Chapter 6
Kelly called and confirmed the nine o'clock take-off time, but until Sam showed up at the airport and met Fiona and the arms dealer, he refused to believe that it would actually happen. The whole thing was just coming together too easily and made him feel squirrelly, but with Mike in such a desperate state, Sam didn't want to burden him with his misgivings. In the waning light he rolled his and Elsa's luggage toward the concourse and discovered two shadowy figures standing in the parking lot. One of them was Fiona, so he made his way over to them.
"Hey there, I see you're ready to go," Sam said. "I just have to go into the office, confirm my flight plan, and I'll get you access to the tarmac with your vehicle." He glanced at the pickup truck with a truck cap over the bed. Most likely the arms were inside.
"No problem." Kelly jutted his chin toward the sliding gate that led to the airplanes. "I'll drive the truck over there. Fi, coming?"
"Y-Yes, Tommy." Her look was one of resignation and anticipation. She was expecting something to go wrong. Sam could feel it in his gut.
He ignored the creepy crawly sensation and went to take care of business. After signing off on his flight plan, he approached the plane while security allowed Kelly's truck entry to the tarmac area. He parked in such a way that a casual observer looking out from the main building wouldn't see the plane's cargo. Sam unlocked the cabin, trotted up the steps, and opened the undercarriage storage compartment before assisting with the loading.
"What's your payload on this thing again," Kelly asked as he hefted a gun box onto his shoulder and carried it to the compartment.
"About thirty-one hundred pounds. Maybe a little more since there's only three of us on the plane."
"Oh, right. About that. I think we might go over the limit a bit," Kelly declared. "Guess we'll have to lighten the load." He whipped out a gun from behind his back and attempted to aim it at Sam and pulled the trigger.
"No!" Fiona screamed and charged Kelly as the gun went off.
In a split nanosecond, Sam knew his fears were coming true. He reached for the gun and knocked Kelly's hand away before he could fire, then put a vise-like grip on his wrist. He and Kelly struggled to gain control, and Sam threw a fist, slamming it into Kelly's cheek, stunning him long enough to take another punch. Kelly stumbled and fell to the tarmac, but he wasn't unconscious. He aimed at Sam, but the ex-Navy SEAL had a few more surprises for the younger man. He kicked the gun out of Kelly's hand and gave him another boot to the midsection that laid him out flat.
The only sound was that of Sam's short, rapid breathing and Kelly's soft moaning. Sam picked up the gun before he ran up the steps, retrieved some zip ties he kept on board for emergencies like this, and returned to tie up the arms dealer.
"Hey Fi, you wanna help me load this guy up on the plane," Sam asked as he glanced to his right where Fiona lay on the tarmac. "Come on, Fi. I did all the hard work. Help me out here." A cold lump formed in his stomach when he peered into the increasing darkness and saw blood on the concrete. He took three steps and knelt beside her, trying to avoid the puddle. "Oh god, Fi. What happened?"
As he examined her, he found a wound along her side. The bullet discharged from Kelly's gun came down at an angle and grazed her pretty good. As he held off a wave of panic, Sam felt around the wound. It was only a graze, but a severe one at that. If he didn't treat her now, she could bleed out. He returned to the airplane for the medical supplies he kept on board and pressed a thick pad into her side. She groaned and tried to wriggle away.
"No, Fi. Don't do that." He breathed in relief when she stilled, and he worked fast to get her travel ready. Thank God the flight was only a half hour to forty-five minutes long. With Fi bleeding and Kelly sure to wake up, Sam would have his hands full.
Fiona took top priority. He finished binding her wound and carried her aboard, strapped her into a seat, and dropped the medical supplies into the seat beside her. Scrounging around, Sam found a syringe and a small vial of sedative. A little of this, and Kelly was sure to be a good boy all the way to Cutler Bay. Sam drew a small dose of the drug and returned to the tarmac to find Kelly groggy.
"Uh uh, no running away," Sam admonished as he stuck the needle into Kelly's exposed neck. He waited a few seconds for the drug to take effect before hauling the muscular man over his shoulder and carrying him aboard. Sam figured that he wasted at least a half hour dealing with Fi and Kelly and finishing the arms loading. He boarded the plane and the ground crew signaled that he had clearance to leave. Good thing he showed up early, because now he was only about ten minutes late taxiing to the runway.
He could have sworn he heard someone yelling about blood on the tarmac, but Sam was too far away and the engine drowned out a lot of exterior sound. Besides, he had a meeting to get to in about an hour and an injured woman on board. He couldn't afford to be late.
"You're cleared for take-off," the man in the control tower announced when Sam turned the airplane and pointed it eastward.
"Copy," Sam replied, thinking those were some of the best words he'd heard all day. He released the brakes and pushed the throttle, forcing the plane to increase speed as it barreled toward the end of the runway. The wings caught a draft and he pulled back on the stick, feeling a sweet liberation from the earth that always gave him a small thrill. He missed the sight of the ground crew running and yelling for him to abort the take-off. Whether it was by accident or choice, he would never tell.
As soon as he leveled off to his cruising altitude, Sam got on the radio and changed the frequency to match the one he knew that Michael was monitoring. "Black Bomber this is Angel Flight. Do you read?"
"Copy, I read you Angel. We're waiting at the roost," Michael answered.
"Copy. I have a special package, one sleeping Leprechaun bound and ready for presentation." There was a long enough pause that Sam began to wonder if Mike heard him. "BB, do you copy?"
"I copy, Angel. The Leprechaun is packaged?"
"Amen, Brother. That guy isn't going anywhere but a nice secure facility," Sam replied with a laugh. "Long story, I'll tell you when I get back."
"Be careful, Angel Flight."
"I can already see the lights," Sam announced. "I'll be making my descent in about ten." Sam ended the conversation and concentrated on flying the plane. From his altitude he could see a faint line of intermittent lights from the traffic moving along the causeway that linked the Keys with the Florida mainland. To the right, the ocean lay in blackness except for a couple of outlines of vessels that looked big enough to be freighters.
If it weren't for his precarious cargo in the back, Sam would have relaxed and enjoyed the flight. He prayed for the minutes to pass quickly, because he couldn't check on Fi or handle an assault on the off chance Kelly roused and became undone. Scenarios rushed through his head, and none of them were good. When he saw the glow of Miami and the cities surrounding it sparkling like jewels in a crown, he started his descent with relief. He heard thumping in the cabin. Someone was awake. The question was whether it was Fi or Kelly, and he soon heard the man's brogue swearing a whole new vocabulary as he fought against his bonds. Sam smirked.
"Keep your pants on, Kelly. We're almost there!"
"Who are you," Kelly yowled in pain as he continued to fight against he seat belt.
"Sam Axe," he yelled back in reply. "I'm a friend of Michael Westen's."
"You said..."
Sam made a tsking sound. "You should know better than to trust people, pal! Just settle down back there, and we'll be on the ground soon."
While Sam focused on his upcoming approach to the Cutler Bay airstrip, Kelly found a rough piece of metal along the side of the seat. He used it to slice away the zip tie around his wrists. A well hidden folding knife that he pulled from his back pocket served as an excellent tool for freeing his feet. All he needed to do was unlatch the seat belt take a few steps forward, and bury the blade to the hilt into the chest of this man who betrayed him. The belt slipped away and he was free. Kelly rose from his seat and took advantage of the engine noise and the low lights in the cabin to mask his movements.
Fiona heard Kelly cursing Sam, and as her vision cleared, she looked around at the dim cabin interior. Kelly was on his feet moving toward the open cockpit. Sam should have locked that door. What was he thinking? Her side felt as if it was on fire and she remembered the wild shot that ripped at her flesh. But at the moment, that was immaterial. Stopping Kelly from attacking Sam and sending them all crashing to their deaths was foremost in her mind. She unlatched her belt and moved forward, reaching for Kelly's arm as he brought it up over Sam. The knife came down with lightning speed, and Fiona tried to stop it, but the force was too great.
Sam saw the movement and dodged to his left as the blade flashed in the dim light, and as it tore through his bicep he cried out and lost control of the plane. It turned left in a sharp arc that threw Kelly and Fiona off their feet, causing them to collide with Sam and pressing his injured arm that still held onto the yoke. The momentum pushed the stick forward and sent the plane into a nosedive.
"Ahh, Fi, get him off," Sam screamed as he tried to pull the craft out of its death spiral.
Kelly's arms flailed about, still armed, and trying to stab Sam through the heart. Fiona's body screeched in pain, but she gave it everything she had. She leaped onto Kelly and used her weight to tilt him backwards. His entire bodyweight squashed her between him and the floor, and when she made impact the air came out of her in a rush, leaving her gasping for more. At least she got him away from Sam so that he could bring the plane back under some sort of control.
"Fi, you okay," Sam asked.
"I'm fine," she managed to reply between breaths. Kelly continued to squirm above her, but she used her muscular legs to clamp his arms to his sides. That move worked quite well on Michael when she employed it. He would be quite impressed, she was certain. "Why are we still dropping?"
"I... I can't get it to level off, but at least we're not going to drill ourselves into the bay," Sam replied. He grimaced at the pain of pulling on the stick. "Fi, I need your help."
"But I can't hold onto him too!"
"Now, Fi! No time to waste or we go down and we're dead!"
"Alright," Fiona grumbled and let go of Kelly. He panted, trying to get his breath from the boa constrictor-like pressure she'd used on him. It left him incapacitated long enough for her to get up, grab his knife, and ask, "What should I do?"
"Get into that seat," Sam indicated the co-pilot's seat with his head. "And pull with me, Fi. We've gotta level off."
By the time she sat in the seat and grasped the yolk, she saw the digital display showing the altitude. They were at only five hundred seventy feet and dropping, but at least the numbers were slowing. At five fifty-nine, they leveled off and she breathed a sigh of relief. She heard Kelly heaving himself up from the floor and he lunged at Sam again.
"No," Fiona cried and swung around with the knife, getting out of her seat and jamming it into the man's upper right chest.
Kelly gasped as if she'd punctured a balloon, and his body tumbled forward into Sam. "Fi!" The plane took another dive, but Sam shrugged the unconscious man out of the way and leveled off again. "Uhoh, buckle up, Fi. Now!"
She turned to see the ocean rushing at them. Sam did his best to slow them down to make the impact less dangerous while Fiona dropped into the co-pilot's seat and strapped herself in. "Where are we?"
"Does it matter as long as we're still alive after we crash?"
"Crash? We can't crash!"
"Wanna bet?" Sam kept the nose up until the back end of the plane hit the water. The fuselage convulsed when it collided with the surface. The craft lifted a few feet and bounced again before it finally succumbed and skidded to a stop on the waves.
"Oh... my... god..." Fiona breathed.
"We have like maybe five minutes before this thing goes down." Sam unbuckled his seat belt and escaped the cockpit, stepping over Kelly's form on the way to the cabin.
"We can't just leave him here," Fiona said as she followed Sam, holding her aching side with a light grip. Anything more hurt too much, and she was bleeding through the bandages.
"If you're that worried about a guy who just tried to kill both of us, throw a vest on him, sister," Sam barked as he opened a small cabinet and retrieved several. He handed two to her. He threw his over his head and secured it before reaching into the closet, pulling out a small raft, and moving to the exit. "Okay, get ready because once I open this door, all bets of this plane floating go right out that bulkhead."
Fiona nodded and put her vest on, then attached one to Kelly. "I'm ready." She inflated hers before grabbing Kelly under the arms and dragging him to the exit.
Sam opened the door and a wave rolled in, soaking them from head to toe and causing his hold on the raft to loosen. His reflexes kicked in and he held it closer to his body. "Fi, you okay?"
"Yes! Just get that raft out there so we can evacuate!" She noticed that the plane was sinking and the entire floor was under several inches of water already. "Do you need help?"
"No thanks. There's no room anyway." He pulled the ripcord that inflated the raft while holding onto the tether. It filled up with air and bobbed on the undulating water. Sam tied the rope to a small ring near the door. He turned and held out his hand to Fiona. "Come on, Fi, you first!"
"Kelly..."
"I'll get him! Just go!"
Shaking her head at his stubbornness, Fiona passed him and flipped herself into the moving raft. She pulled on the rope to keep some kind of control on it and make it easier for Sam to get Kelly aboard and then escape from the airplane that was dangerously low in the water.
"Hurry, Sam!"
Sam ignored the pain in his bicep. He would worry about it later when they were on land. He used all his strength to pick up Kelly and he passed him out the narrowing doorway that was more like a window now, a window that was closing with each rise and fall of the ocean. Fiona grabbed Kelly's vest and pulled at him just as another wave came and jostled the raft. Kelly's body floated up and got stuck in the door frame. When the wave ebbed, Kelly tried to grab her hands and take her down with him. She screamed and batted him away, and the wave took him under along with the fuselage. Only part of the tail was visible in the light.
The light. Where was that coming from? Fiona's head swiveled around to see a Coast Guard rescue boat coming their way. She cried out in joy and waved her hands in the air. "Help! Help us!" The raft took a sudden nosedive and flipped her into the water before it landed over her head. She sputtered and flailed in a fight to free herself. "Sam! Sam, help!" She felt as if her cries were useless and she was going under. Something pulled at her, taking her down, and she kicked at it.
Someone broke the surface with a large gasp and hands pushed the raft over their heads. "You called, Fi?"
"Oh! Sam!" Fiona had never been so glad to see him in all her life. She paddled over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Are you okay? I thought you went down with the plane!"
"Yeah, well, I did," he responded and with gentle hands peeled her off his body.
"You two, in the water. This is the Coast Guard. We'll have you out of there in no time," a voice boomed over the loudspeaker.
"Two? Where's Kelly," Fiona asked and searched the water around her while she relied on the vest to keep her afloat.
"He didn't make it, Fi. He went down with the ship, so to speak," Sam told her. He grasped the edge of her vest to keep her from drifting or going after Kelly. "Justice is done, thanks to nature."
Fiona looked stricken. Her face was still frozen in that expression when hands reached for her and pulled her onto the boat. Sam propelled himself closer and two sets of strong arms plucked him from the ocean. Sam stood on his feet, his old Navy legs getting their equilibrium as he watched Michael and Fiona reunite. Michael ripped at the vest bindings and pulled it over Fiona's head in one swift movement, and then she was in his arms kissing him. He smiled. He never thought he'd see that again, and it brought warmth to his heart even as he shivered from the cool air.
"Sir, you're injured. Let's take you down below and get you looked at." A seaman tugged on Sam's dripping shirt and urged him to go to the triage area.
"She's hurt too," Sam protested. "Worse than me, even."
"We'll take care of her too," the younger man assured Sam. "We'll be at the base soon, but we'll have plenty of time to look you both over before we arrive. Besides, it looks like she has more important business right now." He cocked a smile at the couple who couldn't seem to get enough of each other.
"You got that right," Sam cracked and followed him to the steps that led below.