Accidents Waiting to Happen (14 page)

She scolded him like she did with their daughter.
 
But it worked.
 
Josh felt his hysteria pass.

Before he could respond, Abby called from the top of the stairs.
 
The arguing had upset her.

“I’m coming honey,” Kate said and got to her feet.
 
She looked down at Josh.
 
“I’m going to settle Abby down.
 
I suggest you do the same yourself.
 
Gather your thoughts.
 
When I get back tell me calmly why you think James Mitchell tried to kill you.”
 
Her words were soft and comforting.

He watched her go.
 
He sniffed and ran his hands through his hair.
 
“Get a grip,” he murmured.
 
He started to think through all the events leading up to the car crashing into the river.
 
The images were all too vivid.
 
Josh unpacked the jumble of events and repacked them in a neat order.
 
He heard Kate returning from upstairs.

She took a seat on the arm of the chair and slipped an arm around his shoulders.
 
“Do you want to start?”

Josh took a deep breath and started.
 
“I know I didn’t see the guy’s face at the river but he did the thumb’s down thing like I was a vanquished Christian or something.
 
Just like I told you in the hospital.”

“Yeah, but I’ve seen lots of people do that, it’s nothing special.”

“I know, but not the way he did it.
 
His way is different.
 
And trust me, baby, when I say it was identical to what James Mitchell did.
 
I was there, in that car thinking I was going to drown and I saw the guy standing on the bridge.
 
He was my only hope for survival and he did
that
.”
 
Josh repeated Mitchell’s action.

Tears spilled from Kate’s eyes.
 
She reached out and wrapped her delicate hand over his thumbs-down fist.
 
She pulled his outstretched arm to her mouth and kissed the knuckles of his clenched hand.
 
“Oh, Josh.”
 

Josh’s love intensified for her.
 
For days after the incident, preoccupied with his own problems, he’d ignored his wife.
 
Her support was his strength to get himself out of the briar patch he had fallen into.
 
He drew her to him and hugged her tightly.

He spoke over her shoulder.
 
“I’ll never forget what he did.”
 

“Nancy said Mitchell works for an insurance company.
 
What sort of an insurance guy would do that?”

“I don’t-”
 
It struck Josh like an oncoming truck.
  
“The sort of insurance agent that works for the same insurance company that sent the wreath.”

Kate pulled away from him and stared at him incredulously.
 
“He works for Pinnacle Investments?”

“That’s what he said.
 
I’ve only just realized.”

“What are you saying, Josh?”

“Mitchell forced me off the road and had his company send me a wreath.
 
Maybe he thought I was dead and has a sick sense of humor.
 
It really doesn’t make sense to me.
 
It’s like he’s zeroing in on me, but why?”

“I don’t know why and I don’t care.
 
It’s not your job to find out.
 
Talk to the cops.
 
The ones from the hospital told you to contact them if anything develops, and it has.”

“They don’t believe me as it is.
 
They think I was having a biggest dick competition with some idiot or I fell asleep at the wheel.”
 

“It doesn’t matter, Josh.
 
You can give them something to go on.
 
If this guy is a psycho, he might come back for more.”

“I’ll talk to Bob.
 
He knows this guy.”

“Josh, don’t call tonight.
 
Bob’s already asleep by now.
 
Don’t wake him.”

Josh frowned.

“For me, please.
 
Sleep on it.
 
Talk to him if you feel the same tomorrow, but call the police.”
 
Kate emphasized the word police, reinforcing that it was their job to track down criminals, not Josh’s.

Kate stood up and took Josh’s hand.
 
“Let’s go to bed.”

“Happy birthday to me,” he said bitterly.

Chapter Eleven

Josh picked up the cordless telephone in the hall of his home and hit the speed dial.
 
The phone rang at the other end.

“Hello,” Nancy said.

“Hi, Nancy, is Bob there?”

“Hi, Josh.
 
No, he’s still sleeping off last night.
 
I can wake him if you like.”

“No, it’s okay.
 
I’ve got to go off to the airport, but can you tell him that I called and that I’ll drop by later?”

“Yeah, no problem, Josh.”
 
Nancy paused.
 
“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just boys stuff,” he said, injecting a smile into his response to allay her suspicions.

“See you later, Josh,” she said, the concern gone from her voice.

Josh put the phone on the charger.

He went to pick up the phone again.
 
He hesitated, his hand hovering over the handset.
 
He wanted to scream down the phone at the cops that he’d found the bastard who ran him off the road, but the seeds of doubt had been sown.
 
He couldn’t be sure James Mitchell was his man.
 
Kate had made him realize he’d been acting irrationally over the last week.
 
He pulled his hand away from the phone.

He had to plan his actions instead running head on into the situation.
 
He had to do the sensible thing—find out from Bob what he knew about Mitchell.
 
If Mitchell’s creditability was suspect then he’d bring the cops in.

“I’m going now,” Josh called to Kate.
 

She came to the doorway from the kitchen where she was making Abby’s breakfast.
 
“How long will you be?”

“I’m only dropping the check off.”

“I don’t want to be cleaning up on my own,” she said and smiled.

“You’ve got Abby.”

“You are just going to the airfield?” Kate insisted.

“Yes, I am.
 
Trust me.”

Taking a moment, Josh watched his wife from the doorway, going about her life.
 
He loved her so much.
 
He feared losing her.
 
She caught sight of him staring at her and she smiled but it didn’t last.
 
Her worried face was a reminder of last night.
 
He smiled back and picked up the keys to Kate’s ‘99 Dodge Caravan and closed the door.

Inside the minivan, silence prevailed, but inside Josh’s head, his thoughts shouted.
 
The car wreck, Belinda Wong clawing for more money, Pinnacle Investments’ funeral wreath and James Mitchell consumed his mind.
 
He wondered if all the events were connected and if they were, what it meant.
 
He tried to make some semblance of order from it all, tried to make everything fit into little boxes, but he failed miserably.
 
He switched on the radio to block his thoughts.

Josh stopped the car in the parking lot of the small airport.
 
The sound of a piston aero-engine spluttering into life greeted him as he got out of the vehicle.
 
He headed towards the planning office where the club pilots mapped out routes, flight times and calculated fuel requirements.
 
The unkempt out-building pretending to be an office consisted of charts of northern California and plain looking, wooden design tables found in drawing offices forty years ago.

Mark Keegan wasn’t in the planning office, but Nick Owen, an instructor with the flying school, was with a student.
 
Nick was a young pilot with his eyes set on a commercial pilot’s lifestyle with a major airline.

Josh leaned through the doorway with his arms outstretched, his hands supporting his weight against the doorframe.
 
“Hi, Nick.
 
Have you seen Mark Keegan today?”

Nick turned to Josh while his student busied himself with his route planning.
 
“Yeah, I saw him talking to Jack Murphy earlier.
 
If he’s not with Jack then he’s probably checking out the Cessna.”

“Thanks, Nick.”
 

“You flying, Josh?”

“No, I have some business to deal with.”

“Shame, it’s a good day.
 
You’ll be missing out.”
 
Nick sounded like a car salesman with a “you’d be a fool to miss this bargain,” pitch.

“It can’t be helped,” Josh said.
 

Nick returned his focus to his student and Josh went to the apron.
 
He spotted Mark walking towards their Cessna from the workshop hangar, called out and jogged over to him.

Mark smiled and put his hands on his hips.
 
“Hey, you’re late, we said ten o’clock.
 
What time do you call this?
 
You turn up after I’ve done all the work.
 
Too much celebrating last night?”
 

“Hey, sorry, man.
 
You’re going to have to go without me.
 
Something’s come up and I’ve got to deal with it,” Josh said.

“Nothing serious I hope?”
 
Mark’s smile disappeared.

“No.
 
Life crap.
 
Nothing exciting.”
 
Josh dismissed his problem with a wave of the hand.
 

He and Mark were flying partners and their friendship was one of camaraderie rather than a bonding friendship.
 
Neither man confided deep truths to the other, nor was Josh going to start now.

“What are you planning to do?” Josh asked.

“Oh, I’ll still fly to Stockton, probably doing some exercises on the way, it never hurts to keep in practice.”
 
Mark offered an encouraging smile to show Josh there were no hard feelings.

“Sorry, Mark.
 
Maybe next weekend.”
 
Josh removed the check from his back pocket and handed it to Mark.
 
“Here’s my half of the service bill.”
   

Josh said goodbye and trotted back towards the parking lot, but Jack Murphy intercepted him by coming out from his workshop.
 

Damn.
 
The aircraft mechanic was the last person Josh wanted to speak to.
 
It wasn’t that Josh didn’t like the man, he did.
 
Murphy was a conscientious mechanic and paid loving detail to the aircraft he maintained.
 
He nurtured the machines like prize blooms and like all keen gardeners, the product of his labors was evident on his hands.
 
Engine oil and grease were always caked under his fingernails and the same cocktail of fluids stained his meaty hands.
 
Though not obvious at first glance, his hands had the delicate control of a surgeon’s.
 
Josh knew the mechanic would want to meticulously tell him every minute detail of the overhaul, but he didn’t have the time or the desire to talk about his aircraft; he wanted to know what James Mitchell was after.
 
“Hey, Jack,” Josh said.
 

“Josh, I suppose you’ve spoken to Mark about the overhaul, but I wanted to let you know what I found,” the mechanic began.

Josh feigned interest for about ten minutes before he managed to get a word in and made his excuses.
 
Murphy seemed a little upset by Josh’s brush-off, but he would have to live with it.
 
Josh would make it up to him and let the mechanic bore him for an hour when he had his life back in order.
 
Finally, he got back to the Caravan and set off to Bob’s house to get some answers.