Assassin Territory [Assassins Book 1] Read Free Page B

passed before Christy noted the dark clouds creeping in on them from over the horizon, billowing and ominous. She could hear a distinct rumbling over the roar of the engine. It didn’t help that Howard kept fiddling with his push talk button on the left hand yoke.
    “Blasted piece of junk,” he finally muttered.
    “What’s wrong?” the officer inquired.
    “Mountains interfering with my reception. Happens sometimes. Nothing to worry about, it’ll come back, it gets a bit cranky.”
    “He’s right, Christy. I’ve flown this route enough to know it’s happened before; everything will be fine,” Sam said offering a soothing touch to her arm.
    Christy felt her face pale as the flight progressed. Her fear had been increasing as the wind seemed to pick up and the small plane rocked and dipped at the turbulence. Her hand clutched at the touch Sam offered.
    “Don’t worry, honey. If we crash I’ll take good care of you,” Lando said to her, though his tone and meaning were anything but protective. His intent was clear as he looked her body over in a lingering fashion, Christy shuddered, frightened further. The storm was no less menacing than Lando. She shifted to lay her head on Sam’s shoulder in concern.
    “Hey, buddy, why don’t you shut up?” Sam snapped at him, wrapping a snug arm around Christy.
    “Let’s all just calm down. I want everyone to tighten their seatbelts, just as a precaution,” Howard interfered, his tone calm.
    Howard was having trouble controlling the plane as it dipped and rose; obviously, he didn’t want a brawl breaking out. Howard keyed his mic and spoke into his headset.
    “Flight center, Balter, come in please.” No response. “Flight center, Balter, this is November 701. Do you read? Talk to me.”
    The radio seemed to come to life and they all heard a broken, “Come in November 701.” More static. “This is November 321.”
    “What’s with the clouds? 701,” Howard asked and he peered through the window as though searching.
    “Storm…” came a static, broken reply for all to hear.
    “Say again?”
    “Storm…” once more a broken reply as the radio became worse.
    “I’m changing my heading to my alternate route,” Howard replied.
    Again an unintelligible response, then static.
    The plane shifted toward a new direction. Yet, what Howard hadn’t heard was critical. It was the storm that was changing its heading and he was to in fact remain on course. His new coordinates would take them directly into a raging bitter wind of icy sleet and rain.

Chapter 2
    Christy hung onto her seat for dear life. The plane dipped and swayed, jerking their bodies about as the wind howled with intensity. They were thrown about like a child’s plaything. The sky darkened to a pitch black, except for the occasional brilliant flashes of lightning, giving them brief, terrifying glimpses of their dismal surroundings. Christy looked to Sam, seeking comfort, but what she saw in his petrified gaze was less than encouraging. He was as terrified as she was, his hands turning white at his powerful grip on the seat.
    Howard struggled to keep the plane on course, a struggle he was fast losing. The sleet was battering the wings mercilessly, the ice clinging and building into heavy sheets.
    “What’s happening?” the officer called over the noise of the storm.
    “Pitot might be frozen. Airspeed is all over the place. And the vacuum pump is probably pooched. I can’t control our altitude. Without visual hues in the horizon, I can’t tell if we’re flat and level or banked into a turn.” The engine roared. “God damn it, we’re plummeting in a deep bank.” All watched as Howard mightily tried to control the aircraft, he keyed his mic again.
    “ Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. 121.5. This is November 701. We are going down. Repeat, we are going down. Mayday Mayday Mayday. Fifty miles north of…”
    Howard never finished his sentence. The plane suddenly shifted on a severe updraft, swooped