Free Fall at Angel Creek, page 7
“Detective Rawlings, this is Assistant Chief Diana Ward. I need you to come to my office tomorrow at nine a.m.”
“Yes, ma’am. Can I ask what this is concerning?” Dee was nervous.
“I’ll discuss that with you tomorrow at nine. Good-bye.” Then with a click, she hung up.
Oh, shit. Now Dee was worried. She rarely spoke to the assistant chief. In fact, it was her goal in life to never step foot in her office, and here she was being called before her. It must have something to do with the investigation. Could River have reported her to the chief of police after all?
Had Dee misjudged River and she really was that tight-assed rule-follower? Maybe River was just placating her when she explained all that complicated stuff about jet engines. She was disappointed that River might try to get her kicked off the investigation team, behind her back, after she’d pretended to work with her.
She needed sleep, but her mind was still buzzing. She poured herself another stiff drink to try to relax. It had been a very eventful day with the intel from Marci on the passengers, then getting invited to help with the investigation against River’s objections.
She noticed the slip of paper she’d left on her kitchen table with the phone number for Naomi’s husband, Bill. She still needed to call him, but she’d been too busy today. She promised herself to definitely call him tomorrow and collapsed on her bed, grateful for the work today. When she was busy, she didn’t have time to think about Naomi.
* * *
River was exhausted when she got back to her hotel room in Redmond. She was physically tired from hiking around all day looking for aircraft parts, and she was worn out mentally with Dee Rawlings. Part of her understood Dee’s desperation to help with the investigation to keep busy. Being alone in loss was a very frightening place.
She remembered clearly that abyss of nothingness after her mother’s death. She would have done anything to run away from that pain. Unlike Dee, who needed to take action to avoid her own grief, River turned her despair inward. Motherless at the age of thirteen, River had lost the will to live and wished for her own death to be with the woman she loved most in the world. But she’d been luckier than most because of her father. He’d found her a good therapist and a grief support group for kids. Did Dee have anyone looking out for her?
What was she going to do with Dee? She had to work with her on the investigation team, but she was a loose cannon running around the state causing problems, and River didn’t want to have to babysit her. She would simply keep Dee occupied with busywork, like more computer research, so she wouldn’t get in the way out in the field.
Keeping her busy could be very difficult, based on what she’d seen of Dee’s resourcefulness. River still couldn’t figure out how Dee had accessed the passenger manifest, but her analysis of the very limited information was impressive. The detail about the McClain family members not sitting together was significant, because that’s what the 9/11 hijackers had done. Intentionally sitting in different parts of the cabin enabled them to control the passengers during the attack. The 9/11 attackers wore fake bomb vests during the hijacking, and perhaps the McClain men had a real bomb on board. Not only did Dee uncover this connection with the passengers, but she did it very quickly. What could she figure out when she got access to the full passenger and crew data?
River ordered room service, having declined an invitation to go out for dinner with the guys. She preferred to be alone when she was off duty from working an accident scene. The urgency to find the remaining pieces of the plane, the difficult terrain conditions, seeing unrecognizable human remains, the pressure to provide answers all combined to cause a high level of stress. River had to take care of her own health or she would be useless. She needed quiet time in the evening to process everything that had happened in the field. She also had to have sleep, or she could get a migraine headache that would keep her down for two days. She’d spent so much time in hotels over the years that sleep was often elusive, so she meditated to calm her mind. Sometimes, in that twilight between consciousness and sleep, the answer to a question in the investigation would come to her. Tonight, the last image she saw before drifting off to sleep was Dee’s face.
* * *
Day 4
The next morning, Dee put on her best navy-blue pantsuit and drove to work for her meeting. Walking into the familiar building felt different. She had the sensation that everyone was watching her and whispering about her. The only thing she hated more than being gossiped about was pity. She felt uncomfortable in her workplace for the first time ever, and she didn’t like it. She had to walk through a gauntlet of her fellow detectives to reach the assistant chief’s office. They tried to look busy, but a few stole glances at her. She stood tall, tried to ignore them, and kept her eyes forward. Then she saw Marcus and almost lost it.
The look of sympathy on the face of her partner made Dee’s eyes well up. She couldn’t speak to him right now, or she’d be a crying mess in front of the assistant chief. He understood, gave her a head nod and a small smile, then walked off. She stood outside the assistant chief’s office and knocked on her door.
“Enter.”
“Morning, Chief.” Dee stood at attention.
“Dee, have a seat.” She gestured to the leather chair in front of her big desk. “How are you?”
“I’m okay, ma’am,” she lied.
“One, stop calling me ma’am. And two, don’t ever lie to me. You are clearly not okay. You look like hell, as a matter of fact. Have you been to see Dr. Lopez yet?”
She hesitated. “Not yet. Sorry. No, I haven’t seen her, but I’m planning to call her to make an appointment as soon as I can.”
“Call her today. Next issue, can you explain to me why I’m getting calls from the Feds about you out at the airplane crash site? You need to tell me exactly what you’ve been doing out there. I do not care to look like an idiot when the Feds ask me questions and I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
Dee took a deep breath. “I had information from my work on the McClain weapons case that might be useful to the investigating team, so I took it out there to give it to them.”
“And how did you know the McClain family was on that flight?” Diana Ward was staring holes into her.
“I called an old friend from the military who’s at the FAA to get the passenger list. I had to do something, Chief, or I’d go crazy. I know I crossed a line, and I’m sorry.”
“You sure as hell did. How would you react if the sister of a murder victim showed up at your crime scene and started doing your work?”
Dee had nothing to say for herself. She had such enormous respect for Diana Ward, and now she’d made her look bad. Assistant Chief Ward had worked her way up years ago from beat cop, through every major division, to running the day-to-day police operations. She was a six-foot-tall Black woman with command presence who’d earned her position through hard work and dedication. Everyone respected her, and most people feared her. Dee had hoped Diana would be her mentor someday, but now that would never happen.
Diana walked around her desk, sat in the chair next to Dee, and looked her in the eyes.
“I can’t imagine what you’re going through, and I’m so sorry about your sister. I checked and saw that you haven’t taken any vacation in four years, so I’ve extended your leave for one month. Since the Feds have now requested your assistance, I will authorize you to be detailed to the aircraft investigation for thirty days. I understand the need to work to get through loss. I want you to help the team, but I also want you to take care of yourself. Dr. Lopez has helped many of us navigate some real hard times, and I think she can help.”
“Thank you.”
“Dee, I want you back. I’m here for you if you need anything.”
Diana stood up, indicating the meeting was over, and opened her office door. Dee couldn’t say anything because of the lump in her throat. She left the room overwhelmed by Diana’s kindness.
* * *
River was back at the Redmond airport early, along with rest of the team. They were just about to start the morning briefing, and Dee wasn’t here. River was annoyed with her, and she hated starting the day in a foul mood.
“How do you expect me to do my job if you don’t show up?”
“What was that, River?” Mike Bowers had apparently overheard her.
“Oh, hi, Mike. It’s nothing, I was just talking to myself.”
“I don’t think this is a safe place to mention that. I’m sensing tension in the air. Do you know what’s up?” He stepped closer to her so others couldn’t hear them.
“This is when the long knives come out. As more evidence surfaces, all the different parties will claim they’re not responsible for the accident. They also start blaming, or implying, that someone else is the cause. They almost always blame the pilots.”
“Even before all the facts are in?”
“Especially before the facts are in. Every accident is the result of a mishap chain of events. Something wrong occurs first, then something else, and finally the pilots are just the last link in this chain. In fact, the pilots rarely cause aircraft accidents. Most of this posturing is for PR purposes anyway when they’re attempting to sway public opinion.”
Ronald Moore continued to take credit for others’ work and updated them on the locations of other major parts of the airplane. River looked at the big area map with colored pins marking the new spots. She was pleased the line of major parts was on the ground track she’d discovered. She took a few more notes, then waited for Ronald to stop talking.
“Let’s get a closer look at the crash map.”
River and Mike maneuvered through the crowd to the wall map. River took out her plotter and measured some distances and angles to the newly found objects.
“What are you trying to do?” Mike asked.
“If this was a symmetrical blast pattern, I can give you a more accurate location to search for the third engine. The distance from the ground track line to the left-wing engine might be the same for the right-wing engine, which should put it right about here.” River held her fingertip on the map, moved her plotter, then wrote down the coordinates of her point. “Why don’t you start here today, then do an outward spiral search pattern, and you might get lucky. It looks like it’s densely wooded, so watch for broken treetops too.”
“Thanks. I’ll start there. What could cause a symmetrical blast?”
“I can think of several possibilities, but we haven’t found the magic bullet yet. That’s the first piece of evidence from the initial blast, and the most critical, because it gives us information about the origin of the explosion.”
Mike added, “Thanks for the tip about flying low near sunset. I did that yesterday, saw the sunlight reflect off something, and it was an aileron. I need to go. I’ll see you back here later. Why don’t you join us for dinner tonight? We’re all going out for barbecue.”
“Thanks. I’ll try to. Have a good flight.”
Mike was a nice guy, but he was barking up the wrong tree. River wanted to wait for Dee to show up, but she needed to get moving. Rain was forecast for later today, and it could wash away, or even bury, evidence. Still annoyed, she left a note with instructions for Dee at the call desk. Dee was getting off on the wrong foot with her today.
Chapter Ten
Dee couldn’t wait to leave the police headquarters building. She was itching to get back out to the accident site, but first she had a task. She’d already missed the morning briefing and had a long drive ahead of her, so she decided to detour to Bend, Oregon. The McClain family compound was just outside Bend, and she needed more intel on them. She thought she’d stop by and have a chat with Mrs. E.J. McClain.
Dee was familiar with this area from earlier surveillance operations. She approached the main gate slowly, knowing they were watching her. They tried to camouflage their cameras, but Dee could still pick them out. She came up the driveway, got out of her car, and walked up the steps to the front door of a big lodge made of pine logs. Two bearded men carrying AR-15 assault rifles rounded the corner to intercept her.
“Hey. Who are you?” they shouted.
Dee was careful not to make any sudden moves. “My name is Dee, and I’m here to see Mrs. McClain. I’m from the aircraft investigation team.”
Just then four more guys showed up with rifles. Dee could feel the tension rise and heard grumbling amongst the men. She was outnumbered six to one in what was becoming a very tense situation. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I should just leave and return with backup.
The armed men started moving closer to her, but then the massive front door opened.
“Hello?”
An older lady stood in the doorway staring at her. She wore a frumpy cotton dress and had uncombed hair. Her eyes were red and swollen.
“Mrs. McClain? Hello. My name is Dee Rawlings, and I was hoping to speak with you.”
“Well, I don’t know.”
The woman was hesitating, so Dee had to think fast. She started to reach for her badge, then stopped. Maybe now wasn’t the time to reveal she was a police officer. “I’m from the aircraft investigation team, and I’d like to ask you just a few questions, if I may?”
“Oh, my gosh. Please come in.” She opened the door wide to let Dee in. “Please have a seat.” She gestured to a couch. Mrs. McClain sat on the opposite facing couch, leaning forward, and a young woman carrying a baby on her hip came in and sat down next to her.
“Have you found them? My husband and my sons, where are they?” Mrs. McClain held the hand of the young mother next to her.
Mrs. McClain assumed she was with the NTSB team and was here to bring them news of her missing family. Oh, my God. She doesn’t know they’re all dead.
“Mrs. McClain, I’m sorry to report we haven’t found any of the passengers so far, but we are still looking. I can assure you of that.” Dee tried to make her voice as gentle as she could. “I was wondering if you could tell me the purpose of their trip?”
Mrs. McClain looked confused. “They’re very late. They should be home by now. Are you from the airline? Where’s my husband?” She looked around like she was expecting him to walk in from another room. Dee felt sorry for her in her bewilderment, but she needed answers. She tried again.
“Mrs. McClain, do you know who your husband was seeing on this trip? Why didn’t they sit together on the plane?”
She couldn’t respond to the questions. She looked frozen on the couch with a blank stare on her face, then buried her face in her hands and started to cry.
“Please, Mrs. McClain. Could you answer my questions?”
The woman was sobbing uncontrollably now.
The young mother with the baby stood up. “Why are you making her cry? Hasn’t she been through enough? What are you doing to find my father and my brothers?”
“I’m very sorry, and I’m not trying to make your mother cry. I need to get answers so we can figure out why the plane crashed.” Dee tried to sound sympathetic.
“We know why the plane crashed. The US government shot it down with a missile. People saw it blow up. That’s who you should be talking to, not us!” This woman was growing increasingly agitated.
“Who exactly saw the plane blow up?” If this information was accurate, it could be critical for the investigation.
“How should we know? Isn’t that your job?” She was shouting at Dee, the baby was screaming, and Mrs. McClain was wailing and rocking.
The men from outside came in with their guns. “What’s going on here?”
The situation was quickly getting out of control, and Dee needed to get out of here while she still could. She slowly stood up and turned to Mrs. McClain. “Ma’am, I’m so sorry to disturb you, and I’ll be leaving now.” She knelt in front of her and gently took her hand. “Mrs. McClain, I promise you as soon as I know anything definite about your husband and sons, I will get back to you.” The poor woman could only nod, her face lined with tears.
Dee carefully retreated from the compound as the group of armed men watched her leave. Once on the road to Redmond, Dee couldn’t believe what the young woman had told her. Was it possible the airplane had been shot down? She remembered the compact shoulder-mounted radar-guided Stinger missiles used in the desert when she was deployed there with the army. They were very effective weapons against aircraft, with deadly accuracy.
If this was true and the plane had been shot down, then who was responsible, and why? If this plane crash wasn’t an accident, then Naomi, and every other person on that plane, had been murdered. She had to find River and tell her about this incident immediately.
* * *
River was back at the hangar in Redmond watching the technicians attach the big parts found onto the DC-10 scaffolding frame with wires. Mike had discovered the number-three engine from the air in the area she’d suggested, and they were wheeling it in to analyze it. They’d also located two main landing gear trucks and some big flight control sections. What they were putting together was beginning to resemble what used to be an airplane.
Nothing so far pointed to any reason for the accident. All the parts they’d found appeared to operate normally. River hoped they’d determine the cause, but that was never guaranteed. Some accidents were still a mystery, like the Malaysia Air Boeing 777 that vanished over the South Pacific in 2014. She’d heard rumors of what’d happened, but it was never found. They were fortunate that this accident had occurred over dry land, instead of a swamp, like the ValuJet crash in Florida, or over water, like the Airbus 320 that landed on the Hudson River. It was still a great challenge to find everything, especially spread out over such a large land mass, but at least they had a chance of figuring out what happened.
Nothing from the flight deck had turned up so far. They were still looking for the cockpit voice recorder and the digital flight data recorder. These boxes were in the tail section of the aircraft and were bright orange, not black. They both had radio transmitters that emitted a ping, making them slightly easier to find.
