Final Turn: A story of adventure, intrigue and suspense. (14 page)

Sam had not been expecting a telephone call from Loretta. Her only association with Loretta had been in relation to the now defunct investment club, and Roger had handled most of that. When she found out that Loretta was really looking for Roger, Sam told her that he was out at the gliding field; since it was the week of the Nationals he would be spending a most of time there. Loretta sounded upset and anxious. She said she had some important information for Roger. Sam knew well enough that if Loretta were making a call of this nature it would be on a matter of some importance to Roger. It didn't sound as if she had a real estate pitch to deliver. She offered Loretta the telephone number out at the club. It belonged to the telephone in the hanger and was usually heard by someone busy in the hanger or passing by. Loretta was off the phone quickly, probably to try the number.

Sam wondered how Roger was making out with Jack. It might be a tense time for them both. She knew Roger was very determined to get to bottom of that business with the robbery and the Hong Kong bank. It certainly had gone beyond any reasonable concern for his client's computer system. Sam thought of Roger in the hospital after his accident. He had looked so helpless and so dependent upon her from a moment when he came to. She had wanted him to stay that way for a while. Then something had happened and his stubborn aggressiveness had taken over and he had to have it his way. She had let him to it, she had learned that much over the years. When Sam thought of her relationship with Roger and compared it with what little she knew of some others, it didn't come out so badly. They were honest and forthright with each other. Neither had a secret life, no skeletons in the closet or some hideous habits that they were suppressing from the other. They were aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses and displayed neither conceit nor shame to each other.

Sam thought about the information that Phyllis had brought back from her Ottawa visit and felt a disturbing knot form in her stomach. Sam had not been able to come to any conclusions about Jack and Trudy or the meaning of important issues in Jack's past of which Trudy had no apparent knowledge. She tried to imagine how Trudy and Jack could live that way. The idea of talking to Trudy about it kept nagging her. It would not be an easy subject to broach. She regretted that she had not spoken to Roger about it on the night he had broken into Jack's house. She hoped that she had not let him walk into a dangerous situation at the club by keeping that information from him. She had intended to tell him but he was too involved in that break-in episode and was so anxious use her computer. He had not even told her if his program had found anything of interest on Jack's computer disk. When he had finally come to bed with her it was very late and talking was not what either of them wanted to do. They had needed something else to be certain that their relationship was still consolidated. The next morning he left for the club and he had been staying in his camper since. She decided that she would go out to the club, join the barbecue in the evening and stay the night.

Just as Sam settled into her chair in the gazebo, the doorbell rang. From underneath a chair Shadow gave the sound an inquisitive ear and looked to Sam for directions. It was just as well that he was not able to interpret Sam's grin. Sam pressed the button on the intercom beside her chair and announced through the speaker by front door. "Hello, who is it?"

"Hello, it's Loretta. Where are you?"

"Out the back. Come around the side if you like."

Shadow squirmed out from under the chair and sat with his large furry feet neatly in front of him. His ears were slightly perked at the roots and his head cocked with sensory awareness. His large soft eyes failed to deliver menace as they watched Loretta come down the walk to the gazebo. She wore a crisp tan colored jump suit with a zipper down the front and a golden chain around the waist, such as it was. She did have an effluence of sensuality, like an exotic baroque sculpture. Sam knew it was no facade or pretense; Loretta couldn't help it. That was the way Loretta looked when she didn't help it. ‘God help us all when she did help it’, Sam thought.

"I wasn't able to get through to Roger. I thought it might be best to come and see you about this." Loretta sounded hurried and got that out before settling into a chair. Under her arm was a leather covered folder and she was just a little out of breath. It was the first time Loretta had been to her house.

"What's the problem?" Sam reasoned it was safe to assume there was one.

"Some time ago Roger had expressed an interest in learning more about real estate opportunities with foreign companies. Particularly Hong Kong firms. I had promised him I would do some checking." Loretta sounded hurried. She paused a moment as if deciding where to begin.

"Our Branch Manager, Andrew Peterson, unfortunately left the company a short while back and the firm put myself in charge. Temporarily at least. It has been a trying time for me to assume the extra duties so quickly, with essentially no notice. No one had anticipated he would be leaving. Still, it did give me a chance to understand our operations better than I had in the past. That position gave me access to information that will answer Roger's questions. I think I have some good information for him here." Loretta patted the leather folder still secured under her arm. "There are some other things which Roger will want to know. And perhaps yourself." She paused as if to change emphasis. "Are you and he investing...together..?"

"We did through the investment club. We may again." Sam thought that was the best answer, hoping that Loretta would keep talking.

"Samantha. You and Roger should talk to Jack about his successes. And Robert Lindquist as well. As Roger knows, Jack sold his farm to Ming Sing Estates. And did very well at it I might add. Unfortunately I had not yet formally completed the listing details for Jack. He sold it on his own, no commission for me." She said ruefully. "The sale Lindquist made was done the same way, to the same firm. Also directly. The property Lindquist sold was the same property that he offered to the investment club when it was first set up. Remember? We were deciding whether to take that hundred acres from Lindquist or buy that land on the west coast. It seems now with the restriction on the sub-division on the west coast property that Lindquist's property would have been a better choice. He is a slippery one. I don't trust him. I wonder who actually found that Hong Kong buyer, Jack or Lindquist." Loretta placed her folder on the table. Sam got up to fetch a bottle of wine and two glasses.

Sam poured each a glass and looked carefully at Loretta. Surely she had not tried to reach Roger at the club or come here in such hurry with only that information. Loretta had not objected when Sam had referred to a 'problem'; still, up to now there had been no indication of one. Loretta must be stalling for an opening; an invitation to relate some sensitive information.

"Are those papers for Roger?" Sam asked handing over a glass.

"Well yes. Sort of. At least some of them are." Loretta took a drink, set her glass down and got into it. "I am going away for a month or more. It's a benefit trip for the sales staff and we all have to go. The Caribbean this year. St. Lucia. At any rate, I will be away and I have all the information necessary to deal with Ming Sing Estates. Roger will be interested in that. I'm sure he will be pleased. He should be able to deal directly with them in the same way that Jack has. If he does, if he is successful, I am wondering if he might be able to do something for me." Finally, Sam began to give this meandering conversation some serious attention.

Loretta told Sam about what she had discovered about Ming Sing Estates. She had found that both Jack and Lindquist were selling property to the company. As far as she had been able to tell, they were they only ones who had sold anything to the firm, from Canada at least. The transactions had been fast, a very quick turnaround. She wasn't able to comment on the profit margins because she didn't know the original value of the properties. What she did know is that they had sold quickly and at considerably above local market value. Lindquist had done most of the deals. Jack had sold his farm and that had been all so far. She herself had not been successful in contacting anyone at Ming Sing Estates. Roger should be able to get that information from Jack. Then she finally came to her personal interest in the whole situation.

"You see, I'm not really in a position to deal directly with these firms. I do have some property of my own I would like to sell. I've had it for some time. Maybe Roger, or either of you, can let me know how you make out. I would like to try that as well."

"I'm sure Roger will appreciate this. I am planning to see him tonight at the club. Are you going as well?"

She regretted not being able to participate in the National Competition at the club but the Caribbean couldn't wait. Sam thanked her for the information and showed her out. She remembered Roger mentioning Ming Sing Estates after he had returned from his little exploit into Jack's house. She was sure that he would be more than interested in discovering that Lindquist was also connected with the firm. The more she learned about this, the more she became certain that Jack had been involved in that robbery. That seemed certain now. What puzzled her more was why Lindquist kept popping up every time she found out something about Jack. That sent her running off to visit Trudy for the third time a just a few days. This time there would be nothing surreptitious about her visit.

Jack was deeply absorbed in something called an 'Adiabatic Lapse-rate Chart'. He was operating a 'sling psychrometer' with an infectious enthusiasm. This instrument consisted of two thermometers mounted side by side on a wooden frame. One of the thermometers had a bit of a cotton sock at the end that held the mercury. It was kept wet. At the other end of the frame, at right angles to it, was a round hand grip on a bearing. He used this to whirl the whole contraption around above his head with a swishing sound and the motion of a sling. As the moisture from the sock evaporated it would cool one of the thermometers resulting in what was known as the 'wet-bulb' temperature. The other thermometer would obligingly provide the 'dry-bulb' temperature. The measurements, together with charts, guesses and frequent calls to the local weather station would provide Jack with a pseudo-scientific estimate of when the thermals would begin, how extensive they would be and how high they would go. This was the information everyone needed to plan the days soaring activities. He had gathered a small crowd of curious onlookers as he went through the procedure. It did make soaring look a very scientific sport.

Roger was keeping an eye on Jack from a spot by the hanger. He used another technique to judge the merits of the soaring conditions. Sitting on a bench with his feet up and his back against the hanger wall he looked out over the fields beyond. There were some fields being kept in summer fallow, others held new grain or grasses. Each would absorb the sun's heat differently and begin to heat the air above. The warm air would rise taking what moisture it could with it. As it rose, it cooled. Once high enough it would be cool enough for the moisture to be released into puffy little cumulus clouds. These sat like beacons telling everyone where the lift was. But that was the part everyone knew. Long before the clouds formed there was a way another way to tell what was going to happen. Everyone knew this too, but not everyone made use of it.

On some of the fences posts bordering the fields sat the best soaring pilots in the world. Eagles and hawks did not need instruments or communications links to the weather office. How they did it no one knew, yet everyone knew they were never wrong. On the fence posts they sat with scowls, dejection and near malice. Roger felt that an eagle on a fence post could not be a happy eagle, it is not becoming of its heritage. Eagles knew they were not meant to fly with wings arduously flapping, they were meant to soar. And they would sit and wait until they could soar.

When the eagles and hawks were ready, Roger knew it was time to get ready. Within an hour the sky would be fit for the comparatively awkward and ungainly sailplanes with mere humans at the controls.

On the flight line everyone was fussing themselves into a frenzy. Soaring lent itself to those who believed in at least three hours preparation for each hour in the air. There were plenty of objects with which to fuss; maps, parachutes, the sailplane, the weather, lunch, water and even the often ludicrous methods to dispose of the water in flight once it had passed through the body.

The line-up for launching had been selected and Roger knew he would be the fifth to go. There were another fifteen sailplanes behind him in the line, including Jack. Jack had pulled number twelve. Roger's sailplane was ready, thoroughly checked and was already sitting in its spot in the line. Lindquist had pulled number two.

Someone was being towed aloft to do a ‘sniffer’ flight. The practice was to tow someone aloft as soon as it looked like there might be workable lift. This was for those who had no confidence in either sling psychrometers or eagles. Roger thought that included almost everyone. If this flight confirmed that the lift was workable, the task would begin in earnest to tow aloft as quickly as possible all the sailplanes entered in the contest. These would all mill about, testing the conditions and gaining some altitude. At a time of their own choosing, they would fly over prescribed location at a certain altitude. This was the start gate. Then they would be off to fly a predetermined triangular course of between 200 and 500 kilometers. The pilot with the fastest time would win the day. They kept this up for about ten days setting each day's task according to the conditions of the day.

** ** **

Sam's anxiety was getting ahead of her curiosity. She began to feel a tangible apprehension for Roger. He would be careful out there, especially in the proximity of Jack. She was now able to accept the notion that Jack had been a factor in Roger's crash. What had helped it along were the strong indications that Jack had been so devious with Trudy. That made Sam believe that he could do anything.

She had a hard time believing that Trudy could be so naive. Jack must have been making deliberate efforts over the years to keep things from her. It had to be. Lindquist and Jack had known each other for a long time, had gone through Jack's court proceeding together and now were collaborating on real estate deals. Real estate deals which did little more than move money around, like they were laundering it. Trudy must have been oblivious to all of that. In view of Roger's suspicions about Jack, there was little reason to hang onto any notion that Jack had no involvement in that armored car robbery. He had to bring the money into his own accounts with credible explanations. It seemed like he had found a way, he sold his own property to his own phony company after placing the stolen money in the company accounts.

Trudy opened the door for Sam and led her into the kitchen as if she had been expecting her. They stood and looked at each other wordless for a moment seeing anxiety in each other's eyes. Sam felt a risk in bursting out directly with her own thoughts. She knew that she could easily misjudge Trudy. Yet she didn't want the inspired moment to pass. She feared that a wall of uncertainty and restraint would come between them to block what was clearly an impelling need to confide in each other. Trudy fidgeted, Sam saw a wall take form and she lunged over it.

"There are some things we must talk about. Both Roger and I have been very worried about Jack and now something else has come up. I want to be frank with you and..."

"Please be." said Trudy nervously as she took a seat before offering one to Sam. "I need to know what's going on. Jack has done something awful. I know it. I can't believe he is keeping this all from me. I can't believe he is doing these things." They sat facing each other, leaning forward knowing that now there was no barrier. Sam wondered what it was that Trudy already knew. Perhaps she was not so naive.  

"Did you know that Jack knew Lindquist before you met Jack? During Jack's court martial?" That seemed like the crucial question. Trudy looked at her like there was a language barrier.

"During the trial? No, not then. They only met once Jack was out of school and Lindquist offered him work at EDS." Trudy said with only slightly weakened conviction.

"Lindquist was a witness during Roger's court martial. He was a special witness brought in near the end. It was on his testimony that Roger was acquitted. I'm not sure if your father brought him in or if he found his own reason to be there." Sam just let that sit with Trudy for a moment studying her reaction. She saw incomprehension on Trudy's face.

"But it couldn't be. Jack has never said anything. Why? My Father never said anything." Sam could feel Trudy's mind racing for answers. She knew now that she might as well dump the rest out.

"You father wouldn't have been able to say anything about the trial proceedings. And I think Jack had his reasons not to say anything." Sam explained the information she had received from Phyllis. She told her that Lindquist had found a way to curtail the investigation of the court martial in order to keep the trail from leading to him. It had probably never occurred to Trudy that Jack might have been guilty of his charges. That was going to shock her, uproot her completely. But that was only the beginning of it. Sam pressed on. She told her that it was very possible that Lindquist had known of Jack's quilt without Jack ever knowing that Lindquist was himself the agent. Sam even told Trudy about her father's suspicions about Lindquist being the agent. Perhaps that would give Trudy some confidence in the information. She could see the horror grow in Trudy's eyes.

"But why? Why would Lindquist do that"?

"Because he is crazed with the need for power and money. He is a lunatic who has trained all his life to fight a war that never came. Especially now that he is an ordinary man running an ordinary company with nothing like the power he was accustomed to. He needs money and power. He has always been able to manipulate and order others. Others who were enslaved to him through the military system. When he lost that, he enslaved Jack. Perhaps more out of habit than out of need."

"That's nonsense! Jack can't give him that. Jack can't give him money..." Trudy's voice reverberated with tremors of a horrid process in churning in her mind. She had come to a realization. Sam saw goose pumps crawling over Trudy's arms as Trudy weakly rose and walked towards the bookshelves. She opened a drawer and returned with a small booklet. A bank book. Sam knew immediately it was the bank book Roger had found. She had a horrible thought that Trudy did know about Roger's entry into their house.

"I found this in Jack's study upstairs. It is not something I can understand. I've been so afraid to ask him about it. Afraid of the answer. I can't imagine all that money.” Trudy told Sam.

Sam took the book Trudy handed her and looked through the few entries it contained. She saw what Roger had already told her
.

Sam was not sure that Trudy was still listening. It was just too much too quickly. Yet, there was no way to go back now.

"Roger suspected Jack for some time but was never sure. He believes that he used a truck from one of EDS's clients and did part of the robbery at his abandoned farm." Sam stopped short of telling Trudy that they had driven out there. That seemed too sneaky. "Roger told Jack about his suspicions about the robbery before he really suspected him." Now Sam had to get into the most difficult part. "That is why Roger thinks that Jack had something to do with his airplane accident. He thinks Jack..."

"What? What?" Trudy shouted at her. "What are you saying? You're crazy. Where did you get these ideas?" Trudy got up and walked to stand in front of the patio doors.

"Trudy, we have to look at..."

Trudy spun around with fire in her eyes and spat her words at Sam. "You bitch! You dirty bitch. You just want to defile Jack. What in hell does Roger think he is doing? What does he want from Jack? Ambitious bastards! Both of you! You're after the money!"

"It is hard to deny that Roger was involved in that robbery." Sam struggled to maintain her composure. "Lindquist must have put him up to it. He has some deathly control over Jack. Jack knew that Roger was onto him, so he fixed the fuel gauges on airplane so Roger would run out of gas in a dangerous place." Sam knew she would have to take her lumps if she was going to get through this. Trudy stood pale, looking horrid and beaten. She seemed to be reeling with near delirium. Sam felt drained and abhorrence for having to do this. Why did it have to be her? Why did she have to be the one to bring grief into someone's life? She wished that she had been close enough to Trudy that she could offer her some comfort. Now Trudy would hate her forever. Maybe that didn't matter anymore, Sam had no idea where this was all going to end.

Trudy suddenly stepped towards Sam as if she was going to strike her. She stopped short and threw herself back onto the chesterfield. Through bulging tears she looked directly at Sam.

"I don't understand what is going on. Why did you come here?" Sam didn't think Trudy was expecting answers. Surely this had to be done. In spite of Trudy's sorrows Sam's mind was beginning to return to Roger. She hated to tell Trudy, but she felt a need to go out there, to see that Roger was all right. It seemed a horrid thing to do, to come in here and cause all this grief and then leave to look after her own interests.

"You had to know this Trudy. And we both have to deal with it. Why don't we do it together? Let's go out to the airfield and talk to them now. To both of them and get it out in the open. That's the best way." She didn't think Trudy would accept an invitation to drive out with her but Trudy wasn't in any state to drive. "Let's go together. I'll drive."

Trudy stood up with conviction and walked into the kitchen. She took a cloth and wiped her face, picked up her handbag and came back with the look of death on her face, not necessarily her own. She took up the bankbook, slid it into her handbag and said, "Let's go."

** ** **

Roger sat where he could keep an eye on his own sailplane and on Jack. For a while he could relax. It would be fifteen minutes or more before he had to go. Lindquist was walking along the row of waiting sailplanes. He came up to Roger's glider and Roger noticed him enviously looking over the sleek shape and the well-equipped instrument panel. Lindquist's own machine was older and not as competitive. Lindquist knelt beside it to study the instruments through the closed canopy. Lindquist had many years of flying in the military but that had not given him the training to be competitive in a small airplane riding the solar surf with no engine. Roger thought it was good for Lindquist to be humbled out here.

Finally Dave, the field manager for the contest, called out for Roger to get ready. Roger set off to the head of the line-up to get into his sailplane and get ready. The first two aircraft in the line, including Lindquist, were on tow now so it would not be much longer for his turn. Two tow planes made things go quickly. He avoided walking along the end of the line-up where Jack's plane was. Jack was there, fussing with something on his instrument panel. Roger strapped on his parachute, donned his helmet and was ready to get in. His instincts told him to have another quick look over the critical parts of the sailplane to be certain there were no problems. He looked at the places where the wings were attached to each other and to the fuselage. He examined the safety pins and the fittings. Then he saw something. Something that made his heart skip a beat. The safety pins for the main pins on the right wing were not as he had placed them. He always inserted them from the front and fastened them at the rear. Somehow this had always seemed to him like the proper way. They had been switched. They were safe this way but he knew they had been switched. There was no doubt about that. Perhaps they had been altered. Perhaps the load bearing pins that they secured had also been altered. Roger looked around him. He thought of the shadowy figure amongst the trailers during the night. Both tow planes were already in the circuit to land and had only one glider each to tow before it would be his turn. That gave him about ten minutes. There was not enough time to examine everything thoroughly and satisfy himself that there was no problem. It only took one thing, sometimes a very small thing, to change a very safe airplane into a flying coffin. His mind began to fill with the pain and horror of his crash in the hills to the west. He remembered the cold, the delirium and the loneliness. That experience had not frightened him of airplanes; it had frightened him of some of the people around them. He looked back at Jack still busy with something on his panel. He could see Lindquist and the other glider releasing and the tow planes turning back towards the field. Roger decided there and then to get out of the line-up and deal with the problem. He looked around to locate the Dave, the field manager.