The Upside of Death

The Wild Wild West. Part 14

You can buy The Upside of Death book at Amazon, iBooks and Kobo.

The Toyota glided west and reached Aurora Municipal Airport a half hour later, Vronsky straining to puzzle out the morning's events and failing. Only one thing was clear: if the rescue crew had found the apartment, they must have the means to keep tracking them. At least to the airport. They wouldn't be expecting a waiting plane; Flint was right about that.

"You think we have a bug in this car?" Yuri asked as they approached a boom gate. A uniformed security guard stepped out of a booth with a clipboard, tilted his head to read the license plate. Nodded once, moved back inside, and the boom lifted. Yuri accelerated through.

"Bug? No," Vronsky replied. "That takes time to set up. A tracking device is easier, and that would explain a lot. How that boyfriend found us, for a start." He pointed at a private jet with a Leonard Air Services logo on the tail, and Yuri pulled up alongside.

A mechanic checked around the plane, the pilot in uniform and cap, waited next to the short set of steps. Semyon withdrew a gun and, leaning over the front seat, stroked the barrel down the girl's thigh. She stiffened. Semyon held the gun up as a warning.

Vronsky left the car and approached the pilot. "We leave right away? Yes?"

"That's my instructions," the pilot replied.

"Good. We are boarding now." Vronsky returned and sat alongside Keera. He withdrew a penknife from his jacket pocket and sliced the ties that bound her.

"This is what will happen," he said. "You will leave car and enter plane and walk to back. You do not speak or look at anyone. If you do Semyon will shoot you in spine. You will be in wheelchair for life, and we can come and get you again in future. We will also kill everybody here who has seen us. Do you understand?"

She circled her wrists with her fingers, stroking the welts, and their eyes met. She bowed her head in slow acknowledgement.

Semyon handed her a cap and sunglasses. "You put on," he said. "Put all hair under cap."

She bunched her hair up and stuffed it under the cap. The glasses were too big, a man's pair of Oakleys, but stayed on her face.

Vronsky grunted his way out of the car and held the door for her. She stumbled as she stood up but he steadied her. Inside, the aircraft was a club lounge for executives. Four cream leather seats faced each other, two polished blonde wood tabletops were attached to the fuselage, ready to hinge up when required. Further back, four narrower seats flanked each side. Vronsky placed a hand in her back and guided her to a rear seat. "The bathroom is behind you, food and drink will come soon."

The entry door rose up and whined shut. A female flight attendant appeared from the front cabin and heaved a lever into place, sealing the door.

"Vodka and nuts," Vronsky ordered when she approached him. "One bottle, three glasses. The lady will have a soda and a ham sandwich. After that we need privacy."

"I'll bring the order right after takeoff, fasten seat belts please." She waited for the belt-clicking to stop, then disappeared through a curtain.

"Nice ass," Semyon said. "Not so much the face."

She came back with an envelope for Vronsky. The jet moved forward onto the runway, gathered speed, the generated force pressing everyone back against the seats. The liftoff was delicate, the pilot appreciating that his customers weren't cut-rate vacationers. A few minutes later it banked to the south, straightened, and resumed the climb for altitude.