Chapter 28

After a smooth flight to Victoria, Liz made an equally smooth landing, then taxied to her assigned tie-down spot. Tom arranged to have the fuel topped up and asked for a guard to be assigned to the plane. Then the group headed for the airport car rentals where they rented two small sedans and a cargo van which only had driver and shotgun seats, but also had cargo tie-down points. Since Liz and Russ knew where to go, Tom had each of them drive one of the sedans and had Alvin and Arnie ride with them. Meanwhile, Tom and Lance hopped into the van, then they all drove the short distance to the Schultz household.

Tom wasn’t at all surprised to be pulled over at an RCMP roadblock at the end of the street leading to the Schultz household. However, as soon as he and Lance explained who they were and what they were there to do, they were quickly waved through the roadblock. Then, to Tom’s relief, he found that the Schultzs were ready to start loading their baggage into the van and the cars as soon as Tom’s crew pulled in. They had even dismantled and packed David’s crib. Since almost everything was ready to load, Tom’s crew, along with a couple of security guards and another RCMP officer, formed a human chain to shift the baggage into the van. Of course, the first time Tom reached to pick up something, Liz barked at him because she knew the doctor had told him to take it easy for a week or so.

“These guys won’t let me lift anything heavy, and I’m healthy as a horse, so suck it up, boss. When the doctor clears you to work again, I’ll let you help me carry my share,” she growled at him.

Tom was feeling useless when Linda came up to him and held out David for him to hold.

“Here, you can hold your son, Daddy. I know he’s not too heavy for you to carry, and if you’re holding him, I can help with the loading. Oh, and just so you know, I decided I might as well move to Bear Creek now as later, so I’m taking all of our winter and early spring clothing with us tonight.” Linda announced. “I thought I’d better move the most important things now, then Mom and Dad can pack up the rest and bring it up later. They’re only visiting for a few days at this time, but they’re thinking of moving up there themselves.”

“Well, as long as your baggage isn’t much over fifteen hundred pounds, the plane can handle it,” Tom shrugged. “What do you think, Liz? Can we carry all of this gear safely?”

“Yeah, if we don’t have much more than this. None of us have any baggage, so that gives us some leeway, and Lance is staying here, so that gives us even more weight allowance. I’ll bet we’ll use the whole landing strip when we get to Bear Creek though, because we’ll be coming in hot and heavy.”

“Oh, I think we can land just fine,” Tom shrugged. “Even when the runway is plowed, it hasn’t been swept, so there are two inches or so of unpacked snow, and that slows you down more than you’d expect. We’ve got just over a mile of runway too, so as long as I don’t use the brakes hard enough to start a skid, we’ll be fine. I was more worried about that seven and a half-ton max weight at takeoff than anything else, especially since I had the tanks topped up, which means we’re also packing a full load of fuel.”

“Yeah, I took that into account,” Liz winked at him. “I’ve had lots of practice at estimating loads over the last few years, and looking at this, you don’t have to worry about weight; we’re still in good shape.”

“That’s why I asked you, not Russ,” Tom winked at her. “I remember him bragging about how good you were at judging weights on the first day I flew with you in the Chinook.”

“Oh, you would recall that, wouldn’t you, Boss?” Russ snorted. “You’re a perfect ladies’ man, always helping the womenfolk, as well as passing on compliments to them about things they do. Why don’t you ever have a compliment for us guys?”

“But you’re a guy, Russ, so other guys like me expect you to do your job well. Or did you want me to gush about how dashing and muscular you look in your forest camo tonight? If I did that, you might get weird ideas about where I was coming from and what I was implying.” Tom grinned and winked in Liz and Linda’s direction.

Liz and Linda broke into laughter and were joined by Alvin and Arnie, even Russ grinned.

“Okay, Boss. I think I’ve had my compliment for the week, but now that I think about it, I’d rather you kept your compliments to an ‘Atta Boy’ once in a while,” he snorted. “Otherwise, you might give my wife the wrong idea about both of us.”

Russ’s comment didn’t stop the teasing between Tom’s crew, but it did ease what little tension everyone was feeling right then. They still worked quickly, though, and in short order, they had all of Linda’s baggage packed in the van and the trunk of one of the cars, with her parents’ suitcases packed in the other. Minutes later, Linda’s father passed a set of keys for the house to one of the neighbours and another set to the security guards, then they all piled into the three vehicles. Tom was surprised to find that David fussed a bit as he was handed back to Linda and put in his car seat.

“How about that, Daddy? I think he likes you already,” she winked.

“Well, I think he just prefers being held to being tied down in that thing,” Tom grinned, then headed for the driver’s seat in the van.

Liz and Alvin were in the lead car, with Linda and David in the back seat. Then Tom was to follow, and Lance would ride to the airport with him, leaving Russ, Arnie, and Linda’s parents to occupy the third vehicle. When they passed the roadblock at the end of the street, a plain-clothes cop car pulled out in front of them and a second car tucked in behind. Then they were escorted to the airport. In fact, their escort led them directly to an access gate leading to the runway, but they only paused there for a few seconds before they were waved through. Then all five vehicles drove over and parked near the Learjet where they were met by a security guard.

“No one has approached your plane, Mr. Dunn, not since it was refuelled. I have the bills here for that and for the landing fees. If you’ll just sign them, we’ll forward those to White Out’s head office in Bear Creek. Then you won’t have the hassle of waiting around the office for service. I’ve also taken the liberty of arranging to have the car rental folks come out on the field with their bill and a card reader. That means you can get away as soon as you’ve loaded the plane,” the guard said with a smile.

“Wow, top-of-the-line service, thank you,” Tom said with a smile as he reached for the clipboard the guard was holding.

“No problem, sir,” the guard took back the clipboard when Tom had signed it. Then he separated the copies and handed one to Tom. “Excuse me for asking, but I’ve heard rumours that White Out might be hiring. So I was wondering who I’d contact about a job?”

“Well, I’m not involved in hiring people under normal circumstances since I’m only a shareholder in the business. But I don’t think they’re hiring security people right now.”

‘Oh, I’m just working security here to be nearby in case a job as a pilot comes up. I learned to fly in Northern Manitoba, flying with my father in a Beaver floatplane. Then I joined the Air Force and flew prop, jet, and chopper for ten years. I’d probably still be in the forces, but I was injured, then was medically retired. I’ve managed to work my way back to almost full function, but it’s taken me almost five years.”

“Liz, take a break and talk to this guy, would you?” Tom called, then turned to the security guard. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

“It’s Michael Turner, sir.”

“Can the ‘sir’ business? My name is Tom, so use it.” Tom held out his hand. “This is Liz Smith, who used to be a medic and a chopper pilot in the forces. She’ll tell you her story, but I’ll cut it short and say she and her husband fly a Chinook for White Out. I bought the bird from Liz and her hubby as a wreck, had it rebuilt, and now I lease it to White Out, but the Smiths were hired to fly it. The only problem with that is she got pregnant, so I expect we’ll need a replacement for her quite soon. That job will last for at least a year or more, but I’m not going to be the person doing the hiring; that’ll be Jim Burke. First though, I want you to talk to Liz, who can tell you more about the job. Liz, this is...”

“Captain Turner, we’ve met before, Tom,” Liz interrupted. “How’s it hangin’, Mike? Are you gettin’ along okay now? Last I heard, you were damn near dead, or at least badly wounded and never expected to walk again.”

Tom would have liked to have stood around and listened to their discussion, but Lance called him over.

“Tom, I’m sorry to rush you even more, but how would you like to get this plane ready to go as quickly as possible? The sooner we get you folks out of here, the better; then I can sleep easier tonight.”

“Well, other than undoing the tie-downs and a walk around to check that everything I can see is okay, there isn’t much I can do until we’re loaded,” Tom frowned. “I can’t fire up the engines until everyone and their baggage is aboard and we’re ready to leave.”

“Actually, everyone is almost ready to go, so why don’t you do what you can and start your preflight checks? That way, we’ll have you out of here as soon as possible, but more than anything else, I want you, Linda, and your son out of sight and in the plane as quickly as possible. I get itchy when a plan goes this well, because I’m waiting for Murphy to drop something on us.”

“I think Murphy hides when you’re on the job, my friend,” Tom grinned at him and held out his hand. “Thanks for your help, and I hope you’re back home soon.”

“Oh, my resignation from the force is a done deal. All I’m doing is the final step, so I should be back in Bear Creek in a day or two,” Lance smiled, but looked a bit sad. “Now, get going, Lucky. I really don’t want a gangster to get to you on my watch, and you’re a lot safer in that plane than you are out here.”

Tom couldn’t argue with that, so he asked Lance to tell Liz what he was doing. Then he did his walk-around before climbing into the jet and running an ‘dead-engine’ check of all systems. Since he knew takeoff and landing of a fully loaded plane was a little more difficult, he was sitting in the left seat when Liz came forward and sat in the right seat just moments later.

“All loaded and strapped down, Tom. I even did a second quick check, but everything looks fine, and she’s yours to go,” Liz announced as she did up her seat harness. “Do you want me to call it in?”

Tom just nodded, since he still didn’t want his name tied to the Lear yet, so Liz got clearance for immediate takeoff. A few minutes later, they were at cruising altitude, and Tom handed the controls over to her, then asked about her impression of Captain Turner as a pilot.

“Unfortunately, I caught a clue that sent up warning signs,” she sighed softly. “Even as dim as it was under those lights as we were loading, he was squinting because the pupils of his eyes were fully dilated, so I called him on it. He admitted to using some fairly heavy-duty pain meds, and they can really screw up a pilot’s judgement, so basically, I suggested he give us a call after he gets the pain under control without the meds. It’s a bloody shame, because he’s a hell of a pilot with about fifteen or more years of experience. When he was in top shape, I think he could fly an ironing board.”

“Ouch, that’s not good news,” Tom sighed as well. “I’m sorry I threw that in your lap, but he sounded like he might be a cracker-jack pilot, and we’ll need one soon.”

“Hey, no skin off my nose. I consider that sort of thing to be part of my job. I’ll be damned if I want my company to be involved in an accident caused by someone using drugs or alcohol. As a shareholder, I feel it’s my duty to make sure everyone is doing their best, and a pilot can’t use his best judgement when he’s impaired.”

“Your company, huh?” Tom grinned.

“Your damn right, I may be a small shareholder, but I still have a voice in what goes on, and that makes a big difference to my attitude. Not only that, but you and everyone else listen to my opinion,” she frowned slightly. “When we sold our bird to you, I didn’t know what to expect, but it didn’t take more than an hour to find out that everyone in the company listens to each other. That meant a lot to me then, and it means more and more all the time. It’s different than in the forces, where each of us was just one more warm body; instead, we feel that we’re important and that our individual opinions matter.”

“That’s an attitude I like,” Tom grinned at her. “Now, since you flew all the way down here, I think I’ll go back and send Russ up here to get some time on the stick. I’ll come forward to land us, though, so give me a call when we’re a few minutes out.”

“You’ve got it, boss, but before you go, I’ve got a question: are you going to buy this thing?” she grinned. “I mean, I overheard your former boss say you had enough shares in his company that you could afford to buy it, and since both you and Sandy have family so far away, it’d make sense.”

“I’m not planning on it,” Tom snorted. “I’ve got more than enough toys now; I don’t really need to buy another expensive plaything just to make you happy. If you can think of a way to have it pay for itself, I’ll consider the idea, but right now, it’s nothing more than a daydream, and I’m no daydream believer.”

Liz was laughing as he went back into the cabin and sent Russ forward to take his place. After that, Tom sat down with Linda and her parents.

“Thanks for having everything all ready to go when we got there,” he said to start with. “When Linda called, I was really worried about all of you, so it’s a tremendous relief to have you here and out of danger.”

“Well, I couldn’t believe how quickly you changed the minds of the RCMP and got them involved. Until Linda called you, they told her there wasn’t much they could do, but not half an hour after her call to you, we had two security guards show up. Then ten minutes later, a police car was parked in our driveway, and two more were blocking the entrance to our street,” Mr. Schultz shook his head slightly. “What did you do or say to make them move so quickly?”

“All I did was ask the right people to call the Central Saanich RCMP and explain who was behind that thug’s actions and why we suspect you were targeted,” Tom sighed. “You see, it all goes back to my mineral lease in the Cariboo Mountains, and it’s been escalating for the last two years.”

“Is this all about that BP thing that we’ve been hearing so much about on the news?” Mrs. Schultz asked.

“Yes, Mrs. Schultz, if you trace things back far enough, it is.”

“Oh, for gosh’s sake, call me Helga, and this old man is Heinz. You’re almost like a son-in-law, so surely you can call me by my first name, especially when you come running to help so quickly. I can’t believe that my grandson’s father is a jet pilot who has a private jet, especially since when I first met you only two or three years ago, you were a near-penniless student.”