excuse me, I will be retiring to one of the bunk beds for some rest, but please do wake me up before we start the approach into O’Hare if I am not up already.”
Once Austin left the cockpit and was out of earshot, Bill turned to the two other pilots. “I wonder how that poor bastard can get any sleep after all he’s been through. If that shit happened to me, I would have given up long ago. I really feel sorry for the guy and really admire him for pulling through even though you can tell he is not totally recovered.”
“That was one sad sequence of events he had to go through,” replied Andy.
The captain knew Austin well and knew him to be one of the best people he had ever met; he was smart, articulate, friendly and very funny. He always had an endless stream of jokes, but now he never smiled and always wanted to be alone. Bill wished there was something he could do to ease the pain but knew nothing would. Austin would have to pull out of it on his own, but he knew that he was tough enough and would do so; he just hoped it would be very soon.
The remainder of the flight was uneventful and went very smoothly.
As they started their descent toward Chicago, Austin stepped into the cockpit of the aircraft and sat down in the jump seat behind the captain to observe the approach. He felt a little better, though still sleep-deprived. The events of the previous night and the repercussions kept invading his thoughts, so he could only manage some catnaps.
“Are you going home after landing, Austin,” asked Bill? Knowing very well that he tried to avoid doing that.
“No, I don’t think so,” came the response. “The company wants me to stay here for a couple of days and do another check ride but we all know how things are here. They can change at a moment’s notice.”
“Amen to that,” replied all the other crewmembers almost in Unison.
They arrived at Chicago O’Hare airport at 8:00 a.m.; they had taken off from London Stansted airport at 6:00 a.m. local time. There is a six-hour time difference between the two airports and an eight-hour flight time. Before heading to their hotel, they had to talk to maintenance and brief them on the condition of the aircraft and they also had to wait for customs clearance.
When a cargo flight arrives into any U.S. airport, customs officials either showed up at the aircraft, cleared the crew and collected the proper paperwork or a representative of the company drove them to the customs office. On some occasions, the customs officer would call the company representative and ask him to collect the paperwork himself and deliver it to his office after he takes his crew to the hotel, as was the case today. That, however, very seldom happened and only when certain crewmembers were on board that aircraft, and Austin knew he was one of those pilots.
The reason for such an arrangement, Austin always guessed, was an incident that happened a while back on a flight to Bogota, Colombia.
Due to his friendly demeanor, Austin became very friendly with the ground staff at the Bogota airport. After several flights he was approached by a member of the ground staff who considered himself closer to Austin than the rest. He asked him if he would keep an eye on a parcel. He explained to Austin that he would not have to handle it or touch it, just make sure that a certain person picks it up and if someone else picked it up, all he had to do is tell them on his next flight over and they would pay him ten thousand dollars for every trip.
Austin knew how dangerous it would be to turn these people down and he had no doubt in his mind that they would kill him if he reported it to anyone; he had to think hard to get himself out of this predicament. He despised those people and he really would like to see them all thrown in jail, but this was his job and he would be flying to this airport on many more occasions and couldn’t take a chance on his life. After pondering the issue for a few minutes, he told the guy that he would have to decline the offer and promised him that he would never tell anyone about their conversation, hoping that the guy would believe him. He did tell the staff member that he would be checking the aircraft from top to bottom and if he ever found any drugs on it, he would tell everything he knows. Austin came to the conclusion that if he only promised not to tell, he would appear weak and there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t try to hide some narcotics on his flights anyway. By threatening that he would tell if he found anything illegal and then following through with extensive checks of his aircraft, he hoped that they would take his word for it and not harm him. He would have shown them that he knows how powerful they are and what they could do to him, but at the same time show them that he was willing to take that chance and not show the fear that he really felt.
During the next several flights, Austin searched that aircraft with a fine-tooth comb, and even though he never found anything, he did have a suspicion one time and he acted on it.
On one of those flights, they were carrying a horse from Bogota to the United States. That by itself seemed odd to Austin. The horse was not anything special and made him wonder why anyone would pay a great sum of money to ship such a nondescript animal to the U.S., of all places. When he went down to the main deck during the flight to check on the cargo like he always did, he took a couple of pieces of sugar and an apple and a bucket of water to give the horse. When the horse would not have anything to do with what he had, he decided on a course of action.
On arrival at Miami International Airport and as they arrived at the customs office, Austin told the customs officer of his suspicions and explained why. Upon X-raying the horse and not finding anything, Austin decided to keep his word and not squeal on the ground staff member.
Ever since that incident, Austin noticed that he was always waved through when he went to clear customs and was almost positive that somehow, United States Customs knew of his attitude towards drugs and smuggling illegal substances. He figured that had to be the reason he was never searched and why he was treated very respectfully by customs officers. This arrangement was perfect for him. He knew that no matter what he brings in, chances are he would not be suspected of anything as long as he remained discreet. Austin always suspected that customs officials had a profile on almost everyone who traveled to the U.S. in any regularity.
By the time they were done with the formalities and got to their hotel, it was 10:00 a.m. and Austin was exhausted. No matter how much sleep you think you got on an aircraft, it was never enough and never restful enough. He thought about calling the woman, but he fell asleep out of pure exhaustion before he could decide whether to do so or not. When he awoke it was almost 3:00 p.m. He reached for the telephone and dialed the same number their mutual friend in London had given him.
“I have some news for you,” Austin said after she answered. It took her only a second to recognize the voice.
“I heard the news a few hours ago and was hoping you would call me.”
“How did you hear so soon?” he asked.
“My Scotland Yard friend called me. She said they found him in some alley near the theatre but not before doing the same thing again. They found a woman in his dressing room at the theatre. She was almost dead and they believe that the condition they found her in, he probably did try to kill her, but I don’t think so. I think she just put up a better fight than I did and things got out of control.”
So that’s why that son of a bitch was late, Austin thought.
“You are not going to forget our bargain, are you?” he asked.
“No, I am not and you don’t have to worry about that. I can afford it.”
“Good then, maybe we’ll talk later.”
Before Austin could hang up the phone the woman was still talking.
