Chapter 1

Frank Churchill eased the Gulfstream G-IV down at Dallas' Love Field Airport with the practiced ease he was accustomed to. After twenty years flying fighter jets off carrier decks, the G-IV was child's play for my father in law, who was also president of Churchill Aviation, my best friend, and my boss. He and my mother in law, Helen, had picked me up in Washington where I had been attending a meeting with the project manager for our latest avionics upgrade for Army helicopters. My own expertise as a former Army rotor head and Vice President of Development for Churchill Aviation made me the point man for the project.

We were in Dallas because Gloria, Frank and Helen's daughter, my wife and Churchill Aviation's legal counsel, was here to meet with lawyers for a subcontractor on my helicopter avionics project. Frank wanted to get the four of us together to celebrate the fact we had secured the government contract, and to attend the Cowboys season opener in their new stadium. Frank was a football fanatic, and a big Dallas fan. Glory was unaware we were coming, as Frank and Helen wanted to surprise her. Glory was as big a Cowboy fan as her father and I, so she was sure to appreciate the surprise.

Getting through the business jet terminal was a matter of a few minutes. Frank had everything prearranged, so it wasn't long before the three of us were in a rental car heading for Glory's hotel. Since I had flown most of the trip from D.C., Frank drove with Helen in the front. I settled into the comfortable rear seat for the

"Jack, I bet you are looking forward to a little down time with Gloria this weekend", Helen smiled at me. I've always been on excellent terms with my in laws.

"These last few weeks have been so hectic I've barely had time to be miserable". The avionics project had Glory and I so busy and on the go we had barely seen one another. We had both been home at the same time once in the past week, and I had only been home one night before heading to D.C. for the meetings with the Army procurement people. "I expect that you won't see the two of us much this weekend until we go to the stadium on Sunday".

Frank laughed, and Helen smiled again. "I think that falls into the category of too much information! Just make sure you let my little girl out of your room to do some shopping. I am pretty sure she only packed business clothes for this trip and she'll need something to wear to the football game".

"Don't worry. I'm pretty sure we'll have ample time to do some major damage to my credit cards tomorrow. I need to do the same thing if I don't want to show up for the game in a suit!" This was Friday afternoon, so we had a full day to get ready for the Sunday game. "I only hope that she will be finished up here with the Fairchild Electronics people so she can fly home with us after the game".

The rest of the trip to the Rosewood Crescent Hotel was taken up with the normal pleasantries. I enjoyed time with Frank and Helen, but the pace of business for the last few months had made occasions to spend time with them rare.

Pulling up to the elegant entrance to the hotel, Frank tossed the keys to the valet and led the way to the check in desk. He had made the reservations weeks ago, anticipating the surprise weekend getaway. He hadn't even told me about the trip until he showed up at my last meeting in Washington this morning.

Frank handled the details while I sat impatiently chatting with Helen. I was eager to see Glory after almost a full week apart. The sooner I could get up to the room and be reunited with my wife the better. I would have preferred to let her know that I would be joining her for the weekend, but her father was always trying to spring a pleasant surprise on anyone he cared about, and he doted on his only daughter. I considered myself a very lucky man to be married to such beautiful and accomplished woman, and to be as accepted by her equally accomplished parents.

Frank finished at the check in desk, and we headed to the elevator. He handed me a key card. "We have a two story, two bedroom suite. Glory thinks she was given the suite because it was the only one available". He grinned at me. "Don't worry. The two bedrooms are on separate floors and the hotel staff claims they are soundproof to insure privacy. You kids won't keep your old in laws awake with your bedroom acrobatics".

Helen playfully slapped him on the shoulder. "Don't tease the poor boy so much. I expect you were more concerned with covering our own bedroom antics when you made the reservation".

I couldn't help laughing as my mother in law turned the tables on her husband. At 64 he still had a fighter pilot's mentality and a lust for life that Helen shared with him. Over the ten years I had been married to their daughter I had come to admire the easy way they had together. I tried to base my own marriage on the example of my lusty in laws.

"Well, I can't wait to see the look on Gloria's face when she see's we dragged this galoot along with us". Frank was already enjoying the anticipated reaction when he pulled his surprise on his daughter. She had as much to do with the success of Churchill Aviation as anyone, and Frank was really pumped about the new contract she had negotiated with Fairchild. I was pretty damn proud of my wife as well.

The elevator doors opened to a private foyer with a double door across from it. Frank grinned his best fighter pilot grin. "Pretty cool, huh? We have our own private entrance to the suite."

This was the first time I had been in such an opulent place. Frank and Helen were both all smiles. "Jack, we both want you to know that you have been more than just a great employee and wonderful son in law. We have some big plans to talk about, but that can wait until we get home on Monday. Just enjoy this weekend and keep our little girl smiling like you have for the past five years".

I inserted the key card into the slot in the door. The light flashed green and I pushed the door open. An ornate sitting room with a spiral stairway was revealed. The only sign of Glory was her high heeled pumps on the floor. There was something else.

A man's suit jacket lay on a couch.

Why was there a man's jacket in my wife's suite? If she were entertaining someone from Fairchild Electronics, why weren't they in the sitting room? A horrible knot formed in my stomach, a cold ball of ice that threatened to make my breakfast reappear on the elaborate Oriental rug.

I looked at my in laws with a blank stare. All I saw on their faces was confusion. Turning to the stairs I started the climb towards what I feared with all my being.

As I climbed the stairs I kept thinking that it had to be a mistake. Gloria was my soul mate, my world. Everything revolved around her. My life, my home, my job, all were for her, because of her. Hell, I was an executive of her father's company! Without her I was just a broken down helicopter pilot, a broken piece of a military machine.

My worst fears were confirmed by the time I was halfway up the stairs. My wife's fashionable suit top lay on the steps. Her skirt was crumpled at the top, along with a man's white shirt. A frilly bra was hanging from the knob of the door to the upper floor bedroom. As I reached for the knob with a fury I had not felt since flying combat missions in Desert Storm, a soft hand on mine brought a semblance of sanity back into my fevered brain.

"Jack, whatever is behind that door..." Helen choked off a sob. "I can't let you hurt my daughter".