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Denver, Colorado GARY REYNOLDS had grown up in rugged Kelowna, Canada, near Vancouver, and had had his flight training there, so he was accusto over treacherousa Cessna Citation II, keeping a wary eye on the snowcapped peaks surrounding him
The plane was commissioned to carry a cockpit crew of two, but today there was no copilot Not this trip, Reynolds thought grimly
He had filed a false flight plan for Kennedy airport No one would think of looking for him in Denver
He would spend the night at his sister's ho he would be on his way east, toPrima were cohts "Citation One One One Lima Foxtrot, this is the approach control tower at Denver International Airport Come in, please" Gary Reynolds pressed the radio button "This is Citation One One One Li clearance to land" "One Lima Foxtrot, say your position" "One Lima Foxtrot I am fifteen miles northeast of the Denver airport Altitude fifteen thousand feet" He saw Pike's Peak looht blue, the weather clear A good omen
There was a brief silence The voice froain "One Lima Foxtrot, you are cleared to land at runo-six Repeat, runo-six" "One Li, Gary Reynolds felt the plane give a sudden, high bounce
Surprised, he looked out the cockpitA strong wind had coht in a violent turbulence that began to toss the plane around He pulled back the wheel to try to gain altitude
It was useless He was trapped in a raging vortex The plane was completely out of control He slammed down the radio button
"This is One Liency" "One Liency?" Gary Reynolds was shouting into the ht in a wind shear!
Extreme turbulence!
I'oddamn hurricane!" "One Lima Foxtrot, you are only four and a half n of air turbulence on our screens" "I don't give a da you-" The pitch of his voice suddenly rose "Mayday! May-" In the control tower, they watched in shock as the blip on the radar screen disappeared
Manhattan, New York AT DAWN, AT an area under the Manhattan Bridge along the East River not far from pier seventeen, half a dozen uniforathered around a fully dressed corpse lying at the river's edge The body had been carelessly tossed down, so its head was eerily bobbing up and down in the water, following the vagaries of the tide
The , from the Manhattan South Homicide Squad, had finished the official prescribed procedures No one was allowed to approach the body until photographs had been taken, and he made notes of the scene while the officers looked for any evidence thataround The victis
Carl Ward, the medical examiner, finished his examination, stood up, and brushed the dirt froe Detective Earl Greenburg was a professional, capable-looking itzer was gray-haired, with the laid-back manner of someone who had seen it all before
Ward turned to Greenburg "He's all yours, Earl" "What have we got?" "The obvious cause of death is a slashed throat, right through the carotid artery He has two busted kneecaps, and it feels like a few ribs are broken
Soood"
"What about the ti at the victiuess is that they duive you a full report e get hi turned his attention to the body Gray jacket, dark blue trousers, light blue tie, an expensive watch on the left wrist Greenburg knelt down and started going through the victim's jacket pockets
In one pocket, his fingers found a note He pulled it out, holding it by its edge It read: "Washington Monday, 10 am Prima" He looked at it a moment, puzzled
Greenburg reached into another pocket, finding another note "It's in Italian" He glanced around "Gianelli!" One of the unifor handed him the note "Can you read this?" Gianelli read it aloud slowly " 'Last chance Meet me at pier seventeen with the rest of the dope or sith the fishes'" He handed it back
Robert Praegitzer looked surprised "A Mafia hit? Why would they leave hi was going through the corpse's other pockets He pulled out a wallet and opened it It was heavy with cash "They sure as hell weren't after his money" He took a card froitzer frowned "Richard Stevens?Didn't we read so said, "His wife Diane Stevens She's in court, in the Tony Altieri ht She's testifying against the capo di capos" And they both turned to look at Richard Stevens's body