Rick Mofina - Free Fall

“Are you Nash, Blade’s friend?”

He nodded. “You Seth?”

“Yeah, and this is Veyda. Get in.”

Nash climbed into the backseat.

“Have you got it?” Seth asked.

“I got it. Pull into the parking lot behind them golden arches up there.”

Veyda drove to a far corner of the lot and parked. Seth got in the back. Nash withdrew a handgun from the bag and passed it to Seth.

“This is a forty-caliber pistol, very powerful. It’s unloaded. Here.” Nash tapped the gun. “This is the safety.” He made it click. “See? This way-on. This way-off. Got it?”

Seth nodded.

Nash reached into the bag.

“Here’s a magazine. I’m giving you three.” He took the gun from Seth. “Slide the magazine in like this.” It clicked. “Press here to release it and it drops like this.” Nash demonstrated. “Try it.”

Seth completed the action a few times.

“Good,” Nash said. “Here’s the chamber indicator to tell you a round is in the chamber ready for firing. So all you do is load the magazine, check the indicator, turn off the safety and fire. Got it?”

Seth nodded, tried the process a few times. Then he unloaded the gun, activated the safety and put everything in the bag.

“One thousand cash.” Nash held out his hand.

“I was told it would be five hundred.”

“One thousand, or no deal.”

“Is the gun untraceable?”

“It is and I don’t want to know why you want it. I don’t give a rat’s ass what you’re up to. Do we understand each other?”

“Perfectly.”

Seth reached into his pocket and peeled at a roll of bills, putting most of them in Nash’s hand.

“It’s all there.”

“Good,” Nash said. “Our business is done.”

After Nash got out and walked away, Seth got into the front and put the bag under the seat.

“That was smooth, Seth.”

“Very smooth, and we’ve got plenty of time to get to our point and set up. We have our insurance. We’re ready for all scenarios. We’re going to do this.”

“Nothing’s in our way now.” Veyda reached out, taking his hand in hers. “Nothing’s going to stop us.”

Manhattan, New York

The boardroom windows at the FBI’s New York Field Office opened to a view of the Brooklyn Bridge and a jetliner on its approach to LaGuardia.

No one at the table was looking.

Agents were studying a one-page synopsis.

Developments were popping in the Zarathustra investigation. The credibility of a link to the Shikra Airlines crash at Heathrow and the incident with the EastCloud Flight 4990 was growing stronger with each passing moment.

Gil Morillo, assistant special agent in charge, chaired the briefing.

He made a quick roll call of those in the room and the people whose voices echoed through the speakers of the teleconference line. They included brass from the deputy director’s office and the FBI’s National Security and Criminal Cyber Response Branches at national headquarters in Washington. Nick Varner was on the line from the resident agency office in Williston, North Dakota, along with agents in offices across the country.

“Let’s get to it, people,” Morillo said. “First, we’ll be taking part in another multiagency briefing with the FAA, the NTSB, the Transportation Security Administration, Homeland Security and the US Air Force shortly after this call.”

Murmurs at the growing magnitude of the case rose around the table as Morillo continued.

“Okay, you’ve got the summaries. We’ve had some solid leads from tips called in. We’ve been expediting warrants and moving quickly. You have updated biographies on our persons of interest-Seth Simon Hagen, Robert James Cole and his daughter, Veyda Charlotte Cole, aka Veyda Hyde. Nick, can you update us regarding Clear River?”

“We’re still processing the evidence found at Cole’s residence, all of it related to flight systems. We’ve determined he boarded a flight at Bismarck to Minneapolis ending in Washington, DC.”

“What’s the status from the Washington office on locating him?” Morillo asked.

“Negative so far,” Agent Harold Davenport responded. “He flew to Washington before becoming a subject. We’ve talked to American Airlines and the TSA. We’re working with local agencies here to locate him or determine if he’s taken another flight or mode of transportation.”

“Baltimore,” Morillo said, “what do you have?”

“We’ve executed warrants on the Hyattsville residence and on Hagen and Hyde,” Agent Allyson Meeson said. “We’re still assessing evidence from the house, which includes documents concerning flight operations and systems. We’ve just determined that our subjects flew from National in DC to Denver International. We’ve alerted the Denver office. Mitch, over to you.”

“Right,” said Agent Mitchell Butler in Denver. “Our subjects rented a Ford Escape at the airport. The rental agency confirms two people at the counter. We’re now in the process of obtaining warrants to track the rental vehicle’s location through its GPS and other devices.”

“Okay,” Morillo said. “Nick, can you get on a plane to Denver ASAP and support the office in locating Hagen and Cole?”

“Will do.”

“Gil, it’s Mary Ritter with the deputy director’s office at headquarters.”

“Go ahead, Mary.”

“A few questions before I brief the deputy, who’ll be briefing the director. Have we determined if a clear threat exists on a specific aircraft or flight?”

“Not at this time,” Morillo said.

“And what is the FBI’s assessment of a threat at this time?”

“Given events, the facts and evidence known so far, and the expertise of the people involved, we feel a very credible threat is evolving. Our priority is to locate and question the three people we’ve identified as potential suspects.”

“Thanks, Gil,” Ritter said. “This will top the director’s agenda before he heads into his daily national security meeting with the White House.”

Washington, DC

The memo from the NTSB chairman was urgent and terse.

All staff listed were to cooperate immediately and fully with the FBI in its criminal investigation into the emails linked to events concerning Shikra Airlines Flight 418 and EastCloud Flight 4990.

Jake Hooper’s name was on the list.

He read it a third time, shuddering in disbelief. The memo validated the rumors going around the floor about incredible developments in the cases.

The FBI had found the source of the emails; the FBI had evidence pointing to interference with the flights; the FBI had suspects with a connection to the NTSB; there was a puzzling video posted by Robert Cole; the White House was involved. Finally, the rumors had turned to fact. FBI agents were here now, questioning people in Major Investigations Division.

“Jake?”

Hooper saw Anson Fox, his supervisor, at his door.

“The FBI’s waiting to talk to you in Six Hundred D. Take nothing.”

“Do I need a lawyer?”

“No, they need information, and they need it fast. Let’s go.”

In the room down the hall, agents Len Brock and Deacon Palmer waited on one side of the table for Hooper. They began by taking Hooper’s information from his driver’s license, then they showed him a photograph of Robert Cole and the short video he’d posted.

“Can you identify this man?” Brock asked.

Hooper said nothing.

“Mr. Hooper, can you identify this man?”

“Sorry, this is all- It’s disturbing. Yes, that’s Robert Cole. I’ve worked with him on several investigations.”

Then they showed him photos of Veyda and Seth Hagen.