42 |

Somewhere over Europe

 

Agent Hugh Reading had raided the proverbial kitty, and was feeling guilty about it as he usually did, despite the fact the only reason he was on this luxury Gulf V was that his friends who were paying for it were missing, and now confirmed, without a doubt, kidnapped.

The flight attendant, a statuesque blonde who would look at home on any fashion runway in Europe, strode toward him, her form-fitting blue uniform a constant distraction, despite her age being less than half his.

And she was the source of most of his guilt.

A dedicated flight attendant, just for me.

“You really don’t have to be waiting on me. I’m not rich.”

She flashed a Hollywood smile. “My job is to serve you. I come with the plane whether you need me or not.”

“Huh. Next time can I specify no flight attendant?”

“Sorry, it’s required in case there’s an emergency.”

Reading frowned, though did feel slightly better knowing that she wasn’t an option he had forgotten to tick off while making the reservation.

“Are you sure I can’t get you anything?”

Reading sighed.

You might as well let the poor girl work. She’ll be bored otherwise.

“Just a Diet Coke if you’ve got it.”

“Of course.” She smiled. “Can I add a splash of something in there for you?”

He shook his head. “No, I’m on duty.”

As if on cue, his laptop beeped at him with a notification about the vehicles the Polish now suspected were involved.

Finally, a lead!

His drink was delivered with a smile and a gleam, and he had to resist the urge to lean out into the aisle as she walked away.

You’re a dirty old man.

His phone rang, startling him, and he almost spilled his drink. He put it on the table in front of him and took the call. “Reading.”

“Oh, hi, Agent Reading, this is Tommy Granger, from Prof—”

“I know who you are. Have you found something new?”

“Umm, yes, sir. I was able to track one of the bad guy’s phones.”

Reading chuckled.

‘Bad guys.’

“Excellent work. I won’t bother asking how. Where is it?”

“Until a few minutes ago, it was heading south on the A1 highway in Poland, approaching the Czech Republic. I lost contact with it just a few minutes ago. It might have gone offline, or they might have figured out they were being tracked.”

“Do you have the number?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll send it to you right away.”

“Good. I’ll see if Interpol can find out anything about it. Anything else?”

“Well, we’d like to help.”

“I’m not sure what more you can do.”

There was a pause. “Well, umm, let’s just say that I’m very good at accessing things I’m not supposed to. I was thinking that since we know where they’ve been traveling the past several hours, maybe I could give the traffic cameras a go.”

Reading smiled. “That would be illegal.”

“Only if I’m caught.”

He frowned. “With an attitude like that, one day you will be.”

“Okay, I understand.”

He shook his head. “You’re going to do it, anyway, aren’t you?”

“Ahh, yes?”

“Fine, I just don’t want to know about it unless you find something. And make sure you don’t get caught.”

“I never do!”

He ended the call and sighed.

Kids!

His phone vibrated with the suspect’s number, and he forwarded it to his partner at Interpol, then pulled up a map on his laptop. He followed the A1 south, picking a spot a couple of hours ahead of their suspects’ current location, then waved the flight attendant over.

“Yes, sir?”

“Tell the pilot to reroute to Krakow.”

“Right away, sir.”