Chapter 9: Reunion that Wasn't

Tracy Turner stood in Terminal A of Eppley Airfield in Omaha, watching Gate A10 and impatiently tapping her foot.

“Come on, come on!” she muttered.  “Where’s that plane?”

She hadn’t been idle while Sarah had been getting chased around Atlanta.  Far from it!  First, at the station in Maryland, she’d had to get away from those spies somehow.  That had been pretty easy.  There was a secret passage under the platform at the BWI station, and by the time the criminals arrived at the edge, Tracy had mysteriously vanished—just like that.

In her stead, were six other agents who wasted no time detaining the spies.

Then, it was off to the secret room to put together a movie.  The New Adventures of Annie Oakley could have taken a while to make, except it had been made before, for different assignments.  Tracy just had to reshoot a few of the scenes to make them more specific to Sarah’s case.  The voice-over part was always easy, and she’d done that twice, the second time after she talked with Sarah on the phone.

So, while Menace was busy trailing Sarah to Atlanta, Tracy’d flown directly to Omaha.  She was there, ready and waiting to pick Sarah up.  But she knew, even as she waited, that there could be trouble.

I lost that car that was following me to this airport, she thought to herself, and they picked up Jenks in the parking garage.  That should buy us some time, but how much?  If that plane doesn’t get here soon…

Her glance fell on the security entrance to the terminal, and she suddenly sucked in her breath.  That man with the curly red hair and beard to match—she’d seen that disguise before!  She checked the nose—yep, long!  The eyes—yes, they were still blue!  None of these were his true features, but either someone else bore a perfect resemblance to Kopecky’s classic disguise, or—

There’s one, she thought to herself.  Any more?

She turned and looked out the window behind her, just in time to notice the gate open and two pilots walk out.  They were chatting and laughing about some flight they’d had to Atlanta—nothing unusual about that.  Except, Tracy recognized them from her years of experience.  Those two had never flown a plane in their lives…but they’d be prime suspects if one blew up!

Glancing at a store, she saw there was now a new clerk on duty.  A Frontier Airlines clerk she hadn’t seen yet came to take his job at the ticket office.  None of these were coincidences….it was all part of an elaborate plan…

They knew Sarah was coming.

Plan B, then!  Tracy thought to herself.  Pulling out her phone, she quickly dialed a number.  “Hello, Jean?  How are you, Sis?  No, I couldn’t get the dog yet.  He hasn’t had all its shots.  There’s another puppy, though—the Pomeranian I was telling you about.  Would you like that one instead?  You what?  Sure.  Sure.  Yeah, okay.  And Jean?  I’ll help you pick out a name for it!  Goobye!”

Tracy smiled as she hung up the phone, but her eyes were serious.  They roved about the platform, picking out anyone else who looked like they might be suspicious.

A moment later, she made another call.

“Hi, Uncle John!  Listen, about the surprise party this afternoon.  I know I told you it was going to be less than twenty people, but I sent out some extra invitations—oh, more like twice as much.  You’re going to need to get another cake—yes—yes—well, don’t feel too bad if you don’t have it ready on time.  I’m sure Gino will understand.  Goodbye!”

Flipping the phone shut, Tracy slipped it back in her pocket.  She twisted her left hand around, checked her watch, and waited.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah’s pulse quickened as the plane touched down on the Tarmac.  She stared over at the terminals for Eppley Airfield.  It wasn’t a small airport, by any means, but it looked that way after the huge one she’d just left in Atlanta.

She coiled up her earphones and shoved them in her pocket as the plane slowly taxied towards the terminal.  Glancing over at it, she tried to look through the windows and see if she could make out her friend—but she didn’t have that good a view.  As the plane stopped, Sarah stared up at the seatbelt light.  Frequent flights had taught her when she could expect it to turn off.

Only, it didn’t switch off.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking,” a voice which had become familiar over the course of the flight announced.  “They’re having some trouble getting the gate open, so we’ll have to keep you here shortly.  If this problem isn’t fixed in the next ten minutes, we will be moving to another gate.  Just be patient, passengers.”

Sarah let out a sigh.  So close, and yet so far…and what was wrong with the gate?  Nothing like that had ever happened to Sarah before.  Was there really a problem with it, or was there something more to it than met the eye…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door opened, and passengers started heading out.  First came an elderly lady in a wheelchair, pushed by one of the stewardesses.  Then came two businessmen, wearing cowboy hats and chatting about rodeos in deep Texas accents.  Fourthly came—

“Isabel!” Tracy called.  She waved her hand.  “Over here!”

That man who resembled Kopecky in disguise let out a cough and turned, as if he was wiping his mouth.  “Okay, men,” he said softly, into his watch.  “That’s her, running over towards the short girl.  Let’s get ready to move in on them!”

“Lori Anne!  How did you get here so quickly—”

“Never mind that now; I’ll explain later!  Come on, let’s get out of here.  I’ve got a taxi waiting!”  Swiftly, and without making a move towards the baggage claim, the girls started out of the airport.  They didn’t look back, even as seven different people started in their direction.

When they’d walked out the door, Tracy opened the door for her friend.  Then, she hopped inside the taxi.  “Good work, Marie!  Hermanson, are the oil slicks loaded?”

“Yes, Tracy.  Loaded and ready to go.”

“What about the rockets?”

“All set.”

“Smokescreen?”

“In working order?”

“The headlight guns?”

“Loaded.”

“Underwater gear?”

“Just have to set the radio.”

“Good,” Tracy glanced back at the terminal.  “We may need them all before we’re done.  Let’s get out of here, Hermanson, before they realize no one’s gotten off that plane yet!”

The taxi roared away from the terminal, quickly followed by a bus, a limousine, two sedans that looked nothing like each other, and an airport shuttle that could resemble a plumber van with the push of a button.

None of them were friendly.