Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

Rico?"
    "Maracaibo
or Caracas in Venezuela, where we'll stop for fuel again. We'll have
to see how the fuel holds up. We have an estimate on her fuel
consumption, but it's not carved in stone."
    "Are
all these places safe?" asked Brian with raised eyebrows.
    "You
got me, as far as I'm concerned, we sleep with the plane. Oh, and we
sleep armed... just in case." Steele's face had become
momentarily serious, and Brian wondered whether he should be
concerned or not. The copilot hesitated, then lost his train of
thought as he watched George unhook the tow tractor from the nose
gear of the B25. He unhooked the mechanism free with almost motherly
care. Jack and Brian exchanged glances as they quietly watched the
mechanic. He gave the warbird a loving pat on the fuselage, wiped an
unseen smudge off of the starboard engine nacelle and strode toward
the tractor without looking back. Without words, the two airmen
turned back to the chart table to finish their flight plans. As they
resumed reviewing their flight plan, the reclining Shepherd jumped
to his feet and awoofed, softly, but loud enough to get the
attention of the two fliers engrossed with their paperwork. A white
pickup truck had pulled through the gate and was headed straight
toward the Sweet Susie. Jack could see Stephen's company logo
emblazoned on the door of the truck as it slowed to a stop in front
of the right wing of the plane. A burly young man stepped out of the
truck on the driver's side, while Stephen exited the passenger door.
    "I
couldn't let you leave without saying good luck and bringing you a
going-away present," shouted Stephen.
    "So,
what did you bring us?" the two pilots queried, almost in
unison, grinning widely as they strode out to the tail of the truck.
    "Come
see," chided the owner. At the back of the truck sat two long,
skinny wooden crates and fourteen small metal boxes Jack recognized
as military ammunition cans. Fritz jumped into the truck and gave
all the containers a close examination. The dog stared blankly at
his master.
    "Well
it's not drugs," said Steele candidly with a smirk.
    "You
know me better than that," Stephen injected with a hurt look.
He opened a wooden crate to reveal twelve neatly packed M1 carbine
rifles. "They're for the movie, so is this stuff." He
pointed to the metal boxes. Brian opened two of the metal
containers. One contained ammunition for the carbines, the other,
for the .50 cal guns of the Sweet Susie.
    "Hey,
this is live ammo..." Brian exclaimed, pulling back in concern.
"What are we doing carrying real ammunition? And
real guns? ”
    "Relax,
relax..." Stephen waved his hand in an attempt to quiet the
copilot. "All this stuff is for the movie company. That..."
he said, pointing at the ammo boxes, "we could only get one
way. It will have to be converted by the techs on the movie site
before filming begins." Stephen handed Jack a bulging sealed
envelope. "All the proper documentation for this stuff is in
here." Jack took it and left it sealed.
    “ Ok,
so let's load it up already, we're burning daylight." Jack
slapped the apprehensive copilot on the shoulder to punctuate. "Quit
worryin' will ya?" The pilot looked at his watch. "Let's
go, let's
go ,
it's after ten already!”
    “ Give
him a hand, Kevin," prompted Stephen. The burly driver of the
truck, who had stood silently and unmoving, hefted a crate of
carbines to his shoulder, in one clean motion. Brian grabbed two of
the metal ammo containers. The two men carried their burdens to the
open bomb-bay doors of the plane. Jack offhandedly wondered if
carrying any of that cargo was illegal. He dismissed the thought, he
trusted Stephen. Besides, with as much as he had invested in that
plane, Jack couldn't see him taking such a foolish risk as to do
something illegal with it. But he promised himself he would open the
envelope and check all the paperwork while they were in the air
before they left US airspace. Jack and Stephen walked back to the
shade of the hangar and the