Stuart Woods - Iron Orchid (Holly Barker Novels)

IronOrchid

Stuart Woods

PROLOGUE

TEDDY FAY HAD ALWAYS BEEN a planner, and he had a plan now. Hehadnt expected to be rousted from his cottage in Islesboro, Maine, bythe FBI, but when it happened, he had his escape route alreadyprepared. The tunnel had taken him out of the house, and while theywere searching the coast, he had headed for the little island airstrip.

For the past few weeks, Teddy had been methodically killing peoplewith whom he disagreed politically, and, as he had expected, thenations law enforcement agencies had not taken it kindly. But he hadbeen a step or two ahead of them all the way, and he was a step aheadof them now.

He had been in the air for an hour, now, and he was approaching theKennebunk VOR at six thousand feet. He had been flying the day beforeat low altitudes, full rich, and he had burned a lot of fuel. He wasdown to nineteen gallons, now, and burning thirteen an hour. Hecouldnt land at an airport, because the airplane would be discoveredwhen the sun came up, and the FBI would know where to stop looking. Heneeded to ditch the Cessna where it wouldnt be found.

Where would that be? He looked down at the Maine coast. There werefew lights on, except in Kennebunkport, a short distance ahead.

Then something roared past him on either side, shaking the Cessna182 RG and frightening him badly. What the hell was that? When he hadcalmed himself, it occurred to him that, maybe, he wasnt as far aheadof them as he had thought. He switched his radio to the emergencyfrequency.

Cessna 182 retractable, do you read me? a young mans voice asked.

The two jet fighters would have already started their turn back tohim. Teddy pressed the talk button. I read you loud and clear, hesaid.

This is the United States Navy, the young man said. You areinstructed to turn on your transponder, your navigation lights and yourstrobes, then to make a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn and fly aheading of zero six zero until you have the beacon of the BrunswickNaval Air Station in sight, then to land there on runway two. Do youread?

Negative, cant do it. I dont have the fuel. That was no lie. Hewas down to almost eighteen gallons. It would take a little time forthem to locate him again. Without the transponder on, he was only aprimary target on radar, and a small one, at that. The moon was in andout in the partly cloudy sky, and they would have trouble getting avisual on him, too.

Then you can land at Portland International on the same heading.Youll be met there.

Negative, Navy. Cant do it. Teddy was a couple of miles from thebeach, and he turned toward it, flipping on every light on theairplane. He wanted to be seen now. The two jets roared past him asecond time.

Listen, pal, the young voice said. I dont give a fuck if youdump that thing in the Atlantic. My instructions are to force you toland or shoot you out of the sky, and those are my intentions. Whatsit going to be?

An excellent question, Ted thought. He was no longer a step ahead ofthem, and he had no doubt that the young pilot meant what he said. Hebegan tightening straps and unbuckled his seat belt. Navy, do you readme?

I read you, the pilot said, and I have a visual.

Im afraid I cant fly back with you, and it would be best if youstay well clear of me.

Dont worry, little guy; Im not going to bump into you.

They would be setting up their shot from landward, so that anyrounds that missed would end up in the sea. Thats not what I mean,Teddy said. Just stay well clear. He was coming up on the coastline,now, and he dropped the landing gear to slow him down quickly. The twojets blew past him again, causing him to laugh. Sorry about that,fellas, he said into the mike.

Half a mile to the beach. Teddy reached into the duffel next to himand took out a package the size of a thick, hardcover book. Heunlatched his door and stood by, watching the beach. The moment hecrossed it, he lifted the door off its hinges and let it fall from theairplane. He moved the gear lever to the retracted setting, and whileit came up he hung the duffel around his neck and set the timer on thepackage to thirty seconds.

He didnt waste another moment. Clutching the duffel to his chest,he rolled sideways and out of the airplane, counting. Thousand one,thousand two, thousand three He wanted to be as far below theairplane as possible before it blew. On ten he tucked the duffel underhis arm, grabbed the rip cord handle and pulled.

The chute opened with a jerk, and a moment later the sky lit up andthe shock wave hit him. Two pounds of plastic explosive made quite abang. A split second later he heard the noise, but he was too busytrying to control his wild swinging to pay attention.

He finally stabilized as the two jets roared over him, creating moreturbulence, but it was manageable. As the water came up toward him hepulled two cords and stalled the chute, nearly stopping his descent. Hestepped into the Atlantic Ocean as if into a swimming pool.

His feet touched bottom almost immediately. The water came not quiteto his waist. He was already wading in when the chute collapsed intothe water behind him. He struggled on toward the beach, maybe fiftyyards away, trying to keep the chute from filling with water, whileholding the duffel high and dry.

When the water was ankle deep he hung the duffel around his neckagain and used both hands to gather up and wring out the chute. Heshrugged off the pack and stuffed the chute into it, then put the packon again and started wading down the beach. He wanted no footprintsleft in the sand.

A few yards ahead he saw a rocky outcropping running down to the seaand headed for that. When he reached the rocks he stepped out of thewater and onto them, then began picking his way toward dry land,careful not to turn an ankle. He needed both ankles now.

He walked through some long grass and came to a road. He looked bothways and saw a darkened cottage a couple of hundred yards away. It wasvery unlikely that anyone was living on the beach at the beginning ofwinter, but he had to be careful. He was cold, though, and he needed toget dry and change clothes, so he headed toward the cottage.

He walked up to it slowly and noiselessly, he didnt want to set offsome barking dog. People would remember that. He reached the house, putdown the chute and the duffel and leaned against the building, catchinghis breath. He was in excellent condition, but still, at his age

When he had rested, he began circumnavigating the house, lookinginto windows, some of which had blinds drawn. When he reached the backdoor, he found it padlocked from the outside. Nobody home; gone for thewinter. He picked the lock in seconds, and he was inside. He retrievedthe pack and his duffel and, still treading lightly, he walked throughthe house and found it deserted.

He found a linen closet and removed a couple of towels and a thickblanket, then he stripped off his wet clothes in the kitchen and rubbedhimself down with a towel. He wrapped himself in the blanket, found aflashlight and began exploring. He found a utility closet housing anelectric hot water heater and turned it on, then he ran in place for acouple of minutes to get his circulation going.

After fifteen minutes, when the water from the tap was tepid, heturned off the hot water heater, so that it wouldnt be found to bewarm when the house was searched, found a shower and got clean. Hedressed in the change of clothes from his duffel, then he went throughthe house to see what he could find.

He came back to the kitchen with a suit that was only a little toobig for him, a couple of shirts, some underwear and a presentable felthat from the master bedroom and a mans Burberry raincoat from thefront hall closet. He packed them in the duffel, put his wet clothesand the towels into the washing machine, then he went into the attachedgarage. There was a ten-year-old Ford station wagon parked there, alongwith a pair of bicycles. He found a shovel, then he went out behind thehouse to what, in the summer, would be a very nice garden, and dug ahole four feet deep. He buried the chute, filled the hole, and arrangedthe soil to match the furrows of the garden, then he went back insideand put the washed things in the dryer.