CHAPTER XII

As Michael returned from his conversation, Tyrus asked, “Has anyone had any calls lately from someone they didn’t know?”

Michael looked at Tyrus and asked, “Just now, why are you asking?”

“Brad and Eldon tracked us to this address through your cell number,” Tyrus answered. “We are considering the possibility Tony Adams will be able to do the same.”

“How would he get my number? Donaldson was the only person I gave it to, when we arrived at the airport, in case of an emergency,” Michael stated.

“He is friends with Tony Adams,” Eldon informed Michael.

Michael looked dumbfounded for a while then raced to his room to pack. When Tyrus asked what the problem was, he answered, “I just got off the phone with Donaldson. He claimed they caught someone trying to tamper with my plane. He asked several questions, and then he hung up. I think we need to get out of here while we still can.”

Tyndal looked at the mess that surrounded her and objected, “We can’t leave the house looking like this.”

“Of course we can,” Uriel answered. “The people that clean need to earn their money. I will grab your bag on the way down to save you a trip up those stairs. Be ready to leave the moment I get back.”

There was no way Tyndal was going to leave the table in the condition it was in, not for any reason. She didn’t care if the hired help needed to do something to earn their keep. So, while the men scrambled to gather their things, she took a few moments to wash up. It was all the time she had before they returned.

In case she was going to insist on finishing the cleaning, Tyrus didn’t give Tyndal any time to argue. When he walked past her, he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the house behind him. Uriel followed with their luggage and the keys for one of the cars. Within a few moments, they were in the vehicle and travelling towards Tyrus’ apartment headquarters. He had given everyone the address so they would know how to get there. There was only one problem. Someone was trailing them, and it wasn’t a car they recognized, which meant it probably belonged to Tony Adams. He had found them, and it hadn’t taken him long.

“You have a tail,” Michael told Uriel, over his speakerphone. “Eldon says he will take care of him.”

“There is more than one, I count two cars,” Raphael informed Michael from his position as passenger.

“You hear that?” Michael asked Uriel.

“In this case, we don’t dare go into the district where Merika has her apartment,” Tyrus stated. “Tony Adams knows where she lived and I wouldn’t doubt that they still have the address on file from when Teryka and Riven lived there.”

“Where should we go?” Michael asked.

Tyndal supplied the answer, “The airport.”

“What?” Michael shouted. He hadn’t heard such an asinine suggestion in his life. Tony Adams had the resources there to come after them, and they had no way of defending themselves.

“It is time we lured our enemy in. He believes that as he has found us, we are running scared, let him continue to believe that.” Tyndal replied. “Let us allow him to assume all the planes are fueled and ready to fly.”

“Mine isn’t yet,” Michael admitted. “It only has half a tank, which will take us quite a long way, but not as far as we need to go. I will need to tell my pilot to get moving on this. He won’t be ready to fly and needs time to get to the airport. What do you have in mind?”

“That depends on how many planes are fueled and how many of our team members know how to fly. Also, I need to have some idea whether anyone came in piloting their own plane,” Tyndal answered.

“That would be me,” Raphael answered. “Michael and Uriel had pilots, if I am not mistaken.”

“Sounds right,” Samuel answered.

“I just talked to my pilot, and he says we have three quarters of a tank left,” Uriel informed everyone.

Raphael added, “My tanks are full and my plane is capable of seating eight people comfortably.”

“We will all go with Raphael,” Tyndal quickly decided. “Brad will take one plane out, while Eldon will travel with the other. We will spread out, so Tony Adams can’t figure out which plane we are in.”

“I thought we wanted him to follow us,” Michael stated.

“We do, and he will,” Tyndal replied. “But if we make it too easy, he won’t take the bait. He will know he is being set up. He doesn’t want to tackle all of us. So, we will make it seem as if Tyrus, Raphael, and I are alone on one of the flights, while the others scatter towards different destinations.”

“What about the possibility of sabotage?” Michael asked. He considered this a valid question, when he remembered the phone call he got from Donaldson. He had to wonder if there was a reason behind it other than just using their conversation as a way to track them.

“Even you know that Donaldson was lying,” Tyndal pointed out. “I am sure things will be ready to leave when we are.”

“Fine,” Michael agreed. “I will contact my pilot and get some idea about how long it will take him to log in a flight and get airborne.”

“I should do the same with mine,” Uriel agreed.

“I will contact Eldon and Brad,” Tyndal decided. “They are not going to be happy about this, but they don’t have much choice.”

“You knew they would come after us, didn’t you?” Raphael pointed out the obvious.

“Yes, but they don’t have the range we do,” Tyndal replied. “We can reach our goal without stopping for fuel. They can’t. If it all goes according to plan, we will be gone by the time Brad and Eldon catch up to us.”

“While they are in the air, we take care of Tony Adams,” Tyrus second-guessed Tyndal. “Have you got something in mind that will do the job?”

“I have most of it worked out,” Tyndal told everyone listening. “We need to discuss the rest when we are in the plane. If I am right, Tony Adams will never be the same again after this, nor will he ever bother anyone again. We will need to plan our moves perfectly to make it work though.”

“As long as we have some idea about what to expect, there shouldn’t be any problems,” Michael promised.

“Let’s get everyone in on what is happening so that things are set up before we get to the airfield,” Tyndal suggested. “When everyone fully understands their parts in this operation call us back.”

Rhys watched how the group worked together and approved. They seemed to know what to expect from each other and used that experience to their best advantage. He listened as Raphael phoned in his flight plan. As soon as that was done, he drove the car to the rental company and dropped off the vehicle. Then he requested a ride to within a quarter mile of the airstrip. They were going to walk from there. While he distracted the staff in the office with his solo arrival, Samuel and Rhys would slip into the jet. That would leave Michael, Uriel, Lucifer, and Selaphiel to play their parts. They would make it seem like they were getting onto the other two planes instead of his. The trick was getting Eldon and Brad to emulate them so they could switch places.

Raphael contacted Michael and began to make plans for the switch, “How do you plan to sneak Eldon and Brad onto those planes without it looking like we are pulling a fast one?”

“Leave that to me,” Michael as much as told Raphael he already had things under control.

“Figured as much,” Raphael replied. He then contacted Eldon and Brad and ordered them to go to the airfield. He told them they would be expected to go on different flights to make Tony Adams think the group was splitting up. They would park their cars as close to the jet as they were allowed, get out, and then board the planes. They weren’t to look around or stop. They would move in a straight line from their vehicles to the inside of the jets as quickly as possible.

When Eldon and Brad reported that they understood and would do their part, Raphael called Uriel to tell the others things were in place. The last people to arrive would be Uriel, Tyndal, and Tyrus. Until then, they were to drive around town and make it seem as if they were trying to lose Tony Adams. By the time they got to the jet, the other two would be in the air, or close to being. According to their flight plans, one of the jets would be heading for New Mexico while the other one flew towards Nevada.