Dark Ice by Tom Grace

Author:Tom Grace
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction
Publisher: Regnery Fiction
Published: 2017-07-31T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

WACO, TEXAS

MARCH 5

Kilkenny and Tao took a nonstop flight from Detroit to Dallas, then caught an American Eagle commuter flight for the last leg of their journey to Waco. Only two businessmen boarded the twin-engine turboprop for the short flight. Both seated themselves near the front, several rows ahead of Kilkenny and Tao.

En route to Waco, Tao opened a package she’d been given by a courier upon their arrival at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and pulled out two ID wallets and a page of contact information.

“Here,” Tao said, handing Kilkenny one of the wallets.

Kilkenny flipped open the wallet and found an FBI identification card with his name and face on it. He leaned closer to Tao.

“Won’t the folks at the FBI take exception to our impersonating a pair of agents?” Kilkenny said, his voice barely audible under the drone of the plane’s engines.

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them,” Tao replied nonchalantly as she checked her false credentials. “This will do.” She flipped the wallet closed and turned toward Kilkenny. “The agency has an arrangement for this sort of thing, just so long as we don’t abuse the privilege.”

“Or cause the FBI any bad publicity.”

“You catch on quick. Our cover story doesn’t stray far from the truth. You and I are investigating the report that two planes are missing from the government’s inventory.”

“Since you seem to have some experience in role play, I’ll follow your lead.”

“You and I are going to get along just fine,” Tao said.

The turboprop dropped out of a cloudless sky and touched down at Waco Regional Airport late in the afternoon. After collecting their carry-on bags, Kilkenny and Tao picked up a rental car and drove around to the opposite side of the airport. In a large, fenced-in compound stood the immense white hangars of Raytheon’s Aircraft Integration Systems facility.

Kilkenny brought the Taurus to a stop at the main gate and a blue-uniformed security guard slipped open the side window and leaned out slightly.

“Can I help you?” she drawled sweetly.

“Miss, we’re with the FBI,” Kilkenny said, offering his fake credentials.

The sweetness quickly turned to wary suspicion. “What’s the purpose of your visit?”

Tao skimmed through the page that had accompanied the ID wallets. “We’re here to see an AIS manager named David Boyer regarding some planes that are undergoing a retrofit, and no, we don’t have an appointment.”

“One moment,” the security guard said before quickly sliding her window shut.

The guard rang her supervisor to explain the situation, her eyes taking nervous glances at Kilkenny and Tao. A moment later, a small white car pulled up on the opposite side of the main gate, then did a U-turn and parked. An overweight man in tan pants and a blue blazer stepped out and walked around the gate to the Taurus.

“Good afternoon,” he said politely. “May I see your credentials?”

Kilkenny and Tao handed over their ID wallets. The man scrutinized both carefully, then pulled out a cell phone. He stepped away from the Taurus as he waited for his call to be answered, then read off the information from their IDs.

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