Airwolf – Terminal Velocity
Chapter Seven
Clinging to the shadows on the other side of the complex, unbeknownst to either Roger Dobbs or Sara Sykes, a man had watched the events unfurling before him with amusement at first, then mild curiosity, and finally, anger and suspicion.
A strong sense of distrust had made him wary and cautious thus far, but the woman had continued to make him feel uneasy and he had needed to know if she suspected him.
From the very first day she had shown up here, he had been aware of something about her that made him uneasy, a sense of familiarity, although he could not recall where or when their paths might have crossed, which bothered him because he prided himself on having an excellent memory.
Then Dobbs too had turned up with his charm and poise, undoubted skills as a pilot, and that quiet determination, and again, more alarm bells had gone off.
Man, was that guy just too damned good to be true!
Was he for real, or what?
Naturally, he had assumed that eventually the powers that be would send someone in under cover to try to get to the bottom of what was going on here, but when the two of them had turned up, within a few days of each other, it had effectively divided his attention.
Was it purely a coincidence, or were they working together?
The fact that they had obviously been attracted to each other and that they were also obviously trying not to have to address it had made him doubt that they were an established team, used to working together.
If they were, then they were awful at it because far from making themselves inconspicuous, they had everyone on the base whispering in corners about when they were going to get down and dirty!
However, he doubted that either one of them were aware of the speculation about what exactly they were to each other, or the excitement and tension building up over who would win the grand prize on the book that McCrea was running on the outcome.
The problem that he had was that they both seemed plausible, and both checked out as far as his sources on the outside had been able to determine.
Neither had done anything to draw too much attention to them selves, except for the fact that they couldn't seem to keep their eyes off of each other, and Dobbs had proved to be a worthy candidate for the project.
Still there had been uncertainty in his mind about both of them.
So he had watched, and waited.
After the forced landing, Dobbs had remained cool and calm and centred on the project, a little shaken immediately afterward, but then he had returned to his usual silent, thoughtful and watchful self, not outwardly showing any signs of suspicion that the incident had been anything but an accident.
Sykes' reaction had been purely professional, but she had softened toward the other man, a little, the incident perhaps making her more aware of the personal feelings that she was beginning to have for Dobbs.
But neither of them had significantly changed their outward manner or behaviour.
After the lab fire, things had come to a head, especially after the kiss the pair had shared, if those who had been there were correct, but again, Sykes had returned to work today, a little more subdued and reserved than before, and Dobbs had grown more watchful, but only of her.
And then he had seen Sykes in the bar last night with the other man, the one with the broken nose, and again his suspicions had grown. They'd tried to make themselves look inconspicuous, but it had been obvious to him that they were uneasy about having been seen together, and not just because Dobbs had seen them too.
And then there had been the scene with the drunken old fool.
He still wasn't convinced that that had been for real, although he couldn't be sure if the old warhorse had been there to see Sykes and her friend and had tried to draw attention away from them, or if he had been there to see Roger Dobbs.
Again it boiled down to the two of them.
Dobbs or Sykes.
He had decided that it was time to find out exactly who these two were, and what they were doing here, and just how it would affect him.
Sykes had presented him with the prefect opportunity.
He had easily slipped away, to run as he did whenever he had any free time slated, and had done since he arrived at Project Thunderbird, pounding around the quiet, often empty corridors of the bowels of the base, on the pretext that it helped to fend off the mild pangs of claustrophobia which sometimes plagued him when he wasn't working, or didn't have something to fully occupy his mind, but which, strangely enough, did not bother him when he was in the cramped confines of a jet fighter cockpit, and a ritual that everyone had soon gotten used to.
It had come in handy to cover his need to keep slipping away from the others, to plan and execute his next move and to make his progress report to his controller.
He had been amused by the way that Sykes had lured Dobbs out here, but then realisation had begun to dawn that it wasn't just a pair of lovers seeking a place of privacy with which to conduct their romance, but that she suspected that Dobbs wasn't quite on the level.
It became more than apparent after the first time she put the guy down on the ground.
As he had watched her deal with the other man quite effectively, wishing that he could hear their conversation, sensing the tension and distrust between them, the watcher had realised that something was not quite right, that all was not as it seemed, and when she had failed to hand Dobbs over to that dunderhead guard and his dog, alarm bells had started ringing in his head.
His original distrust had resurfaced and he knew that he had to find out more about what had transpired between Dobbs and Sykes, for it could seriously affect his position here.
With one last glance back over his shoulder, watching as Sykes was reaching out to help Dobbs to his feet now, and the other man dusted himself off once more, a wry look on his familiar, handsome face, ensuring that they were busy with concentrating on each other and that he would not be seen, the watcher stealthily made his way back to the metal door at the top of the stairwell, knowing that the pair would have to come back in this way, and that if he went down a few levels and clung to the dark shadows, he might be able to overhear any further conversation between the pair.
The acoustics were quite good, and he could be sure that he would not be detected.
He would watch and listen, and then he would decide his next move.