LITMIR.BIZ

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room curious to see what was in there. He observed that the room was almost large enough for a football field. It would have to be to hold planes, tools and work space. Everything was neatly arranged and as clean as any work place could be.

      He looked with great interest at pictures and memorabilia posted on a corkboard at one end of the hangar. He assumed that the little girl was Amanda several years ago. Her dad was there in an army uniform and her mother with a saucy hairstyle that was popular several years before. The family was gathered with obvious great pride around an airplane when Amanda was a little older. He didn’t recognize a lot of the people, but thought they might be relatives.

      Near the bottom of the board was a picture of Mike. Daniel smiled looking at a Mike that was much slimmer, with a pompadour hairstyle and a grin from ear to ear. There was a pretty young woman standing with her arm around a small boy. Had Mike ever been married? Could that be Mike’s wife and son?

      Amanda came out of the office and called to Daniel. “I’m taking two separate students up this afternoon. I’m sorry I can’t take you with us, but it’s only a two-passenger plane. Will you stay here while I’m gone?”

      “Yes. I might learn something. This looks like someone coming in now.”

      Amanda hurried to greet a girl in her late twenties dressed in typical Texas jeans, green western-cut shirt and boots. Her black hair was cut short and curled perkily so that it framed her small oval face in a becoming fashion. Her dark blue eyes were constantly darting around and making Daniel uneasy. Her small bow-shaped mouth looked almost cruel. She wasn’t tall; didn’t even come to Daniel’s shoulder. He was surprised to see that she had several expensive looking rings on her fingers, and earrings that must have cost a fortune.

      “Daniel, this is Melinda Pedrell. Her father is Judge Jason Pedrell here in Galveston. The scuttlebutt is that he may be running for the U. S. Senate in the next election. Melinda, this is a friend, Daniel Cortland.”

      Melinda almost skipped forward with a big grin. “How nice. Are you related to the Cortlands in Sugar Land?” She placed her hand possessively on Daniel’s arm.

      Amanda gasped. “Does everyone in the country know you, or rather your family? Where have I been that I didn’t recognize the name?” she said dismayed.

      “I’m not surprised that you don’t know the name, but Miss Pedrell probably has heard the name because my dad is strong in Texas politics. He never wants to run for an office, but he supports candidates if he feels they will be good for the people of the state.”

      Melinda batted her eyes and stepped close to Daniel putting her hand on his shoulder.

      “Please call me Melinda I think we might become friends, don’t you?” Amanda was ashamed that hot anger rushed through her. She took deep breaths and turned to go out. “Come on, Melinda. I do have other students and we need to get your lesson in.”

      Melinda reluctantly sauntered out behind Amanda looking back at Daniel and wiggling the fingers of one hand as she smiled a smile that promised more encounters.

      No encounters if I can help it, Daniel thought I don’t want to risk losing Amanda’s friendship. I meant it when I told her that I felt it was meant for us to meet. And as far as I’m concerned, our friendship will be permanent, hopefully a stable relationship.

      Daniel made sure he was out of sight when Amanda and Melinda returned from the lesson. In a few minutes a young man of about thirty came for his lesson. “Daniel, this is Eric Freedman. He’s had enough lessons that he’s almost ready for his final test. Eric, this is Daniel Cortland, a friend of mine.”

      Daniel was relieved when Eric acknowledged the introduction but made no comments about his name or family connection. Daniel immediately liked the tall, slender young man. His black hair had been cut until he almost looked bald. Black eyes sparkled with the joy of living. His ebony skin was so clean he seemed to shine. His laugh was infectious and he laughed a lot. Daniel smiled to see Amanda and the friendly young man walking briskly to the plane.

      “Fellows,” Daniel called to Mike and Jeff, “I’m hungry. I’m going into town and get something to bring back here. Can I get anything for you?”

      Mike answered that he usually brought a sandwich, but Jeff said he needed something.

      “Mike, what do you think Amanda would like? I might as well get for her also.”

      “She usually brings a sandwich, but I think she would love a pizza. In fact, if Jeff doesn’t object, we could all eat pizza.” Jeff was agreeable.

      Jeff explained, “My wife’s a health freak and she doesn’t think pizza is good for our children more than once a month. I love it but I won’t argue with her, at least not in front of the children.

      Daniel refused to take any money from them. Being asked what they would like, they decided on anything but anchovies. By the time Amanda returned, Daniel had come back with two large pizzas, one with everything, one half of the other with pepperoni and mushrooms and half with sausage. He had purchased a quart of Pistachio ice cream, paper bowls, plastic tableware and a carton of Coke and one of Seven Up. He knew there was ice in the refrigerator in the office.

      Amanda had brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but was delighted with the pizza.

      They spread paper towels on her desk and ate. Jeff wanted to know what each one liked to do either as a hobby or free time activities. He then told them he loved to travel and had ten-year-old twin boys that were in a little league baseball team. He helped their coach and loved working with the children. Jeff also taught a youth group at his church. He proudly informed them that he and his wife were expecting again. They hoped for a girl but would love whatever they got.

      Daniel volunteered to clean up while everyone went back to their respective work. He was happy to just be in Amanda’s company and hoped she would become more comfortable with him, enough to go on dates.

      As they worked, Mike called to Amanda “Mandy, come here, please. You’ll be interested to know what we’ve found. You can listen, too, Daniel.”

      She and Daniel hurried to where the two men were standing by the plane. Her heart dropped when she saw the expressions on the two men’s faces.

      Jeff took a deep breath, his expression showing that he was angry. “There will be more as we do further inspecting, but we’ve found one thing so far. Your plane going down was no accident. A tiny, sharp object was used to punch holes in the fuel line. The holes were on the underside making it next to impossible to spot the damage. The fuel gauge has been tampered with so that the loss of fuel would not be noticed until it was too late. It took an expert mechanic to do this dirty deed.”

      Amanda gasped. “Are you saying that someone wanted me to go down?”

      “Facts speak for themselves. We’ll continue checking; meanwhile try to think of anything disturbing that might have occurred recently that you passed over as coincidence. Or maybe someone came around who was acting differently. It’s too early to make assumptions, except those holes didn’t put themselves there; and it’s never too early to be extra cautious and alert,” Jeff finished.

      “Mike, you’re going to tell Dad, aren’t you?” Amanda asked worriedly.

      “He’s the boss and he’d have my head if he heard the facts that his beloved only child was in danger and he wasn’t informed. Amanda, he does own the place and he deserves to know.”

      “He doesn’t complain, but I know how worried he is. I’m trying very hard to make things easier for him. A lot of money has gone out with only a fraction of it coming in and he and Mom have both been so ill I just -” Her voice dropped as she stood dejectedly.

      Mike and Daniel exchanged a conspiratorial look. “That’s right, but I feel badly holding this from him. He took me in when I desperately needed work and now he’s willing to let my nephew help here. I sure owe him a lot, and Mandy, I love you and it makes me angry to know that you’re in danger. Why is this happening?” Mike angrily beat a fist against his

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