The airplane had turned and was starting down the runway, the two turboprop engines screaming as they achieved full power.
“Don’t pan with the airplane,” Grant said. “Let it come to you, then fire, re-aim, and fire again.”
“Daisy, down,” Holly said. She braced herself against Grant’s knees and took aim about a third of the way down the runway. She reckoned she could get off three shots that had any hope of connecting-one early, one abeam of her, and one late.
“Lead it a little,” Grant said.
The airplane was picking up speed now, and in a second, Holly would fire her first shot. She squeezed off the round and saw sparks as the bullet ricocheted off the runway, a yard ahead of the airplane’s nosewheel.
“Next one is the toughest,” Grant said. “Lead a lot.”
As the airplane drew abeam of her, Holly fired her second round and saw nothing, no effect.
“Now don’t lead,” Grant said.
Holly swung the gun around, aimed carefully, and fired. The airplane’s nose dropped a little, and sparks flew as the tire disintegrated and the metal wheel ran along the runway. The pilot lifted the nosewheel off the ground.
“Shit, he’s going to take off!” Holly yelled.
The airplane rose at a nose-high angle, and the main gear came a couple of feet off the ground. But it wasn’t gaining any altitude. She saw the landing gear come up.
“He doesn’t have enough airspeed,” Grant said. “He’s going to stall it.”
As if on cue, the King Air fell onto the runway from a height of about six feet. The airplane skidded down the runway, turning sideways, then swapping ends.
Holly was on her feet, running, amazed by how far the airplane could slide. Finally, the airplane slowed, then stopped. It was a thousand feet away, and Holly knew the pilot would want to get his passengers off in a hurry. The door fell open, banging on the runway, and people began to pour out.
Grant yelled, “FBI! Freeze! FBI! Stop or we’ll fire.”
From somewhere in the distance, Holly heard the siren of a police car. “That’s my people,” she said.
Then the firing started. Someone in the group from the airplane began automatic fire, but he didn’t know exactly where to shoot, so the shots went wide.
Holly hit the runway on her belly, her gun out in front of her, and took aim at the man with the assault weapon. She squeezed off two shots and heard somebody yell in pain.
“You’re shooting well tonight,” Grant said. “Let’s just stay right here until the cavalry arrives.”
But Holly was already up and running. “Come on, Daisy, stay with me.” She was looking for Ed Shine, and she wanted him badly. She could smell jet fuel now. A tank had ruptured.
Somebody fired a shotgun in her direction, only a yard wide. Holly stopped running and aimed at the runway under the airplane’s wing. She fired two more rounds, sparks flew, and the fuel caught fire. The airplane had been spilling fuel as it slid, and the blaze raced up the runway toward Holly; she sidestepped it and kept running, Daisy alongside her.
Then the flames under the airplane spread upward and both wings exploded, a fraction of a second apart. A man with a shotgun threw it aside and ran in circles, covered in flames. Other figures could be seen running away from the airplane, one with snowy white hair.
“Daisy,” Holly said, pointing at him. “Get Ed! Get Ed! Guard!” Daisy took off after him, while Holly skirted the burning airplane, looking for other people with weapons.
Two cars, a white Range Rover and an Orchid Beach PD patrol car sped down the runway toward the airplane, lights flashing and sirens on. Both cars screeched to a halt beside Holly. “Holly?” Hurd’s voice said from the Range Rover.
“Right,” Holly replied. “Half a dozen people left that airplane before it caught fire, and they’ve scattered out there somewhere,” she said, swinging her arm across the area beside the runway. “Hurd, you stick with me. You go round up those people and cuff them,” Holly yelled at the other car. “Some of them may be armed, so be careful.” The car sped off. “You follow me, Hurd. Stay behind me, I need your headlights.”
Then Holly heard a man yelling from out in the darkness. “Get off me, get off me!”
“Ed, is that you?” Holly asked, running toward the voice, the Range Rover following.
“Get the dog off me!” he yelled back.
Holly saw him now, lying on his back, with Daisy standing beside him in the guard position, fangs bared, growling. “Daisy, sit; stay,” she said.
Ed Shine sat up, then struggled to his feet.
“You! How did…”
“Vault doors have safety releases on the inside, Ed,” she said. “Sorry about your airplane.”
“Why don’t you just shoot me?” Shine said disconsolately.
“No, Ed,” Holly said. “I couldn’t stand it; that would be too much fun.” Hurd cuffed him and put him into the back of the car.
“I don’t know what’s going on here, Holly,” Hurd said, “but it looks like I’m out of a job.”
“Hurd,” Holly said, “as far as I’m concerned, you never left the department; the job is still yours.”
Then a black van with a flashing red light on top drove up, and Harry Crisp got out, wearing full FBI battle regalia-body armor, helmet, the works. “Okay, Holly, I’ll take it from here,” he said.
“The hell you will, Harry,” Holly said. “This is my collar. You can have whatever stragglers you can pick up.”
“This is a federal matter, Holly,” Harry said.
“Tell it to a judge,” Holly replied. “You’re onmy turf, Harry.”
Grant walked up. “Harry, where the hell have you been? Didn’t you get my call?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know exactly what it meant,” Harry replied.
“You didn’t know what NOW, do it NOW! meant?”
“I think you fellows need to have a little chat,” Holly said, getting into the Range Rover. “Have a nice evening.” She drove away.
65
Holly and Grant lay on a double chaise beside the swimming pool at The Marquesa, a small but luxurious Key West inn, sipping rum and tonics. Daisy slept in a puddle of shade under a nearby tree.
“This isn’t bad, is it?” Grant asked.
“I’ve been in worse places,” Holly agreed. “You know, this is the first vacation I’ve had since I took the job in Orchid Beach. I was supposed to have a honeymoon, but…”
“Yeah, I know. I’m glad you could take the time now. Harry’s still pissed off at you, you know.”
“Why? I told him he could have Ed Shine as soon as he’s done his time. If Harry had been straight with me about a few things, he’d be a lot happier now.”
“I haven’t mentioned that to him, but you’re right,” Grant said. “You’ve committed the cardinal sin with Harry, you know; you prevented him from taking all the credit.”
“Yeah, and I’m really crushed about that.”
“There are rumors that he may get transferred to a less desirable post.”
“Oh?” Holly asked. “What will I do for entertainment?”
“In the meantime, he’s got another assignment for me. Undercover again.”
Holly sat up on one elbow. “Where?”
“I can’t tell you; it’s a secret.”
Holly poured her icy drink on his chest. “Just for that, I’m not going to tell you where the five million seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars is.”
“What?” Grant asked, flicking ice off his chest and mopping with a towel.
“I took five million seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars from Ed’s stash at Blood Orchid,” Holly said.
“How the hell did you do that?”
“I was watching them unload a van at the admin building, and I filched it when they weren’t looking. I wanted to know what was inside. Then I hid it.”