For The Love of a Hawke, Chap. 4
FIRM Headquarters
"What the hell do you mean, Caitlin knew this might happen?" Hawke demanded, straining to keep from throttling Archangel. "Michael, you've got exactly three seconds to start making sense, before Dom and I leave!"
"Hawke," Michael began hesitantly, "We had our suspicions about Inge Janek almost from the moment you rescued her. She was not nearly as innocent, nor as helpless, as she led you, or any of us for that matter, to believe she was." Michael paused for a moment before continuing, and then added, "Hawke, Inge is…she's GRU. She's a plant."
"A plant?" Hawke demanded. "Of Soviet military intelligence? And for what purpose?" Almost as soon as he asked, Hawke knew what the purpose was.
"You really have to ask?" Michael demanded. "How many Soviet fighters have you and Dom brought down in Airwolf over the past two years? Don't you think the Soviets want a chance to copy her? Imagine what a squadron, or two, of Soviet Airwolfs could do, especially with their top pilots! Not to mention the fact that they probably want you and Dominic to answer for all the Soviet pilots you've killed. And, I knew Caitlin had feelings for you that were beyond friendship, after what happened before she and Dom rescued you from Horn, so I asked her to put on that little show, hoping we could provoke Inge into acting, and we did. And we also determined that Inge is the one who's been writing those notes Caitlin's been finding."
"Dammit!" Hawke growled. "So do you have any idea where Caitlin might be?"
"No, Hawke," Michael admitted, "but we've got"—just then, the telephone rang, and Michael moved to answer it. "Hello? Yes. Yes, he's right here. I'll put you on speaker—no, the only people who will hear you are Hawke, Dominic Santini, and me. All right," Michael said, pressing a few buttons on his desk.
"Hello, Hawke," Inge Janek's voice came through the speaker. "I believe I have something you want back rather badly. And, you have something the Soviet Union wants. Maybe, maybe we can come to some sort of…agreement."
"What the hell do you want, Inge?" Hawke demanded.
"The Soviet Union wants that wonderful machine of yours," Inge replied, glancing over her shoulder at Caitlin, who was bound and gagged on the couch in the corner of her apartment, "and I…want you. Like we were at your cabin that night, do you remember?"
"I remember, Inge," Hawke said uneasily, "but if you think for one minute that I'll trade Airwolf for Caitlin, I'm afraid you've got another think coming. How do I even know she's all right?"
"Just a moment, Hawke," Inge said, nodding at Sergei, who stood behind Caitlin. He roughly removed the gag from Caitlin's mouth, and gave her a few sips of water as Inge walked over with the phone.
"String, I'm-I'm okay," Caitlin said. "I'm just a little tied up at the moment. But don't you dare surrender Airwolf, you hear me? Don't you dare!" Inge nodded at Sergei, who quickly regagged Caitlin as Inge turned around.
"Are you satisfied, Hawke?" Inge asked.
"Yeah," Hawke said, his voice growing angrier. "So what do you want me to do?"
"Meet Sergei and myself in two hours in the same spot where you rescued me from the submarine," Inge replied, and then the line went dead.
"Hawke, you can't be going to turn Airwolf over to her!" Michael shouted, angry.
"Dammit, Michael, we're talkin' about Caitlin's life here!" Hawke roared. "Caitlin's life is worth more to me than Airwolf, you know that! And let me tell you something else, Michael. Don't you dare send Zebra Squad after Inge! I'll handle her myself. You read me?"
Michael nodded and then picked up his desk phone, quickly dialing a number. "Yes, Colonel. Stand down. Authorization code Angel One Six Five Zulu-Niner. I repeat, stand down! Acknowledge!" Michael listened for a moment, and then said, "Thank you, Colonel. Good-bye." He hung up the phone and glared at Hawke. "We were damned lucky. Zebra Squad was just about to move out. I caught them just in time."
"Score one for you, Michael," Hawke said. "If Caitlin had been harmed in any way, you would have answered to me! And you know that!"
"Yes, I do, Hawke," Michael agreed. "Just promise me you won't give up Airwolf."
"I guarantee it, Michael," Hawke replied. "The only way that bitch will get Airwolf is over all three of our dead bodies. C'mon, Dom," Hawke said as he turned around. "We're going to get the Lady."
"I'm right behind ya, String!" Dom replied, glaring angrily at Michael as they walked out the door.
Inge Janek's Apartment
"So," Caitlin said as she worked on the ropes binding her wrists, "it was all a ploy to get Airwolf. You were never really interested in String, were you?"
"On the contrary, Miss O'Shannessy," Inge replied, sneering at her, "I am, and always have been, very interested in Stringfellow Hawke. I have been ever since I met him. My interest is both professional, as a Soviet spy, and personal," she said. "Do you know what happened the night I was up at Hawke's cabin?"
"I can guess," Caitlin said, "but who Hawke sleeps with ain't none of my danged business. So you're gonna kill me, and keep Hawke and Airwolf?"
"You are expendable, da," Inge said, "but Hawke and your friend Dominic will not be. We will need someone to fly Airwolf home to Mother Russia, of course, and Hawke's knowledge of the aircraft will be invaluable to our designers at the Mil Moscow helicopter plant, which will design our version of Airwolf. They have been—what is your American phrase? Ah, yes. They have been 'itching' to get their hands on Airwolf for a long time, and your friends Hawke and Santini are both wanted by the Soviet government for multiple counts of murder, with all the Soviet pilots that they have killed."
"So, Michael was right!" Caitlin crowed triumphantly.
"What?" Inge demanded.
"Michael suspected you were up to no good almost from the moment Hawke rescued you," Caitlin said, noticing Inge's reaction. "He briefed me privately the day before he took you into 'asylum' and let me know what he suspected. He also warned me that you might try something like this, especially after the little show I put on out in front of the hangar. I'm betting that he's got the entire Zebra Squad on their way here right now. So you might as well give it up and let me go, Janek, before my friends show up."
"You are very clever, Miss O'Shannessy," Inge said as she stepped closer to Caitlin and calmly backhanded her across the face, "but not clever enough. I will have the last laugh over you, and Hawke will be mine!"
"That's what you think, you bitch!" Caitlin snapped, not surprised when Inge slapped her across the face again.
"Did you really think that you and Hawke could outwit a trained Soviet agent?" Inge asked as she gagged Caitlin again. "Hawke will see you die. I promise you that, Miss O'Shannessy."
"Inge," Sergei said, "why must we kill her?"
"I want Hawke to suffer," Inge replied, "even before our people in Russia get hold of him. Come, Sergei. Come back to Mother Russia with us. I can promise you will be rich beyond the dreams of avarice."
"Inge," Sergei said, "do you not understand? I love you! I have loved you since the day I met you when I began debriefing you at FIRM Headquarters. And I'd hoped that you would love me, too."
What? Caitlin thought as she listened to this exchange. He loves her the same way that I love String?
"That's impossible, Sergei!" Inge replied derisively. "And even if it was true, it would not matter. For as soon as our engineers have Hawke's wondrous machine and you have eliminated this little bitch, I will have Hawke for myself. Or," Inge said, turning and glaring at Caitlin, "perhaps I will spare her life, and leave her for you, Sergei."
"I do not want Caitlin," Sergei said, "because I know how she feels about Hawke. Even though she did not say anything until the day I heard about at Mr. Santini's hangar, I have heard enough about Caitlin's feelings for Hawke. But, Inge, it is true what I said before. I have loved you since the day I met you."
"It will not matter," Inge said as she untied the ropes around Caitlin's ankles. "Soon, I will have Hawke, and Airwolf, and revenge against the Americans for everything they have done against my family. You, Sergei, can either accompany me and do your duty as a Russian, or you can share in the fate of your new American friends."
"Inge, I am not a Russian anymore," Sergei said, producing a document from a folder on the table behind him. "I am a naturalized American citizen, and I will not allow you to do this."
"You have no choice," Inge spat as she jerked Caitlin to her feet, "Because if you do not cooperate with me, I will execute you myself." She roughly herded Caitlin out the door of her apartment and back into the van. A short time later, they headed out to rendezvous with Hawke and Airwolf.