Flameout Chapter 24
On Tuesday after her afternoon flight, Jane checked her personal email, she discovered she had another email from Liam. This time he included all of the documentation that he had gathered for the previous person as well as two more. Jane glanced it over quickly but then closed the email, she had to get home, she couldn't be late as Bella was having her tea party.
The Syracuse schools were also on break so the children were enjoying spending time with their friends. It had only been two months, however they had missed them. That was the reason that Maura and the children had come to Syracuse with Jane. Jane knew that the children missed their friends and Maura was thrilled when Jane had asked if she and the children would come with her. Maura loved how Jane always included the children in her thoughts. For not having any children Jane took quickly having children around. She was very loving with them.
Tuesday evening, Maura and Bella were setting up for Bella's first tea party in their new condo. Because they had several guests attending the tea party was being held at the dining room table instead of Bella's room. Bella was surprised when Maura brought out her iPad and set it on the table in front of one of the seats. "Mommy, why is your iPad on the table?" Bella asked, she was curious because she knew that no electronic devices were allowed at the table.
"Aunt Amelia is going to join us via Skype. She has her tea set out a variety of tea bags in her very own tea bag box." Amelia couldn't be there for Bella's first tea party in their new condo but she was able to facetime. Amelia had a selection of her favorite tea bags in a tea bag box that she had from when she was a little girl. She didn't know what selection of tea Bella would choose for the party so she wanted to be prepared.
"Awesome, I wish she could be here in person."
"She does also, sweetie however she is in California. She said whenever she is with us, she would love to enjoy one of your tea parties."
A few minutes after they had finished setting everything up, three of Bella's friends arrived. Bella was so excited, she took her friends to her bedroom while they waited for the rest of the guests to arrive. Jane arrived home with a bouquet of flowers for Maura. Jane loved to shower Maura with little gifts from time to time. Maura loved it, Jane told her the first time she had brought her flowers, "Please Maur, don't tell my mother, or anyone for that matter. I have my reputation to uphold. I can't let it out that I am a softy."
"Yes, Jane, I will keep your secret. I am just happy that you are comfortable enough with me to share this side of you." That was over six months ago and Jane is still expressing her love to Maura with little gifts.
After kissing Jane as a thank you for the flowers, Maura put the flowers in a vase and placed them on the dining room table. They would now be the centerpiece for the table. Maura knew that Bella wouldn't mind, Bella loved fresh flowers just as much as Maura did. Bella was so much like Maura it amazed Jane.
"I need to take a shower Maur, before all of the guests arrive, I will be right out."
"Okay love, I would say take your time however some guests have already arrived."
"What? I thought we still had another ten to fifteen minutes." Jane replied, she was surprised she really thought she had time to take a quick shower.
"Three of Bella's friends arrived a little early, they are in Bella's room playing."
"Oh, okay, I will stop by and say hello before I jump in the shower." Jane said as she pulled Maura in for another kiss. Jane knew it would be a few hours before she would have Maura all to herself, she had to strike while the iron was hot.
"Go, Jane, or you will not have time for a quick shower." Maura said as she broke free of Jane's embrace. She would love to stand there and kiss Jane however they had company coming over and as much as she loved seeing Jane in her flight suit, she wanted Jane to be just Jane. Jane reluctantly walked away and headed to Bella's room.
When Jane reached Bella's room, she tapped on the open door to make her presence known. "Hello, ladies, how are you this fine evening?"
Bella jumped up and ran over to Jane, "Mama, you are home. Mama, this is Chrissy, Izzy and Dana. Everyone this is my mama, Jane."
"Nice to meet you ladies. I will see you in a little bit, I am off to the showers." She kissed the top of Bella's head and then left the room, she really needed to get into the shower. Once showered and dressed in a nice pair of jeans and a blouse she made her way back out to the living room where Maura and Charlie were looking over a robotics magazine. "What ya reading?" Jane asked as she sat down next to Maura.
"The latest robotics magazine that came in the mail right before we left Boston." Charlie quickly replied. "We are looking at the announcement of the competition schedule for the rest of the year. Our coach says he wants us to enter the competition in May, so I was just showing mommy about it. It is being held in Boston so we will not have to travel for it."
"How exciting. What time is Ace picking you up?"
"Are you trying to get rid of me, mama?"
"Never, I just know that you won't want to be here with all of these ladies, not too much fun for guys. On second thought, can I go with you?"
"Jane!" Maura exclaimed as she made a face at Jane.
"Just kidding, Maur, you know I love Bella's tea parties. I just know that Ace is planning something fun for the boys and I kinda want to do that activity also."
"Maybe, you guys can do it again if the boys like it. Tonight, though is all about the tea party." Before Jane could say anything else the doorbell rang. Jane popped up and went to answer the door. It was Ace, Cindy and the boys. Jane invited them in and escorted them to the living room.
"Hello." Maura said as she hugged Cindy and then Ace. They boys had already ran off with Charlie to his room. "Jane was just telling me that she would like to go with Ace and the boys for their fun activity."
Cindy smiled and said, "Not this time Jane, you have to be the mama and enjoy the tea party."
"I know, it is just tough sometimes, I want to participate in both activities."
"Well, I for one, am happy to participate in Bella's tea party. That is one thing I miss about not having a daughter. Thank you for including me tonight." Cindy stated as Maura reached out and touch her forearm.
"You are always welcome, Cindy." Maura was so happy to have Cindy as a new friend. Cindy had helped her out so much after Jane went back to Boston. Maura and Cindy got along so great that Maura hired her to work at her foundation. She had proven so valuable to the Isles Foundation.
Ace and Jane went to Charlie's room to gather the boys up so that they could begin their activity. Charlie was spending the night at Ace's so he grabbed his overnight bag. Charlie kissed Jane and Maura and then Ace left with the boys right as Nina arrived.
Jane was jealous, Ace was taking the boys to the indoor go-kart racetrack. They were going to race go-karts and Jane was going to miss it. Ace promised he would take pictures and video. Jane just gave him a funny face as they left the condo.
Once all of the guests arrived, Maura facetimed with Amelia and once the call was connected, Bella rang the bell and started the tea party. She explained that they would be having a tea tasting first and once everyone had selected which type of tea that they would like to drink they would then begin the party. Maura had sent Amelia the list of teas that they were tasting so that she could taste them at the same time.
Maura had purchased disposable little tea cups so that they could sample the different teas. After deciding which tea they wanted to drink it would be poured into their ceramic tea cup. Bella didn't like the idea of the disposable cups at first but then after Maura explained that they were just for the tasting portion of the tea party, she liked the idea. She realized how expensive it would be to purchase so many little tea cups. She also realized that she would not need the little cups that often so it made sense. Maura loved that she could have a civilized conversation with Bella.
Bella took the time to explain the significance of each tea as a sample was poured into one of the disposable three-ounce tea cups. Bella had studied for this tea party. She wanted to know all about the different teas that she was going to present at the party. She had flashcards available just in case she couldn't remember. Jane had helped her make the flashcards as she wanted to help Bella with the tea party. Bella enjoyed researching the different teas with Jane. Maura had selected the teas however she understood that Jane wanted to take part so she was more than happy to let Jane assist Bella with researching the teas and making the flashcards.
Maura loved that Jane was interested in Bella's activities. She knew that tea parties were new to Jane, but Jane was a real trooper and stepped up to learn all she could as quickly as she could. She wanted to be there for Bella and to help her make this tea party a huge success. For an eight-year-old, Bella really enjoyed hosting a party and Jane knew that Bella would someday be involved in hosting parties for the Isles Foundation so she wanted to do her part to help Bella learn.
Bella was flawless in her delivery of the different types of teas. Everyone seemed to enjoy that she had explained the significance of the tea. After everyone selected their tea, they enjoyed their small finger sandwiches and chatted for about half an hour. Maura took pictures for Bella's scrapbook. Bella shook hands or hugged everyone as they left the condo. Jane and Maura were very proud of Bella.
The next day at work, Jane explained to Ace her concerns about some of Maura's new employees and they decided to have a working lunch and discuss her concerns in greater detail. Jane went to the local office supply store and printed out the documents while Ace went to the sandwich store and purchased sandwiches for them.
They met back in Jane's office half an hour later and Jane took the time to explain in great detail what she had done regarding contacting Liam and then explained the items that Liam had sent her. As they ate their sandwiches, they reviewed the material that Liam had sent. They read Liam's notes and agreed that something was fishy.
Jane called Liam and put him on speaker phone. She explained who Ace was and that they were reviewing the documentation that he had sent. It seemed as if two of the three people that Liam had finished investigating went to the same school and had the same classes at the same time. That wouldn't be an issue except that they didn't seem to know each other. Two years' worth of classes were exactly the same. Jane, Ace and Liam all found it hard to believe that an individual could be in classes with someone for two years and not know them.
"Jane, I still have about twelve more individuals to look into. I will try and finish up the investigations as fast as possible. I want to be thorough though. If something is going on I want to provide you with accurate information."
"Thanks Liam. I truly appreciate your efforts." They ended the call and Jane gathered up all of the printouts. She hated that there might be some truth to her concerns, Ace did also. After securing all of the printouts, Jane then went over flight schedules with Ace. Jane disliked paperwork however she knew it was part of the job. If she wanted to fly, she had to do her paperwork.
Jane now had a decision to make, should she share her thoughts with Gen. She needed to think long and hard about this. She called Frost to run the idea by him. The call lasted almost half an hour and at the end of the call, they had decided to fill Gen in. Jane emailed Frost the information that Liam had sent her and he reviewed it thoroughly and then made an appointment with Gen.
When Frost called back with the appointment time, Jane changed her flight schedule around so that she could facetime with Frost and Gen. Ace was also present as he had been helping Jane. Gen faxed over some forms for Ace to sign as he was now participating in an active police investigation.
While Ace went to retrieve the papers from the fax machine, Gen took a few minutes to chastise Jane for using her own money to investigate the new employees. "Seriously Jane, what am I going to do with you? If you had a gut feeling that something wasn't right you knew you could come to me." Gen said as she picked up her phone and asked HR to send up the personnel files on the employees that Jane suspected.
Jane then replied, "Because they were Maura's new hires, I thought you might think that I was being over protected again."
Gen hung up the phone and said, "That quite possibility would have been my first thought but now I am a little curious. Three of the fifteen have the same exact transcript. I think we need to look into this matter a little more carefully. Frost do you have time to work on this with Jane?"
"Yes ma'am. I can make the time. I trust Jane's gut instincts they have been very reliable over the years." Frost told her. They ended the facetime call and Gen instructed her assistant to send the personnel files to Frost once they arrived. Frost left after telling Gen that he would keep her informed as the information came in.
At the end of the week, they would receive five new aircraft. The squadron was getting new aircraft, Jane had just received her new F-16 first because of the crash. She and Ace would receive the aircraft and start the process of getting them painted and ready for flight. Over the next three months they would receive the other twenty-two aircraft.
One of the five aircraft received was a two-seater. Jane talked to Colonel Noble and asked for permission to take Maura up on one of the test flights. Without Maura's expertise in trauma Jane might not have survived and recovered as fast as she did. She had stopped the EMTs and military personnel from removing Jane's helmet at the crash site. Maura knew that they could cause further injury to Jane by removing the helmet. It didn't take long to convince Colonel Noble, he knew how Maura's quick thinking and skills saved one of his fighter pilots. They set up the flight for Friday afternoon. Maura would have to come in Thursday or Friday morning to go through all of the preflight training. Jane was excited, she couldn't wait to take Maura up in an F-16. She hoped that Maura would enjoy the experience.