Fold, Do Not Starch by Etienne

Author:Etienne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, gay, contemporary
Publisher: Etienne

Chapter 21

Jacksonville, FL

Monday morning, early,

one week later

AS THE PREVIOUS week had progressed, my team had gotten increasingly antsy, and the number one topic of conversation had been “What if something goes wrong ahead of time?” I constantly reminded them that someone had once famously said, “Never take counsel of your fears,” but it didn’t help. We’d had countless planning sessions, at which we talked every tiny detail of the operation to death. But now, it was almost zero hour, and the time for talking was over. Nick Metaxas and I were sipping our coffees at a McDonald’s on Normandy Boulevard, about a mile from Herlong Airport. Our teams were assembled in an empty hangar at the airport, and everyone was ready to roll on a moment’s notice. Actually, Nick and I planned to go to the hangar the moment we got word that the jet was in the air.

The operation had grown to gargantuan proportions, and officers and agents in some seventy jurisdictions, ranging from the east coast to California, were awaiting the signal to move out. The fact that the operation spread across four time zones complicated matters somewhat. On the east coast, officers in various jurisdictions would be arresting people in the various corporate offices of the grocery chain. Further west, they would be picking them up at their homes or apartments, simultaneously with the eastern arrests.

It was critical that nothing happened anywhere, until we’d seized and secured the jet—hopefully before anyone on board could make a cell phone call. We’d been so concerned about that particular problem that we actually had a couple of cell phone jamming devices which would be activated from the moment the plane landed, until we’d secured the people on board—which shouldn’t take long, because their usual flight carried only the pilot, the copilot, and the courier. Nick and I both had people standing by in our respective offices, waiting to spread the word, the moment we were ready.

I actually jumped when my cell phone rang, and I quickly took the call.

“The plane is on the way,” Mike said. “My contact at the airport says it’s ten minutes out of Miami.”

“Thanks, babe.”

“Go get ‘em tiger.”

“That we will. Your buddy at the airport is going to let you know when it’s about to land, right?”

“So he says, and I’m sure he will.”

“Got to run.”

I closed the phone and looked at Nick. “The jet has been in the air for ten minutes.”

“I’m ready, if you are.”

“Just as soon as I refill my coffee. How about you?”

“Right behind you, George.”

We got our refills, headed for my car, and ten minutes later we were inside the hangar with the rest of our teams. We’d treated all of them to coffee and breakfast at the golden arches before they’d assembled, and I could tell they were getting anxious.

“Are we ready to roll, captain?” one of my men said.

“The plane’s in the air, sergeant,” I said. “I’ll get a call when it’s about to land.”

“We’re ready.”

“I know you are, sergeant, and this waiting is the hardest part, isn’t it?”

“You got that right, Sir.

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