Chapter 8
Once Amanda had climbed on board, Benny released his hold on Dotty. As he bent down to pick up Amanda’s gun, he found some rope that was hiding under the pilot’s seat. Keeping his gun trained in the direction of Dotty, he motioned for Amanda to take a seat. He then moved over to her and lowering the gun briefly he pulled her arms behind her and began to tie her hands behind her back.
Dotty watched as this madman tied her daughter’s arms behind her back and to the seat of the plane. She noticed the calmness in her daughter’s features and realized that this was probably not the first time her daughter had been in a situation like this. That thought unnerved her quite a bit. It was bad enough watching her daughter with a gun in her hands. She moved her gaze from her daughter to the gun that now lay at the madman’s feet.
Kurt had been watching as well, and had followed Dotty’s gaze. His thinking was that if he could some how get the gun away from the man Amanda had called Benny, he could help save the day. His mind was focused on the gun, and never saw Amanda’s barely perceptible shake of the head warning him not to do anything stupid.
Benny, on the other hand, had seen it. He reached quickly for the gun, and turned his attention towards the pilot. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Making sure that Amanda was secure to the seat, he sat himself in the seat next to her. “All right folks, let’s turn this plane around and get in the air. I need to get as far away from here as possible.”
Kurt shook his head. “Sorry, buddy, but we can’t. There’s a storm coming and the tower grounded all flights.”
Benny raised the gun in Kurt’s direction. “I don’t care what the tower says. You are to take this plane up, NOW!”
Kurt shook his head again. “I’m not going to endanger my life or the lives of these two women…”
Benny didn’t give him a chance to finish. He was up and out of his seat before the man could finish. He gave Kurt a swift blow to the head with the butt of his gun, knocking the man out cold. He then turned his attention towards Dotty, “I mean business, lady. Get this plane in the air.”
Dotty looked in Amanda’s direction. Amanda nodded. “Okay,” she whispered nervously. Swallowing her fear, she put the plane in gear and turned it back towards the runway.
Amanda was taking advantage of Benny’s attention on her mother to try and loosen the ropes around her wrists, but she would need as much time as she could get. She stopped her movements as Benny moved back into his seat when the plane started to move. She noticed Dotty's hands shaking on the controls, and realized that this was probably the first time her mother had flown without Kurt’s assistance. Amanda knew it was up to her to somehow save the day. Lee wouldn’t be able to help once they were airborne.
As Lee passed his car, he suddenly remembered that neither he nor Amanda had checked in with Billy. He knew he should call in and at least get Agency back up to come in and take care of Cindi and that John guy in Benny’s office. Knowing there would be hell to pay if either of the two suspects woke up and got away, he opened his car door and dialed the number to the Agency.
“Melrose please. This is Scarecrow.”
“Hold one moment, Scarecrow, patching you through now.”
Lee drummed his fingers on the hood of the car as he waited for Billy to pick up the line.
“Scarecrow, where are you?” Francine Desmond’s voice came over the phone.
“Francine, we’re out at Silver Spring airport. We need a clean-up crew to come and get two of Benny Collins’ associates.” Noticing airport security rounding the corner, he amended, “The suspects will be with airport security. Tell Billy I’ll fill him in as soon as I can.” He hung up the phone and closed his car door. Fear for his wife’s safety overtook him again as another bolt of lightning splintered the sky, and then was followed by a very loud clap of thunder.
Taking out his Agency ID, he flagged down the approaching security cart. “I have two suspects, who are responsible for the hanger explosions, in that office over there. I need you to take them into custody and wait for my associates to come and apprehend them.” He showed one of the officers his ID.
“Sir, I’m afraid we can’t assist you, we need to go stop that plane.” The security officer handed Lee back his ID.
The second officer shook his head, “Smith, I think we can, that plane just took off, there’s no way we can stop it now.”
Lee turned in the direction of the plane as another lightning bolt streaked the sky. He closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer that everything would turn out okay. Turning, he ran at full speed in the direction of the tower.
“Twelve-Niner-Zero, Silver Spring Airport. Seventeen-Forty-Three you are not cleared for take off. Please return to your hangar.”
Dotty knew she should respond, but if she did, they would just tell her she couldn’t take off, and she knew that the man aiming the gun in her direction obviously didn’t care about the safety of himself or the occupants of the plane.
Knowing it was against all rules and regulations, and after this she may never get her official pilot’s license, she pulled up on the throttle and increased the plane’s speed for take off.
“Ma’am, are you going to be able to fly this plane without the assistance of a co-pilot?” Amanda had decided that if she could at least find a discreet way to let Benny know that their pilot wasn’t the most experienced, he might change his mind and let them stay on the ground. She was also hoping that by not referring to her by name, her mother would get the hint that she didn’t want their captor to know they knew each other.
“A…” Dotty realized at the last second what her daughter was up to. She didn’t want that Benny fellow to know his hostages knew each other. “It might make it easier on us all if we introduced ourselves. I mean if we’re going to die together we might as well get to know each other.”
Amanda could hear the tremor in her mother’s voice, but was glad that Dotty had indeed picked up her subterfuge. “My name is Amanda King. I’m a federal agent. Not that that makes a difference right now.”
Dotty clicked on a few controls and pulled back on the throttle again, the plane jolted a little as the wheels lifted off the ground and were secured in their home under the plane. “I’m Dotty West, your pilot.” A bolt of lightning struck the sky in front of them and she swallowed the fear that had suddenly lodged itself in her throat. Calming her nerves, she glanced over at Kurt’s slumped form, as if willing him to wake up. “To answer your earlier question, I will do my best, but I’ve never flown solo before, and I have never ever flown in a storm either.”
Benny looked over at the agent tied to the seat, and then at the pilot. “Look lady, just fly this plane. Enough chit chat.”
Amanda turned her attention towards their captor. “You know what, Benny? Mrs. West just informed us that she’s never done this before, and you yelling at her, isn’t going to help. Unless you want to crash, I suggest you soften your tone and let her do whatever it is she needs to do to stay calm.”
Benny never liked being told what to do by a woman. He had put up with it from Cindi, only because of who her brother was. He didn’t know Agent King from Eve and wasn’t about to take sass from her. Rising quickly from his seat, he moved directly in front of Amanda. Raising his hand he slapped her across the face. “You just keep your mouth shut missy.”
Amanda kept her features calm. Benny was clearly way over the edge, and there was no reason to make the situation any worse than it was. She decided she would try her best to keep her mouth shut. If Benny was concentrating on things out the front window, then she could keep working on the rope. She needed to find a way to get control of the situation.
Dotty cringed as she heard the thwack of Benny’s hand on her daughter’s face. Deciding it was best not to anger the madman behind her further, she concentrated on the instruments in front of her. As another bolt of lightning streaked the sky in front of them, she sent out a silent prayer that she could get them out of this alive.
Chapter 9
Roger Jones watched as his co-worker, Lou Ranger, switched views on the radar screen one more time hoping to be able to give the very impatient Agent Stetson something of a good report. Seeing nothing on his screen, Lou shook his head.
Roger saw the vein in the agent’s neck look as if it were going to pop. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone turn that shade of red before.’ Turning his attention back to his radio, Roger tried one more time to reach the missing aircraft. “Five-Niner-Zero, Silver Spring Airport, Seventeen-Forty-Three please come in.” Hearing only static, he looked apologetically towards Lee. “I’m sorry Agent Stetson, but the storm must be affecting the radio signal.”
Lee looked up at the ceiling of the flight tower, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. How Amanda managed to get herself into these life-threatening situations was beyond him, but his heart couldn’t take much more of this. She was his life and if anything ever happened to her… His thoughts were cut off by the sound of his name.
“Agent Stetson, there’s a Mr. Melrose on the phone for you.” One of the tower personnel called out as he held the phone out to Lee.
Lee ran his hand through his hair and walked over to the young man. Taking the receiver, he spoke into the phone, “Billy?”
“Scarecrow,” the frustrated voice of Lee’s boss came over the line. “What the devil is going on? I just received a very annoyed call from the F.A.A, saying that some hot-headed agent was terrorizing the control tower personnel at Silver Spring Airport. I knew, without question, that it had to be you.”
“Not funny, Billy,” Lee replied, his eyes scanning the control tower, watching the crew work, hoping to get some idea that the plane carrying his wife and mother-in-law had made contact. “Benny Collins took off in a private plane with Amanda, and according to the tower logs, Amanda’s mother and her flight instructor, Captain Kurt, are on that plane as well.”
Billy cut in, “What do you mean Collins has Amanda and her mother? How did Dotty get involved in this?”
Lee sighed, and shook his head. He had been wondering the same thing too. “Wrong place at the wrong time,” he mumbled. Then a little louder, he continued, “The problem isn’t just that Benny has them, Billy. He somehow forced them to get the plane airborne and fly right into a major thunderstorm. The tower hasn’t been able to make radio contact, so we have no idea what’s going on aboard that plane.”
“Oh, that’s just wonderful,” Billy hissed. That’s all he needed. A lunatic holding Amanda and two civilians at gunpoint in a plane was a surefire recipe to tip Lee’s control of his temper over the edge, and a storm front coming in was just icing on the cake. “Do me a favor, Scarecrow,” he said into the phone, “Please do your best to keep your head, and not lose your cool…”
“Billy, that’s my wife up there,” Lee jumped in, his free hand now clenched into a fist.
“Scarecrow!” Billy cut him off. “I know that, but you losing your temper and doing something stupid isn’t going to help them. I need you to stay as calm as possible and stay out of the way of the personnel in flight control—let them do their job! If you don’t, they’ll most likely call security and have you removed from the premises.” Billy waited for an explosion from the other end, but all he got was silence. “Scarecrow? Did you hear me?”
“Yes, Billy, I did, and you’re right. I need to keep my wits about me so I can stay in the loop. I won’t do anyone any good if I’m locked in a security officer’s holding cell.” Lee was sure he could hear his boss’ thoughts. He knew he had changed. The years he had spent working with Amanda had softened him. He was more than willing to see the damage his actions might cause if he acted first rather than think first, and then act.
“Are you feeling all right, Lee?” Billy asked his voice holding a bit of humor.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Getting back to business, Lee remembered Benny’s two associates. “By the way, speaking of security offices, do you know if Francine dispatched a crew to pickup Cindi Gayle and John Markez?”
“Yes, one of our guys just checked in. They’re on their way back to the Agency with the suspects now. I’ll also start making some phone calls to nearby airports, see if they’ve heard from Amanda’s plane, and ask them to keep an ear out.”
“Billy, would you mind if I did that? I think it might be best if I made the calls from here.” Lee watched the control tower personnel scanning the radar screens watching for any sign of the small aircraft. “It’ll give me something to do. I need to keep from thinking about all the things that could go wrong.”
“All right,” Billy agreed, “but keep me posted. I’ll get in touch with you there if I hear anything on my end.”
“Will do, Scarecrow out.” Lee hung up the phone and then turned his attention to the young man who had handed him the phone. “Do you have a list of all the nearby local airports?”
The young man nodded his head and started rifling through some papers on his desk. Finding the list, he handed it to Lee.
“Thanks,” Lee commented as he took the paper. Picking the receiver off its base, he dialed the first number.
Rain was now pelting the window of the small plane. Dotty was having a very difficult time seeing anything outside the window other than streaks of water. Taking a deep breath she kept her focus on the instruments. As long as she kept the horizon even… Her thoughts were cut off as a jolt of lightning struck the wing of the plane. The little plane shuddered and tipped drastically towards the right. Gripping the yoke, she tried to right the plane.
Benny grabbed onto his seat as the plane rocked back and forth. What had he been thinking? Forcing the pilot to take this plane up in the air in the middle of an oncoming storm. How had things gotten so bad so quickly? Just an hour ago he was about to be filthy rich. Now, he’d be lucky if he lived long enough to salvage anything from his business venture.
Amanda had been watching Benny, waiting for opportune moments to work on her bonds. However, at the moment, the bonds were the only thing keeping her in her seat. Should her mother not be able to keep control of the plane, and they crashed, at least she wouldn’t be thrown from her seat. Too many thoughts were going through her head at the moment. Her mother was terrified, but at least she had played along and not let Benny know that they knew each other. However, at this moment, she almost wished she could lend her mother moral support. She knew however, that her mother needed to concentrate on flying. If only Captain Kurt hadn’t tried to be the hero.
Then there was the fact that Benny was definitely not looking very stable. She needed to get out of her bonds and get that gun away from Benny. Taking advantage of Benny’s lack of interest in her, she continued to work on the ropes that bound her to the seat. Unfortunately, Benny was one of those criminals who liked to tie ropes way too tight. The more she tried to work on the ropes, the more they chafed her wrists.
Suddenly a bolt of lightning electrified the sky and again struck the wing of the plane. Dotty felt the jolt of the bolt as it caused the plane to tip again. Gripping the yoke as hard as she could, she tried to gain some semblance of control. Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to keep the plane in the air much longer, she decided she only had one choice. She was going to have to find a place to land this plane. However, the lack of visibility made it impossible to know where they were and if she would even be able to find a safe place to land. As the plane hit an air pocket, she felt the plane shudder.
Dotty had just managed to get the plane level on the horizon, when another lightning bolt struck the plane. This time it sent a surge of electricity through the plane itself. The plane tilted to the right, then the left. Dotty knew she didn’t have a choice anymore; her horizon was gone. “Hold on tight everyone. We’re going down!”
Lee looked at his watch and noticed that it was almost 3:30. He had now contacted every local airport within a sixty-mile radius of the Silver Spring Airport. Including National, BWI and Dulles. All the tower personnel he spoke to assured him that they would contact him if they heard anything or received any report of any small aircraft flying in the storm. He listened as Roger tried again to reach the small plane. He prayed that the storm hadn’t knocked out their radio, and that it was Benny’s idiocy that kept either pilot from returning the control tower’s calls.
Realizing that the boys should be home from school by now, he decided to give them a call. He needed to check in with the two family members he could at least communicate with verbally. He had no intention of telling them anything about their mom or grandma. It would do no good to worry them, and he had to keep hoping that Amanda, Dotty and Kurt would make it out of this one unscathed. Picking up the phone he dialed the familiar number, and waited for one of his stepsons to answer.
“Hello, King-Stetson residence.”
Lee recognized his youngest stepson’s voice. “Hi, Jamie, it’s Lee.”
“Hey, Lee. What’s up?”
Taking a deep breath, he tried to sound as calm as possible. “I, uhm, called just to make sure you and Phillip made it home okay…and to tell you that your mom and I are going to be running a bit late tonight. It also appears that your grandma might not make it home on time either. Do you think you and your brother can take care of getting yourselves something to eat?”
“Guess that means you guys won’t be home for dinner.” Lee could hear the disappointment in his stepson’s voice.
“Not entirely sure on that point, Chief. Your mom and I are trying to wrap something up, and I am hoping we’ll be home in time, but I think it would be best if you and Phillip didn’t plan on us being there.”
“Okay. I’ll let Phillip know. Where’s Grandma?”
“She’s with Captain Kurt. Make sure you guys get your homework done, and if you could just stay around the house, I’d appreciate it.”
“Lee, is something wrong?”
Damn, Jamie was just like his mother, very intuitive. “Why do you ask, Chief?”
“Well you and Mom really only want us to stay around home if something is wrong.”
Lee rubbed his forehead. “Let’s just say your mom and your grandma are caught up in something, and I would rather not have to worry about you and your brother, okay?”
“Okay…but…Lee?”
“Yeah, Jamie.” Lee closed his eyes. The small headache that had been nagging him since the plane had disappeared from the radar was beginning to grow stronger.
“Promise that if something goes wrong, you’ll call us and let us know?”
Nodding, as if the younger boy could see him, he answered, “I promise. Now, don’t you worry about anything, okay? You just go work on your homework and we’ll see you when we get home.”
“Okay, Lee. See you later. Bye.”
Just as Lee put the phone back on its receiver, one of the other phones in the tower rang. Lee jumped to answer it, but was stopped when Lou beat him to it.
Lee paced back and forth in front of the man, listening as Lou replied with ‘uh-huh’s’ and wrote down information. He knew from the glances Lou was giving him that the news was about Captain Kurt’s plane. However, he was unable to read the other man’s body language, and therefore was unable to gauge if the news was good, or bad.
No sooner did Lou hang up the phone, than he was eye to eye with Lee. “Agent Stetson, if you could back away, I promise to give you all the information you want.”
Lee nodded and backed away. However, he never took his eyes off of Lou.
Lou turned to address Lee, “That was the Baltimore City police department. They located a plane that fits the description of Captain Kurt’s plane...”
“Where? Did it crash? Did the plane survive the crash? Are the occupants okay?” If he wasn’t so concerned about the safety of his wife and mother-in-law, he probably would have found it kind of funny. The rapid-fire questions were one of his wife’s more endearing traits.
Lou shook his head. “That was their dispatch that called. They were only able to give me the location, and inform me that the rescue squads are on their way.” Handing Lee the paper he had written the information on, “here’s the location.”
Before Lou could say anything else, Lee had grabbed the paper and was half way to the door.
Chapter 10
Amanda opened her eyes, and just as quickly closed them. The pounding in her head wasn’t her imagination. As she tried to raise her hand to inspect the throbbing in her head, she remembered that her hands were still bound behind her. Knowing she needed to assess the situation, she slowly opened her eyes again. Lifting her head, she took in the interior of the plane. The plane itself seemed to have survived the crash landing. She looked to her left and noticed that Benny was sprawled out on the floor. The gun he had been holding on them earlier was now lying at her mother’s feet.
Amanda allowed her gaze to move from the unconscious form of their captor. “Mother! Mother, are you all right?” A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she heard her mother groan.
“Amanda? Did we make it?” Dotty slowly lifted her own head, and glanced around.
“Yes, Mother, we did. That was some bit of flying you did. Are you all right? Can you move?”
Dotty nodded slowly. “Yes, I think so.”
“Good, we have to act fast. I need you to come over here and untie me. Then we need to use the rope to tie Benny up.” Amanda ignored the pain in her head. She would have plenty of time later to worry about her own body’s screams for attention.
Dotty slowly rose, looking down she saw Benny sprawled out on the floor, and stepped over him. As she reached her daughter, she reached out to touch Amanda’s forehead.
Amanda instinctively pulled her head back, “Ouch! Mother, please, I don’t know how much time we have before Benny wakes up and I’d rather he be the one tied to a seat when he does.”
Dotty swallowed and nodded. “I’m sorry, Amanda, but that cut on your head looks really bad.” She took her eyes away from the large gash on Amanda’s head and moved to untie her daughter. It didn’t take long, and within a few minutes Amanda’s hands were finally free.
Rubbing her wrists, she moved over to Benny. Seeing him sprawled on the floor, she was silently glad that she hadn’t pointed out to their captor the importance of wearing a seatbelt. “Mother, do you feel strong enough to help me move Benny back to his seat?”
Dotty nodded, and between the two of them they were able to sit Benny upright in his seat. “Now, while I secure Benny, see if you can contact anyone using the radio. Hopefully, that last bolt of lightning didn’t affect the radio.”
“Right, the radio. I totally forgot we had that.” Dotty moved back to the front of the plane. She paused when she saw Kurt lying over the yoke on his side of the plane. “Oh, my goodness, Kurt.” She saw the large knot on the back of his head where Benny had hit him earlier, but she had no idea if he had sustained any other injuries. Needing to make sure he was okay, she gently pushed him back in his seat.
“Mother, the radio. Is it working?” Amanda, having just finished tying Benny up, moved to the front of the plane. Bending down, she retrieved the gun on the floor. Checking to make sure the safety was on; she placed it in the waistband of her jeans, at the small of her back.
“I...I don’t know, I was too concerned with Kurt.”
Amanda nodded, and put a gentle hand on her mother’s shoulder. Reaching over she felt under Kurt’s neck for a pulse. “He’s alive, Mother. Right now we need to get help for ourselves.” Looking out the window, the rain was still coming down, but at least it wasn’t a heavy rain. “I’m going to go survey the situation outside the plane. See if I can figure out where we are.”
Dotty reached over and tried the radio. “Hello, anyone out there? This is Seventeen-Forty-Three.” Nothing. All she received back in response was static.
Amanda had moved to the back of the plane and opened the door. Preparing herself to jump down from the plane, she glanced once more towards the front of the plane. “Keep trying Mother. Keep trying.” She headed out of the plane.
No sooner had she touched ground than she heard the sound of sirens. Looking around she realized that they were on the side of a four-lane highway. However, there didn’t seem to be much traffic at the moment. Whether the crash had caused the police to shut down the highway, or the traffic was just light, was hard to determine at this point. Regardless, they were going to be fine.
She poked her head back in the plane. “Mother, you can stop trying to contact someone. They know we’re here.”
Amanda knew without looking that Lee had arrived at the scene, she could hear him yelling her name. Her mother was in one of the other ambulances with Captain Kurt. He had just regained consciousness, and she was hovering over him like a mother hen. Amanda had been greatly relieved when Kurt awoke, for more than just the fact that he was okay, but it also meant that her mother wouldn’t be hovering over her.
“I’m back here, Lee.” She smiled at the young paramedic working on her head.
“Are you all right?” Lee asked as he reached her side.
“Yes, I’m fine.” Amanda saw the concern on her husband’s face. “Can you please tell my husband that I’m fine?” She turned her attention to the paramedic.
“Sir, other than a nice abrasion on your wife’s head, and some chafing on her wrists, it appears she’s okay.” The young woman replied never looking in Lee’s direction.
“Amanda, you had me scared to death.”
Amanda reached out and grabbed Lee’s hand. “I’m sorry. It all happened so fast. When I realized Benny wasn’t in the office, I went to see where he’d disappeared to. Then I saw him heading towards a plane, and when I realized it was Captain Kurt’s plane… I remembered that Mother and Kurt were going up today, and I realized that if he commandeered the plane he would most likely get away. But by the time I reached the plane, Benny had already gotten inside, I thought I could stop him but then he put a gun to Mother’s head…”
The paramedic had finished with Amanda’s head and had stepped aside. Lee took this opportunity to wrap his arms around his wife and kiss her soundly. As they broke apart, he looked her up and down to ensure himself she was, indeed okay. “Hey, we can go over all that later. How are Dotty and Kurt? Are they okay?”
Amanda nodded. “Yeah Benny had knocked Kurt out, but other than a bump on the head, he seems to be okay. Mother doesn’t have a scratch on her. I was so proud of her, Lee. With Kurt out of commission, she had to fly the plane, solo. She was terrified, Lee, I could tell, but she kept it together.”
“Well I’m just glad everyone’s okay. By the way, where is Benny?” Lee began scanning the area.
“Well once the police got here, I showed them my ID and had the officers put him in the back of one of the squad cars. The crash was a blessing in disguise. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt when we crashed, so he was thrown from his seat and knocked unconscious. Otherwise, I have no idea how we would have gotten out of that whole situation.” Amanda moved closer to Lee as he wrapped his arms around her protectively.
Leaning down he kissed the top of her head. “Thank goodness for small miracles. Come on, let’s go check on Dotty and Captain Kurt. Then I need to go call Billy and let him know you’re okay. After that, we all need to go into the Agency for debriefing.”
Amanda nodded. It felt good to be back on solid ground again.
Conclusion
Amanda sat on the couch cuddled next to Lee. Phillip and Jamie were outside shooting some hoops, and Amanda was enjoying this alone time with her husband. Staring blankly at the T.V. screen, she thought over the events of the last two weeks. After being debriefed on the Collins’ case, they had come home and had been bombarded with questions from the boys. After assuring the boys that everyone was indeed okay, and the house settled down again, they had begun to finalize their plans for the weekend. Billy had given them an extra day off, and they had taken full advantage of it. Despite Lee’s reservations, and the unscheduled flight, they had kept their promise to the boys and had gone on their camping trip.
Now, almost a week later, they were anxiously awaiting Dotty’s arrival home. She had gone to finish her pilot’s license test. After the incident last week, Dotty had been extremely nervous that all her past work would have been for nothing. The F.A.A. was never one to take pilots disobeying control tower orders lightly. Sighing, she hoped everything would work out for her mother.
Lee tightened his arm around Amanda’s shoulder. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah, I just hope Mother gets her license. She’s been working on that for so long.” Amanda leaned her head on her husband’s shoulder. Before Lee could respond, the front door opened. “Mother! Is that you?” Amanda quickly rose from the couch.
“Yes, it’s me.” Dotty entered the room with Captain Kurt behind her.
“So…are you going to keep us in suspense?” Lee rose to stand beside his wife, as they both stared at Dotty expectantly.
A wide grin spread across her face. “I got it!”
Amanda jumped and ran to her Mother, pulling her into a tight embrace. “I’m so proud of you, Mother. I knew you could do it.”
Dotty smiled as she stepped out from Amanda’s arms. “Yeah, apparently the review board was so impressed with how I flew during the storm, and how I handled myself under pressure that they overlooked my blatant disregard of the control tower.”
“That’s wonderful, Dotty,” Lee walked over and hugged her.
Just as he stepped away, Phillip and Jamie came bounding into the house. “So, Grandma, are you a pilot yet?”
“Yep, as of today, I’m fully licensed to fly the friendly skies.”
“That’s great Grandma, but promise us, no more dangerous skies.” Jamie commented as he hugged her.
“Oh don’t worry about that.”
Amanda had been watching her husband. Something about his demeanor and his reaction to the news told her that he had had something to do with her mother’s license.
Lee saw her looking at him. He smiled at her and winked. “Well, I think this calls for a celebration. What do you all say we go out for dinner? My treat.”
A chorus of “Yeah!” “Sounds good to me” and “How sweet, Lee” were the responses he received.
Amanda walked over to her husband and put an arm around his waist. “Mother, since it’s your celebration, I think you should pick the place. Boys why don’t you head on out to the car, with Grandma and Kurt, we’ll catch up in a minute.” Amanda turned, placing her other arm around Lee’s waist. Hooking her hands behind his back, she looked into his eyes.
Lee returned the gesture, pulling her closer to him and placing a kiss on her forehead. “Well, I must say, I’m very proud of Dotty. I thought for sure, after her last experience she might not want to get back in the air.”
“Yeah, I was a little afraid of that too. But I think she’s learned that if you don’t get back on the horse right away, you never will.” Amanda saw Lee look towards the front door, and she tightened her arms around him. “Not so fast, Big Fella. I have a question to ask you.”
Lee looked her in the eye. “Okay.”
“What exactly do you know about Mother’s license? I may not know a lot about pilots and regulations, but I know that she broke a dozen rules when she never returned the tower’s calls.”
Lee shrugged. “I have no knowledge of anything.”
“Mmm-hmm. That’s what I thought. You can’t pull one over on me, Stetson.” Amanda unclasped her hands and methodically began to rub her hands up and down his back. As she trailed her fingernails up closer to his neck, she moved her lips closer to his. “Fess up, or I’ll have to use my feminine wiles on you.” She felt him shiver.
Lee knew the family was waiting on them. He also knew that his wife would get the answers from him one way or another. Sighing, he gave in sooner than he would have liked. “Okay. Okay.” Amanda stopped and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I felt bad that Dotty was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then after reading the transcript of her debriefing,” Amanda raised her eyebrows at him. “I know, I know. I shouldn’t have done that, but hey, your life was at stake too, and you know me, I have to know the whole story.” He watched as Amanda nodded. “Anyway, I realized not only how brave Dotty had been, but how well she handled herself under pressure. She deserved to get her license. So I called in a few favors. Hey, what’s the use of having contacts if you can’t use them?”
Amanda smiled. She then moved her hands behind his head and pulled his lips down for a kiss filled with love. When they broke apart, she whispered. “You’re a wonderful man, Lee Stetson. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Stepping out of the embrace, he grabbed her hand. “Come on. We better go before they send a search party in after us. Besides, I’m hungry.”
Amanda laughed and squeezed his hand. As they headed towards the front door, she grabbed her purse from the table in the hallway. “You know, Lee. It may not be a good idea to let Mother pick the restaurant. She’s likely to pick one of the priciest places around.”
“Well, for such a special lady, I think I can empty my wallet out this one time.” He turned and winked at her, as they headed out of the house. Closing the door behind him, he locked it and they made their way to the family impatiently awaiting them near the car.
The End
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