Ford and Emily had just showered in the room and were ready to meet the rest of the team upstairs to celebrate the landing at the Ritz Carlton’s The Bang Rooftop Bar. He used the hotel shave kit since he forgot his, and they went into the bedroom together.
“Ford, I am so proud of you,” Emily told him, resting her head on his bare chest. He ran his hand through her blond hair.
“Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without you, without the rest of the team. I also can’t wait until we get home, start talking more about the wedding. Us, together. Bachelor party at The Skull Creek Boathouse on Hilton Head. New home. Kids,” Ford said, now with excitement.
“Ford, why won’t you propose? Do it now. Right now,” Emily said laughing, practically begging him. “Then we can go on holiday after we’re done here.”
“Easy, come on, now. I haven’t talked to your dad yet. Two days or so. I will call him after I land,” Ford replied, full knowing he had the ring already purchased and in his flight-suit pocket.
“Why put it off, love?” she said with a sexy grin, showing her beautiful white teeth.
Ford thought about it, but he really was a man of tradition regarding family. He knew his own family would be disappointed if he did not go the traditional route, and including her parents in the excitement was the only option for him. He loved her and wanted to do things right.
“Emmy, I love you, but it’s worth the short wait. We both know I’ll do it soon. Not being cold or anything, but… I want to ask your father for his permission. OK, Em?”
She lifted her head up to look at him and nodded. “Yes, love, I understand. I don’t like waiting, though,” she said, slapping him playfully on the chest.
“I know you don’t want to wait, but that’s my decision. Wait, our decision. We have our whole lives together.”
Emily put her hand on his face now, leaning up to kiss him. “Yes, I agree. My dad will be excited. Even bigger, so will my mum.”
Emily walked over and poured herself a cup of chai, the legendary Indian tea. Though it was usually consumed and enjoyed at a chai stand that doubles as a social center, she drank it in private while nibbling on some Indian snacks of samosas, pakoras, and aloo tikki. “Quite good, really.”
Ford sat up now, taking a drink of wine from the night stand. Actually, he gulped it like it was water.
“Easy, Ford, you have to fly tomorrow.”
Ford thought about it, bit into a jalebi sweet, and agreed. “One more drink. Then I’ll stop.”
Michael and Rex were playing with the radio again, and Rex was learning a tremendous amount all by himself. Getting books from the Main Avenue Library near the Lackawaxen River on subjects such as ham radios and geography got him super excited in the hobby.
“Rex, that station transmitting was from Stratford, New Zealand. Check that out on your map,” Michael told him.
Michael had just finished organizing another weekly session of the Family Olympic Games at Woodloch Pines and made it home to help Rex push a blue pin into the map.
Rex then looked in his guide book for some more frequency bands that might be in Asia or other Pacific Rim countries. He paged through the chapters.
Both Millers listened in closely after an agreed-upon frequency was found. Rex sometimes enjoyed just listening locally to Wayne County fire, police, and ambulance calls, attempting to see if something exciting was happening around sparsely populated Hawley. His daydreaming was normal for a ten-year-old boy, just hoping for some local excitement. They listened in again, this time from someplace else on earth.
“Yes, talk to you next time. This is VU2XY, signing off.”
“VU2XY? Where is that, Dad?” Rex asked.
“Don’t know. Here you go, Rex. Look it up again.”
Rex looked through the book one more time, checking on the call letters in the beginning of the call signs. VU. VU. Where is that? And his accent? Rex thought as he looked in the thick guide book.
“Dad, that was Navi Mumbai, India!”
Michael nodded. “OK, Rex. Pretty exciting, son. Put it in your logbook and map.”
Located at the Ritz-Carlton in Bangalore was the city’s highest rooftop bar, complete with panoramic views of the city, visits from celebrity DJs, creative cocktails, and comfy outdoor furniture with pergolas.
Sitting around the fire pit and listening were Robert, Pinky, and Mark, telling stories, drinking, and laughing. The Bang was beginning to get crowded, and the beat of the music was heavy, as was the sunset and haze, but the bar was open until the wee hours of the morning for the guests.
“There he is!” Mark yelled, as Ford and Emily walked in, arm in arm. “How you doin’, kid?” He sipped his trademark scotch.
Ford looked at Mark’s clothing, smiling. “I bet this is the first time India has seen an outfit like that,” he said, busting Mark’s chops for wearing red wrestling shoes, a man-bun, and a cutoff Washington Nationals jersey.
“Easy, Mr. Pilot,” Mark told him, as he reached for his vibrating smartphone.
Ford and Emily sat down around the fire pit as the waiter came over to take their order.
Mark felt his phone vibrate again, looked, and put the phone to his ear. “Go ahead, Ravi, I can barely hear you, but go ahead.”
Mark looked out over the city, then looked up, and finally at Robert and Emily. He nodded a few times, only said a few words, and then ended the call.
He turned to the team. “We got problems. Big-ass problems.”
Emily looked the most concerned, using her strong emotional intelligence skill set to see what was the matter. “Mark, sit. Here. What is it?”
“That was Ravi over at the air base. Seems two Chinese men got into a firefight at the hangar with his security detail. Somehow, they were able to get on base and get near the hangar, and were poking around. Ravi’s security forces team had deadly force orders and engaged them in a firefight. Both men were killed. Guys had pistols, QSZ-92s. No phones on them, and none in the car they had.”
“You bet your ass we have problems. Standard issue weapons for Chinese intel,” Robert commented. “Better get Jeanie to start digging around, see if they were sent, or just stumbled up the hangar from the landing. Either way, not good.”
Ford raised his eyebrows. “How in the hell did they know we were here? Is there a tracking device on the aircraft we don’t know about?”
“No, none that I know of. I dug all over Devil Dragon after we got her and went through this jet the same way. Checked all the same places. Nearly identical. No smartphones by our Chinese pilots left behind either. Bird is clean,” Robert responded.
“I agree with Robert, we’d better get Jeanie on it. This mission is in jeopardy now,” Emily added.
Mark’s phone rang again, vibrating in his pocket. “Well, speak of the devil. She’s calling now.”
Ford started laughing. “Mark’s girlfriend. Who knew he had a girlfriend?”
“Shut it, Ford. This is serious,” Robert told him, reflecting on his past. “Two Chinese were killed tonight. We have no idea where the hell they were from… what they were doing.”
Ford took another swig, then held Emily’s hand, as they all waited for Mark to quickly finish his call.
“Well, I relayed the info to her, and nothing has been transmitted that she has found. Zero. Could be unrelated, but nothing is showing in their systems for Bangalore aircraft,” Mark shared with the team.
Emily was relieved and was somewhat selfish at this point. She wanted a quiet night and to be with Ford tomorrow, and the last thing she wanted to do was do was an escape-and-evade mission through the city of Bangalore.