Chapter Thirty-Four

At the hacienda, Dewitt holds the telephone in his hand, trying to absorb the news that Jesse has just imparted.

“Hold on, Bro,” he says over the line.

Dewitt pulls the remote control device from his breast pocket. One word is taped to it: OVERRIDE.

“So that’s what it means,” he says to himself, and returns the telephone receiver to his ear.

“Jess, we have got maybe one chance. But, first I have to get something to Atlanta... What? Two hours just to drive up here? That’ll eat up too much time, too much precious time!”

He shakes his head and adds, to himself, “Oh, Geez, I’m beginning to repeat myself, like David!”

Dewitt looks out of the front doorway. He sees the blacktop road that runs past the Señor’s house. The roadway and the entire area is very flat.

“Jesse,” he says over the phone, “I’ve got an idea.”

Two of the Super’s children are outside the hacienda. They are climbing a telephone pole near the roadway with enthusiastic competitiveness as the Señor and Señora shout excited instructions up to them in Spanish. Dewitt sits on the stoop of the front porch, his lips pursed.

The children reach the top of the pole and cut two lines that extend across the roadway. The telephone lines fall to the ground and the children scamper down the pole as the Señor quickly pulls the wires off the roadway.

Dewitt looks far, far down the road. He cups a hand to one ear and catches a faint high-pitched whining sound. It gets louder with each passing second.

All the children begin running down the highway toward the sound. Their father chases behind them, loudly scolding in Spanish. Then, on the horizon, a small object appears. It shimmers as it grows larger and the sound it emits grows louder. The Señora screams from the front yard.

Suddenly, all the children and Señor Undeez do abrupt about-faces and begin running as if for their lives. They all scatter as the sound and the object gets nearer. On the porch, Dewitt and the Señora cover their ears.

Oh so quickly the somewhat undersized little pilot-less jet lands on the blacktop, its tires screeching. The jet streaks by the house, then slows dramatically as a drag chute pops out. It comes to a stop a few hundred yards past the house, its deafening noise abating as its engine winds down.

Almost immediately the Señor appears from behind the house at the wheel of an old pickup truck. He gets out and he and the Señora quickly hoist Dewitt into the bed of the truck. Several of the older children pour into the back of the truck, joyous with excitement. The pickup kicks up dirt as it leaves the yard and heads down the blacktop.

“This is nuts!” Dewitt says out loud, though no one is listening. “But it’s the only chance we got!”

“The Bird” is on its final approach to the runway back at the airport where Jesse and the Feds are gathered. Inside the cockpit sit two dummies, the pilot and the navigator. Tucked under the chin of the dummy pilot is the remote device. As the jet touches down, it roars by a twin-engine Air Force fighter jet. Jesse stands beside it, flight suit on, helmet in hand.

Suddenly, Dewitt’s face pops into view under the small jet’s canopy. He grabs the remote and lets out a soft whistle as the plane slows down.

“Thanks, Roger! Thanks, Wilco!” he says. “But I would have felt much safer if one of you guys had looked like Tom Cruise!”

The little jet comes to a stop as a fire engine and several Jeeps rush toward it.

Just minutes after the little drone jet has deposited Dewitt back at the airfield, he and Jesse are again airborne. This time they are in the real fighter jet, being piloted by Jesse, with Dewitt in the rear seat. Jesse speaks to Dewitt through his helmet intercom.

“Why the hell did you jump in that plane?”

“Hey, man,” answers Dewitt, “you know I can’t jump! I told you: The Señor pushed me in.”

“Yeah, right,” says Jesse. “Anyway, we found out two of them flew into Birmingham a couple of hours ago. But, the Feds lost them. They may still beat us to Atlanta. – Man, you got to be prepared. You know, for the worst.”

“I know, Jess. – Hey, won’t this thing go any faster?”

Jesse lets out a short laugh.

“We’re doing Mach two now!”