For the Love of Money
A/N: I do not own or make any profit off of the Airwolf name or any of the characters involved within. My stories are for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter 7
"How long will it take us to get to our destination in Mexico?" Breckenridge asked Caitlin impatiently about 20 minutes after takeoff.
"According to the flight plan, about 2 and a half hours," Caitlin answered. "Although our flight will be considerably shorter than that," she thought to herself. Taking another glance at her maps, Caitlin figured it would be about another 10 minutes before she could put the plan in motion. So far the other hostages had been fairly calm and the mothers of the two kids had been able to keep them from panicking. Caitlin hoped it stayed that way. She would have her hands full enough in a few minutes.
"What are you going to do with us once we get there?" Caitlin asked hoping to keep her captor preoccupied.
"I haven't decided yet," he answered with a smirk. "Those kids back there may come in handy for a little while longer just in case your friends at The FIRM have made some kind of deal with the Mexican Federales and are thinking of setting a trap."
"You're a sick man, Breckenridge," Caitlin said with disdain. "I'll make you a deal. You let those kids and the other others go and I'll come with you if you need a hostage."
Looking over at her with a hungry look, Breckenridge smiled an evil grin. "Well now, you're in no position to be making deals but that's a tempting offer. You just get us there first and then we'll talk more about what you can do to convince me to let the others go." Caitlin's stomach rolled at the thought of him touching her.
For the next few minutes they flew in silence. Taking one last look at her location and heading, Caitlin knew it was time to get things started. Reaching a little to her left, she inconspicuously ran her hand over an emergency kill switch button that would cause the tail rotor to shut off. Quickly flipping the switch one way then the other causing the rotor to turn off then back on, it caused a huge jerking motion to occur in the back end of the chopper. Taking the opportunity of the turbulence to hide her motion, she leaned to the right and flipped the toggle switch next to the green light which released a large amount of ominous black smoke out of the back end of the aircraft. Caitlin knew of course it was just an effect often used in stunts but it looked authentic enough to be convincing to the untrained eye.
"What the hell!" Breckenridge screamed as the chopper started to dive and jerk violently in the sky.
"Dammit!" Caitlin yelled as she appeared to frantically try to regain control of the helicopter. "A bird must have flown into the tail rotor! Hang on!"
Looking out his window, Breckenridge could see the trail of smoke behind them. "Do something!" he screamed. "I order you to get this helicopter under control or I'll shoot you!" he said irrationally as he put his gun against Caitlin's temple.
"What the hell do you think I'm doing?" Caitlin said as she kept the machine in a controlled dive. In the back, the adult hostages were screaming and the kids were crying. Caitlin felt bad for frightening them so much but she knew she had no choice. "Shoot me, Breckenridge, and we'll all go down in flames and you won't have any need for your precious money."
"Well, just do something!" he screamed in a panic.
It was the opening Caitilin was looking for. "I'm going to take her down. There's an open field about 2 miles north. It'll be bumpy but I think I can put her down safely."
"No way!" he shouted back at her. "I'm not letting you put us down on American soil. Get us across the border!"
"It's not going to happen!" Cait told him as she caused the helicopter jerk violently to one side to emphasize her point. "Let me put her down and I should be able to repair her in an hour and then I can take you wherever the hell you want. It's either that or we all die here and now!" Caitlin prayed that her bluff would work.
"Fine! Put it down but you try to run or anyone else shows up and I'll kill all of them in the back...you got it!?"
"Yeah, I got it." Caitlin said as she started her prep for what would appear to be a controlled crash landing. "Okay, Hawke and Dom, I've done my part," she thought to herself, "let's hope you've been able to follow in The Lady and get here in time to help me out on the ground!"
AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW
"She's started the dive!" Dom announced to Hawke as he monitored Cait's movements on their radar. "Adding that smoke cannister was a stroke of genius, String. It'll sure make any faked mechanical problem look more convincing!"
"Yeah, let's just hope it's convincing enough," Hawke said turned towards the heading Dom sent him. "Let me know as soon as they touch down. It's not going to take long for Breckenridge and the others to realize it was all a bluff once they get out and see there's no damage to the chopper. I don't want them to get that chance."
"You got it!" Dom replied. For the next five minutes, Dom and Hawke rode in a tense silence as Dom monitored Caitlin's movements. Finally it was time for them to move in. "Okay, String, looks like Cait should have them down in about 30 seconds. Let's go give her a hand."
"Go ahead and get the chain guns ready," Hawke ordered as he took The Lady into position.
AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAW
Cait pulled out all of her best piloting and acting skills to bring down the Sikorsky in what appeared to be a harrowing, bumpy and impressive crash landing. She wanted it to be a hard enough landing to feel real, yet she needed to do her best to make sure that no one got hurt at the same time. As soon as they were on the ground she turned to Breckenridge. She knew she needed to do something to get the thieves away from the hostages. "We need to get everyone out of the chopper. There may be damage to the gas tanks and if they're leaking this whole thing could go up in flames!"
From the back, the man that Caitlin had come to know as Watts spoke up. "We've got to the money out! If it goes up, this is all for nothing!"
"Don't leave those hostages!" Breckenridge screamed back at him.
"Hey, we're in the middle of nowhere," Cait said quickly. "They're not going anwhere. I'll take the others over by that tree over there. You get the money. It's not like we can go for help out here."
Looking around, Breckenridge saw that they were indeed in a wide open field with nothing else in sight. "Fine, get 'em out of here. But you know what happens if you try anything."
"Yeah, I know, you'll kill us. Now we've got to get moving unless you all want to take the chance of burning up!"
Unhooking her seat belt, Caitlin quickly jumped out of the pilot's seat and went to the back of the chopper. Helping the hostages jump down she then led them about 100 yards away from the helicopter. At the same time, she heard the most welcoming sound she'd ever heard in her life...Airwolf's engines screaming down out of the sky.
"What's that?" one of the kids asked as she pointed up at the menacing black aircraft.
"That's my friends, coming to save us !" Caitlin said back with a smile.
AWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWA
"Thattagirl, Cait!" Dom exclaimed as they swooped down over the field and he could see the smoking helicopter safely on the ground.
"Where is everybody, Dom?" Hawke demanded to know as he closed in.
Tapping some buttons on his console, Dom took a second to locate all of the passengers. "I don't know how she did it String but Cait's got all the hostages separated off to the side. Looks like Breckenridge and his men are still on the chopper."
"Probably loading up their precious money," Hawke said. "Too bad they won't be needing it."
Turning on the speaker system, Hawke shouted down direction to Cait. "Cait, get those people under some kind cover! I'm going in."
Just as Hawke turned Airwolf around so that his nose was facing the Sikorsky, he saw Breckenridge and his men climb out with guns drawn and aimed at the large black helicopter.
"Seriously, Breckenridge?" Hawke said through the speaker system. "It's no contest. Put down your weapons and drop to the ground."
"No way!" the bank robber shouted back. Instructing his men to each pick up one of heavy money bags as he did the same himself, Breckenridge took off running in the direction of Caitlin and the others.
"Wrong decision, Sam," Hawke announced as he trained the chain guns in their direction. "Last chance, stop where you are or I'll have no choice."
Hawke just shook his head as he watched Breckenridge and his men continue to run. Pulling down his helmet visor, he aimed in on the men and put down a line of chain gun fire, quickly eliminating the threat and killing all four men.
"Good job, kid," Dom said. "Now let's go get our girl."
"I'm already on it," Hawke said as he brought Airwolf softly to the ground.
TBC...
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