1974 - So What Happens to Me (16 page)

“Come on Jack,” she said. “We haven’t much time,” and she held out her arms to me. “Are the others busy?” and closed the door and shot the bolt.

“You’re in trouble,” I said. “I’m in trouble too.”

She stared at me.

“What does that mean?”

“Right now, this plane is being hijacked.”

The sexy light went out of her eyes. Now her mouth turned thin and her face became a hard mask. Mrs. Victoria Essex wasn’t Mrs. Victoria Essex for nothing. Her brain worked as fast as quick silver.

“Are Olson and Erskine stealing this plane?”

“That’s it”

“Are you in this too?”

“Yes.”

I had to admire her. She looked as unruffled as a bishop at a tea party.

“Where are we going?”

“Yucatan. We arrive in two and a half hours . . . with luck.”

She threw aside the sheet and slid of the bed. I watched her as she walked, naked, to where she had left her clothes. I watched her dress quickly and without fuss.

She then walked to the mirror and ran a comb through her hair. Satisfied she looked like the always glamorous Mrs. Victoria Essex, she turned slowly and regarded me.

“We have time. I’ll talk to Olson. Was this his bright little idea?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll tell him to turn around and go back.”

She started towards the door, but I didn’t move and she confronted me.

“Get out of my way Jack!”

“Three million dollars are involved,” I said quietly. “Not even you can talk Olson nor Erskine out of that.”

“Get out of my way!” Her eyes flashed. “I’ll talk to him!”

“Get wise! Olson has no use for you. Erskine hates you. If you go to the flight cabin and sound off Erskine will knock you over the head and drop you into the sea. I’m telling you: you’re in trouble.”

She stared at me for a long moment.

“Am I in trouble with you too Jack?”

“I’ll do my best for you. Why the hell did you have to come on board?”

“What does your best mean?”

“I’ll do what I can to protect you.”

“That’s kind of you.” She turned away and wandered over to the big, circular bed. “I think I prefer to protect myself.”

Before I could move, she had drawn the Armalite rifle from under the mattress where I had hidden it and pointed it at me.

“Don’t move!” The snap in her voice made me stiffen. “No one is hijacking me! Don’t imagine I can’t handle this gun. Go ahead Jack, we’re going to the flight cabin.”

“This won’t get you anywhere,” I said. “I’m on your side, but we’ve got beyond the point of no return.”

“No, we haven’t! Go ahead!”

I wondered how Bernie and Harry would react when I came into the flight cabin with her and the gun. I drew the bolt and stepped out into the aisle, I had an idea she wouldn’t shoot me if I turned on her and I suddenly didn’t give a damn. I opted to be neutral. If she could force Bernie to turn the plane around.

I’d go along. If Bernie and Harry were smart enough to outplay her. I’d also go along. The ball was in her court.

Because I was half in love with her and because I really didn’t know what I was going to do with a million and a quarter dollars, I went like a zombie into the flight cabin.

Harry turned his head as I entered.

“Short nap Jack,” he said. “Your conscience worrying you?”

I moved aside and Mrs. Essex stood in the doorway, pointing the gun at him and Bernie.

Harry stared, his jaw dropping, then he made a move to get to his feet.

“Stay still!” she snapped.

Harry relaxed back in his seat.

“For God’s sake, Bernie! Look who’s here!”

Bernie glanced over his shoulder, stared at her, stared at the gun and his face turned the colour of a dead, stale fish.

“You’re not hijacking this plane!” she said. “Turn around! We’re going back to the airfield!”

Harry grinned at her.

“No, we’re not. And there is nothing you can do about it, baby. That gun means nothing. You start shooting and we’ll all dive into the sea.”

“I said turn around!”

Harry shrugged.

“Run away, hot pants, you bore me.” He shifted in his seat so his back was to her.

“Olson! Do you hear me!” She was a tryer. “Turn this plane around and fly back to the airfield.”

Bernie said nothing. He stared at the instrument panels as if he hadn’t heard her.

She looked at me, her eyes blazing.

“Make him turn around Jack!”

“Yeah . . . go ahead Jack, make us turn around.” Harry said and laughed. Then glaring at her, he snarled, “Get out of here, you spoiled, over rich hooker! Get out!”

She hesitated for a moment, then ran down the aisle and into Essex’s suite. She slammed the door.

“Well!” Harry stared at me. “How did she get on board?”

“Thompson let her on.”

“What are we going to do?” Bernie’s voice sounded strangled.

“Let the dagoes cope with her,” Harry said. “Why should we care?”

“No!” I said.

His eyes hardened.

“Oh, yeah? You getting it from her Jack?”

“We can’t let her fall into those thugs, hands.”

“So what? Why should we care . . . or do you?”

“Yes, I care,” I said. “Listen, Bernie, it’s one thing to hijack this plane but another to kidnap Mrs. Lane Essex! The heat will be . . .”

“Oh, skip it!” Harry snapped. “We’re all dead and in the sea . . . remember? Thompson will have reported she was on board. So Essex will think she went into the drink with us. There’ll be no heat.”

“He’s right,” Bernie said. “We didn’t ask her to come. Now she’s here, she’ll have to look after herself.”

“Go and hold her hand Jack” Harry sneered. “We’re busy.”

I left the flight cabin and going down the aisle, reached the suite. I knocked on the door.

“It’s me: Jack”

“Stay away! No one’s coming in here! No one!”

“I’ve got to talk to you.”

“No one’s coming in here! I’ll shoot first.”

“You haven’t a chance. Come on, be sensible. Let me in!”

The vicious crack of the gun startled me. The .233 bullet smashed through the top of the door. It missed my head by six inches: too damn close for safety.

I hurriedly stepped back.

“Next time I shoot lower.”

“Okay, then you’re out on your own.”

“And I’ll manage!”

I went back to the flight cabin and told them. Harry laughed “So why should we care? We deliver the kite. It’s up to the greasers to winkle her out: they’ll love it.”

“Talk sense! No one’s going to get near her with that gun!”

“All they have to do is to wait her out. It’ll be goddamn hot when we arrive and the air conditioners will be of Without food and drink, how long do you imagine she’ll last?” That was something I hadn’t thought of.

We had been flying now for fifty minutes, crossing the Gulf of Mexico, still at three hundred above the sea.

I sat on a stool behind Bernie while Harry listened to the radio, headphones clamped to his ears.

I thought of the woman, alone in the Essex suite. I wondered what she was doing. She certainly had guts! What would happen to her when we landed? Was it possible to conceal her. then get her away? I knew I would get no help from Bernie nor Harry. That was for sure. We would land in the jungle surrounded by Orzoco’s thugs. How could I get her away?

Harry said suddenly. “It’s on the air. The world now knows that the fabulous, glamorous Mrs. Victoria Essex was on board and she, like the intrepid birdmen crashed into the sea. It’ll be front page news tomorrow. How do you like it Bernie?”

Bernie didn’t say anything. He had been flying the plane now in complete silence. I could see sweat running down the back of his neck and his greying hair looked as if it had been ducked in a bucket of water.

“I bet those greasers are smacking their chops,” Harry went on. “Man! Will I get a bang to see them lay their paws on that bitch. She has it coming!”

“Shut up!” I said.

He looked at me, an ugly expression on his face.

“You’ve gone soft on her, haven’t you, sucker?”

“I said shut up!” I got up and left the cabin.

“Hi Jack!”

I turned.

Harry came out into the aisle and closed the cabin door.

He joined me. His eyes were vicious.

“Let’s get this straight,” he said, a snarl in his voice. “We don’t want any trouble now we’ve got so far. We’re all in this for three million dollars. Just what is this bitch to you?”

“I’m not standing by and seeing her raped by a bunch of greasers.” I said quietly. “We’ve got to get her out of this mess.”

He shook his head.

“No! To hell with her! She once played me for a sucker and that’s something I don’t forget. She’s no better than a hooker. You start something and you won’t find me on your side. Understand?”

“Is that right?” I was getting mad myself now. “So what are you going to do?”

He glared at me.

“No one - including you - stands between me and my cut.”

Then he did something I could never take. He began digging his forefinger into my chest to emphasise his words. “I don’t give a damn if you’re horny about this hooker. . .”

I hit him solidly on the side of his jaw. It was a reflex action and the moment I had done it, I regretted it. He went down like a felled ox and his head thudded against a row of metal studs, lining the floor.

I stared down at him, then knelt and lifted his head. My hand became sticky with blood. A cold chill ran through me. Had I killed him?

“Harry!”

I could see he was breathing, but he looked bad. I laid his head down gently and stood up.

“Thieves fall out?”

She was standing in the doorway of the Essex suite, the Armalite in her hands.

I stared at her.

“Olson won’t get the kite down without him.” I said breathlessly. “There’s something wrong with Olson! Do something! Get this man on his feet!”

“I wouldn’t touch that sonofabitch if it cost me my life!” she said, her face like stone.

“It could do, you fool!”

“I ran back to the flight cabin Looking through the plexiglass I saw sandy beach and then jungle ahead.

“Bernie! Harry’s had an accident He’s knocked out!”

He didn’t say anything. He just sat there, his shirt and head soaked in sweat.

“Bernie!” I bawled at him. “Hear me?”

“Don’t touch me.” His voice was a husky croak.

“Make altitude! We’re too low!”

We were now only two hundred feet above the dense jungle. He gave a shuddering sigh that chilled me as he pulled back the stick. The kite’s nose lifted. We were now flying fast over the jungle.

“Higher! Get her up!”

“For God’s sake Jack, leave me alone!”

There was something about him that scared the hell out of me. His stiff, set position, the sweat and now his voice.

I ran back into the aisle and shook Harry, but he was out to the world. Rushing into the kitchen, I drew water into a bowl, rushed back and threw the water in his face: this produced no reaction.

She still stood in the doorway, watching.

“Do something!” I yelled at her. “Olson can’t make the landing! Get this man on his feet!”

She turned, entered the suite and slammed the door. I heard the bolt snap to.

For a moment I stared down at Harry, then I rushed back to the flight cabin.

I saw we had lost altitude again and now we were flying less than a hundred feet above the dense jungle.

“Bernie! Pull her up!” I shouted.

He made a feeble effort to pull back the stick, then a moan of a man in agony escaped him.

“Bernie! What’s wrong? Are you ill?” I slid into the copilot’s seat. “Bernie!”

“My heart. . . I’m dying. . .” Then he fell forward. His body shoved the stick forward and the nose went down.

As I heard the undercarriage smashing through the tree tops. I flicked up the various switches, cuffing the engines. In the split second that remained to me I saw Bernie’s eyes roll back and I knew he was dead.

The crash flung me across the cabin.

Blackness came to me and I gave myself up as lost.

EIGHT

I
swam out of a deep, black pit, feeling that I was drowning, aware of water pouring on my face. The water was warm and as I returned to consciousness, I realised it was rain.

“Come on! Come on!” That voice I would know anywhere was shouting at me. “You’re not hurt!

I opened my eyes and saw the light of dawn coming through the treetops, then I dragged my body to a sitting position. I became aware that my head hurt and there was a nagging pain in my shoulder.

“Jack!!”

“Okay, okay! For God’s sake, give me a minute!”

I wiped my face with my hand and blinked, then I saw her, standing over me. She looked like a drowned cat, her shirt and slacks plastered to her body, her hair like rat’s tails: no longer the glamorous, fabulous Mrs. Victoria Essex.

I looked around. I was sitting in squelchy mud: broken trees lay around me. Rain beat down and the humid, stifling heat was as if I were packed in steaming cotton wool.

“Get up!”

I looked up at her.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes: and so are you! Where are we? What happened?”

Shakily I got to my feet and leaned against a tree for support “Olson had a heart attack.” I turned and looked at the smash. I saw how lucky we had been. There were no big, solid trees. The plane had sheered through the jungle like a scythe. The wings with their jets had come of, but the fuselage looked intact. The tail unit was gone.

“Some smash,” I said. “How did I get out?”

“I pulled you out.”

I stared at her.

“You’re some woman, aren’t you?”

“I thought it might catch fire.”

Then I remembered Harry.

“How about Erskine?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice told me she didn’t care. “What are we going to do?”

I tried to think, but my mind was still groggy.

“I must find Harry.”

“To hell with him! We’ve got to find shelter!”

Leaving her, I walked unsteadily over to the wreck. I peered into the flight cabin that had torn away from the fuselage.

I could see Bernie still sitting at the controls, his head on his chest. I hoisted myself into the cabin, opened a locker and took out a powerful electric torch. I played the beam on his dead face, then with a grimace I climbed down and into the fuselage.