“Pat, it’s Jake.”
“Jake, hey buddy. I really hate to bother you while you’re on vacation, but there’s been an accident in Savannah and I really need you on this one”
“Savannah? What kind of accident?”
“A Challenger 604,” McGill said. “Carrying an Irish high-profile who was supposed to speak and marshal the parade. It crashed while shooting an approach. The weather on the Eastern seaboard has closed most of the airports so the Go Team in DC can’t get out for a few days, if at all. Our office is the Go Team, and the Director named me as IIC.”
“Well, Mr. Investigator in Charge, what’s the plan?”
“The plan is,” McGill said, “for you to get your butt down here as fast as you can so we can get mobile.”
“Pat, it’ll take me a good two hours to get there,” Jake said. “I’ve got to secure the cabin, pack a bag, and drop Beth off at her apartment. You should get on the road. I’ll be a good hour behind you to Savannah. There’s no way in hell you can wait on me and meet your two hour response time.”
“No, I need you with us on the ride down, so we’ll just wait for you.” McGill said.
“Okay, but I can’t make any promises on the time.”
“Don’t worry about the time, we’re only going to get in an initial walk-through today because of weather and tides, then kick it off full bore tomorrow morning.”
“Weather and tides? What do you mean, tides?” Jake asked. “Where did it crash?”
“In a tidal marsh,” Pat said. “But I’m told it’s easily accessible. You might want to bring those fishing waders you’re no doubt wearing right now. You know, just in case.”
“Pat, I still think you should just go on to Savannah without me. You can just brief me when I get there.”
“Jake, you’re not listening. The time doesn’t matter, just get here ASAP.”
“Fine, I’m on my way.”
CHAPTER 7
Jake stored his fishing equipment in his bag and started up the incline to his cabin.
He wondered about the crash. A Challenger 604. He’d never before worked an accident involving a Challenger. He’d investigated several business jet accidents, a couple of Learjets and Falcons, a Westwind, and a lot of business class turboprop accidents, but no Challengers yet. And this Challenger crashed in the marsh — a tidal marsh. That should be interesting.
He recalled some accident sites in the woods, along river banks, one actually in a river. Two small single engine piston powered aircraft, a Cessna and an experimental in the Okefenokee Swamp and countless numbers in open fields and hillsides.
As he approached his cabin, he thought about how disappointed Beth would be about canceling their plans. Hiking Amicalola Falls, walking around Dahlonega’s town square, and her shopping trip to the outlet stores in Dawsonville would all have to wait again. How will he explain that his job has cancelled another one of their trips?
Jake walked to the side entrance of the cabin and onto the screened porch. He removed his boots and waders, then hung the waders on a rack to dry.
Beth was not where he’d left her, reading in the hammock. She’d been barefoot, wearing blue denim jeans, rolled up to mid-calf. She was wearing his long-sleeved cotton flannel shirt, the red and black plaid one, unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up, and the shirt tail pulled up and tied into a knot at her navel. He smiled when he remembered her parting shot as he left with his fishing gear.
As he was walking away she said, “You know I’m not wearing any underwear.”
He turned to see her with shirt pulled open and her breasts exposed. “Tease.”
He hurried upstairs to the master bedroom looking for her. No Beth. He grabbed his traveling toiletries and shoved them into his suitcase. He packed several changes of clothes, then hauled his suitcase downstairs and placed it by the door. He checked the guest room. No Beth.
Damn, where is she. I got to move it.
Jake hauled his bags outside to the driveway and placed his suitcase in the trunk. “Beth? Beth, are you out here?”
Where the hell is she?
He reset the thermostats and made sure the windows were latched.
“Dammit Beth, where the hell are you? I’ve been called in.”
Then he knew. A smile crept across his face as he headed for the back porch.
She was naked in the hot tub on the back porch with the jets whirling the steamy water around her body. Her clothes piled in a chair next to the tub. She was stretched in the corner of the tub, her tanned arms resting on the edge. Her shoulder-length chestnut hair was pinned up. Her brown eyes turned a sparkling hazel in the sunlight. He looked at her scarlet nail polish and knew her sexy toes were painted to match.
Catherine Elizabeth McAllister didn’t fit the traditional mold of a Southern belle, despite coming from a family with extremely conservative values. She worked at her father’s bank in Newnan, a mundane nine-to-five job, but it paid the bills and offered her plenty of time off, an extra benefit of being the owner’s daughter. Jake knew Beth’s father still thought of her as Daddy’s little girl, something he saw her exploit every chance she got.
“Babe, I’ve got some bad news,” he said. He squatted down next to her and ran his fingers along her wet shoulder. “I’ve been called back to work and have to go to Savannah to investigate an accident.”
“Old news, Jake. Pat called me when you didn’t answer the page. He apologized for ruining our vacation, again. This is becoming a pattern, Jake. We hardly get away and you get called back to work.”
“I know you’re upset, but I promise to make it up to you.”
“Upset? You have no freaking idea how upset I am. Do you realize the wedding is in less than three months and I still don’t have a dress? I’ve got so much to do to get ready.”
He smiled. “I know. I’m sorry, but right now you need to get packed, so we can get on the road.”
A teasing glint in her eyes caught his attention. She raised her toes out of the water, tempting his foot fetish.
Beth had the advantage and he knew she was about to exploit it.
“I’m already packed, bag’s in the car and ready to go, but first we have to have one last dip in the hot tub, so you better move it and get your ass in here!” She raised her body just enough to let her breasts break the surface of the water.
He tried to stay focused. “Hey, that’s not fair. I need to get on the road. Quit fooling around. This is important. I don’t have time.”
“Jake, you owe me this one. I’m not going anywhere until you join me.”
“Dammit, Beth. It’ll have to wait, I have go. We have to go, now get dressed”
She slowly stood up. Steaming water droplets raced down her smooth skin. She turned her backside to him, teasingly bent over and shook her tight round ass at him. “You see something you like, big boy?”
He grabbed his shirt and ripped it off. As he tossed his clothes on the deck, he said, “All right, you win. I lost my fish this morning and it waved its tail at me in mockery, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this tail get away.”
Laughing, she turned around just in time to see him jump into the tub with his socks still on.
He pulled her naked body against his. “Pat is going to be pissed.”
CHAPTER 8
Four men sat in the conference room at the Savannah air traffic control facility, listening to a tape recording. It was the recording of the actual transmissions during the time frame when the aircraft accident occurred. Kaplan was saddened by the accident. He figured whatever happened to cause the accident probably happened inside the aircraft.