Chapter 1

Ed Hanson peeked from around the trash dumpster and made sure that no one was in sight. When he was sure that no one was near, he took the small bottle from his jacket. He checked once again to make sure that he wasn't watched. As he opened the bottle his eyes constantly looked left and right. The bottle had a short piece of metal about a quarter inch wide that he had bent into a vee shape so that he could use it as a spoon. He took the metal spoon and scooped out a hit of cocaine. He quickly snorted the coke into his nose. He tilted his head back as the rush hit him. For several seconds Ed was at peace with the world. He took the spoon, replaced it and recapped the bottle. A quick glance to the left and right assured him that he still wasn't being observed. He picked up the trashcan that he had carried to the dumpster to hid his real purpose for being behind the dumpster and walked toward the hanger.

Ed Hanson was 36 years old and was a certified A & E mechanic. He worked with his brother-in-law taking care of the two aircraft owned by Howell Pipeline Services, Inc. Howell sometimes hired out their mechanics to perform minor service and repair on other aircraft at the airfield because, with only two planes, there was not always enough work for two A & E mechanics. There was still plenty of slack time though, just the kind of job Ed and Jared, his brother-in-law, liked. Howell had hired him; not knowing that his brother-in-law had falsified his work logs to enable him to qualify for the A & E test. Ed's brother-in-law had even taken the test for him. This was a big joke between the two of them. The beaurocrats had not even checked his brother-in-law's identification when he took the test. Jared had balked at helping Ed get certified, but Ed had forced his brother-in-law to help him. Ed complained to his sister that she and Jared owed him. Ed had taken a pot bust for Jared as a teenager. Ed was eight years younger than Jared. As a teenager, Ed's penalty was lighter than Jared's. Ed's sister had made life miserable for Jared until he agreed help.

Ed and Jared had always worked around airplanes. Jared's father had been a bush pilot in Alaska before the booze got to him. Jared had taken care of his father's airplane while in high school. Ed helped Jared after school and both had learned by doing. Luckily, they had made no major mistakes. Jared had joined the Air Force and was sent to jet mechanic school to learn to be a jet mechanic. Jared had a knack for mechanics and studied hard. Jared took U.S.A.F. Institute courses in aircraft mechanics after he got out of the Air Force tech school. When he got out of the service he worked for several companies that had airplanes and eventually qualified to take the A & E test. By the time that Jared got out of the service the booze had become more important to his father than flying. The plane was repossessed and the local bar became his father's home. One day his father left to go to the bar and never came home. His family never saw him again.

Ron Simpson opened his eyes and it took a few seconds to realize that the noise that had interrupted his sleep was the telephone. He reached for the noisemaker half asleep and knocked it on the floor. He picked up the receiver hoping that he had not cut the caller off.

"Hello," Ron said, not too nicely.

"Ron, Sam Howell here," the voice at the other end said, "I need you to fly a couple of our people up to Anchorage tomorrow. We have some big problems at Con-Oil's pumping facility. We have to get up there ASAP. Your cargo will be the Engineering VP and the Controller."

"Sam, you know I'm going to take a three day vacation, don't you?" he said, "This is all planned. I'm going fishing in Alaska. "

There was a pause at the other end of the line, "I'll make a deal with you. Take the people to Anchorage and you can use the plane to fly to your fishing lodge. I'll even pay for the rental car to get you from whatever airport your flying into, to the lodge. Ron, this is important. I wouldn't ask you to break your plans if it wasn't."

"Does Cal know about this?" Ron asked. Cal Halbert was Ron's fishing buddy on this trip.

"No, I figured that I would let you tell him," Sam went on. "This will work out fine. The VP and the Controller will be there about five days so you may be able to squeeze another day of fishing in."

"OK Sam." Ron said slowly, "I'm going to have to cancel some reservations that I have already made, but I don't think it will cause me any grief. I'll make sure that the plane is ready. It was supposed to have something done to it. I forgot what Cal told me was wrong with it."

"Thanks Ron," Sam said obviously relieved, "You'll have to take the Cessna. The Kingair is down for scheduled maintenance. Raytheon is working on it now. I don't trust those two mechanics I have to tear down the engines and get them back together."

"Oh, that's great," Ron, snapped, "That means three refuelings. Sam, we have to get either a larger airplane or buy some time on a larger one."

"Ron, I've got to go," Sam said, "Call my secretary if you need anything. You have to get Brenda there tomorrow. Don't let anything stop that trip." Sam hung up the phone before Ron could reply.

Ron hung up the phone and lay back in bed trying to wake up. He knew that Sam Howell was at the farm in Virginia that he had recently bought. Sam had been delegating more and more work to Ron and others in the company and was trying to semi-retire. Sam's first wife Alice had died about ten years ago and Sam had remarried about six years ago. Sam and Alice had never had children and Sam felt guilty because the business had taken so much of his time while he and Alice were married. Sam decided that he wanted to spend more time with Sarah, his second wife. Sam knew that he had good people working for him and the business had an excellent reputation and an excellent customer base.

Sam had thought about changing the name of the business but had decided against it because so many of their customers knew Sam's reputation and he did not like the anonymity that a company name change would bring. The company really had outgrown the name. Pipeline services only accounted for about half of their business now. Sam had acquired several specialty manufacturers that fit in well with Howell and had gone into the construction business to built support facilities for the pipeline industry. Again, the company's reputation had grown to where Howell was being asked to take on larger construction projects for the industry and projects that had nothing to do with the pipeline industry. Ron had suggested setting up Howell, Inc. as the parent company and leaving the names of the separate divisions unchanged. Sam was considering following Ron's suggestion. This would keep the reputations that Howell had built intact.

Sam and Alice had taken Ron in and had raised him after Ron became orphaned when his mother and father were killed in a car accident. Ron had been asleep in the back seat of his parent's car but had only suffered bumps and bruises. The Howells were next-door neighbors and were close to Ron' parents. There had been no close relatives, so Sam and Alice were named legal guardians and had treated Ron better than most sons are treated. Sam had pushed Ron to go to college and helped Ron develop a sound work ethic and fine moral values. Sam had never discussed it with Ron, but he was going to ask Ron to take over the business in the near future. Sam wanted to retire to the farm with his new wife, Sarah, and he knew that Ron was the one person that he could trust with Howell Pipeline Services, Inc. and take the company into the future. Sam was hurt that Brenda was considering going with Con-Oil, as she was an integral part of his plan for the company. He had always figured that Ron and Brenda would make a fine team. Sam had figured that they might even be good as co-chairmen. If they didn't kill each other first.

Ron picked up the phone to call Cal Halbert. Cal was Ron's best friend and also a Howell pilot and troubleshooter. Cal was 58 years old and was about to retire at the end of the year. Cal and Edna had recently bought a 15-acre farm in Tennessee and they were building a house on the farm now. Cal had met Edna when he was a pilot in the Air Force. Edna thought that the sun rose and set on Cal Halbert. Cal felt the same way about Edna. They had saved their money and had invested wisely. Cal and Edna were not rich but they could live comfortably for the rest of their lives. The Halbert kids were both grown and lived in Tennessee. Cal's farm would be within 2 hours drive of his children and grandchildren. Cal had convinced Ron to come to Howell as a pilot. Ron was hesitant because he wasn't sure how Sam and he would get along as employer/employee. Cal and Ron had served in the Air Force together and had grown to like and respect each other. Cal had taken Ron under his wing after Ron was sent to McDill AFB. Ron was fresh out of flight school and was green as grass. Most of Ron's knowledge and love of flying he could thank Cal for. Cal was Ron's mentor and had pulled him out of many scrapes. Ron dialed Cal's phone number.