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"Yeah," Casey said "I do"
Back in her office, she turned to the plastic bag on the desk, opened it, and pulled the videotape from the shattered camera She set the tape to one side Then she dialled Jiot the answering e
She thuh the telexes The only one that interested her was fro As always, he ay behind the curve
FROM: RICK RAKOSKI, FSR HK TO: CASEY SINGLETON, QA/IRT NORTON BBK
TRANSPACIFIC AIRLINES TODAY REPORTS FLIGHT 545, AN N-22, FUSE 271, FOREIGN REGISTRY 098/443/HB09, FLYING FROM HK TO DENVER EXPERIENCED A TURBULENCE UPSET DURING CRUISE FL370 APPROXIMATELY 0524 UTC POSITION 39 NORTH/170 EAST SOME PASSENGERS AND CREW SUFFERED MINOR INJURIES AIRCRAFT MADE EMERGENCY LANDING LAX
FLIGHT PLAN, PASSENGER AND CREW MANIFEST ATTACHED PLS ADVISE SOONEST
The telex was followed by four pages of passenger lanced at the crew list:
JOHN ZHEN CHANG, CAPTAIN 5/7/51
LEU ZAN PING, FIRST OFFICER 3/11/59
RICHARD YONG, FIRST OFFICER 9/9/61
GERHARD REIMANN, FIRST
OFFICER 7/23/49
HENRI MARCHAND, ENGINEER 4/25/69
THOMAS CHANG, ENGINEER 6/29/70
ROBERT SHENG, ENGINEER 6/13/62
HARRIET CHANG, FLIGHT
ATTENDANT 5/12/77
LINDA CHING, FLIGHT
ATTENDANT 5/18/76
NANCY MORLEY, FLIGHT
ATTENDANT 7/19/75
KAY LIANG, FLIGHT ATTENDANT 6/4/67
JOHN WHITE, FLIGHT ATTENDANT 1/30/70
M V CHANG, FLIGHT
ATTENDANT 4/1/77
SHA YAN HAO, FLIGHT
ATTENDANT 3/13/73
YEE JIAO, FLIGHT ATTENDANT 11/18/76
HARRIET KING, FLIGHT
ATTENDANT 10/10/75
B CHOI, FLIGHT ATTENDANT 11/18/76
YEE CHANG, FLIGHT ATTENDANT 1/8/74
It was an international crew, of the kind that often flew for charter co crews had often flown for the Royal Air Force and were extrehteen in all, including seven flight crew Such a large flight creas not strictly necessary The N-22 was designed to be flown by a two-man crew, just a captain and first officer But all the Asian carriers were expanding rapidly, and they generally carried larger crews for extra training hours
Casey went on The next telex was from the FSR in Vancouver
FROM: S NIETO, FSR VANC TO: C SINGLETON, QA/IRT
FYI FLIGHT CREW TPA 545 DEADHEAD ON TPA 832, FROM LAX TO VANCOUVER, FIRST OFFICER LU ZAN PING TAKEN OFF THE AIRCRAFT AT VANCOUVER MEDICAL EMERGENCY DUE TO PREVIOUSLY UNRECOGNIZED HEAD INJURY F/0 COMATOSE IN VANC GEN HOSP, DETAILS TF REMAINING CREW OF TPA 545 TRANSIT BACK TO HONG KONG TODAY
So the first officer had been seriously injured, after all He must have been in the tail when the incident occurred The man whose cap they had found
Casey dictated a telex to the FSR in Vancouver, asking him to interview the first officer as soon as possible She dictated another to the FSR in Hong Kong, suggesting an intervieith Captain Chang on his return
Norma buzzed her "No luck on the kid," she said
"Why not?"
"I talked to Maria in Travel They didn&039;t ed to a special coet stuff But she heard the kid ran up a hell of a big charge"
"How big?" Casey said
"She didn&039;t know" Nor lunch toive "
"Okay Thanks, Norma"
Casey turned back to the telexes on her desk They were all other business:
Steve Young, fro about fire-retardant test results on seat cushions the previous December
A query from Mitsubishi about burnouts of then- five-inch displays in the first-class section of American N-22 widebodies
A list of revisions to the N-20 Aircraft Maintenance Manual (MR 06-62-02)
A revision of the prototype Virtual Heads-Up Display units, to be delivered in the next two days
Areplacement of die D-2 electrical bus on all FDAU units nuhed, and went to work
GLENDALE
7:40 PM
She was tired when she got home The house seemed empty without Allison&039;s lively chatter Too tired to cook, Casey went into the kitchen and ate a cup of yogurt Allison&039;s colorful drawings were taped on the refrigerator door Casey considered calling her; but it was right around her bedti her to sleep
She also didn&039;t want Ji up on him That was a sore point between the
Casey went into the bathroo, and went back into the kitchen to answer it It was probably Jim She picked up the receiver "Hello, Jim - "
"Don&039;t be stupid, bitch," a voice said "You want trouble, you&039;ll get it Accidents happen We&039;re watching you right now"
Click
She stood in the kitchen, holding the phone in her hand Casey had always thought of herself as levelheaded, but her heart was pounding She forced herself to take a deep breath as she hung up the receiver She knew these calls happened so threatening calls at night But it had never happened to her, and she was surprised at how frightened she felt She took another deep breath, tried to shrug it off She picked up her yogurt, stared at it, put it down She was suddenly aware that she was alone in a house with all the blinds open
She went around the living roo the blinds When she came to the front , she looked out at the street In the light of the overhead street lamps, she saw a blue sedan parked a few yards up from her house
There were two h the windshield The men stared at her as she stood at the
Shit
She went to the front door, bolted it, locked the security chain She set the burglar alar and clumsy as she punched in the code Then she flicked off the living roohts, pressed her body to the wall, and peered out the
Thenow As she watched, one of them pointed toward her house
She went back to the kitchen, fumbled in her purse, found her pepper spray She clicked off the safety With her other hand she grabbed the phone, and pulled it on the long cord back to the dining roo the ave her name and address "There are men parked outsideI&039;ve just gotten a threatening call"
"Okay, ma&039;am Is anybody in the house with you now?"
"No I&039;m alone"
"Okay, ma&039;am Lock your door and set the alarm if you have one A car is on the way"
"Hurry," she said
On the street, thetoward her house
They were dressed casually, in polo shirts and slacks, but they looked gri onto the lawn, the other heading toward the back of the house Casey felt her heart thu the pepper spray, she ht there, then past the bedrooh thein the door, she saw one of thearound cautiously Then his gaze turned toward the back door She crouched down, slipped the chain across the door
She heard the sound of soft footsteps, co closer to the house She looked up at the wall, just above her head There was a keypad for the alar red buttonalarm would sound Would that scare him away? She wasn&039;t sure Where were the da had it been?
She realized she could not hear the footsteps any more Cautiously, she raised her head until she could peer out the botto down the alley away fro back to the street
Staying low, Casey ran back to the front of the bungalow, to the dining rooer on her lawn She felt panic: Where was he? The second man appeared on the lawn, squinted at the front of her house, then headed back toward the car She saw the first er seat The second ot in behind the wheel Moments later, a black-and-white squad car pulled up behind the blue sedan The men in the car see The squad car turned on its spotlight, and one officer got out,cautiously forward He talked to the ot out They all walked up the steps to her front door - the policeman and the two , and answered it
A young police officer said, "Ma&039;aleton?" "Yes," she said
"You work for Norton Aircraft?" "Yes, I do" "These gentle you"
Casey said, "What?"
"Would you like to see their credentials?"
"Yes," she said "I would"
The policeht while the two nized credentials for Norton Security Services
"We&039;re sorry, ht you knew We&039;ve been told to check the house every hour Is that all right with you?"
"Yes," she said "It&039;s fine"