Read Dead Alert for Free Online

ready?” Emily shouted from a dozen yards away.
    Turning away when the truck holding their cargo drove out of sight around a corner, Sam went to meet her. The mysterious cargo and any chance to find out what it had been, was gone.
    “We’re all gassed up.” She was folding a piece of paper that was probably a receipt for the jet fuel as she spoke. “We need to be in Portland in two hours to drop off our last little bundle of joy for the day.”
    “Should be enough time,” he commented. “Let’s saddle up.”
    In addition to the five mysterious crates, there was one small box that had all its paperwork in order. It was heading to a business conference in Portland. Apparently, the client had been willing to pay top dollar to get it there as fast as possible. It was a prototype of a device that was being introduced at the conference that had been left behind by mistake, or so Sissy had volunteered when Sam had run into her this morning in Wichita before takeoff.
    The flight to Portland and the big airport designated as PDX was quick and quiet. Sam’s mind was working overtime on the problem posed by the cargo they’d dropped off. His instincts told him something was definitely fishy with the cargo but he didn’t have enough to go on in order to call for reinforcements. He didn’t want to blow this undercover operation before it got started. And Emily’s behavior was off. She wasn’t a very good liar, which counted in her favor to Sam’s way of thinking.
    A little more time in her presence and he figured he’d be able to read her like a book—as much as any man was ever able to read a woman’s mind. Which was to say, not much, Sam had to admit. But her tells were there. The way she tensed her shoulders and that little frown that wrinkled her brow. He’d noticed those and a few other things about her in the time they’d already spent together. He figured this layover was as good a time as any to begin deepening the relationship and trying to get a read on whether or not she could be trusted.
    Sam had done a great deal of research on the charter industry, in general, before arriving for his first day at Praxis Air. John Petit had also given him pointers about undercover work. As a former Marine and current CIA operative, John had way more experience in this kind of operation than Sam, but he wasn’t a pilot. Only a pilot could infiltrate into a position that could potentially give the team access to the information they needed, so it was up to Sam.
    They’d made arrangements for Sam to check in by phone during layovers when possible and during his off duty hours. He had a secure phone that looked like a regular phone only the signal was scrambled. The other team members’ phones had the codes to unscramble it.
    Sam filled in his log while Emily parked them near one of the charter hangars at PDX. The charter area was on the opposite end of the airfield from the commercial hub that was Portland International Airport.
    A very relieved and harassed looking secretary met them at the door to the small passenger concourse. Sam had carried the precious box marked with the company’s logo from the jet to the terminal. This particular contract had included hand delivery to an agent of the client’s company. The woman signed for the box and was off like a shot, headed for her conference. It would have been comical if the poor woman hadn’t been so relieved to see the package delivered safely.
    “Another happy customer,” Emily observed as she finished the paperwork. “And we don’t get our new cargo until tomorrow afternoon so we’ve got some time to kill and hotel reservations downtown. Wait’ll you see this hotel. I did a favor for the CEO of the chain once and he gives me a cut rate when I’m in town so you lucked out this time. No El Cheapo hotel for you.” The humor in her expression was contagious.
    “Can’t wait.”

Chapter Three
     
    “Y ou weren’t kidding about this hotel.” Sam looked