This chapter was originally titled "Hawke Aviation firefight redux". Originally there was more action in it but I spent so much time on character development I decided to have the violence left as an apparent afterthought.
"Mind if I join you guys on your run?" Caitlin asked as Danielle finished her stretching. The platinum blonde beauty slid her hair through a ponytail holder as she smiled,
"Fine with me Cait. How about you, Ray?" The Black man limped over with his running prosthesis and shrugged nonchalantly,
"You're the boss. As long as you can keep up with a one legged man." Caitlin looked at him for a moment through her aviator's sunglasses to see if he was joking. Unfortunately, the former Army Ranger's face was nearly impossible to read. He extended a hand to help Danielle to stand up and she graciously and elegantly accepted.
With a smooth and acrobatic flourish, she spun, twisted, and leapt to her feet. She landed on her toes like a ballerina and then curtsied to her helper. She slid her designer sunglasses into place and said to nobody in particular as she gestured in the direction they were going to jog,
"Well honey, the more the merrier. Shall we?" They made one circuit of the main building of Hawke Aviation. They then made their way around the abandoned warehouse on the next property.
The corporate landlord had developed a grudging respect for the charitable outreaches being performed by the Hawke and Santini families. Since the warehouse was empty for the most part and had no existing owner they were allowed almost exclusive access to the building.
The three made figure 8s around the two buildings for nearly an hour until they came to the door marked EMPLOYEE ENTRANCE near the back of the Hawke Aviation building. This is where they came to a stop. Ray opened the door and got three bottles of water from the cooler just inside. All three took a long drink before Caitlin said to Danielle,
"I wanted to thank you for watching KayLy while we were gone." The ladies watched bemused as Ray upended the bottle over his head and sighed enthusiastically. Danielle smiled,
"Oh it was nothing. I enjoyed it. Since I gave up my son for adoption years ago, I always wanted to have a chance to babysit." In surprise, both Ray and Caitlin chorused,
"You have a son?" nodded in reply,
"Yes I was a wild and rebellious teen. My record is probably the reason why I kept getting turned down for the shuttle program. One thing I will say is that Kayra Lynn is an absolute doll." Caitlin nodded,
"She definitely has her moments. As her mother who loves her dearly, I can say that those so-called 'moments' are on both sides of the coin. Too much energy in one small package can sometimes make for quite a bit of fun or an equal amount of trouble. I'm just so pleased that the Doc says that she can come home the day after tomorrow." Both Ray and Danielle agreed enthusiastically that it was indeed good news.
The three sipped at their bottled water as they did a 'cool-down' walking lap of the main hangar. Ending up at the main hangar doors. Once they had completed that, Ray announced he was going to hit the showers.
Moments after Ray departed, Nick arrived in his classic Nova. Danielle always giggled at his bumpersticker which read Is War The Answer? Ask Moses! and always managed to be a conversation starter. Nick got out and then opened the door for his guest.
Her name was Janet and she was a local girl who had made it big in the fashion industry as a model. She was using her scholarship to pay her way through nursing school and she and Nick were celebrating.
While Nick pulled the cooler out of the trunk and transferred it over to the Hughes 500, Janet strode over to the ladies who were just concluding their stretching. She was easily half a foot taller than Caitlin even without heels but about the same height as Danielle. The two ladies were opposite sides of the same coin.
Janet was an exotic woman with bouncy, wavy hair and chocolate eyes which were always bright and twinkling. Since she was always wearing glamorous and skimpy clothing for the cameras, she usually dressed more conservatively when off-duty. Right now she was wearing a denim shirt with fringes and dark purple pants with yellow flowers in an odd pattern. Danielle was wearing her usual sports top which looked like a tank top with no midriff and pink biker shorts which came to just above her knees. Caitlin, on the other hand, was wearing green jogging bottoms with yellow lettering down the sides of legs reading SHERRIFF and a grey sweatshirt which had the arms cut off and bore the logo for the Department of Public Safety over the heart.
They all exchanged hugs and made small talk as Nick busied himself with preflighting the helicopter. Minutes later, he walked over and was about to say something when Janet leaned over and whispered something to Danielle. They both looked at Nick and giggled. He looked over at Caitlin who simply shrugged. He shook his head and continued his approach. He put an arm around Janet, who kissed the nape of his neck. Nick looked over at Danielle and commented,
"I guess I got back before KC and Renee. Their loss is my gain." Danielle giggled and kissed him on the cheek.
The two had dated briefly after they had double-dated with St John and Caitlin during the latter couple's engagement. They hadn't been very discreet about it and Stringfellow had decided to lay down the law about relationships between coworkers. Danielle had not been enthusiastic about the decision but her boyfriend and her cousin had sided with Stringfellow. She had agreed but it had still taken several months for her to warm up to Nick's new girlfriend.
Even though Nick was going to use the Hawke Aviation signature helicopter to take Janet on a picnic, it had been Danielle who had ensured that Nick had known to arrive early enough so that KC or Renee did not have a chance to sign it out instead.
Caitlin shared that Kayra Lynn would be released soon from the medical facility at Church Consulting. She thanked everyone for their prayers. Janet then announced it was hugs and kisses time and proceeded to embrace everyone and give them all a kiss on the cheek. She finished by giving a rather passionate kiss on the lips to Nick which earned a round of teasing from the other two women. Minutes later, the 500 ascended into the sky.
Caitlin and Danielle went to relax in the air-conditioned office. Danielle plopped herself into the overstuffed captain's chair and turned the vibrate mode on LOW as she sighed about how good it felt. Caitlin reached around the top of the chair and gently massaged her friend's shoulders. Caitlin casually inquired,
"Busy week I take it?" Danielle replied with her eyes closed,
"Very. I finished my qualifications for the 9mm and .357. Courtesy of Jo-jo and her tutoring, I'm caught up with the requirements for the ASL 3 course. On top of that, I've been working the commercial client all week. The father is all business but pleasant while the son thinks he's God's gift to humanity in general and women in particular. They have been keeping me on my toes to say the least. All I can say is that I'm glad I'm driving the jet and not not one of the rotarys." Caitlin laughed. She then strode over to the chair at the next desk. She took a small package out of a bottom drawer and began to open it as she spoke,
"I know you qualified on the .380 a long time ago but you don't carry a weapon while on-duty. As a thank you for caring for Kayra Lynn while I was on our business trip, I wanted to give you my old Bersa pistol. During our trip, Johnny upgraded me to a .40 like his so I don't need this one anymore." Caitlin handed over the weapon and Danielle graciously accepted it. She smoothly checked and cleared the weapon. Caitlin handed over the box which contained two loaded magazines. Danielle snapped the action closed and dropped the gun on top of the cloth it had been wrapped in. Danielle smiled sweetly,
"Thank you so much! I always feel so awkward borrowing a weapon to use at the range. In all honesty, you didn't have to do this. I was more than happy to babysit. I did feel a bit guilty that I didn't insist she come home with me on the day she got hurt. If she would have been killed, I would've blamed myself." Caitlin wrinkled her nose and shrugged,
"Well she wasn't so don't fret yourself. Its not that I'm trying to be glib about it but she's a very resilient little bundle of energy. You never saw it when she was playing softball in the street and slid into third base." Caitlin grimaced and rolled her eyes only the way a mother would at the memory while Danielle visibly cringed at the image in her mind's eye. "With me, if there's blood I get get very twitchy. But she has gotten to the point where she thinks that blood is 'cool' which is due to Johnny's influence. If I see a commercial for a horror movie, I'll have nightmares for a week. With KayLy, she'll TiVO the gore and watch it all in slow-motion. She and my dear husband will giggle about it for days while ensuring they discuss it in my presence just enough to kill my appetite. This is especially true when it comes to meals featuring marinara sauce. The worst part is that my husband is a classic practical jokester. I'm never safe around either of them after movie night. She is definitely Daddy's little girl and they make quite a pair when it comes to making trouble for Momma." Danielle giggled behind a hand and nodded,
"Oh yes there was one night when she tried to convince me to let her stay up until 1am to watch something about a bloodbath at some fraternity but I told her it wasn't appropriate for a young lady to watch an R-rated movie. She pouted for several hours. She tried to convince me that she had actually stayed awake late enough to show me that she could have watched the movie and still gone to school, but I knew better since I had checked in on her." Caitlin laughed heartily,
"That sounds like her! She certainly is Daddy's little girl. She has Johnny's conniving nature combined with my easygoing nature. When she gets something in in her mind, she is a force to be reckoned with. And she knows that few adults can resist a cute 5-year-old." Danielle nodded and asked,
"How are the preparations going for her birthday party?"
"She wants to handle preparations all by herself. She simply cannot understand why she can't call the party supply warehouse herself. After all, she knows exactly what she wants and Momma can pay for it all. Unfortunately, she doesn't understand that the cost involved is 8 week's worth of her allowance." Danielle giggled again and sighed,
"I think I need a nap. Once Ray gets done in the shower, I think I'll get one as well and then head home. I have some paperwork to finish but I can leave my notes on the receptionist's desk and ask KK to take care of them for me. It usually takes about 5 minutes of sweet-talking and another half hour for him to stop blushing and then he finishes my paperwork in less than half of the time it takes me."
"Is Kristien due in today?"
"Yes he should be getting here any minute. He has his new girlfriend of the month so I'm guessing he's working on breaking liplock before he comes in." The two friends shared a laugh. As if on cue, the young man appeared at the door to the office. Caitlin grinned as he reported to Danielle quite enthusiastically. He wore a suitjacket and tie and he unabashedly stated that he dressed up in an attempt to impress Danielle.
This job had started out as a way for the young man to stay out of trouble on the weekends. His name was Kristien Krieger and his father was a business associate of Dominic's. Now that he was in college, the job was somewhat of a internship. The pay wasn't bad but he liked being around the planes. The time that Danielle had flown him around in one of the planes for about an hour had been the time of his life. St John still teased him about the 'date' even though it had taken place over a year ago. Danielle mentioned that she was going to leave early and asked if he would compose and file her flight report. He enthusiastically agreed.
Caitlin left once Ray reappeared. He busied himself with a detail rag on Nick's Biplane as Danielle made her way upstairs.
Everything was quiet for about 20 minutes.
Kristien had almost completed reading Danielle's report when a man strode into the reception area. The teen was about to initiate pleasantries when the man pulled a shotgun out of his duffel and demanded,
"Where is Hawke?" Kristien stood with arms raised and replied,
"Neither of the Hawke brothers are in today. We don't have any money on the premises, sir. If you need a flight…" But the man wasn't interested. He repeated the information about the brothers not being present.
On the other end of the hangar. Ray saw another shotgun toting man making his way over to the office. The black former Army Ranger kept low and grabbed the largest wrench he could find as he approached.
There were actually two intruders headed toward the office but Ray did not see the other man due to the separate paths they were taking. The black man picked up his pace and hefted the wrench like a baseball bat. He took two 'running' steps before his world went upside-down. The man behind him fired off his shotgun targeting the lame man's prosthetic.
Danielle heard the shot right as she was getting out a more suitable outfit for her appointment later that day. She grabbed her new pistol and loaded it. She then darted down the steps as she saw a figure pass the window for the office's door. When she arrived at the window, all she could see was a man dressed in a grey business suit holding a shotgun over what appeared to be Ray's unconscious form. She burst through the door with her gun leading the way and demanded,
"Drop it…" She didn't get a chance to finish her challenge as something exploded inside her head. She hit the floor hard and involuntarily rolled over onto her side. Her mind was a dizzying morass of darkness threatening to swallow her whole. The last thing she heard was,
"No don't; our directives plainly state that we are only to kill white males." On the other side of the hangar, the man who was holding the shotgun requested confirmation. He listened to his headset for a second and then dispassionately triggered off a shot into KK's chest.