'Where the hell is he?' Locke barged past Jo and into the small apartment.
'What the hell are you doing?' Jo fastened the short robe she wore tighter. Her furious gaze landed on Rivers in the doorway who gave an apologetic shrug. She whirled and went after Locke who was marching into her bedroom. 'Where's who?' She asked as Locke pushed past her again and made for the second bedroom down the hall.
She ran after him. 'You can't go in there. You can't go…'
Locke opened the door thinking from her words that he'd find Saint John Hawke. He stared at the empty room and then flushed realising he was looking at the bedroom of the late Dominic Santini.
'Get out!' Jo insinuated herself between him and the room, pushing him forcefully away and closing the door. 'Get out!' Her blue eyes were filled with angry tears. She hadn't even entered the room since her uncle had died; she hadn't had the courage.
Rivers pulled Locke back. 'Hey, take it easy, Jason.'
Locke took a deep breath and straightened. 'I apologise for the intrusion.' He said stiffly before he went back into the living room.
Rivers sighed. 'I'm sorry. It's just with Saint John missing…'
'What do you mean Saint John's missing?' She followed him back into the living room where Locke was stood looking out of the window, arms folded and his body vibrating with unconcealed tension.
'He's not the only person or thing missing.' Locke growled and spun to face her. 'Stringfellow Hawke is also missing from his hospital bed and Airwolf is gone too. I want to know where they are.'
Jo sank onto a small threadbare sofa. 'Oh God.' She covered her face with her hands.
Rivers shot Locke a warning look and crouched down beside her. 'Jo, if you know anything…'
'I don't.' Jo raised her head to look first at him and then at Locke. The disbelief was written all over their faces. 'I don't.' She insisted. 'Look, Saint John, String and I might have been close when we were kids but even back then if the two of them decided to bond together over something, that was it; nobody got through, not even my Uncle Dom.'
Rivers sighed. 'Saint John didn't give you any hint at all?'
'No.' Jo pushed a hand through her tangled hair. 'When I took him to the hospital he asked me if he could have some time alone with String. I couldn't really refuse especially since…'
'Since what?' Locke pressed when her voice trailed away.
'Since it was obvious String's been holding on just to see his brother one last time.' She slid her arms around her tummy, unconsciously hugging herself. 'When you knocked, I half-expected it was Saint John coming to tell me that we'd lost String too.'
Rivers laid a hand on her bare knee comfortingly. Jo gave him a grateful smile. Locke came over and sat beside her. He'd seen Hawke's condition for himself.
'You know Saint John's probably just borrowed Airwolf to take String somewhere private for a last goodbye.' Jo thought out loud. It was the only thing that made sense.
'But he can't fly Airwolf.' Rivers said moving back to perch on the coffee table.
'Well, you flew her without any training…' She stopped; he was shaking his head at her.
'There's an old simulator built by the FIRM.' Rivers shrugged. 'Airwolf's obviously been updated since but the controls were good enough to give me some practice that I could fly her when we found her.'
'And as you've said,' Locke pointed out gently, 'Hawke isn't in any condition to fly her so who is?'
Jo dropped her gaze. Caitlin, she thought. It had to be. Maybe Caitlin had said she was going to disappear she'd left out the small detail that she was going to take Airwolf. But if she told Locke about Caitlin, Jo mused, she might be putting the other woman and the child she was carrying at risk. There again, Locke had proved that he was a decent guy when he'd helped rescue Saint John.
'Do you know of anyone else who might be able to fly her?' Locke asked.
Jo shook her head. She'd wait, she decided; if the brothers and Airwolf were still missing in a couple of days she'd tell Locke the truth but until then…she still felt she owed Caitlin after everything that had happened because of her indiscretion with Marin. 'There is no one else.' Jo said firmly. 'Saint John's a great pilot. He might have picked up enough on the journey home for him to fly her.'
Locke sent a questioningly glance towards Rivers who shrugged. 'It's possible.' He folded his arms. 'The Hawke brothers by all accounts are legendary for their flying skills.'
'They're geniuses up in the air.' Jo confirmed. 'Hawke by name, hawk by nature.'
'I don't know…'
'He'll turn up with her. You'll see.' Jo insisted.
'Ms Santini…' Locke began.
'Jo.'
'Jo.' Locke sighed. 'There's no guarantee he'll come back with her. If I were him, I'd be fairly annoyed at the Company right now.' Hell, he thought, he'd be furious. Saint John must have worked out that the Company had effectively written him off.
'You're wrong, Jason.' Jo gestured. 'Saint John has no reason to keep her. I'm sure he's probably just giving String one last flight, that's all.' She stood up. 'Let's go and wait at the Lair. You'll see.'
Locke sighed and nodded. It would keep her where he could see her. If Saint John got in touch with her, he would know immediately.
'I'll get dressed.' Jo moved away into the bedroom.
Locke heard her bedroom door close shut and slumped back on the sofa dejected. He couldn't believe he'd found and lost Airwolf all within twenty-four hours.
'You think she's right?' Rivers asked.
Locke folded his arms. 'I think she's covering for something or someone.'
Rivers nodded. He picked up a photo frame on the coffee table and handed it to Locke. 'Do you know who she is?'
Locke stared at the pretty redhead smiling back at him from the centre of the photo. She was stood arm in arm with Dominic Santini and Stringfellow Hawke. 'I have no idea.'
'She looks cosy in that photo.' Rivers pointed out.
'Yeah, pretty cosy with the two men who knew how to fly Airwolf.' Locke frowned.
'You know some of the missions in the file,' Rivers commented, 'couldn't have been done without a third crewman.'
'You think this woman?' Locke gestured with the frame.
'I think we should find out.'
Locke's eyes went to the closed bedroom door. 'If this is who she's protecting, she's obviously not going to tell us a thing.'
'Why don't I head to Van Nuys?' Rivers suggested. 'Airfields are a hive of gossip and information. I'll see what I can pick up.'
Locke nodded and handed him the photo back to put back into its original position; there was no need to tip Jo Santini off to their inquiries. 'We'll meet back at the Lair.'
Rivers parked the car in the Van Nuys car park and checked his watch. It was early and there were signs of the airfield around them just coming to life. A catering van opening up down the runway; hangar doors opening up, planes taxiing into position. He headed to the catering van.
'Can I help you?' The old guy wiped his hands on a clean white apron.
'Sure. I'll take an egg sandwich, over easy on the egg, please.' Mike leaned on the van as the caterer began to fill his order.
'You know when Santini Air opens?' Mike asked casually.
'Generally opens around eight although the owner's just died so they haven't been keeping real regular hours recently.'
'Oh? What happened?'
'Huge explosion.' The old fella mimed it with his hands. 'Just incredible. You could smell the smoke all the way down here.'
'Sounds terrible.' Mike commented.
'Yeah. Don't know what happened. Old Santini ran a tight ship, really good mechanic.'
'Who's running the service now?'
'His niece, I think. Hawke, the other pilot there, got caught in the blast. I hear he ain't doing so good.' He flipped the egg into a waiting bun and handed it to Mike who passed him the money for the purchase.
'His niece is the redhead, right?' Mike said squirting ketchup on his sandwich.
'Nah. You're thinking of Caitlin O'Shaunessy.' The old guy's eyes saddened. 'I tell you it's been one tragedy after another for them recently.'
'Tragedy?' Mike paused.
'Yeah.' The guy leaned out of his window. 'You don't know?'
Mike shook his head.
'Well she died in a crash, oh must be over a month ago now.' He sighed. 'Damn shame. Fair crushed Santini and Hawke I can tell you.'
'I bet.' Mike raised his paper-wrapped sandwich and took a bite. 'Thanks.' He mumbled around the mouthful of food.
'Pleasure.'
Mike saluted a farewell with the sandwich and walked back to his car. He finished his make-shift meal – no point wasting good food – and headed for the Company headquarters. There were a few things he needed to check out, he thought, before he met Locke at the Lair.
In the Lair, Locke finished looking around and admitted to himself that he was impressed. The equipment in the Lair was first rate; top of the line security system, communications system, computer already set up. He was going to be hard pressed to find a better equipped hiding place for Airwolf. If he got the ship back, he thought.
Jo nudged him and handed him a coffee. He took it with a polite word of thanks.
'He'll bring her back.' Jo said.
'How do you know he won't do what his brother did and just take off with her?'
'Well, firstly,' Jo said leaning back on the yellow rail, 'String only took Airwolf to find Saint John and that's hardly a consideration now. And secondly, Saint John was never as wild as String.' She shrugged. 'Maybe with Saint John being the older he felt he had to be more responsible than String.'
'Both of them have a reputation for not following orders.' Locke muttered under his breath.
'They're the most intelligent people I know.' Jo noted. 'They won't follow orders blindly.'
Locke stiffened. 'Is that what you think I do?'
Jo shuffled. 'Not entirely, Jason. You did help me get Saint John.'
Locke looked away from her for a moment. 'But I didn't help Stringfellow Hawke when he asked me too.' He shook his head sadly. 'I followed orders then.'
Jo didn't know what to say so she kept silent and took a sip of her coffee.
Locke frowned. If he'd acted differently that day with Hawke in his office would it have prevented the death of Santini and now, possibly Hawke himself? The Company's actions over the Hawke brothers disturbed him. They hadn't acted honourably towards the Hawkes at all. He wondered at how honourably they would act when they had full control of Airwolf. The Airwolf file had been clear that whatever character flaws Hawke had, his sense of moral justice had meant that the helicopter had been used as a force of good. Locke speculated if the Company would be able to make the right choices. A sound by the Lair entrance had him whirling around, drawing his gun.
Rivers threw his hands up. 'It's me.'
Locke eased back into the chair and Rivers walked over to join the wait, slumping into a chair. The gaping space on the ground under the funnel drew their attention.
'I'm going for a walk.' Jo said unable to take the silence any longer.
Locke waited until he was sure she was outside the Lair. 'Well?'
Rivers shook his blond head. 'Dead end. Literally.'
'What do you mean?'
'The woman in the photo was a pilot called Caitlin O'Shaunessy. Records show she was a cop until two years ago when an incident in Pope County prompted her into a leave of absence. She officially resigned later.' Rivers nodded his head at the empty space. 'There's nothing anywhere to connect her to Santini Air except good old Uncle Sam's tax records show she started working for Santini about a month after Pope County. There's no doubt in my mind that she was more than likely involved with Airwolf.'
'But?'
'But she died over a month ago.'
'How?' Locke frowned. The whole original Airwolf crew dead? Something stank.
'A helicopter crash in Texas following a kidnapping attempt. She was the grand-daughter of Chester Mitchell, the oil tycoon.'
'Damn.' Locke sighed. 'Guess Jo's been straight with us.'
Rivers nodded. 'Looks like.' He gestured at the entrance. 'She's pretty great.'
'Do you ever think of anything but…'
'I meant,' Rivers cut in, 'that she's good at what she does. I read her Company file. She comes with some pretty impressive recommendations.'
'I know.' Locke said. 'I read the same file.'
'Have you considered what you're going to do with Airwolf?' Rivers asked.
'If I get her back,' Locke sighed, 'I'm going to give her a facelift and an upgrade but then…I'm thinking of running a small unit similar to the set up Hawke had with her. I'm beginning to think he knew what he was doing.'
Rivers hid a grin. 'A small unit, huh?'
'Yeah. Keep Airwolf contained to a few people.' Locke waved at the Lair. 'Keep her here and continue to keep the location secret.'
'And out of the Company's direct control?' Rivers asked perceptively. 'Hey.' He held his hands up at Locke's glower. 'You'll have no arguments from me. What that ship is capable of…I think it's a sensible decision. The Company can still set the missions but an independent unit gives you better control of how you execute them.'
Locke nodded. 'I was thinking the same.'
'Thinking what?' Jo's voice drifted back to them as she walked back in.
Rivers caught Locke's eye. 'She can fly Airwolf.' He reminded the agent.
Locke turned to look at Jo who was reviewing both men with a suspicious glance.
'What?' She asked.
Locke walked out of the console area to explain.
Jo raised her eyebrows in surprise. 'And you want me to be part of the team?'
Locke said. 'You know how to fly her and you have intelligence experience.'
'So does Saint John.' She pointed out.
'And if he brings her back, I might offer him the same deal.' Locke admitted. It seemed like giving the man gainful employment was the least he could do after the way he'd been treated – if he came back.
'If Saint John's in, I'm in.' Jo said.
Locke turned to Mike expectantly.
'I haven't officially been asked.' Mike teased.
'Rivers…'
'I'm in.' Rivers said laughing; he propped his feet up on the yellow rail, the very picture of relaxed geniality.
Locke subsided, leaned back on the railing. Jo smiled and paced. If Saint John did have Airwolf…maybe this could work.
Mike suddenly leaned forward as a sound teased at his hearing. 'Can you hear it this time Jason?'
The steady hum of engines and rhythmic beat of rotors filled the air.
'Music to my ears.' Locke murmured.
They all looked up as Airwolf descended into her home. Saint John climbed out to meet them. He was deadly tired; the journey back had seemed harder somehow and the events of the past year and days were catching up with him. It was easy to stuff his hands in his pockets and keep his expression sombre, sad. 'There was something I had to do.' He explained obliquely.
He saw the implication that his brother was dead register with them all. His eyes landed on Jo; they would have to talk later, he thought, but he deep down knew he'd made the right decision as he took in the relieved if saddened expressions as they gathered around him. Be safe little brother, he wished across the vast space between them, be safe and live.
