Charges (21 page)

“Okay, but you’ll be sorry. Hey, what’s going on over there?”

Vincenzo tensed, his right hand reaching for the butt of his pistol. “What?”

“Over there. To the east,” Jody said, and Vincenzo had a vague impression she was pointing past him in the darkness. He turned and saw a pale yellow glow on the eastern horizon.

“Fire,” Rob said. “Big one, too.”

“Where’s it coming from?” Jody asked.

“New York,” Vincenzo said. “It’s fucking New York. They’re not wasting a lot of time, are they? They’re burning down the entire city.”

“Why would they do
that
?” Rob asked.

“Anger. Fear. Accident.” Vincenzo shrugged. “Who knows? It doesn’t really matter, anyway. Rob, you have the Glock?”

“Yeah.”

“All right. I’ll see you guys back at the camp.” Vincenzo trudged back to the small campsite, his eyes on the eastern horizon.

He knew in his heart that New York was ablaze and that it was a maelstrom from which the city would likely need decades to recover. It made his heart feel heavy, not because he knew for certain that all his possessions would be forever lost, but because he would never step foot in that great metropolis ever again. As far as he was concerned, New York City was as inviting to him as a graveyard on a cold, overcast night.

###

“Dude, you awake?” Rob asked.

Vincenzo had been on the border of consciousness, and he crossed the threshold in an instant. The sky was brightening, and he could see Jody sitting up on her sleeping bag.

“Morning, sunshine,” she said.

“Morning.” Vincenzo ran a hand over the growing stubble on his chin. His skin felt sticky and oily. A hot shower would have been just what the doctor ordered, but that wasn’t likely to happen for the next couple of years.

Rob squatted beside him, his boonie hat already on his head. He smiled broadly. “Ready to check out some airplanes?”

“Hell, yeah.”

“Let’s eat first then get to it,” Rob said.

“Sounds good.”

They ate a quick, cold breakfast, and Vincenzo was happy to discover the water in his Hydro Flask was still cold. There were even a few chunks of ice still in it. He drank half of it then refilled it with warm water before repacking his bag. He got up and headed to the latrine to do some business. Of course, Rob and Jody had already used it, and they hadn’t covered up their mess, so he took care of that first. He didn’t have to deliver any packages, but he had to “piss like a racehorse,” as Grant would have put it. He covered up the entire trench when he was done, presuming that no one would have to use it before they departed. When he returned to the campsite, Rob and Jody were finishing up repacking their bags.

“Ready?” Vincenzo asked

“Yep,” Rob said. He got to his feet but waved for Jody to stay where she was. “You keep off your feet for a bit longer, babe. I’ve got this.”

“You sure?” Jody looked a little relieved at the suggestion. Vincenzo didn’t blame her. His feet hurt like hell.

“I’m sure. Just stay where you are, and keep your eyes open.” He pointed at the row of airplanes in front of the hangars. “We’ll be right over there.”

“Okay,” she said. “What do you want me to do if someone comes over?”

“Get our attention as subtly as possible,” Vincenzo said. “Especially if they’re cops.”

Jody looked puzzled. “Why would cops be any different than anyone else?”

Vincenzo smiled and glanced at Rob. “Because we’re about to steal an airplane?”

Jody nodded slowly. “Oh. Yeah.”

Rob barked a laugh. “Come on. Let’s go check over our candidates.”

Vincenzo followed him over to the flight line, but he couldn’t really do anything helpful as Rob inspected the three airplanes. One of them, an old Cessna 185, had an oil leak that Rob couldn’t easily get to, so he ruled that one out. The metal Navion looked as if it hadn’t been flown in years, and there were wasp nests inside the engine cowling. Rob discontinued his inspection almost right away upon discovering that. The last plane, a yellow Cub, was well used but apparently very well maintained. Rob walked around the aircraft, checking all the moving surfaces on the wings, elevator, and rudder. He even got down on the ground and checked its underside. Inside the airplane, he found a small flight bag that included a long plastic tube with a pointed tip. Rob used the device to draw fuel from three sumps on the Piper, and he inspected the tube’s contents critically.

“What’s that? Gas?” Vincenzo asked.

“Yep, and there’s no water in it. Whoever owns this plane must fill it up after each flight. That’s good.”

“Yeah.”
Great, the guy who really cares about his airplane has a freaking two-seater.

Rob looked at Vincenzo, as if reading his thoughts. “Well, this is our bird. But as you can see, it only has two seats and a tiny engine. Three can’t go on this flight, Tony.”

“I’d figured as much.” Vincenzo tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“I might be able to come back for you after I drop off Jody. But it would take at least two days, and that’s assuming I can get enough fuel in Cincinnati to make the trip back. And if nothing happens on either leg. Weather, mechanical failure, that stuff.”

“You willing to do that?” Vincenzo asked.

Rob went quiet then shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t know. Jody’s pregnant. Even if we make it home, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to come back. And if something happens along the way, I’ll be in a tough spot. Or if you’re with me, then we’ll both be kind of fucked.”

Vincenzo nodded.

“Listen, none of the four-seaters we have access to will work,” Rob said. “If one of them could be started, I’d bring you with us in a heartbeat, man. Seriously.”

“I don’t doubt that. I believe you, brother. It’s just a shame, I was hoping for a bit of a break here.”

“I know.” Rob sighed and looked back at the Cub. “Well, if it means anything, you’re going to inherit some of our stuff. With two of us in this thing, there’s not going to be a lot of room for additional payload. So you’ll have some extra supplies, and believe me, my pack is much nicer than yours.”

“Thanks. So what do we do now?”

“Let me finish up here. Bring Jody over, and we’ll start separating what we can take and what we have to leave. You’re welcome to anything that we can’t bring with us, and I encourage you to take it all, if you can.”

Vincenzo looked at the bright yellow plane. “So you don’t need a key for this one?”

“Nope. I’ll hand-prop it.”

Vincenzo raised an eyebrow. “Really? You mean you’re going to turn the propeller, like in the old days?”

Rob jerked his thumb toward the Cub. “Man, this thing
is
from the old days! It’s from the forties, at least! Just what we’re looking for, too, presuming the magnetos weren’t fried out by the pulse. Should be good, though. We’ll have to wait until we try to start her up.”

“How long do you think it’ll take?”

“Not long. Less than an hour.”

Vincenzo checked his watch and nodded. “I’ll go get Jody.”

“Thanks, man.”

Vincenzo walked back to where Jody was waiting with an expression of regret. He figured that she and Rob had already discussed who would be leaving and who would be staying behind.

“Rob’s found a plane that’ll get you guys out of here,” he told her. “We should gather your stuff together and get over there.”

“Rob said there’s no way you can come with us,” Jody said.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry about that, Tony. You seem to be an upright kind of guy.”

Vincenzo bent over and picked up Rob’s pack. “Yeah, well, you didn’t know me before. Trust me, being a nice guy isn’t exactly encoded in my DNA.”

“Does the past matter anymore?”

“I don’t know.” He nodded toward her pack. “Let’s get a move on, Mom. You have some traveling to do.”

The sun was peaking over the horizon, and smoke hung over the east like a pall of dense pollution. If the fire was in New York, it would burn for weeks. And the flames would drive everyone out of the city, which meant the longer Vincenzo lingered, the greater the chance of him being swept up in a tide of trouble.

It took Rob less than half an hour to preflight the plane. As he had suspected, the tanks were full. The instruments looked quite rudimentary to Vincenzo with just a few antiquated-looking gauges, no displays like he’d seen while walking pass the cockpits of passenger jets. He looked away from the instrument panel to the brightening sky. The day would be sunny and warm.

“Weather seems good,” Rob said. “Though I sure would like a report before going wheels up.”

“Don’t think that’s going to happen,” Vincenzo replied.

Rob nodded. “Okay. Let’s see if we can’t get this bitch started. Tony, can you come over here? I’m going to pull the prop through a couple of compression strokes to pull some fuel into the engine, then I’ll want you to switch on the magnetos to make it happen for real.”

“Okay,” Vincenzo said. “Is it safe?”

“Well, the compression strokes will be,” Rob said with a big grin. “But if I don’t step back fast enough when she starts up, then my new name’ll be No Arms Charlie.”

“Oh, God,” Jody said.

Rob held up a hand. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ve done this quite a few times in the past. It’s no different now than when I did it before. It’s still tied down, plus this thing has a parking brake, and it’s set solid. It’s not going anywhere, believe me. It’s going to be all good, unless we can’t get it started. Okay?”

Jody nodded but still looked a bit sick. “Okay.”

Rob walked to the front of the plane and put both hands on one of the two propeller blades, about halfway down its length. He pulled the prop downward, and the pistons cycled once beneath the Cub’s short cowling. Rob repeated the process three times then took a step back. His face was already covered with a slight sheen of sweat. “Okay, Tony. Hit the switch. Move it to the Both position.”

Vincenzo reached inside the cockpit and turned the magneto switch to the indicated position. Something emitted an audible click from behind the instrument panel. He nodded to Rob. “Done,” he said. “Try not to step back with a couple of stumps.”

“Ha ha, funny guy.” Rob stepped forward again, put his hands on the prop, and yanked downward. The engine coughed, clattered, then spun up as Rob stepped back.

The Cub started right up, hitting Vincenzo with a torrent of air that immediately dried his sweat and made his shirt ripple across his body. Rob hooted and clapped his hands then ran around to join Vincenzo at the side of the plane. He reached inside and turned the magneto switch. The engine died with a reluctant sputter, as if disappointed.

“Yes, baby!” Rob hooted. He ducked beneath the wing and swept Jody up into his arms. “We are so out of here!”

Jody hugged him back, smiling. She kissed his hairy cheek then her expression of joy faded a bit when she looked over his big shoulder at Vincenzo standing beneath the wing of the plane. “Sorry, Tony,” she said.

Rob straightened and looked back at him as well. “Uh... yeah, guy. I’m sorry, too.”

Vincenzo waved the comments away. “Never mind, guys. I’m good. Let’s get you out of here.” He jerked a thumb toward the neighborhood outside the fence. “For all we know, the plane’s owner lives right down the street, and he’s probably going to wonder what the hell the racket was.”