Chapter 14

Ron and Brenda woke up about 8 o'clock in the morning and took a shower together. As Ron was soaping her breasts she turned her head and looked at him.

"Another first, I've never taken a shower with a man before," she said smiling.

"Like it?" he asked as he picked her up.

"Yes," she said and put her arms around his neck and lifted her legs up around his waist.

Ron entered her and started to thrust into her with the water cascading over them. Their lovemaking was intense and they both climaxed together. She kissed him and laid her head on his shoulder still joined to him.

"Another first," she said into his shoulder, "And yes I liked it.

They finished their shower and got dressed. They walked to a restaurant about a block away and got breakfast.

"Not to say anything against your cooking, but this beats an MRE," she laughed.

Ron smiled and started eating. Ron told her that he was going to call the Howell branch in Anchorage and have them get the gear back to Seattle. Ron confessed that he had been putting off the call to Sam Howell and couldn't tell her why. Brenda knew that the loss of Cal was eating away at him.

"Ron, you can't blame yourself for Cal's death," she said, "The plane crash wasn't your fault."

They took their time eating and talked and just enjoyed being together.

After they finished breakfast they walked slowly back to the motel.

As they neared the motel they saw two men in a car outside of their motel room. Ron knew who they were. He walked up and introduced himself to them and they got out of the car and showed him their identification. Ron invited them into the motel room.

Ron and Brenda sat on one of the beds and the two NTSB investigators insisted on standing. They asked Ron to describe in detail the events of the entire flight. Occasionally they would ask Ron a question. Several times they asked Brenda if what Ron told them was the way she remembered it. They asked Brenda if she noticed anything she thought was out of the ordinary with the plane or the way that Ron was piloting it. Ron got up and went over to the shirt that he had been wearing the day before and took the rudder bolt out of the pocket.

"I'm sure that this is what caused the crash," he said holding up the part of the bolt. "It's the wrong bolt for the rudder bolt and it snapped under the pressure of the flight."

The NYSB investigators studied the bolt and one of the men put it in his briefcase.

"We may have some more questions for you later but for now we want to talk to your mechanics," the investigator said.

The men shook Ron and Brenda's hands and left the room and drove off.

Ron got the phone book from the drawer next to the bed and found the number for the Howell branch office. He identified himself and asked to have a van sent over to pick up their gear and to take them to the airport. Ron called the airport and found a flight to Seattle that was taking off on about three hours. He booked tickets and they waited for the Howell van. Ron called Sam Howell and his secretary told him that Sam was out of the office. He told her to let Sam know when they would arrive at the airport in Seattle.