KNIGHT'S REPORTS: 3 Book Set Page 20

  “Promise!” she said and squeezed my most prized and very private possessions.

  “Sex under pressure to perform might not trip my trigger.”

  “I’ll risk it.”

  She fell into me and started to mouth my face and neck again. Then she slipped off and went undercover, moving her kisses down my body — an awkward position for her, having to move back to the copilot’s seat.

  My little slugger hadn’t left the batter’s box since the last inning of sex. And when Rillie began her trip down to home plate The Babe started taking practice swings.

  “Rillie. Bee. Wilde,” I reflected.

  “Hmm-hmm,” she answered, her mouth and tongue busy doing something more pleasant than merely forming words.

  The heat our bodies had produced made the use of the Mylar blanket not only unnecessary but uncomfortable. Rillie and I threw it off in unison. She turned her lovely backside to me, facing the storm with her hands on the frosted copilot side window. I slipped into the batter’s box and got ready to put one over the center field wall.

  Rillie seemed to be the exhibitionist type. For now, no wolf, bear or bobcat could see us through the blowing snow and frost-covered windscreens. But I wondered if she wouldn’t have enjoyed making love from behind the helo’s large windows on the White House lawn — with the President, his full staff and family looking on.

  After five minutes at the come-from-behind position, my strawberry blonde copilot was already on her third trip around the bases, and I was finally about to hit an in-the-park homerun. I was sure Rillie would call me safe at the plate — when something smacked into the co-pilot side window in front of her.

  Both of us startled, I reached for Big Deal’s gun with my right hand and grabbed my love bat with the other.

  A man’s eyes came into view from the outside. With a little scrapping, the guy’s full face appeared. Although desperate to find my father, on this particular occasion, I was relieved it was not him.

  “It’s Specks!” Rillie said.

  She covered herself with the blanket, leaving me with our pile of clothes. Without looking, I grabbed the first piece of clothing my hand came across and covered my manhood while reaching over Rillie for the door.

  The wind was … let’s say … brisk, when the door opened. My little ball-player had forgotten all about the game and dove for the dugout.

  Uncomfortable on a number of levels, I climbed over Rillie and stepped outside with only the clothing I’d grabbed to cover my crotch.

  Specks had fallen and was on the ground trying to get up. He was probably suffering from hypothermia, and possibly shock, as well as frost bite.

  I opened the back door of the helo and helped him in. Man, was my ass cold. I’m telling you; you don’t really know what cold is until you’ve had seventy-mile-per-hour, ten-degree wind whistling between your butt cheeks. As they say in the Windy City when the icy wind howls; The Hawk is out tonight!

  “We’re here to rescue you, Specks.”

  The man took several panting breaths, while lifting thick-lensed eye-glasses out of his pocket and putting them in place. They bugged his eyes. He looked me up and down, still too out of breath for words, but his eyes rested on my makeshift loincloth.

  I looked down and realized I’d grabbed Rillie’s bra to cover with.

  “Sorry … to … interrupt,” he said, and his glasses frosted over in the next second.

  Wanting to thaw the frost off my own snowballs, I closed the back compartment door, then returned to the front copilot’s side of the chopper and climbed over Rillie. She didn’t even try to suppress her amusement. I handed back her bra, and she got handsy with me while I straddled her to get to the pilot’s seat. At least her hands were a lot warmer than my half-frozen and nearly ingrown middle member.

  Rillie turned in her seat to look through the open bulkhead behind us into the back passenger compartment. “You okay, Specks?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay. Now. But I’d rather you don’t let him come back here anymore.” He wiped his glasses. “When I saw this helli-copter, I thought I was dreaming, though. Then, I was sure it was a damn nightmare when your nudist pilot leaps out at me with a bra over his privates.”

  I fired up the helicopter, flipped on the electric heaters and passed the heat reflecting blanket back to him. “How are your hands and feet? Can you take off your gloves and boots?”

  “Yeah. I think I can. But that’s as far as I’m going!” He frowned. Then he said, “Been camped out in the last loco. The heater worked up until a couple of hours ago before it died. Don’t think I got none of that frost bite.” He frowned at me again. “Who the hell are you?”

  “I’m E Z Knight, Specks. Where’s my father?”

  “E Z Knight? Are you Ethan?”

  I’d forgotten that my father was the only one who still called me by my given first name. My dad insisted on it. He said he hadn’t considered people might call me E Z when he and my mother came up with Ethan Zachariah, using both my grandfathers’ first names.

  “Yes,” I told Specks. “I’m Ethan. Remember me? Used to ride the local out of Newton with you and my dad.” I smiled at him. “Where’s Doc?”

  He took off his glasses and cleaned them again, then wiped his eyes. As he explained Rillie and I got dressed. “Hell if I know. He’d been actin’ funny ever since he got a phone call and we went into dark territory. Don’t have a clue of what the call was about. Then, yesterday morning, we was coming down the Mule Train spur toward Gold Miner’s Bend at the main line, and he spotted the local. Started getting’ real mad and saying we had to stop it. Next thing you know, he ordered me to jump from the snow-blower going fifty miles an hour. Jumped into the blizzard, I did. Dislocated my shoulder, twisted my ankle — lucky I wasn’t killed. Damn fool, Doc. Threatened me with a ball-peen hammer, then had to be some kind of hero and ram the local train.” He looked at me. “I got down here as quick as I could after the explosion, but I wasn’t moving too fast in the deep snow, being all banged up like I was. It was about an hour and a half by the time I got here, and they’d already left. Guess Doc went with them, because he scratched a note inside the cab — said we was okay … bullshit! I wasn’t okay. Damn that Doc!”

  “What happened? Why would he ram the train?”

  “To stop the damn thing. He had it in his mind that some so-and-so doe-mess-tick terrorists was gonna run that train into Denver and light it up. It’s pulling several LP gas tankers and a couple a loaded chlorine gas cars, too. He said it would kill 100,000 people. Just went completely nuts — even said something ‘bout ‘it ain’t Betty Crocker’.”

  “What?”

  “Hell if I know. Said to tell you and you’d understand.”

  “That I’d understand Betty Crocker?”

  “Yep. Said to tell you-all he loved you and your sister, his Mary and your kids, too.”

  “Okay, just relax for now,” I told him passing back a box of PowerBars. “We’ll talk more later. Drink some water and eat one of those energy bars.”

  “Okay,” he said. After a moment of thought, he added, “You sure have changed. Didn’t turn out like I would have expected.”

  It had been over thirty years since I’d seen Specks. Of course I’d changed. Then I realized his comment probably had something to do with me being naked.

  After getting dressed, Rillie climbed into the back to make sure Specks was okay. She made him drink water again, but he said he’d had plenty to eat from some canned goods he’d had with him. The old engineer had fared pretty well after being out in the ten-degree weather for so long. Still, he seemed to become a bit lethargic.

  I was checking the wind speed on the copter’s anemometer when I heard a thump and I turned back to Rillie and Specks. “What was that?”

  “I don’t know. He just stiffened, hit his head against the side window and passed out.”

  As she checked his pulse at his throat, I looked through the opening into the back at the man’s face. It seeme
d even paler than before.

  “Pulse is real light,” she said.

  “Shit,” I told her. “He’s in shock. We’re liable to lose him if he doesn’t get medical attention soon.”

  “But I was just talking with him,” Rillie said. “What happened?”

  “His mind and body have been through considerable trauma over the past couple of days. He was probably running on pure adrenaline when he saw the chopper. Now he’s on empty and his body’s shutting down to conserve what life he’s got left.”

  I looked through our defrosted windscreens and then checked the anemometer again. The sky appeared relatively clear except for blowing surface snow, and the wind had dropped to fifty miles per hour, once again and seemed less gusty.

  “Keep him warm,” I said. “We’re getting out of here!”

  Chapter 7

  Flight of the Rillie Bee

  5:00 PM MST

  Gold Miner’s Bend, CWE Railroad main line

  I was thankful for the rotor deicer on our helicopter. Within seconds of turning it on, the ice sloughed off the blades.

  We took off and climbed to fifteen thousand feet. At that altitude, the wind had settled enough to make flying manageable. Still, our most direct route to Slaughterhouse was due east, and the cyclonic wind was now pushing back at us as the massive storm settled toward the south. And we’d have to fight more snow and ice — the real killer for any aircraft — should we head back into the storm.

  We were equal distance from Slaughterhouse Yards and Crested Butte, probably a hundred miles. None of our cell phones could get a signal, and all I got on the chopper’s radio was static. We didn’t have much choice but to skirt the heaviest wind toward the storm’s center by moving with it to the southeast. The storm had made our destination choice for us: we were heading straight for Crested Butte.

  There were sure to be hospitals and emergency centers aplenty along either route, but there was something about all this craziness that bothered me. Instincts told me I was doing the right thing for both my father and for Specks — and possibly for Mary and the kids, as well.

  “We’re taking Specks to Doc’s,” I told Rillie. “With the strength of this storm and communications minimal, I don’t have any idea where else to take him. We’re about forty-five minutes out. Mary used to be an ER nurse. She should be able to help us with him.”

  “Yeah,” Rillie said. “I already know how wonderful Mary is.”

  “Sorry. I think it’s best. I’m worried something might be going on at the B & B. Mary and the kids might be in trouble.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I’m pretty sure this whole mess is more involved than Doc doing the disappearing act. He’s not missing on his own accord — it’s due to more sinister reasons, I’m positive. Besides, between Specks and John Sites we might be able to piece this all together.”

  It was a silent trip to Doc’s B & B. The entire way, I heard no radio chatter, and cell phone service remained dead. Rillie seemed deep in thought and quiet, as well.

  With her in the back keeping Specks warm, on the outside of the reflective blanket this time, I piloted and navigated. The wind had eased considerably, and the sky before us was clear and dry, making the job a lot easier. Still there were very few ground lights. It was almost as if Colorado was in a blackout. Very odd.

  We came up on my father’s place quicker than I’d expected, not having to fight a mean crosswind. The sky had cleared, but I couldn’t see many lights in the distance. It was as if power was down in Crested Butte, as well as Mount Crested Butte, the ski resort, both about five miles away. Even this late at night, when there was snow, normally, there was nightlife.

  We did a once-over pass of Doc’s place at 300 feet. Although there was room to land in front of the bed and breakfast, I took us out an eighth of a mile and put down in a clearing I’d strolled across with Doc, his Mary and the kids, right after I escaped from prison.

  I was eager but also extremely anxious to see my kids. Although I spoke with them every week by phone, it had been several months since I held them in both eyes and arms. But the anxiety wasn’t just from the separation, it was more of concern for their safety. I’ve been involved with some very bad folks in my lifetime, and now it seemed Doc was somehow mixed up with a similar crowd. It didn’t matter that even coming within 200 yards of my children violated my Federal parole and could put me back in prison for ten years. Their well-being had to be my primary concern.

  When I stepped out of the JetRanger, I noticed a deep scratch — more like a groove in the helo’s forward skid support. I was sure it hadn’t been there before.

  I told Rillie, “We’ve been shot at.” I figured someone must have fired at us when we passed over my father’s place.

  Rillie came around to look, but stopped when a thumping reverberation came from the distance. It grew louder, and I soon recognized it as a Blackhawk helicopter.

  Just as I pulled an equipment bag out of the JetRanger’s cargo hold and opened it, automatic gunfire erupted from the direction of Doc’s B & B.

  Chapter 8

  Meanwhile, Back at the Marina

  The Wizard’s Den, Smokey’s Marina, SoCal

  4:45 PM PST

  From the dining deck, Smokey saw the three sedans pull into the parking lot, and fear shot through her. She slipped through the back door and into The Wizard’s Den, and then waited at the bar. The place was empty except for Oz.

  Oz set her customary afternoon mug of Kona in front of her, as she watched the front door through the large mirror behind him.

  “Good afternoon, pretty girl,” the big old Greek told her and leaned on the opposite side of the bar, a dishtowel draped over one shoulder. “Do your parents know you’re in an alcohol-serving establishment?”

  Smokey glanced at him and had to smile, but she didn’t feel like it. Her eyes went back to the mirror. “Looks like the police are here. Tamara and Harper just pulled up in separate cars. And a third car pulled in after them. I don’t like it.”

  Oz patted her hand. “Now don’t go getting your clouds full of rain. I’m sure E Z’s okay.”

  “Yeah, I hope so. But he’s either been hurt or killed — or they’re after him for something.”

  Oz set his jaw, and his gaze went to the doorway.

  Smokey loved the big man like a father. She’d known him for over fifteen years, since she and her now deceased husband bought the Marina. At that time, Osia had recently purchased the run-down sailboat pier and restaurant for the bar business only, and was hoping to find a partner who would fix up the marina and give it a go. He’d found not only a partner, but friends who’d welcomed him into their family.

  “Want me to get the cannon?” came a thin but steady voice from the end of the bar.

  Smokey had forgotten about See-Saw. Oz let the old blind man sleep in the storeroom, and he was seldom seen anyplace but on his usual stool at the far and purposely darkened end of the bar. E Z’s pup, Jazzy Brass, sat on the stool next to Cecil “See-Saw” Esau, and the old man was stroking her back, expressionless. The “cannon” he referred to was Oz’s huge handgun with a barrel longer than Smokey’s foot and a bore you could drop a marble into.

  Oz told him, “Not yet. We don’t wanta shoot cops until we know what they’re up to … then we’ll let ‘em have it.”

  Smokey was sure they were mostly joking … mostly.

  When the door opened, See-Saw shrank back into the dim light and Oz puffed out his chest. “Good afternoon!” he called out, cheerfully. “Can I help you ladies?”

  The black man in a charcoal, silk suit leading Tamara and Harper did a stutter step, and what had been a frown was now a scowl. “Where’s Ethan Knight.”

  Oz ignored him. “It’s great to see you Miss Tamara, Miss Harper.” He put a couple of glasses on the bar. “What will it be, Shirley Temples or a couple of my End of the World Martinis?”

  Oz claimed he made the best martinis anywhere, and everyone seemed to agree
.

  But Lt. Harper Lee Legend had no smile in return. A step inside Oz’s bar usually made the hardnosed detective beam like a candle.

  “We’re here on business, Oz,” she said, finally allowing a nearly imperceptible smile.

  “I said, I’m here to see Ethan Knight,” the black man insisted.

  “Miss Tamara,” Oz asked, “surely a little glass of Rum Chata? Look, it’s nearly 5:00 o’clock already.” He thumbed toward the wall clock behind him.

  “Thanks,” Parole Officer Tamara White Cloud said, “But I can’t.”

  Smokey exchanged nods and smiles with the ladies, deciding to let Oz handle things — at least until they got out of hand. The good thing was, if they were looking for E Z, it meant they weren’t carrying the news that he’d been hurt or killed.

  “So what brings two of the three loveliest girls in town to ol’ Oz’s bar?” he winked at Smokey.

  Tamara asked, “Have you seen E Z?”

  Oz kept his own bright grin. “That big handsome fella all you ladies are in love with? Sure, I’ve seen him.”

  “Where is he?” the man insisted.

  Oz poured a couple of ice waters instead of drinks, and pushed them toward the ladies. “Well, pull up a couple of stools, and we’ll share stories about ol’ E Z. We can have a little girl talk. You know, if I was of the persuasion — and I’m not, you understand,” he said, striking a feminine pose, head tilted and wrist bent, “I think I’d be looking for him, too.”

  “Look you,” the man blurted out, “You don’t ignore me!”

  “I hear a fly,” Oz said and reached for the flyswatter. “No, I think it’s one of those gnats. You know, the kind that flies around a dog’s private parts?”

  The man slammed his hands flat on the bar and leaned toward Oz. “Do you have any idea who I am? I am Edward Rankle, Assistant District Attorney Edward Rankle. You do not ignore me!”

  Oz swatted him in the face hard. “Yep — got ‘im! A dog-dick gnat.”