Chapter 30

It was another early morning for Tom, and once more he hurried down to his office before six to see what messages were on his answering machine. There were five calls, and he sighed heavily as he looked at the flashing light, but took the time to go through them one by one.

Two of the calls were apologies from the two largest news media groups in Canada, and they were from bigwigs of the corporations, what most might call the big brass of the Canadian Media. In each case, they apologised profusely for their minions invading his privacy, then they both screwed themselves in the ear by suggesting that he give an interview to a representative of the individual media company. Tom just shook his head in disgust; they just didn’t want to listen, and he wasn’t about to waste his time trying to enlighten them right then. Only, he paused the machine long enough to write down each one’s contact info, just in case he needed to raise a point or two another time. He thought he’d pass those names and numbers on to Frank and let him have the fun of saying, ‘Sorry, but Mr. Dunn is not interested in being interviewed at this time or at any time in the future.’

The third call was an overseas call from the president of Bulldog Petroleum, promising that heads would roll in the offices that had harassed Tom and virtually begging him to call back. That one made him laugh, because as he was listening to the voice with an English accent, Tom was also looking at the European stock market listings on his computer. BP stocks had fallen even further, so he expected that the man who had called was willing to do just about anything to have Tom call off the ‘dogs of war’ that he’d set loose. He didn’t reach for the phone though, just his pen, and once more he wrote down the man’s name and contact number. He planned to pass that name and number on as well, especially to his dad, that ought to make his old man happy.

The next call was actually from Frank, telling Tom that the same representative from BP had awakened him by calling his home phone just after four in the morning.

“He asked me what he could do to get you to stop persecuting his company, but I told him you hadn’t even gotten started. He blustered about that, saying his company wasn’t to blame for minor details of the sort you’ve been facing, that such incidental happenings were common in the business world. So I asked him how many days he had spent in the hospital after an attempted assassination, or how many times he had personally had to fight off a killer and how many times his children had been threatened with kidnapping. The bastard didn’t answer that, instead he hung up on me, so he’s got me pissed off now!

“I normally wouldn’t call at this time of day, but I know your office phone won’t awaken you, and I thought I’d leave a message to warn you that he’s bound to find your phone number and he’ll call you too. I haven’t checked the stock markets or any of the international news feeds, but I think you’re getting a lot of publicity in England as well, which is causing him a lot of grief. After getting awakened from a sound sleep and having to listen to the crap he spouted, I definitely want to be involved in your next move. Give me a call and tell me what you’re planning on doing next, will you?”

Tom couldn’t help chuckling at the fact that Frank was annoyed, especially since the only side of Frank’s personality Tom had ever seen was his ‘Mr. Calm and Cool’ persona. Hopefully, Frank was going to be patient though, because Tom’s present plan was to wait and see what happened next since he hoped the media was going to be spurred into action by his diatribe. Tom thought he had challenged them, and from what little he’d seen of their early reaction, they’d taken the bait to some degree. How much time and effort they’d be willing to invest in their search for proof of BP’s involvement was a question he couldn’t answer though. Right at the moment, he felt he was going to have to wait and see what effect his rant had evoked before he decided what he needed to do next, if he needed to do anything at all.

The last call was from Lance, and he had news that made Tom quite apprehensive.

“Tom, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Tang Nguyen was seen in the vicinity of the Lazy Dog Hotel shortly after your interview with the media, but he eluded arrest. I’m unsure exactly what that might mean, but I’m going to guess that he might have found out that you live here in Bear Creek during the winter. I suspect he already knows you spirited David, Linda, and her parents out of town on Tuesday evening, so you might want to make sure they lay low and circle the wagons for the next few days. Ann tells me that you plan to fly to Calgary sometime tomorrow, so I suggest you do that as soon as possible, preferably before noon. That’s about the earliest Nguyen could get here if he caught a ferry early this morning, but the RCMP were watching for him last night, and they’re sure he didn’t catch a ferry. If he caught a commercial flight, he’d be even later than that because of the route a flight to Kamloops follows.

“It’s four-thirty in the morning, and I need to catch an hour or two of sleep, but I should be at work by eight. You can still call the Bear Creek Police office if you have any other questions, though, even if I’m not there. Not only that, but if you see Nguyen, let us know where and when you saw him, no matter what time it is. I think today you’d better take Alvin or Arnie with you wherever you go.”

Tom looked at his watch and sighed heavily. It was only seven in the morning, and he’d just had his whole day screwed up. He hadn’t even had the time to check what the weather forecast was like for the next few days, and he really didn’t like the idea of leaving town earlier than he had planned. His coffee cup was empty anyway, so he headed back up to the kitchen and found Sandy there already.

“Hi Tom,” Sandy greeted him with a hug and a quick kiss. “What’s up with the frown?”

“Oh, I was just listening to the messages on my answering machine, and Lance left one that bothered me. He thinks the punk who raped Linda and was trying to kidnap David is coming to Bear Creek to try again.”

“Oh shit!”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly!” Tom snorted. “Not only that, but Lance would like us to leave town by noon today, and from the sounds of it, he wants us to take Alvin and Arnie along as guards. As I see it, that would leave Linda and David here and vulnerable though.”

“Well, what about talking Linda into coming with us? I know she doesn’t want to go, but wouldn’t she and David be a lot safer if they did?”

“I overheard that, but I don’t understand. Why would David and I be safer, and what do you think we should do?” Linda demanded as she came into the kitchen, carrying David in her arms.

So Tom explained what Lance had said, and Sandy told her what she thought Linda should do. The next few minutes were a muddle. Linda announced she needed to think about that, then since David began to fuss, Linda handed him to Tom as she mixed up some Pablum, then got a container of pureed fruit out of the fridge. She shook her head as she turned back to the table, though Tom was already sitting with David snuggled in the crook of his left arm and was feeding him Pablum with a baby spoon.

“Tom, you just aren’t normal,” she announced, then poured herself a cup of coffee. “Not only that, but neither is Sandy.”

“Pardon me? Why do you think I’m abnormal?” Sandy asked as she started to cook breakfast.

“Because you don’t seem to be jealous of me or of David.”

“Linda, you’re part of Tom’s former life, and so is David. You’re a lot easier to live with than the parts of my life that Tom has had to put up with,” Sandy snorted. “My god, my ex tried to have Tom killed, not to mention all the other crap he did. There is no way you could ever be compared to what that bastard has done to us. Besides, you’re likeable, so I don’t mind you sharing in our lives at all, and I think little David is a wonderful addition to our family.”

“Um, are you saying that you consider us to be part of your immediate family?”

“Well, of course, I do.”

“Excuse me for interrupting this mutual admiration society, but where is Rachel this morning? Did she sleep in?” Tom asked.

“No, she and Laura had an early meeting this morning, so Rachel left shortly after you got out of bed, but perhaps you had already gone downstairs,” Sandy answered.

“Da, da da da dad,” David babbled and leaned toward the spoon as if he was starving.

“Okay, okay, Davey,” Tom fed him more Pablum, then grinned at Sandy. “I think he just proved that he uses that word intentionally.”

“No surprise, just another frigging genius in the family,” Sandy shrugged and tried to sound grouchy, but winked at Linda. “So to change the subject again, Linda, you’ve had time to think. Are you going to Calgary with us today or not?”

“Well, it seems as if we’d be safer, so I suppose it’s a good idea. I’d like to talk to Mom and Dad before I make up my mind about it though, just to see what they think.

“That’s reasonable,” Tom nodded, just as his cell phone rang.

“Here, let me take David, so you can get that,” Linda said immediately.

“Hello Liz,” Tom answered after a glance at the call display on his phone.

“Hi boss, what’s up today?”

“Well, things are a little up in the air right now. We might be flying out at noon, but if not then, we’ll be out of here by shortly after five and we plan to spend the next three nights in Calgary, flying back on Sunday. Alvin and Arnie might need to come with us as well, but we aren’t sure of that yet.

“If I might ask, why all the changes?”

“Well, Lance discovered that Nguyen, the guy who was planning to kidnap David, was at the hotel where I gave my statement last night. He figures Nguyen probably followed us back to the airport and might have found out where I live. I think that’s screwy since we flew to Vancouver and the media think I flew from there to Ontario, but I could be wrong. Just in case he’s right though, I’d like you to figure on coming out here and spending the day at Sandy’s house in order to keep Linda and David safe. In fact, why don’t all of you except Sami come out here, since she needs to head for the airfield this morning? I need to make some phone calls and talk to some people before I make too many plans.”

“Okay Tom, we can do that. Give Russ and me ten minutes, but Alvin and Arnie will be a bit longer since they should pack now, just in case they head to Calgary with us.”

“Okay, that’s fine, but take your time. I still need to eat and so does Sandy, so we won’t be leaving for at least half an hour or more.”

“Okay, see you shortly.”

Tom took a short break to gobble his breakfast, then he called JJ.

“Hi Tom, are you calling about the break-in?”

“No, what break-in?” Tom scowled.

“Someone broke into the hangar where the Learjet and the two Beavers are kept, but we can’t see that any damage was done to anything. Some tools may have disappeared, but all the planes look fine. Jim and Harry are going over the Beavers now, but it might be an idea to have Liz and Russ come down to work with Travis and Angie and check out the Lear. We’ve called the RCMP about it and Lance knows, but none of them have shown up here yet. Actually, Lance said there’s nothing he can do, since we aren’t within the town limits.”

“Damn, I’m more worried about sabotage than theft, so we really need to get into gear to prevent that sort of crap. I think we need to put in motion alarms, video cameras, and perhaps we need to hire guards for now.”

“That or guard dogs, which is what Harry used to have, but the ones he had grew old, and he had to have them put down. Then, unfortunately, he never replaced them. There is a fence and no trespassing signs, but that’s a joke to almost any crook these days.”

“Oh, I think this was a crook alright, but after considering it, I’m afraid that they may have sabotaged the Learjet. The easiest way to do that is by screwing with the fuel supply. Once that plane gets up to higher altitudes, any water can cause a major problem because it will freeze in the supply lines, and the engines will die. With no power, a Learjet flies like a rock, which is why I like to keep condensation to a minimum by topping up the fuel every chance I get. So, have all the fuel in the jet and the choppers pumped out and replaced. Then, have the engines, fuel pumps, and fuel lines all checked. Call in the inspector to check it over and have the fuel tested for water or other contaminants. I don’t care what it costs, but put Travis and Angie on the job right away. To speed things up, I’ll send Russ and Liz to help. See if you can get the Lear done as quickly as possible. If you can get it done by noon, we’ll fly out of here as soon as possible afterward. I think this is another BP stunt because if they’ve found out that you and Ann are flying to Calgary with me, we’d be a prime target. Those bastards would consider it a major win. They could kill off Sandy and the three of us as well, because we’d probably be killed if we lost both engines while flying over the Rockies.”

“Holy shit, I never thought of that! I’ll get right on it.” JJ responded, then he hung up.

Tom called Liz back and diverted her and Russ to the airfield, but had Alvin and Arnie come to the house. Next, he called Heinz and Helga to have them come over and stay with Linda, explaining why he wanted someone to stay with her. Once Alvin and Arnie arrived, he had Alvin go with Sandy when she insisted on going to work and kept Arnie along with him. Then, he called Lance and explained his suspicions, knowing that Lance would stir up the police and would call the RCMP office as well. After that, he called Ann, and after talking to her, he called Don in Calgary.

“Hello little brother, “ Don answered instantly. “You really stirred up shit last night.”

“Yeah, but I think they’ve reacted by taking off the gloves.” Tom growled. “We had a break-in at the airfield overnight, and I suspect the Learjet was sabotaged. I’m not sure, but we’re having it checked out now. I think they dumped water in the fuel in an attempt to cause what would look like an accident and a simple plane crash. Only I’ve run into the problem of water in the fuel before, so I’m paranoid about it. As a result, I’m really careful about condensation and have the fuel topped up as often as possible. Anyway, I’m having the fuel in the Lear pumped out and replaced with fresh fuel, but you’d better warn Dad to have the fuel in his plane checked, since it’s a turboprop, it would have the same problems.”

“Holy shit! Dad and our chief engineer are planning to fly to Grande Prairie today; they’re on the way to the airport right now. Not only that, but I was supposed to go with Dad, only I came down with an ear infection yesterday, so I can’t fly for a few days. I’ll talk to you later, but keep me posted, “ then Don hung up.