Flying Too Close to the Sun by George Jehn (novels for beginners .txt) 📕

he was finishing his cappuccino Juni asked, “What other info you got on this sky marshal? I think the jets the rag heads crashed into the World Trade Center came out of Boston and I don’t wanna get shot.”

“They did, but the sky marshal part mainly concerns anything inside the plane. It’ll be dark and he won’t be able to see or hear anything outside, provided you don’t screw up.” She hesitated. “Remember, we can’t wait too long to act. Like I said, this contract won’t be renewed in September. I also heard the Feds might attempt to fence in all the areas of large airports bounded by water. I sure wouldn’t want to see you having to climb over barbed wire—”

“I heard that too,” a somber Erik interrupted.

“I agree we have to move as quickly as possible, but that raises another concern. Are there motion sensors around the airport border?” Juni asked.

“Why, I, I don’t know,” Christina stammered, “but I have noticed small, evenly spaced poles along the perimeter that might be sensors.”

“If they are, those could be our undoing. Is there any way to find out without tipping our hand?”

“I don’t think so.” Christina answered.

“I need to know before I go traipsing around.”

Christina said, “If I ask that question it’ll just arouse more suspicion later. Why would I be asking?” She hesitated. “I pride myself on logic, so let’s take the worst possible scenario and by assuming there are sensors.” Juni and Erik listened attentively. Looking directly at Juni she said, “You’ll be operating when the weather is so poor no one will be able to see you. When the weather’s good and the devices are triggered, the controllers would probably first try to locate the cause by peering through binoculars or a telescope from the tower. It stands to reason, only if they couldn’t tell what set them off would they send a vehicle to investigate. Odds are high a seagull set it off because there are lots of them flying around the area. But, when the visibility is so lousy that nothing can be seen, I’d be willing to bet they’re deactivated ‘cause it would be senseless to send a car as the driver wouldn’t be able to see anything either. They’d also have to stop or delay every jet from taxiing and taking off while the car was out there for fear a jet might run into it, or vice versa. The airlines would never stand for delays caused by someone chasing invisible gremlins.”

A thoughtful Juni lit another butt making Erik believe more smoke came out of this guy’s mouth than his old man’s diesel Mercedes.

Christina insisted, “It must be FAA policy to disable them when the visibility drops below a certain value. I’ve flown in and out of Boston a lot in bad weather and never experienced a delay like that.”

But Juni remained concerned. “Suppose what you’ve said is wrong and when I come ashore the cops arrest me?”

“Believe me, I know that won’t happen.”

“All right,” he finally sighed, waving his hand in the air. “I’m willing to roll the dice.”

“Look,” Christina added, “I also want the odds in our favor as much as possible, but do not see a problem.”

Juni continued. “There’s another thing. Suppose the satchels have tracking devices attached. They’ll know exactly where and when they’re removed.”

“They can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It would interfere with the plane’s navigation system.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. That’s a non-issue.”

They continued discussing a few more unresolved details until they were satisfied. Juni next added, “Do not mention anything to another soul. All calls to each other are to be made from a pay phone and only if absolutely necessary. Shortly after I get the money, I’ll give your home phones one ring. This will be followed by another single ring twenty seconds later. Do not pick up the phone. After that, nothing unless there’s a dire emergency ‘cause at some point the cops will tap your phones. And remember, you can’t throw money around or we’ll get nailed. It has to be laundered overseas because the bills’ serial numbers must be recorded, somewhere, sometime. I’m not certain where or when, but if there was a data entry made before we get them and a large chunk is spent at once, it’ll be easy to track. The laundering must be done in a former Iron Curtain or Far Eastern country. Once the money goes into an overseas institution it’ll be impossible to trace because it will be handled by lots of people before working its way back to the States. I’m familiar with how to handle this. It’ll cost a small percentage of the take and is somewhat complicated, but is money well spent. I’ll provide the details when I’m back. You guys will still have to sit on your shares and can’t go tossing it around ‘cause the cops will have you under a microscope for quite a while.”

“We supposed to keep it in our mattress like Italians?” Christina asked.

“Whaddaya think? Italians are the only ones? You don’t have to go quite that far, but you can’t spend it immediately. In the modern world this storm will blow itself out because any crime, irrespective of its size is followed by another even larger one. I still know a few people in the investment banking business that can bury it for you for a few years while it earns interest. For now let’s just concentrate on getting it.”

Erik said, “What about paying off my loan?”

“That’ll be easier because the amount is relatively small,” Juni added. I’ll immediately provide you with a certified check from a former business associate to reimburse the bank. My contact is willing to acknowledge through certain channels he loaned you the money irrespective of your crummy credit rating, at a rate bordering on usury. Christina mentioned repayment wouldn’t be a problem for you next year. Is that right?”

“Yeah, when I get off probation and—”

“He’s agreed to wait until then for you to start repaying a bit at a