Chapter 40: Revelations

As we were cruising north I got on the sat-phone and called the San Antonio school and found out that the DA needed me in court to testify about the case concerning Melissa Madison. They needed my testimony about how I came to be looking for Melissa and then how I came to confront the maintenance man. I had given the detectives all that information but they needed direct testimony from me under oath in court. The maintenance man was being tried for a host of charges including rape, kidnapping, assault and unlawful imprisonment.

I had the pilot change course and file a new flight plan for San Antonio. I called the San Antonio DA's office and informed them that I was on my way and should be there in a couple of hours. They said they would have a DPS (state police) car meet me and bring me to court directly. I showed up at court and was sworn in. The prosecutor then asked me a series of questions. I testified as to what I had seen and done which resulted in the arrest of the maintenance man. The defense attorney then tried to poke holes in my testimony. He was trying to discredit my testimony based on the fact that the maintenance man was in effect my employee and he alleged that I fabricated the whole situation only to get rid of an employee. His plan of attack fell apart under re-direct, when it came to light that I had no prior contact with the maintenance man and there were no complaints against the man on file anywhere.

The jury heard all the testimony and found the man guilty of all the filed charges after only two hours of deliberation. It ended up as an open and shut case. One good result of the case was that we realized that we needed to examine our employees much closer. While the maintenance man had no criminal record, we could have eliminated him by utilizing psychological testing. The policies and procedures of the schools became even more of a work in progress.

When we got through in court it was getting late so I got a room to spend the night. My two pilots also were in a room at the same hotel. Their rooms and meals were covered when they were working so they were pretty happy with our arrangement. We got together and enjoyed a show at the hotel bar. It was interesting that they both drank ginger ale. Just so they didn't feel bad I also had soft drinks. The difference was that I had root beer, one of my favorites.

I got back to my room later that evening and was watching the news on TV. They were covering a story about a twelve-year-old girl who was in need of transportation to Syracuse, NY and the Golisano children's hospital. She needed some specialized surgery that they offered there. Her parents could not afford the air fare to get her there and there was a high chance that if she did not get the surgery she would die. As I heard the story, the hairs on the back of my neck were bristling. Call it my Spidey-sense if you will. The phone in my room rang shortly thereafter and I answered it. It was Fred, one of my pilots.

"Art, did you see the news about that little girl?"

"Yes I did."

"Okay, do you want me to file a flight plan for Syracuse tomorrow?"

"Let me give them a call and I'll let you know."

"Sounds good to me. Good night Art."

"Good night Fred."

The next morning I called the TV station and spoke to the reporter who did the story. He gave me the information about how to contact the hospital and the girl's parents. An hour later I had arrangements made for an ambulance to transport the girl and her parents to the airport. They were to arrive on the tarmac about mid morning so we had the plane pre-flighted, fueled and ready to go.

About mid-morning we were at the plane waiting when the ambulance arrived. I got to meet the girl for the first time as she was transferred to the plane. She was a very pretty little girl, who in spite of her weakened condition had a cheerful bubbly personality and positive attitude. Her mom and dad were so grateful that I could take them to Syracuse. In preparation we had dropped one of the seats down flat into a bed for the girl. We all got aboard and my pilots taxied out and took off. We headed in a straight path for Syracuse. We would be flying non-stop at near the speed of sound so we could arrive as soon as possible.

Once we were leveled off I went back to see how the girl was doing. She took my hand and gave me a little kiss saying, "Thank you. I don't know how I will be able to repay you."

I answered, "Don't worry about it. You just did. A kiss from you makes it all worth while so thank you."

I talked with her mom and dad and got all the information so I could check up on their little girl later. We landed in Syracuse and there was an ambulance waiting for us at the airport. We got the girl loaded up and on her way to the hospital with her parents. I caught a cab and arrived at the hospital shortly after they did. I walked into the reception area and there was a heated discussion going on. It turned out that the parent's credit card was rejected since they had spent so much on their little girl and had exceeded their credit limit. I interceded and told the lady to put their entire bill on my card. The girl's father tried to object but I wouldn't hear of it. In a firm voice I told him that getting their daughter well was what was important and if he insisted, we could talk about it later.

The girl was rushed directly into surgery and we were ushered to a waiting room. It seemed like an eternity while we waited. The girl's mom nodded off in a chair and I got a blanket to cover her. The dad was pacing the floor like a caged animal and acting very nervous. He told me that it was daddy's little girl in there and he won't rest a second until she is well again. While we were waiting I called Grace and filled her in about why we had not come straight back home. I had neglected to tell her about our change of plans. Grace told me to take whatever time is necessary and that she would see me when I got home.