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“When do you plan to air the podcast?”
“I’ll spend a few days editing and then release it on Wednesday at noon. Are you a subscriber?”
“You have to ask? Of course.” She held up her iPhone and swiped to the podcast icon. “See? I left a five-star review after listening eight times to the one about the serial killer you and Kelly brought down.”
Jade laughed. “Wow. That situation got a little too intense for me. Up close and personal is for someone else. It’s not me. I prefer totellthe stories, not live them.”
“How about we catch up later when I give you and Kelly the lowdown on Helene Toussaint.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Jade looked over at Lucien. “That thing he’s doing with his hands must be his signal that it’s time to cut the crap and eat.”
Brogan sputtered with laughter and pivoted to watch Lucien standing by the car, holding up the pizza box. “He thinks he’s so transparent.”
“That could be said for all men. I’m glad I finally found a straight shooter in Birk, although he’s sometimes a tad too secretive. But I like the way he lays it on the line. He can be abrupt, blunt, or just plain rude. But I always know where I stand with him. I’ll let you get inside before Lucien wears out his arms.”
“Talk to you later.”
Once inside the kitchen, they fed the dogs and sat down to a slightly cold barbeque chicken pizza. Lucien decided to zap a couple of slices in the microwave. “We should go.”
She handed Lucien a beer and poured herself a glass of wine from a leftover bottle in the fridge. “Where?”
“To Spirit Lake. Be there with Birk and Beckett. Even though I discouraged Daniel from going, I think I’d like to experience this recovery firsthand, see for myself the steps they go through to find the car. What about you?”
“Sure. It might prove interesting to see how they do this for future cases. We should fly.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I’ll call Ewan and set it up for Tuesday morning. That’ll give Birk and Beckett time enough Monday to get there and settle in. We could even push it back to Tuesday afternoon and give them time to do their triangulations.”
“You aren’t joking?”
“About what? Flying? Nope. You’re looking at the new Brogan Cole.”
“I liked the old Brogan Cole,” Lucien said, sliding his plate out of the microwave. He slowly turned to face her. “Don’t you want to check the weather or something?”
“Doesn’t Ewan do that?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then I trust him to do his job.” She took a sip of wine and removed a slice of pizza from the box. “We should spend these next two days trying to contact Adelai to narrow down our suspect list. That way, when we get to Coyote Wells, we can go over everything we know about these three guys and the Valkyrie woman in South Africa. If Birk has access to better software for background checks, then we should utilize every tool he has.”
“Sorry. But I’m still trying to wrap my head around your transformation. You've been afraid to fly practically ever since I’ve known you.” He took his first bite of thetangy, sweet sauce and tender chicken.“This isn’t bad—sweet and tangy works. Good choice.” He picked his beer up and chugged, then cleared his throat. “It’s not that I’m questioning your enthusiasm. But I might need some time to understand how you changed overnight after one flight.”
“A short flight,” Brogan corrected. “I’m convinced that’s the key to my phobia. Keep the travel within a reasonable timeframe. What can I say? I’m tired of being afraid, a big scaredy cat. It’s that simple. I’m sick of hearing myself whine about being unable to get on a plane. I thought you’d be ecstatic for me.”
“I’m overjoyed at the idea you’ve done this on your own. And I think it’s smart to keep the flights short. This Coyote Wells trip would fit that perfectly. But what if the 767 isn’t available? What if it’s out on another assignment? What if we get another pilot who isn’t Ewan in the cockpit? What if we get someone else assigned to the 707? Don’t get me wrong. A 707 is still a big plane. But it’s not a 767. Would you trust Blake Hartnett to do the flying as much as you do Ewan? What about another pilot you’ve never met? That’s the way these charters operate. Only Ewan gets to fly that jumbo jet unless he’s on vacation. What happens then?”
A wisp of fear took hold in her belly and crawled up her throat. “In that case, I’d need to reevaluate the 707 and Blake Hartnett. Maybe we should hire a car to make the trip.”
“Why don’t we talk to Ewan after we eat, not just about his schedule but get his take on Hartnett’s abilities? While we’re on that subject, we’ll get him to list all the pilots he’d trust with his own family. Let’s ask him about the 707’s capabilities and have him go over all the aircraft in the fleet. Maybe he can recommend a pilot when he’s not available.”
Her face brightened. “That’s a good idea. But I’d prefer to fly in the bigger plane. Not that I need the space—”
“No, I get it. But we’ll lay it all out for Ewan for future flights.”
17
The 767 touched down on an asphalt runway Tuesday afternoon at Del Norte County Regional Airport. One of thirty or so flights the facility would see that day, the jet taxied to the end of the tarmac to unload its passengers.
