Flight 12 to Rome: A Nick Bracco Novella by Gary Ponzo Read Free Book Online Page A

now?”
    The plane kept descending and the boy was merely asking what every other passenger wanted to know.
    Nick leaned over and touched the kid on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. You can tell your folks that you will be landing in Rome sometime today.”
    The boy smiled, then scurried back from where he came.
    Nick was putting himself in a hole and just prayed he would be able to climb out of it. From the back of the plane, he could see Lisa glaring at him with a knowing grin.
    “Boy, do I need a plan,” Nick whispered to himself.

Chapter 8
    Sam Pettit was gulping down his third mug of coffee and feverishly reviewing the data he’d received for Flight 12 on his computer monitor. The pilot was experienced, the plane in good working condition. There was no weather that he could tell. It was always a puzzle that he would put together piece by piece. Somewhere there would be a sign that would lead him in a specific direction. Right now was the hardest part, because he couldn’t narrow it down to mechanical failure or pilot error, so he had to presume all scenarios, which made the search extremely difficult.
    If he knew it was a terrorist takeover, then he could widen his scope and prepare for ancillary events, but without that knowledge, the entire ocean was his haystack. And Flight 12 was a very tiny needle.
    Sam pushed the button on his phone. “Swanny, do you have that report yet?”
    “Not yet,” Agent Swanson said.
    “Do you feel they’re stretching it out?”
    Swanson didn’t respond right away. Sam was accusing the FAA of sandbagging information so they could conduct their own investigation before sending the data to the FBI.
    “Hard to say, Sam. They’re pretty busy over there.”
    Sam drummed the pencil on his desk. “Can you get me that Kurtze guy again?”
    “Sure.”
    A minute later his phone chirped. “1205.”
    Sam pushed the button. “Kurtze?”
    “Yes sir.”
    “I need a better timeline,” Sam said.
    “Um . . . well, I was told by the FAA I was supposed to talk with them.”
    “Look, if you want to play footsy with the FAA, fine. They can make your life miserable and I get it. But we’re talking about a plane which may be headed toward a busy civilian population. I can’t afford to wait for bodies to be show up before I claim this a terrorist attack.”
    “I understand.”
    “So, are you going to help me?”
    Just then another chirp interrupted the call and Agent Swanson’s voice came over the intercom. “Sam, I have an urgent call from Walt Jackson.”
    That stopped him.
    “What line?”
    “1203.”
    Walt Jackson was the Special Agent in Charge of the Baltimore office. He also headed up a small tactical group of agents who specialized in counterterrorism, known simply as The Team. It would confirm Sam’s suspicions were real.
    “Hang on, Kurtze,” Sam said, then put him on hold. He took a long sip of his cold coffee, then a deep breath. Finally, he pushed the 1203 button.”
    “Hey, Walt.”
    “Sam, I need all the data you have on the missing flight.”
    “Of course. I’ll send the files over to you right now.”
    “And Sam, we’re going to take over the investigation.”
    Sam forcefully pressed his pencil down on his desk, the middle of it bending near the point of break. “I don’t understand. This is my expertise, Walt. This is why this division exists, for days like today.”
    “That is true.”
    “So why take it away from me? You think I’m not capable handling this?”
    Walt’s voice seemed to soften. “Not at all, Sam. You’re the best aviation expert we have and nothing is going to sway my opinion on this.”
    “So?”
    “So . . . Nick Bracco is on that flight.”
    Sam dropped the pencil and watched it roll off his desk. “Oh no.”
    “Oh yeah.”
    “So it’s definitely an act of terrorism?”
    “It would seem logical.”
    “But Walt, I could still be an asset.”
    “No doubt, but I can’t have the FAA working with two divisions of the Bureau.