True to his word, Frank was at the airfield early, pulling the van into the charter service parking lot at seven-thirty. He doubted if anyone else would be there at that time, save Jack, and he wanted to look the place over more closely than he had had a chance to do the previous day. He noted April’s little Neon, looking lonely in the middle of the lot, with no other vehicles anywhere near it.

To his surprise, Roger Taylor was there before him. He was seated at the desk in Jack’s office, doing paperwork.

"Morning, Roger," Frank popped his head in the door and smiled as warmly as he could. The slight blonde man was apparently checking over invoices of supplies, from what Frank could see of his work.

"Good morning, Frank. You’re here early." Roger glanced at his watch and tilted an inquiring eyebrow. "I didn’t realize you would be here in the mornings as well as doing April’s afternoon runs."

"Uh – Jack said Jason and you could use an extra hand doing loading, and I don’t start back to class until next week." Frank explained. "When I’m back in school, I’ll be able to fly a couple of afternoons, and a couple of full days; my schedule is set up so that I don’t have classes on Tuesdays this term."

Roger nodded without much interest, and turned his eyes back to his paperwork. Frank was left with the definite impression of being summarily dismissed. He backed out of Jack’s office with a muttered "see you later," and beat a hasty retreat.

Jason arrived a few minutes later, and the two of them checked their instructions for the day, then started loading both Jack’s plane and the gold-and-green one that had belonged to Jesse Robertson with their respective cargoes. As they worked, Frank decided this was a perfect opportunity to do a little sleuthing.

"Were you here last Monday, when April’s plane crashed?" he asked Jason.

Jason nodded. "Yes. Boy, that was a nasty mess! Jack about went out of his mind!"

"Did anything unusual happen? Before she left, I mean?" Frank tried to sound casual.

"No, everything was pretty much as usual. Except, of course, that we were slow getting April’s plane loaded. She was really ticked off; she hates to ever be late with a run. And of course, sometimes it does make a difference, if we have something that needs to be put on a connecting flight, or something. But it wouldn’t have been that important on Monday. Anyway, April was really impatient, and that’s why she decided to take Jack’s flight instead of waiting for her plane to be finished."

"Was Jack’s plane thoroughly checked out before she left?" Frank asked idly. He wondered if Jason or Roger had possibly noticed Jack’s transgression with the loosened oil line. "Or was there anyone else around that might have tampered with the plane, or anything? Someone that isn’t ordinarily here, I mean."

"Jack checked it himself, Frank!" Jason sounded shocked. "No one was around the plane except April, and she sure wouldn’t mess with a plane she was about to fly! That would be crazy!"

But that’s exactly what Jack did…. Frank thought. It sounds crazy, sure, but that’s exactly what happened. Or – nah, that’s ridiculous – but could April possibly have put the kilos of cocaine in the plane? He stopped short, incredulous at the sudden turn his thoughts had taken. Hardy, don’t be a jerk, you know she didn’t have anything to do with it…. But in the back of his mind, he could hear his own voice saying "don’t make snap judgments about people…." He went on with his work without asking any more questions of Jason.

A little later, Roger came out of the office to check invoices against cartons. Frank took advantage of Jason’s temporary absence outside to ask Roger the same question he had asked Jason, but the agent’s answer was disappointing.

"I was here early on Monday, but I’d gone to lunch by the time April got here, and she left before I returned." he said. "I heard about it later, and I was here when Jack got the call from the airport where she was supposed to land, saying that she’d disappeared off their radar. I thought Jack was going to have a heart attack when that call came through."

Jack’s arrival cut the question-and-answer session short, and Frank concentrated on doing the necessary tasks relating to his job. Since Frank was there for the whole day, Jack was juggling the runs, trying to fit in an extra one in the morning without making either of them late for afternoon jobs.

Going into Jack’s office to secure his approval of a schedule change during the morning, Frank stared around the cubicle with interest as Jack scanned the paperwork. His desk was covered with maps, flight logs and such, but a small table in the corner was pointedly bare, save for a baseball card encased in plastic and mounted for display.

"What’s this, Jack?" Frank indicated the card. "I didn’t know you were a baseball fan."

Jack glanced at the card and grinned reminiscently. "Ordinarily, I’m not, but that card’s really special."

"May I?" Frank reached for the mounted card. Jack nodded, and Frank picked it up, handling it carefully. "Hey, it’s signed!"

"Uh-huh." Jack leaned back in his swivel chair and laced his fingers behind his head. "Want to hear the story?"

Frank nodded, and perched on a corner of Jack’s desk.

"Well, a while back, the Toronto Blue Jays were playing the New York Yankees, in New York. The game was called because of rain; there was a bad storm that swept in; tail end of a hurricane, I think. Just about that time, the team gets a phone call; the wife of one of their players – Mark Guthrie, it was – has gone into labor in Toronto. Naturally, Guthrie wants to get back to Toronto right away."

"Sounds reasonable," Frank nodded.

"I agree. The only problem was, with the storm, flights were being canceled right and left. The team plane wasn’t going anywhere. The regularly scheduled commercial flights were delayed or canceled, and private flights – well, I heard someone describe it as suicidal!" Jack grinned devilishly at Frank, and tilted a dark eyebrow.

"You didn’t!" Frank began to laugh, anticipating what was coming next.

"Hey, the guy was desperate to get to Toronto, and he paid big bucks! Darned right I took it! It was a nasty flight, I’ll admit….To make it worse, we weren’t heading for the big international airport, we had to go to Toronto Island Airport! It was windy and rainy and foggy – downright brutal – but I got him there!" Jack smiled triumphantly. "And he made it to the hospital just in time to welcome a 5 lb.-11 oz. son into the world. He was really grateful, I guess, because in addition to the fee, he added that signed baseball card – and one more thing: he and his wife decided to stick the poor kid with the middle name of ‘Wayne’ as well!"

Frank handed him the card. "That’s really swell, Jack. Thanks for telling me about it."

"I keep that card there, as a reminder to take an occasional risk; sometimes they pay off." Jack set the card back in its accustomed place. "And nobody had better dare move it, either!" he grinned. "No one messes with my good luck charm!"

Some time later, Frank was busy with a pre-flight check of Jesse’s plane when the telephone rang. A few minutes later, Jack shouted to him to come into the office.

Frank stepped into the little cubicle. "What is it Jack? I was in the middle of – hey, what’s wrong?" He stared in dismay at his friend; Jack was standing behind his desk; his dark eyes were wide with shock, and his face was the color of parchment. "Here, sit down." He took Jack’s arm and forced him into a chair. "What’s happened?"

"That telephone call—" Jack rasped. "It was Deke. He said – he said…." He stopped speaking and swallowed hard. "He said, ‘you thought you got away with it, didn’t you? We’re not making nice anymore…better watch out for that little kid sister of yours, Wayne. We let her alone so far, but no more. Since you won’t give us what’s rightfully ours, we’re gonna see that you lose something of yours.’"

"Take it easy, Jack." Frank gripped Jack’s shoulder, trying to calm and soothe the distraught pilot. "Nothing’s going to happen to April; that’s why Joe’s playing bodyguard, remember? He isn’t going to let anyone do anything to her."

"Frank, he can’t protect her from a bullet!" Jack cried. "What if they just outright shoot her?"

"Deke and Ernie have no way of knowing where April is." Frank reminded him.

"They found her in the hospital; they can find her again!" Jack refused to be comforted. "I’d better go to her—" He started to rise from the chair, but Frank clamped a hand on his arm and forced him down again.

"That’s the worst thing you could possibly do, Jack! Didn’t you hear what I just said, they don’t have any idea where she is – you don’t want to lead them right to her, do you? What if they’re keeping an eye on you, and follow you to get to her?"

"Oh God," Jack moaned and dropped his face into his hands. "What am I going to do?"

"Try to relax." Frank picked up the telephone receiver and began dialing. "I’ll call Joe and tell him what’s happened….Joe? Hi, it’s me. Listen, Jack just got a phone call from your good friend Deke – shhh, hey, don’t say things like that! Mom will jump down your throat if she hears you….Listen to me…they’re threatening April now, since Jack didn’t give them the bricks of cocaine. So keep a really close eye on things, huh? Be extra cautious today when you come to pick up her car….Right, I know you will; I just wanted to warn you to be really careful….Yeah, I will. See you later."

Frank hung up the phone and turned again to Jack. "It will be all right, Jack." he reiterated. "Now that Joe’s been forewarned, he’ll be on the lookout for anything suspicious. He’ll take care of April."

Jack didn’t lift his head. "He can’t stop a bullet…" he whispered. "Frank, if they do something to April – if she’s hurt – killed…I think I’ll die too."

*****

Vanessa swung her little Wrangler into the parking lot near the Wayne’s World hangars, and shut off the engine. April unfastened her seat belt and awkwardly fumbled with the door handle with her left hand; finally she managed to open the door and get out. Joe squirmed out behind her, grimacing at the contortions he had to go through to extricate himself from the small back seat. He leaned back into the car, stretching over the passenger seat and the shift console.

"Bye, sugar," he murmured and kissed Vanessa lightly. "Thanks for the lift; I’ll call you later."

His girlfriend smiled and returned his kiss. "Okay. I’ll be home after I have lunch with Megan. You’re welcome for the ride." She raised her voice. "Bye, April!"

The younger girl smiled and waved, stepping back from the Wrangler as Vanessa turned the key to start the motor. Joe moved back and shut the door; Vanessa let out the clutch and headed toward the exit.

As Joe and April walked toward the little Neon, he kept scanning the parking lot and the surrounding area, alert for signs of anything amiss. Frank’s telephone call about a possible threat against April had concerned Joe more than he cared to admit, although he hadn’t said anything about it to April. She’s already been upset enough, the last couple of days. She doesn’t need me saying something to scare her, too.

April stopped walking to search her bag for her car keys. "They always fall to the bottom…darn, where are they?"

Joe watched her, amused. "I’ve never figured out why you girls carry so much stuff in your purses," he said. "Vanessa and Megan, same way. Jeez, Megan carries a backpack almost as big as she is!"

"It’s the principle of ‘I might need it,’" April informed him with great condescension. "And more often than not, I do need it – whatever ‘it’ happens to be….Ah, here they are!" She dangled the keys triumphantly in front of Joe’s face and started to limp toward her car again. "I’ll be glad to have my wheels back," she called over her shoulder.

"Even though you can’t drive?" Joe teased her. He took a step to follow April…and a sudden flash of alarm hit him like a lightning bolt. Cars…threat against April…Jesse Robertson…car bomb…April’s car…BOMB!

"April, stop! Don’t open the door!" he screamed, and flung himself across the intervening space toward the girl.

April had inserted the key in the door lock and turned it, and just as Joe reached her, she depressed the button and opened the door. Desperately, Joe grabbed her from behind and pulled her straight backwards so that she landed on top of him, his body cushioning hers from contact with the pavement. Pain radiated through him at the impact, but he managed to roll to the side, away from the vehicle.

"Joe! What are you doing?" April shrieked. "Have you gone nuts?"

Joe didn’t bother answering her; he was too busy trying to scoot and slither further away from the Neon. Two seconds…three…four…and then there came the sound of a tremendous explosion….