me.”
“Don ’ t waste your time on him, Shepherd,” Hammond said. “You ’ ll only be decreasing your oxygen intake by—”
“Six-point-four percent,” Shepherd said. “Yes, I already figured that out, which is why I didn ’ t say anything while I have this extra seventy-five and a half pounds — to be exact — hanging from me.”
Zellers rolled his eyes.
“No wonder you ’ re not married,” Shepherd snapped as he caught the facial gesture. “You are aware that eye rolling is a leading indicator of divorce and broken relationships.”
“Did your girlfriend tell you that?” Zellers said before rolling his eyes again.
Shepherd dropped his gear with a thud on the cabin floor. “I ’ ve never had a girlfriend.”
“Then save me the relationship advice.” Zellers playfully punched Shepherd in the arm.
“Don ’t touch me. ”
“Enough yappin ’ , fellas,” Matthews said. “We ’ ve got a mission to discuss.”
Jones, the only who ’ d ignored the banter, sat on the edge of his seat. “Do you think we ’ ll be able to catch them before they leave?”
Matthews stroked his face with his hand and glanced out the window. “I doubt it, but we need to find out where they might be headed from there.”
“Their options will be limited based on the capacity of the Eurocopter AS350 B2 Astar,” Shepherd chimed in.
“How limited?” Matthews asked.
“They won ’ t be able to go more than four hundred miles without making a stop to refuel,” Shepherd said as he started to pound away on his keyboard.
Matthews took a deep breath. “What ’ s your best guess?”
“Aurora, Peoria or Champaign. If Luke ’ s right and they ’ re going Northwest, I ’ d say Aurora, though Peoria would give them more options as far as range goes.”
“But you ’ ll be able to hack into the Mansfield system and find out where they ’ re headed?”
“As long as they filed a flight plan.”
“And if they didn ’ t?” Zellers asked.
Shepherd ’ s eyes widened. “I ’ ll have to hack into a few more systems. It shouldn ’ t take too long.”
The pilot alerted everyone that they were preparing for takeoff.
“How long are we talking about?” Matthews said as he buckled his seatbelt.
“A couple of hours.”
“A couple of hours? They might be able to lose us by then.”
Shepherd pushed the glasses up on his nose and peered over his laptop at Matthews. “They had a six-hour head start on us tonight and didn ’ t lose us. We ’ ll be fine.”
“You better be right,” Hammond said.
“Luke ’ s my friend, too, you know. Nobody here wants to find him worse than I do,” Shepherd sneered.
“Just work your magic, Shepherd,” Matthews said. “We ’ re counting on you.”
CHAPTER 20
LUKE ’ S HEAD POUNDED as he came to his senses. He opened his eyes wide and then closed them shut. Then he opened them again. It was all black. Eyes open or shut — it made no difference.
Where am I?
It was a question he asked himself but he clearly couldn ’ t answer. He didn ’ t even know when he was based on the vicious punch Bill delivered to his face.
My face.
Luke grabbed his jaw and touched it gingerly. He recoiled once his thumb made contact with the skin. It was swollen though he couldn ’ t tell how much. According to the pain he felt, Luke assumed it was the size of a softball protruding from his lower left jaw. But without any light, he couldn ’ t confirm anything.
He groped around in the dark and decided to stand up. He did so without incident and managed to put his hands on a few foreign objects in the dark. As his eyes adjusted, he saw what appeared to be a faint streak of light streaming into the room in the far corner. As Luke neared it, he realized it was a door.
He jiggled the doorknob. It turned but wouldn ’ t open, locked from the outside with a deadbolt. Luke finally hit the jackpot when he felt up the wall and located a light switch.
Owwww!
It took Luke several
“Don ’ t waste your time on him, Shepherd,” Hammond said. “You ’ ll only be decreasing your oxygen intake by—”
“Six-point-four percent,” Shepherd said. “Yes, I already figured that out, which is why I didn ’ t say anything while I have this extra seventy-five and a half pounds — to be exact — hanging from me.”
Zellers rolled his eyes.
“No wonder you ’ re not married,” Shepherd snapped as he caught the facial gesture. “You are aware that eye rolling is a leading indicator of divorce and broken relationships.”
“Did your girlfriend tell you that?” Zellers said before rolling his eyes again.
Shepherd dropped his gear with a thud on the cabin floor. “I ’ ve never had a girlfriend.”
“Then save me the relationship advice.” Zellers playfully punched Shepherd in the arm.
“Don ’t touch me. ”
“Enough yappin ’ , fellas,” Matthews said. “We ’ ve got a mission to discuss.”
Jones, the only who ’ d ignored the banter, sat on the edge of his seat. “Do you think we ’ ll be able to catch them before they leave?”
Matthews stroked his face with his hand and glanced out the window. “I doubt it, but we need to find out where they might be headed from there.”
“Their options will be limited based on the capacity of the Eurocopter AS350 B2 Astar,” Shepherd chimed in.
“How limited?” Matthews asked.
“They won ’ t be able to go more than four hundred miles without making a stop to refuel,” Shepherd said as he started to pound away on his keyboard.
Matthews took a deep breath. “What ’ s your best guess?”
“Aurora, Peoria or Champaign. If Luke ’ s right and they ’ re going Northwest, I ’ d say Aurora, though Peoria would give them more options as far as range goes.”
“But you ’ ll be able to hack into the Mansfield system and find out where they ’ re headed?”
“As long as they filed a flight plan.”
“And if they didn ’ t?” Zellers asked.
Shepherd ’ s eyes widened. “I ’ ll have to hack into a few more systems. It shouldn ’ t take too long.”
The pilot alerted everyone that they were preparing for takeoff.
“How long are we talking about?” Matthews said as he buckled his seatbelt.
“A couple of hours.”
“A couple of hours? They might be able to lose us by then.”
Shepherd pushed the glasses up on his nose and peered over his laptop at Matthews. “They had a six-hour head start on us tonight and didn ’ t lose us. We ’ ll be fine.”
“You better be right,” Hammond said.
“Luke ’ s my friend, too, you know. Nobody here wants to find him worse than I do,” Shepherd sneered.
“Just work your magic, Shepherd,” Matthews said. “We ’ re counting on you.”
CHAPTER 20
LUKE ’ S HEAD POUNDED as he came to his senses. He opened his eyes wide and then closed them shut. Then he opened them again. It was all black. Eyes open or shut — it made no difference.
Where am I?
It was a question he asked himself but he clearly couldn ’ t answer. He didn ’ t even know when he was based on the vicious punch Bill delivered to his face.
My face.
Luke grabbed his jaw and touched it gingerly. He recoiled once his thumb made contact with the skin. It was swollen though he couldn ’ t tell how much. According to the pain he felt, Luke assumed it was the size of a softball protruding from his lower left jaw. But without any light, he couldn ’ t confirm anything.
He groped around in the dark and decided to stand up. He did so without incident and managed to put his hands on a few foreign objects in the dark. As his eyes adjusted, he saw what appeared to be a faint streak of light streaming into the room in the far corner. As Luke neared it, he realized it was a door.
He jiggled the doorknob. It turned but wouldn ’ t open, locked from the outside with a deadbolt. Luke finally hit the jackpot when he felt up the wall and located a light switch.
Owwww!
It took Luke several
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