side. It must have been a smalle
r private room or event room. It also had huge windows overlooking the view, and he’d turned it into a bedroom with a big bed facing that view.
“Oh my God!”
He grinned. “Like it?”
“It’s amazing. You wake up to that view every morning?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She frowned. “But what about the noise from the airplanes landing and taking off?”
He shrugged. “You’d think they’d be a problem, but they sound proofed the place pretty good. Come on, I want to show you my favorite part of the whole place.”
He led her back toward the bar, paused to go behind it long enough to grab two bottles of beer from a cooler and then led her down another staircase. This one led down to an outdoor courtyard setup to look like a bombed out section of the building with the roof missing and just the rafters and big exposed beams still standing. There was a big stone floor and another stone fireplace on the other end. It opened to the side facing the airport.
“Pretty cool, huh?”
