Steve
The damaged pilot and the safe student were both relaxing and having a beer while being attended to by their close friends. I was happy that we came out of this as well as we did.
Thinking that Jimmy should be about back, I called his cell, "Hey, Jimmy, how close are you? I'll come out and help you get the aircraft off the truck."
"We're about twenty minutes out. We could use some more hands. If Charlie, Jim, and Hank could come with you, that should be enough muscle. We have a hoist, but you have to push the thing around a little to get it on."
I said, "I'll bring a bunch of help. See you in about twenty."
Rounding up Charlie, Jim, and Hank was easy. They were all near the tap. I told them we would stop at Park Place for some calzones on the way back and that got them moving. I asked Mercy to order the calzones for me so they would be ready. She said, "I'll run out and get them. That way you guys can just come straight home." I got a kiss from Sue and was off.
When Jimmy and the big flatbed came in, we moved a couple of light planes around so we could use the lift that was on a track to get the plane down. Jimmy was the expert and had us take the wings off the truck first and gently lay them on rolling stands he set up. Then we pushed and pulled on the fuselage to get the slings in place.
Jimmy lifted the plane and gently placed the aircraft down on its three point landing gear. The front didn't appear damaged and the two main gear both looked good. I'm sure Jimmy would have to tear everything down to ensure it was still good, but the plane wasn't damaged as bad as it looked.
Jimmy pulled the prop from the truck and you could see that it was damaged. Jimmy said it was bent and the main shaft connector was damaged. I couldn't see the bend in the propeller, but I would take Jimmy's word for it.
Jimmy was staring at the engine and said, "I'm not doing anything under the cowl until tomorrow. We're going to set up some video cameras to record everything I do and what we discover. The NTSB inspector has what he wanted, but I want to go over everything. So until tomorrow, let's get out of here, I'm hungry and I think a beer would be in order. Thanks for coming out to help, guys."
Charlie, Hank, and Jim were saying, "Just like our toys at work, but bigger."
When we got back to the patio, Tom's group had grown as Maggie and Shannon were now with them. I found out that Mercy had talked the two into coming. Shannon had to find someone to take her place, but it apparently wasn't difficult to do.
The mountain of miniature calzones began dwindling fast, since the group on the patio was larger than usual tonight. So many were there to celebrate DeDe's health that we were getting down to close to the bottom of the keg. About eleven, much later than we usually stayed up, parents began carrying sleeping kids home. Tom, Zena, Joanie, Maggie, and Shannon left with the promise to come back soon. They made us equally promise to come visit.
Glenda and Martin sat droopy-eyed. I said, "You two need to go home and go to bed. Glenda, I'll fix coffee in the morning. I'll take care of the kids' breakfast too. You sleep in."
She said, "No way. I'm the Grandma here. I'll be there with my kids for breakfast. Martin can sleep in for both of us. This has been a tiring day. Perhaps a nap tomorrow would be good."
I walked the two of them home to be sure they were okay. Martin was smiling as Glenda took his hand, leading him toward the bedroom. I flipped the lock and shut the door saying, "Goodnight, Martin, goodnight, Glenda."
My ladies, plus Barb, had our kids in bed and were finishing cleaning and straightening out the patio. They were all smiling as they looked around. It was like at our shops, the people cleaned up at the end of the day and admired their work.
We headed for bed, with me stopping in the shower to rinse the sweat off. As I was washing, Sue and Kathy got in and said, "Today did bring out the sweat, didn't it?"
We washed, and when Sue and Kathy got out, Mercy and Juanita stepped in and held me in the shower. They said, "We need our shower maid to wash us now."
I washed both ladies without getting their hair wet. We dried off and the five of us snuggled into bed. Seconds later, we were all asleep.
"Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring."
Ah shit, who would be calling now?
"This is Steve."
"Steve, Hap. My guy out at the airpark just had a running gunfight with someone. He wounded the suspect and has him cuffed, waiting for the Sheriff's department and an ambulance. I thought you might want to come check this out."
"I'll be right there; do you want to ride with me?"
"I'm already on my way, Steve. I have to be with my man when there's something like this."
The ladies were all sitting up when I said, "They caught someone out at the airpark. I don't know what he was doing, but there were shots fired. I have to go."
Sue asked, "Do you want one or all of us to come with you?"
"No, you guys go back to sleep. I need to help Hap with what's going on, and also make sure we get all the information we can from the guy."
I was dressed and rolling in less than five minutes. I did slip my Glock holster onto my belt. Probably unnecessary, but my Glock was there. At the charter office, there was an ambulance and two Sheriff's cruisers. I found Hap with his man and asked, "I know you've probably said this a dozen times so far, but one more time for me, where was this guy when you saw him?"
Hap said, "This is Terry Williams, he's been with us a long while, so he's experienced."
Terry said, "I had just walked around the back side of the helicopter hangar on the way toward the charter office. I saw some kind of flash beneath the hangar door where you keep the big airplanes and ran to the charter office. The clerk had not heard anything, but I told her to throw the light breakers on for me."
"When I opened the door and shined my flashlight toward the airplanes, the guy shot at me. The round hit high, but I can tell you, I shut my light off and stayed down. When the lights came on, the guy was walking fast toward the rear of the hangar. I yelled for him to halt and to put down his gun. He fired at me, so I returned fire. I hit him two or three times, but I didn't kill him. I guess I need more time at the range. He has one round in the leg and one in the shoulder. The hits knocked his gun from him so I ran up and cuffed him. The clerk was calling 911 while I was doing this."
"As soon as the guy was cuffed, I began trying to interrogate him but he spit at me. He's not said a word. When the deputy read him his rights, he wanted to call his attorney. They can do what they want, but I'm charging him with attempted murder. You guys can charge him with whatever you want."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Sharp, for shooting inside the hangar with these expensive airplanes, but I had to return fire."
"You did the right thing, Terry. Hap, you get with the deputy while I see if I can see what he was doing."
I walked over toward the G5 Terry had pointed at. At the left landing gear there was a bag of tools with several tools lying on the floor. I left them as they were and made a decision. We were flying several federal charters this week and next. The FBI should investigate this, or maybe it's Chuck's job.
I hated to do this but I called Chuck.
When he sleepily answered the phone, I said, "This is Steve. We've had an attempted sabotage on a G5 that is due to haul a bunch of Feds to DC and back. I think the captive and the evidence need to be looked at by the FBI. Isn't that right?"
"Exactly right, Steve. My group has to be involved too as we're supposed to protect federal employees. Let me call for you. Do you want me to come out? Can I do anything to help?"
"Just call for me and give them directions. I'll keep the Sheriff's department here as long as I can. The suspect was shot, but is alive and not seriously wounded. I don't know whether I can hold him until your guy gets here."
"Do what you can, but if they send the guy to the hospital, make sure he's accompanied by someone. Have you located the guy's car? If not find it and have the cops protect it. That is evidence. Let me get off the phone and call. Call me back if you need anything."
I walked out to the assembly of the two Sheriff's cars and the ambulance. They wanted to transport the guy right away. I said, "The aircraft this man was working on is chartered by the FBI and two federal judges. I've called the FBI and they want to be the primary investigating agency, but will give the county credit for the arrest. They would like to have a word with the suspect, but if you have to transport him, someone has to go with him to ensure he remains in custody."
The two deputies looked at each other and one used his mobile to call in. After a long conversation, he said, "We'll hold him until another deputy can get here to accompany the suspect. Usually we just cuff him to the gurney and meet them at the hospital."
I said, "Knowing these guys, they may have ways to defeat that right now. Have you located his car?"
Again the two deputies looked at each other then turned to head toward the operations building. Terry said, "There's a car down toward the end of the runway. They could have driven onto the field from the street over there."
Terry said, "Let's go check it out. We'll take this cart."
One of the deputies climbed into the cart with me in the back. Terry drove without lights down the far side of the runway until we were just behind the car. As he approached the car, he flipped his lights on.
Bang, Bang!
Someone one in the car took shots at us and started the car. The lights came on and they spun the wheels trying to do a U-turn. The deputy leveled and shot at the lights. He didn't hit the lights, but was hitting metal. You could hear the hits. I pulled my Glock and shot at the driver's side of the windshield. I shot seven rounds, until the car began going in a circle, lurching from no acceleration.
Just as the car came to a stop, the passenger side rear door opened and someone rolled out onto the ground. We were almost on top of the guy and the deputy yelled, "Halt, Sheriff's department."
I guess the guy didn't care, as he came up with a handgun aiming at us. I fired four rounds as the guy fired. I hit him in the body and his only shot went wild. When he rolled over, then rolled back, I realized he had on a vest or something. I fired the rest of my rounds into the guy's head. I had emptied my piece of all fifteen rounds, seven at the driver's side of the car, four at the guy who came out of the back seat, and my last four into his head.
The deputy said, "Enough, he's down."
"Damn right, he's down. Check the car for more men, quick. I'm out of ammo."
"Good, maybe there will be someone to question," the deputy said.
Terry handed me a full magazine and said, "Glock 22, right?"
I dropped my empty and slid the fresh one in, pocketing the empty clip.
We checked the driver, then found another person in the driver's side back seat. He had been hit in the shoulder, but also had a graze across the side of his head. That had knocked him out. The deputy was trying to baby the guy, trying to ease him out of the car.
"Step aside, I'll lift him out."
The deputy stood back and I grabbed him by his belt and his neck and lifted him out of the car. When I had him on the ground I asked, "Who has cuffs? Let's get this guy immobilized."
The deputy said, "He's shot, he isn't going anywhere or going to do anything."
"You better go back to cop school, Buddy. This man is a danger to you and me. His buddies have fired live rounds at us. What do you want to bet you find another pistol in the car from this one and probably another on him. Now give me your cuffs."
Terry handed me his cuffs and I rolled the guy over, pulled his wrists together, and cuffed him. The deputy was moaning in sympathy for the guy. I ripped open the guy's shirt and saw that the wound was just in the meaty top of his shoulder. He would be sore, but he could still function. I used his shirt sleeve to make a bandage just as a Sheriff's car came up.
An older guy with rank on his collar got out of the car and asked what the situation was. The deputy began ranting like a little kid telling on his brother to his mom. The man raised his hand and said, "Tell me slowly. I heard several shots fired. What happened?"
The deputy began again, pointing at me and saying I went crazy shooting at everyone. Once again, the guy with rank held his hand up, and said, "Is that you, Steve?"
"You got me; let my security guy tell you what happened."
The guy said, "No, you tell me."
I went through how we had surprised the group in the car and that I fired at the driver when the car was heading toward us. When the car became disabled, the guy that has the blown up head problem rolled out of the car and fired at us. I said "We fired back and you see the result. When we checked the rear seat of the car, we found this guy out cold from the graze on his head. Since his other wound wasn't serious, we cuffed him and you came up right then."
The deputy said, "This man wouldn't listen and insisted on cuffing the injured man."
The Major said, "It's a good thing he did, I can see another weapon in his waist. He probably has a backup on his ankle too. You always cuff a suspect, regardless of his injury. When the paramedics get to him you can unlock him, but the guy is in custody. People in custody are cuffed, behind their back, period. You know that, you learned that in the academy."
The deputy was shaking his head, and said, "We should at least be humane."
The Major said, "And probably be dead for being humane."
He told his deputy, "Use your mobile and get some CSI people out here. I understand this is going to be a federal case, so make sure the FBI is sending someone. Move it."
The deputy walked away from us, using his mobile. We could hear more cop cars coming our direction. The Major said, "Let me get back up there to make sure no one messes with the scene. You, Deputy Higgins, hold this man for the paramedics and don't let anyone touch anything. Strip the prisoner and make sure he doesn't have a key around his neck."
Terry said to me, "I'll stay here to help watch this. You go with the Major. You seem to know him."
The Major said, "Steve and I have a long history; all unique, all good."
We drove up to the charter office, where the Major pulled out a roll of crime scene tape and said, "Spread this across the doors that go into the hangar. That'll keep the curious little boys out."
I put the tape across all the doors, including the far rear door that the guy who had originally been shot apparently came in, and was trying to go back out. I made sure I didn't touch anything so I didn't leave any prints.
The first ambulance took off with a deputy riding with the first injured prisoner. The second ambulance drove down the runway to get at the second guy.
The night clerk for the charter company came out and said, "We need to clear the runway. We have a Learjet coming in. I'll make him go around, but we need that aircraft for tomorrow and need it down here. Mr. Sharp, can you go tell those guys to stay off the runway."
The Major used his radio to move the ambulance and the Sheriff's car. He looked at the clerk and said, "All clear, Honey, tell your Learjet to come home."
The maintenance guy that was standing there said, "We'll have to prep that thing in the maintenance hangar. You know we need two G5s tomorrow, are we going to be able to use ours?"
I turned to the night clerk and asked, "Do you have the numbers of the companies we use to rent aircraft?"
"Yes Sir, I do it all the time."
I said, "Call and get two G5s for tomorrow. We'll supply the crews but have them here by eight."
She smiled real big and said, "I can do that. Ah, Mr. Sharp, I've called my Dad and told him what was happening down here. He's on his way. Was that all right?"
I sighed, "Yes, that was a good thing to do. He needs to be on top of this."
Shit, we might as well call everyone from home and have them up here too.
The Major came up to me and asked, "I hate to do this to you, but either me or the Feds are going to want your piece. You know the scoop."
"When they need it, I'll give it to them, along with the empty magazine. Can you believe I left the house with my gun and no extra magazines? I'm slipping, but who would believe this shit and who would believe I had to shoot so many times to stop that damned car."
The Major made a statement in the form of a question, "So you did all the shooting, huh?"
"My security guy was driving a cart, and your guy was terrified. He wouldn't shoot at the people; he only shot at the lights on the car. You saw him go barf didn't you?"
"He's new and he has a lot to learn. I suppose he should still be riding with someone, but we're short. That's why Mickey has been pulling so much patrol duty. At least major crime is down. I'm surprised she isn't here yet with her van."
About that time, two white vans were sitting across the runway while a Learjet roared to a stop just past where we were. As the jet pulled toward our area, the two vans slowly made it across the tarmac.
It's always cool to watch a Lear spin around almost in one spot. Just like a dancer, very smooth, very graceful. As the jet shut down, the mechanics were all over the plane as they had a deadline to get the plane ready for the morning. Damn, it was already morning. It was five o'clock.
Mickey came out of a van and asked, "Where is the scene and do I help the feds?"
The Major said, "Go coordinate with them. Let them take the lead and do what they need. You probably won't get to keep anything you collect, but help anyway."
"Got it, Dad. Hey Steve, it's great that DeDe came out so well. Glad it wasn't worse."
The Major asked, "What's that about?"
It took ten minutes to explain the crash we had yesterday. The Major asked, "Do you think it's related to this?"
"It might be, but we'll have to check. Meanwhile, we will not fly any of our aircraft until they have all been fully inspected. Jimmy will probably show up early because of so much traffic and because he wants to check out that bird that crashed. Maybe he can get some extra help to check out the aircraft."
The Major said, "You've come a long ways from that little trailer and being on vacation."
"Yes Sir, I have. Tampa has been good to me and for me. Look at my home and my kids. I've been very lucky."
The Major slapped me on my back and said, "Let me act like the boss and get my guys going so we don't have a year's worth of overtime."
Around six thirty, a black Expedition drove up. Sue got out with a couple of sandwiches and said, "When you didn't come home and the cable news people said there was a shooting out here, I figured that if there was bad news, we would have heard. I figured someone else was on the short end and you probably needed some food. What's happening, Honey?"
I tried to describe what had happened so far, but couldn't really tell an intelligent story. So far none of this was intelligent. The more I told this story, the more it didn't make sense.
"Sue, we don't have any real enemies out there. What could this be? Why would someone want to screw up our aircraft, especially the smaller ones?"
Sue looked perplexed, "I don't know, Honey. We need that girl that lives with Chuck, you know, Jan. She's FBI and is a senior agent. She knows how to investigate this stuff."
Hap was nearby and said, "Your buddy Chuck might be a good investigator too. He's more action than investigating, though. You can see it in his eyes, the way he carries himself. Get him in on this, though. If these guys were going after federal people, then it's his job to protect them."
Looking at my watch, it was seven, so Chuck would be up and about. I called, "Hey, Chuck"
Chuck said, "So what was that all about last night? Did you get it resolved?"
"Some more happened since then, but you'll hear of it today anyway. Your people probably need to be in on this as we've been hauling a lot of federal people to DC and back. We have a charter for ten FBI people and a couple of federal judges with their staffs this morning. That's pretty intense. The bad guys were sabotaging our aircraft that we do this with, so it does come under your jurisdiction along with the FBI."
"You're right, Steve. Let me get Sarge and his best men on it. We have some old investigators that are real hound dogs. We're collecting retirees, or almost retirees, lately. The good news is that these guys can track down anyone and they are good teachers."
I said, "Sounds like a win - win situation to me. I'm just concerned because we don't have any enemies that I know of, so it almost has to be because of who we transport."
Chuck said seriously, "You know you do have an aircraft owner that has pissed off a lot of bad guys. If they figured out where I fly from, they might be after me, not you or the other feds."
"Yeah," I said, "could be, but I think it's more the other federal people because of the G5s."
"Listen, Steve, I'll cancel whatever is happening today and be right out. I didn't sleep worth a hoot after you called me, so I should have just come out with you. I'll be there in a few. Can I bring you something to eat?"
"No, Chuck, Sue brought me something. We do have good coffee in the charter office though."
"See you shortly, Steve, don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of this."
You know what? I did feel good that Chuck said he would get this taken care of. I smiled at Sue and said, "Chuck said he would take care of this. That puts me at ease. Funny how knowing a guy like that helps."
As she gave me a hug, Sue said, "He is a good friend too."
Jimmy came rolling in, driving his souped up Jeep. He slid to a stop and demanded, "Why in hell didn't you call me last night when you found someone fucking with my G5s?"
"Jimmy, calm down. The FBI has to go over everything before you can even touch them. How about making up a plan to inspect all of our aircraft, every inch of every aircraft. Call in as many favors as you have to, but let's get enough good people in here to inspect every plane. Do annuals if you have to, majors too, but get them all thoroughly inspected."
Jimmy looked at me cross-eyed, "Do you know how much manpower that's going to take?"
"I don't care, Jimmy, it needs to be done. No aircraft in this facility will leave here until it has been inspected. That includes the Lear that came in this morning. We've called for some rental aircraft so we'll meet our obligations. We have two aircraft that have been out for extended times, so they are probably all right. Call and see if you can get them inspected where they are right now. Let's get this done so we know our aircraft are good."
Jimmy bowed his head and said, "Please, Lord, please let this go away." He turned and headed toward his office in the maintenance hangar.
A lady with dark hair and a FBI jacket came up to us. "Hi, Steve, Sue, not nice to see you under these circumstances."
Sue hugged the lady and said, "Glad to see you, Jan. We were just talking about you. Chuck said you would be involved, but I didn't think you would be here."
Jan said, "I'm concerned for several reasons. One, I'm taking lessons out here, and two I'm scheduled to fly to DC today for a conference. If anyone is a target, it would be the judges, but they don't take flying lessons. I'm in my fourth week of instruments, so I'm concerned."
I asked, "Have you been involved in any high profile cases lately?"
"Yes and no. Some of the cases I've been working on are sensitive in as much as several underworld communities are involved, but they're not very organized yet. I'm trying to take them down before they get too organized. This is kind of a leftover problem from my boss' wife. She used to be married to a guy that turned gunrunner and smuggler. I think some of his cohorts have put together where the pressure is coming from. The Tampa office has been pushing real hard lately and they don't like it."
Sue said, "Jesus, Jan, you are involved in a lot of stuff. I hope you are watching your back."
"Trust me, Sue, I am. Chuck has taught me how to take care of myself and I don't think I'm invincible, but I do think I'm one hell of a tough target."
I said, "Well, I'm renting some aircraft today for the group going to DC. None of my aircraft are moving until they have been inspected very thoroughly."
"Good to know, Steve, I probably won't go today. I can get the video and do the study course. I was going as possible protection for the judges. I'll just have a couple of agents shadow them instead. I should just call Chuck and have him do it. It's in his jurisdiction anyway."
I relaxed a little just as a beige Chevy drove across the runway. Chuck got out and came over, eating a sandwich from one hand, and drinking coffee from the other."
"Morning, Chuck," I said, with a smile.
Between chews, he said, "Morning all, I see the FBI is on the case so I can take a nap. Come on, Steve, show us peons what's going on."
We walked through the charter office and through the door with the crime scene tape. Three people were gathered around the tool bag and tools lying on the painted floor. A familiar face stood up and Mickey said, "So far, we've found prints all over the place, but then that's normal when you have a piece of equipment this big. The guy that was shot first has his prints all over the brake lines on this side, but not on the other. I was able to get a good set of prints off his weapon to use to compare. The front strut is full of his prints, so that may be a problem. We haven't found any prints around the engines so far, other than the technicians that work out here."
I said, "Good deal, Mickey, that will give us something to work with. Can you dust the other G5 and the other two Lears, too? If they had a chance to get at them, I want to know."
"We're working on it as we speak. Your man, Jimmy, is about to have a coronary, as he loves all this equipment. He had me go over to the Cessna 172 that crashed yesterday and dust that one. We found the same prints there, so it is likely that it was sabotaged."
"That will make Jimmy feel a little better. He prides himself for the work he does. He believes safety is all important."
"Well," Mickey said, "we'll go over all the aircraft to make sure, but he still needs to inspect them. You have an inordinate amount of federal workers learning to fly out here. You must be giving them a deal."
"No deal, just word of mouth and fair prices. When you want to learn, Mickey, we have the time and the aircraft."
"Maybe later, Steve. I'm still working on my master's."
I didn't know that. It's kind of neat to have these kids out here with great goals. What am I saying? Most of us aren't kids anymore. I do live among a group of people who want to be the best. We may not be perfect, but we sure try.
Sue and I left Chuck looking at the inside evidence, and went back outside, where a G5 had just landed and pulled up near the maintenance hangar door. Sue said, "I need to get to the old plant this morning. We're introducing a new line. Joan and Betty are crazy about this entire grouping, so I should be there with them. Hannah isn't too crazy about the fabric selection, so I need to check it out. I should be able to meet you for lunch and the gym later though."
We hugged and kissed, and then she took off in her Expedition. Everyone is busy.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious
Last one through — Deenara2000