Standoff: A Vin Cooper Novel Read Free Page A

King Air. The facility’s buildings were a good thousand feet away across the dirt and rock. “You’re gonna have to crawl or hop to get there,” she told herself. “What’s it gonna be?” Macey decided on the latter; too many critters on the ground, some of them with stingers or fangs.
    The effort that went into standing up made her eyes water, but she eventually made it, her foot, held off the ground, swinging uselessly in midair. She had a cell phone in her breast pocket. Call Gartner, she told herself, and patted both pockets – empty. The damn thing must be on the ground somewhere. She looked around but couldn’t see it. Get back to the Lear, was her next thought, and the quicker the better. But then the runway lights went out again, plunging the world into darkness. “Fuck,” Macey grunted.
    *
    “It’s a Piper Warrior taking off. Nothing to get excited about,” said Gartner to the night air. He decided to head back to the Lear, but there was plenty of time, no need to hurry. And Macey was probably already there, taking charge as usual. Flinging what was left of the coffee on the ground, he dropped the cup in a trash-barrel. It was only when he heard the Piper’s engine racing out on the end of the runway that he picked up the pace. The aircraft was already moving when he walked around the corner of a building to bring it into view, its landing lights dancing in the darkness out on the end of the runway. The thrill of flight still excited Gartner and, though it was only a Warrior, he paused to watch it inch down the runway and eventually, finally, lift off. A jet it wasn’t.
    A few minutes later Gartner arrived back at the Lear and now there was a mini hub of activity going on around it. A refueling truck was topping up the Winjeel’s tank, its pilot discussing something with the mechanic. Their charter was also waiting, the family sitting in a white Suburban with the motor running to power its AC, a muffled song from The Lion King playing on the DVD for the kids. As Gartner approached the vehicle, the driver’s door opened and a fit, forty-something male in Levi’s and a crisp blue shirt hopped out and came to meet him.
    “Barney Sorwick,” he said. “You the pilot?” He tilted his head at the Lear.
    “Co-pilot.” Gartner held out his hand. “Rick Gartner.”
    Barney shook it. “We’re a bit early.”
    “No problem, sir. Good to get an early start. The boss will be back in a minute and we’ll take off shortly after that.”
    “Call me Barney, okay?”
    The passenger door opened. Mrs Sorwick climbed out and walked over: long tan legs, khaki shorts, suede boots and a loose white cotton top. Gail Sorwick. It clicked – the woman giving her husband a Mach I for an anniversary present. Gartner felt he already knew her. And yeah, he could see what all the fuss was about: tall and slim with olive skin, dark eyes and dimples. Her straight black hair was in a tight high ponytail. It swung from side to side as walked toward him, seemingly in slo-mo. The Gail Sorwick Effect.
    “This is my wife, Gail,” said Barney.
    “Hi.” She smiled warmly.
    “Rick Gartner, your co-pilot for the day.”
    “Dad …” a whining kid called out from the Suburban. “Can you tell Amie to stop?”
    “Excuse me.” Barney sighed deeply. “Duty calls.”
    Gartner was happy to be left alone with Mrs Sorwick, only she seemed to be distracted by something in the night sky. “What’s that noise?” she asked.
    Gartner realized that the sound of approaching turboprop engines had been in the background for a while. He hunted around in the sky for the source but couldn’t locate it. The aircraft – was it more than one? Yeah, two. They were close, very close. And low. Gartner frowned with confusion. Why were aircraft buzzing the airport at night with their lights turned off? He subconsciously scratched his head while he searched the sky again, at a loss. Gail Sorwick was having similar problems. Then, above, aircraft