Chapter 108

When I awoke the next morning, I got the trike first thing and took off for the airfield. Once I got to the field I rolled the canary out and took off. I flew the bird an hour north following the shore line, then make a long sweeping turn and headed back south. It took me a little longer to get home, since I was faced with a headwind.

Once I was over the field I saw the red car. I had never seen it before, but I was not at all concerned, just curious. I landed the canary and rolled it to the end of the field I used the prop and rudder to get it fairly close to the mower before I killed the Honda Engine. I hooked the mower to the canary and towed it to the hangar. I was busy folding the wings when the man from the red Buick came walking up.

Miss Porter?" he asked.

"Yes that's me. What can I do for you?" I asked.

"My name Russell Jostling and I have a plane stored out at the grass strip a few miles north of here," he said.

"Yes I'm familiar with it," I said.

"Well I would like to bring it down here. Your strip is a lot closer to home than where it is now," Jostling said.

"To be honest right now, if the strip gets damaged there is only me, or mother nature to blame. I kind of like it that way," I said. "I don't have any insurance, and no liability to worry about."

"Hell I will wave all that legal mumbo jumbo, and sign a commitment to repair any damage I do to the place." he said. "I'll even but up a bond."

"It's a really short strip. Your plane would have to be a stol," I said.

"Not to worry mine is, and I have ten years experience. I have assessed your strip completely." he suggested.

I really don't want a bunch of planes tied down on the strip," I said.

"I'll have a hanger like yours built, using my own money. On completion i'll sign it over as part of a five year rental agreement. I will also acknowledge that there are no services or liability included in the agreement." he said.

"Jostling are you a lawyer?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact, not exactly. I'm a Judge," he said.

"Well hell yeah, you never know when I might need a friendly judge," I said.

"This is strictly business," he said.

"Of course it is," I replied to the tall, straight, and very thin man in his early sixties. "Tell your hanger builder that if he makes rutting in my runway we will have his ass out her filling them with a fucking teaspoon."

"I will have it written in the sales contract," the judge said with a laugh.

He help me rolled out the trike and tow the plane into the hanger, then lock the doors. I allowed him to follow me out to the road and then watch me switch on the electric motor and roll harmlessly down the road at about eight miles an hour. I would pedal a while then turn the motor back on and roll along resting.

"Hey you back." Wilson commented.

"Yes I am here. I didn't expect you to be stirring so soon," I said.

"I got a couple of hour sleep while the programs ran through the search parameters. I think I have a winner for you." Wilson said.

"Wow that was fast work. So what do you have?" I asked.

"The dispatcher, one Joan Tiger, is in hock up to her ass. Suddenly she pays off her car loan after the first hijacking. It was about $8,000 and she also caught up her electric, telephone, and gas bills which were well past due. Then last month she paid off her daughter's braces." Wilson informed me.

"Is there anyway to account for the money legitimately?" I asked.

"I looked, nothing I can find," Wilson said.

"Did you run all the others to be sure there is nothing on them," I asked.

"I did and they all have the same amount of money before and after the hijacking and the same amount of debt. I think they are clean," he said. "The question is what are we going to do about it."

"Well we aren't going to tell anyone, because what we know was illegally obtained. That and it proves nothing. We need to clone her phone for sure. I guess that means I visit the office tomorrow to see Nate," I said with a smile.

"Now be careful you really don't need to get involved with a man his age," Wilson said. I wasn't sure what to think about that comment. I was on my way to Nate's office when I decided to call first. I didn't want to go there is Joan wasn't working. I needed to stand beside her phone to clone it.

The plan was that I would call Wilson before I went inside. He would wait five minutes then call her number. That number was part of her personnel folder information provided by Nate. When the phone rang, I would stand beside her. If her phone was turned off as I thought it would be, I would plant a bug on her somehow. The phone was the best solution but the bug was a pretty good second one. In some ways it was a better one. We could get conversations going on while the phone was turned off, and people who were near the bug as well.

"Nate is Joan Tiger working now," I asked.

"Yes she is. Is she the one tipping off the hijackers," he asked.

"I really have no idea, but she fits the profile as do some others. I just want to put a bug in her office. If she is there I will say hello in a friendly way. We can tell her I'm apply for a job driving."