The Puppetmasters (3 page)

Kendall checked out of her hotel on the third morning and left her luggage
with the hotel porter for the day. She had an evening flight back to Seattle and hoped she would make that flight.

Early that evening, she consulted her watch as she stepped out of the taxi in front of the hotel. She was startled by the commotion of luggage and boxes being loaded into a black stretch limo, blocking her path. Absentmindedly, she walked around the bags and cortege of uniformed bellhops scurrying to and fro, appearing competent and helpful—obviously hoping for a generous tip.

As Kendall approached the bell captain’s desk to retrieve her stored luggage, a well-dressed man hurried over and gave a slight bow. He was nothing if not the epitome of efficiency. One could see that no mistakes were to be tolerated under his watch.

“Good evening, Ms. Radcliffe. I’m the hotel’s evening manager, at your service. Your bag has already been loaded.”

Perplexed, Kendall snapped to attention, and her brows furrowed. “What? Where?”

“With the others.”

“What others? I’m not traveling with anyone else. I only have one bag.”

The manager frowned and started wringing his hands, as if that would help. “Oh dear, what could have happened? Oh, I know.”

Good grief, the man is talking to himself. I don’t know whether to laugh or slap him.
She awaited his explanation with barely contained patience. Her eyebrows rose, hoping to prompt him for a more speedy response. He caught her probing stare and jumped as if he’d been goosed.

“Oh, yes, Miss—er—Radcliffe. Well, you see, your bag has the same company luggage tag as some other bags that were stored, and they were all pulled for the livery service vehicle outside.”

He looked like he was going to cry. He couldn’t believe he was part of this mix-up. As he figured it, if she complained, he would receive another poor report in his personnel records. He had only been the night manager for a few months and had already amassed quite a few negative reports. She could see that he was flustered beyond reason.

“Oh, for God’s sake. I’ll do it myself.”

She turned and ran out the door, waving wildly to the single remaining valet who had just closed the door of the stretch limo. As it started to roll forward, she yelled, “Stop, you’ve got my bag!” She realized that she sounded like a crazy woman and willed herself to calm down as the limo slowed to a stop. Because of the tinted windows, she could just barely make out two heads in the backseat turning around to see what the problem was.

Her personal possessions meant more to her than the embarrassment of
causing a scene. She ran to the back of the vehicle and pounded on the trunk. The two gentlemen occupying the backseat looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. Then, one of them said something to the other, leaned forward, and opened the door on his side of the limo. The surprised valet ran to assist in opening the door. As the odd-looking businessman exited the limo, he squinted at Kendall, and she recognized him.

Oh, Lordy, this is not happening,
she thought with a panic. It was Paul Fields, the CEO and brainchild of the company she worked for, Orion Premier Net Services. She’d recognize that wild-maned, unkempt man anywhere and had sat in on more than a few meetings with him at the company headquarters in Seattle. Apparently, he recognized her as well. Fortunately, she stumbled across him on one of his better-mannered days. He was known to be quite rude and dismissive of those he felt were eminently beneath him intellectually, starting and ending with employees at his own company.

He pointed his finger at her, saying, “It’s Kendall Radcliffe in Operations, right?”

“Uh, yes, Mr. Fields. I’m so sorry.”

She gave a nervous laugh and continued. “You see, my luggage was accidentally put in your vehicle.”

His eyebrows raised in surprise. “Really? Are you headed back to Seattle?”

She peered at her watch anxiously and nodded. “Yes. My flight leaves from Dulles in a little over an hour.”

Paul Fields appeared to be weighing his options, consulted his watch, frowned, and then blurted out, “I’ve got a charter at Dulles, if you’d like to ride with us back to Seattle.”

Kendall felt a crimson blush spread across her face, started to sputter a polite decline, and then, realizing he was somewhat amused, suddenly threw caution to the wind and responded, “That would be perfect.”
Geez, what have I gotten myself into?

Upon locating her luggage in the trunk and depositing her laptop bag there as well, she climbed into the limo. She soon saw that the second gentleman was the company CFO and childhood friend of Fields, Glenn Carson. He was as affable as Fields was mercurial and arrogant. He seemed to take the altered plans in stride and patiently awaited the explanation as Fields re-took his seat at the back of the limo. Fields wasted no time in the explanation.

“It would seem, Paul, that we are going to have company back to Seattle. Do you know Kendall Radcliffe from Operations?”

He did not wait for a response but continued in a dry voice, “We almost absconded with Kendall’s luggage, and have certainly caused her to miss her flight. So the least we can do is offer her a ride back to Seattle.”

Carson nodded, smiled, and proffered his hand to Kendall. “No, I don’t believe we’ve met. You are very fortunate, Kendall. We had a successful day on the Hill today, and therefore nothing could alter our run of luck.” He would soon be taking back those words.

As the limo headed to Dulles International Airport, Kendall vaguely recalled hearing about Fields needing to testify before some House Committee. She was not interested in making small talk with the two men and was more than intimidated, but determined to hold her own. She just smiled and looked out the window.

The sedan sped to the waiting Bombardier Challenger 850 aircraft parked at one of the private backside hangars at Dulles. Feeling the smooth glide of the sleek limo, Kendall felt a surge of excitement that she was given this opportunity. She was also a bit nervous about flying on a smaller aircraft than the usual crowded commercial jet filled with noisy passengers.

As they approached the shiny executive plane and one by one made their way up the retractable stairway and into the plane, she could see that it was luxurious. Certainly a higher class of jet than she had ever seen. A smartly uniformed flight attendant met them at the top of the stairway and took their coats as they continued into the seating area of the cabin. There was a heavy smell of leather and the look of finely polished wood throughout the interior.

Kendall hung back, waiting for direction on where to sit. The two men continued to engage in deep discussion and ignored her as they chose seats in the middle of the plane. The flight attendant raised her eyebrows, unsure where Kendall fit into the picture and not knowing how to assist her. She deliberately chose a seat several rows behind the men to give them privacy and planned to basically make herself invisible for the duration of the flight.

Kendall was overwhelmed by the luxury all around her. She chose a seat in a cluster of four, with two seats facing her. Her seat was better than the average first class seat on a commercial jet. As she looked around in wonder, the observant flight attendant realized this was a novel experience for her and came over to point out several useful devices nearby. Kendall soon saw that her seat rotated 180 degrees, and that she had a personal LCD video screen that was larger than her window.
Wow! Super cool! I may never fly commercial again. Yeah, in your dreams, sister!

The attendant distributed their drinks, and the three passengers began to visibly settle in and relax for their cross-country trip. Carson suddenly remembered the unexpected guest and turned around to see what became of Kendall. He smiled when he caught sight of her several rows behind them and nodded.

“Making yourself comfortable, Ms. Radcliffe?”

She was instantly nervous again and almost dumped her drink on her lap.

“Yes, Mr. Carson. And please call me Kendall.”

“Okay, Kendall. And you may call me Glenn.”

This all appeared to be a grand adventure to Kendall, and she was thrilled at her fortuitous encounter as a result of the mix-up at the hotel. She frowned when she realized that a disquieted sensation filled her body. Her stomach felt knotted and tight.
What the hell’s wrong with me? I sure hope I don’t throw up!

K
ENDALL TURNED WHEN SHE HEARD
the sound of several sets of footsteps coming towards her. She realized this must be the crew when she saw their matching uniforms and caps. They nodded at her as they strode past and stopped at the executives’ row. The captain, leading the way, stepped forward, introduced himself and his officers, and shook their hands.

“Good evening, gentlemen. We’ve got a fierce headwind tonight, so relax and try to get some sleep. We’ll be off the ground in a few minutes.”

He inclined his head toward the man furthest back and continued, “We’ve got an extra man tonight.”

Fields frowned. He was not good with changes to his schedule and was already pissed that he had extended the offer to have Kendall accompany them. He was a man who was always reining in his temper. The picture of him taking a deep breath and trying to hold back the irritation was quite frightening to those around him, particularly the recipient of his ire. His face turned red and blotchy, and he looked like he would explode. He simply stared at the captain and raised his eyebrows. The captain gave a slight cough and croaked, “Officer Alam is training. There will be no charge for the extra personnel, Sir.”

Fields pursed his lips and said in an even tone, “I would hope not. Let’s get going.”

To make matters worse, the company jet was undergoing maintenance, and they had been forced to charter this jet and were unfamiliar with this plane or any of the pilots. Fields liked and trusted his regular crew and was put out that he had to suffer through these unknown quantities.

The airplane crew made their way to the cockpit and busied themselves with the pre-flight checklist. Finally, the exit door was closed, everything loose stowed away or locked into place, and all passengers and crew belted into their respective seats.

The plane was backed out of the hangar and began to taxi toward the
runway. Looking out her window, Kendall was struck by how small they were compared to the jumbo jet that just rumbled past them. It felt like a small earthquake when the giant engines roared by. She realized that she had to look way up to glimpse the passenger windows. She grinned at the thought that she might feel tiny in this much smaller aircraft, but it more than made up for its size in quality and personal space. She re-adjusted her headrest for the hundredth time and closed her eyes. Again, the nagging feeling and foreboding threatened to send her into a panic attack. She grabbed the armrests and willed herself to calm down.
I’ve really lost it this time!

She was so frantic to calm herself down, that she allowed herself to focus on Jeremy.
The jerk!
Now her emotions changed to anger, since she wouldn’t allow herself to be maudlin when she was having such a wonderful—if not downright scary—adventure.

When the aircraft reached its cruising altitude of thirty-five thousand feet, the flight attendant was already moving about serving drinks and preparing dinner.

As Kendall finished her lemon oregano chicken, rice, and asparagus, she sat back with a sigh and waited to see what lovely dessert would be presented. She contemplated requesting another glass of Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay. She frowned as she heard a muffled but distinctly loud sound from behind her. She couldn’t process it, and chalked it up to weird airplane in-flight sounds. The plane gave a jerk and a slight, but distinct roll.

Fields began to look around and peered at his watch. All of a sudden, seeming completely out of control, he jumped up, peered out the window, threw his cloth napkin on his seat, and shouted, “What’s going on? I want to talk to the captain. We’re headed east instead of west.” He strode up to the cockpit door and banged loudly. Kendall watched in horror at the scene, not understanding what was happening. The flight attendant’s eyes grew wide, and she shrank back against the wall of the plane.

The cockpit door opened slowly, and the barrel of a Sig Sauer P-226 nine millimeter handgun was slowly pushed through the opening. Officer Alam sneered at Fields and commanded, “Go sit down, or I’ll shoot everyone on the plane—NOW!”

For once, Fields was stunned into silence. He was a man who took control at meetings, and was usually the most knowledgeable guy in the room. But he was clearly out of his element in this instance. He knew nothing about guns other than to recognize a handgun when he saw it. As his mind attempted to grasp the reality of the situation, he could do nothing more than back away from the door. It closed with a hard slam. In stunned silence, he stumbled back to his seat, wobbling ever so slightly as he went.

As Fields stood in the aisle, both Kendall and Carson looked at their CEO with gaping mouths and stunned expressions. Fields ran his hand through his
unkempt hair and willed himself to calm down and assess the situation. He looked back at the flight attendant. She was shaking uncontrollably. He nodded his head and hissed at her, “Come here!”

She didn’t move, but began rocking.

He raised his voice, “Here! Now!”

She got up, and on unsteady legs, stumbled her way to their row. Fields put his hands on her shoulders and practically shoved her into a seat facing him and Carson. He began firing questions at her as he pointed at the cockpit door, his finger stabbing the air for extra emphasis.

“Who is that third man? Do you know him? Have you worked with him before?”

The flight attendant shook her head and in a very shaky voice said, “N-N-N-No—never seen him before. D-d-d-didn’t know he was going to be p-p-p-part of the crew.”

Fields was irate. Shaking his head, he exploded at her.

“How can that be? You all work for the same charter company! You would have been copied on the paperwork, wouldn’t you? Or at least been notified of the change?”