Lexi grinned, which only infuriated Sam more. Instead of answering, she just silently disappeared again.
“LEXI!”
Oh, she’s pissin’ me off…
Then, all of a sudden, the bathroom door opened, and Lexi was peering at him from behind the door.
“How did you get into the bathroom without opening the door?”
She grinned again, and closed the door.
If I get my hands on her…
“You know that number four is wrong, don’t you?” she said, invisible, but apparently standing right behind him peering over his shoulder.
Sam turned around and reached out, found her and grabbed her by the invisible wrist. “Lexi, I swear. Show yourself.”
She appeared. “What’s the matter Sam?” she asked as innocently as an angel.
He took a deep breath, trying to settle his nerves. “What is going on?”
“I figured out how to walk through things! Part of my homework was to see if I could reach through objects. I guess I can,” she answered excitedly.
His mood changed from intensely annoyed to stunned and overjoyed. “That’s fantastic! How did you… When did you?” he couldn’t even finish his sentences, his mind was racing too fast.
“I started playing a little in school this afternoon. Don’t worry, I was careful,” she said as his eyes narrowed at hearing this. “I was just holding my pencil to see if I could make my finger pass through it. It took me a few minutes to get it right – my finger had to be invisible to make it happen. And I’ve worked on it more here at the house. At this point, I can’t pass through everything. I’m having a hard time with metal – I couldn’t reach through the refrigerator door…”
“That’s weird.”
“What is?”
“When I was working on seeing through things, metal was tough for me too.”
“But you can now? Wait… I thought you said you saw through my car’s floor. That’s metal, right?”
“Yeah, I know. I can’t figure that one out either. The only thing I can come up with is maybe my power was stronger during the flash, which helped me see through the metal. But over time, my power strengthened, and I got better at it. I was eventually able to consistently look through metal. But at first it started with wooden doors and walls and stuff like that.”
“Oooh. I didn’t think about walls!” and suddenly she disappeared. “Yep!” she yelled from the hallway.
“Lexi, you don’t have to yell.” Oh, never mind.
And suddenly she appeared in his room again. “If I wasn’t worried about breaking my ankles, I’d try dropping through the floor!”
Sam thought about that for a minute. “Yeah, that does sound cool! But dangerous… Wait a minute! Mom and Dad’s bed!”
She knew what he was thinking before he explained, and ran into her bedroom, which was directly over the bedroom side of their parent’s master suite downstairs.
“Wait ‘til I get down there!” Sam yelled from the stairs, bounding down two at a time. Once in his parents’ room, he looked through the ceiling to see where Lexi was standing. “A little to the left. Little more… One more little step. There. Now you’re lined up with the middle.” Oh shit. This could go really wrong. “Are you sure you wanna do this?”
“Yes, Sam. Now shut up so I can concentrate!”
He watched her through the ceiling. She took a deep breath, then disappeared and he couldn’t see her any longer. So he focused his sight on the bed. His ears heard her first – the whooshing sound of something passing quickly through the air. Then the king size bed dipped in the middle, as if something large landed on it. It bounced a couple of times, then was still, with the concave impression still in the middle of the mattress.
“Woo hoo!!! That was so fun, Sam!” she said and suddenly reappeared, sitting in the middle of the bed.
“You did it!” he was laughing like a lunatic. “Are you okay? Nothing hurt?”
“Nope. I’m fine. But I dropped so fast, I’m sure glad I hit this mattress and not the kitchen tile! I could have broken my neck. But that was a major rush!”
“You really DO have the cooler power.”
“I don’t know, Sam. I think yours are pretty great. Plus, I couldn’t have done this,” she spread her arms out across the bed, “without you!”
Chapter Thirty-six
The rest of the week flew by quickly, much to Sam’s delight. He couldn’t wait to get down to Scottsdale and see what they could track down from Dr. Rowe, or his staff, or even just by scouring his office.
In preparation for the trip, he packed his clothes, plus a bag of snacks and drinks – knowing they would be spending a great deal of time in the car. The fewer stops they made to get food, the better.
Besides, what’s a good road trip without snacks?
By Friday morning, Lexi’s dull flash was still with her, and even though the slight nagging pain lingered, it did nothing to dampen her spirits. Her mood was soaring, and while Sam was happy for her, she was really starting to wear on his nerves. He was looking forward to some time with Leesha and Clint to buffer Lexi’s perkiness.
The group opted not to have a formal meeting during the week, both due to busy schedules and large amounts of homework, but also because they could use the time together during the trip to update each other on new information and compile a list of deliverables they wanted to accomplish while in Arizona.
Clint was in charge of transportation, and was being frustratingly mum about the details. He merely told Lexi and Sam to meet him at the church – the one in the flyer – and they would leave their car there. That would keep up the ruse that they were going on the mission trip, in case Blevins was keeping tabs on their cars over the weekend. Plus, there would be other cars there, and activities going on over the weekend, so their car would be safe.
They arrived in the church’s parking lot at the designated time in Sam’s truck –there was really no need to take two separate cars. Lexi’s beetle would stay in the driveway at home over the weekend. As they parked and started to unpack their bags, they scanned the church’s lot for any sign of Clint.
“Do you think he’ll be on time?” Lexi asked.
“I would think. I mean, he’s the one giving the orders,” he sounded a little miffed by his lack of knowledge or control with the situation.
Just then, an old navy and beige Bronco rounded the parking lot, and they saw the driver’s side window lower. “Hey guys,” Clint called from behind the wheel. “Throw your bags in the back and hop in!”
He looked down and watched Lexi lift her one duffel bag, and was surprised to see that Sam had two larger ones – one in each hand.
“That’s kind of weird,” he said from the window.
“What?” Lexi asked.
“Your brother packed twice as much as you. Which one of you is the girl?” he smirked.
“Cute,” Sam shot back. “I’ve got my clothes and my laptop in one and the other is drinks and snacks.”
“Well, aren’t you the boy scout.”
“You’ll thank me later when you’re hungry.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
They hopped in the car and set off to pick up Leesha at her house. She was sitting on the front steps when they arrived, ready to go. As she loaded her bag into the back, Clint got out of the driver’s seat and pointed to the neighbor’s car in the street.
“That the one?”
“Yes,” Leesha answered.
Clint walked over to Leesha’s car, took the GPS device from the rear wheel well and stuck it quickly onto the neighbor’s car. They both climbed into the Bronco.
“What was that all about?” Sam asked Clint as he put the car in gear.
“Well, I figure we’ve got to have a couple of vehicles accounted for while we’re gone, so if Blevins is checking, he’s seeing some activity on his radar,” Clint answered. “Your truck and Lexi’s car are accounted for, if he does enough digging to find that you’re at a church retrea
t. I left my bike at the shop, as if it’s getting fixed, which is pretty normal for that fixer upper. If he’s been tracking me for any time at all, it’ll make sense to him. But we’ve got to have at least one vehicle mobile. The neighbor’s car is close enough to Leesha’s house for him to believe it is her car. And he’ll see some driving activity while we’re gone, so hopefully he won’t get suspicious.”
“Great idea!” Lexi’s enthusiasm continued to bubble.
“It was Leesha’s – she’s the one who originally thought of it.”
Leesha smiled, then her face got serious again as she watched Clint take turns she didn’t expect. “Okay, Mr. Secret Man. Where exactly are we going?”
At least I’m not the only one in the dark about the details…
“We’re going to pick up our transportation,” he replied, revealing nothing.
“We’re not driving this?” Sam asked.
“Oh no, this is my dad’s Bronco. He’ll need it for the weekend. I just borrowed it to pick you guys up – I couldn’t figure out how to get all of you on the bike.”
As they took their final turn into what looked like an industrial driveway, Sam noticed the sign at the edge of the road.
Gold Club Private Aero. What the heck?
Clint drove up to the largest of five hanger buildings and drove the Bronco into the garage entrance. Once parked, he climbed out of the car and walked over to a tall man in a pair of cargo pants and a work shirt. Their conversation was brief, and gave Sam no indication of what was happening.
“What do you think is going on?” Sam asked no one in particular. None of them budged from their seats.
“I have no idea,” Leesha answered from the back seat.
They watched him sign a clip board and take a bag from the tall man and head back towards the Bronco. “C’mon guys. Let’s load up!”
“Load up what?” Lexi asked. The three of them scanned the hanger for another car.
“We’re taking the Cessna – it’s the red and white one over there.”
“We’re flying?” Lexi shrieked, part out of fear, part of excitement.
“Well, technically, I’m flying. You three are just going to ride.”
“You can fly?” Sam demanded incredulously.
“Yep. I got my pilot’s license the same week I got my driver’s license. Been flying with my dad for years now – he started training me when I was thirteen. Had to wait until I was sixteen to actually get a pilot’s license, though.”
The man in the cargo pants approached the group. “All set kids?”
“All set, Dad. Hey, meet Leesha, Sam and Lexi. They’re my passengers for this little weekend trip.”
“Nice to meet you guys. You’re in good hands here. Clint’s the best pilot I ever trained. And I’m not just saying that ‘cause I’m his dad.”
“Nice to meet you too,” all three of them said in unison, still dumbfounded.
“Clint, you be careful. Call me when you land. Bernie knows you’re coming – just radio him when you get close and he’ll clear you for landing.”
“Thanks Dad. We’ll be fine. I appreciate the help on this one,” he turned and glanced at the little plane. “I’ll bring her back safely.”
“You better. You know how hard we worked on her.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. I was there.” He gave his dad a pat on the shoulder and turned to start loading bags into the cargo area of the plane.
“This is your plane?” Leesha asked him in a half whisper as they walked toward the front of the aircraft.
“Technically, it’s my dad’s. We rebuilt it together, take it out for spins together. I did most of my flying time in this thing – even though you have to get flight time in bigger planes too,” he said nonchalantly.
Holy crap. He acts like it’s no big deal that he can fly a plane. Holy crap. I’m getting ready to get into a plane with this kid behind the wheel. Holy crap.
“Well, I think that’s great, Clint,” Lexi gushed.
She would. Jeez.
“How long do you think it’ll take us to get to Scottsdale?” Leesha asked as she handed her bag to him to store.
“Should be close to a three hour trip. We should land by dinner time.”
Okay, now that’s good news… Think of all the extra time we’ll get to poke around there.
“I thought we’d be in the car most of the weekend,” Sam finally piped up sheepishly. “This is going to make things so much easier. Thanks, Clint.”
“It’s no problem. I love to fly. Besides, it’s not like I can offer anything special once we get there. I’ve got no power…”
“Dude, you don’t need a power. You can fly!” Sam caught Clint’s eye and they shared a grin.
Chapter Thirty-seven
Sam took the seat next to Clint in the front of the small plane, the girls were buckled up in the back. Once the propellers started to churn, Sam’s senses went on high alert. He had only been in a plane twice before – for family vacations – and both times it was much larger commercial airliners.
Both times there was a real pilot.
Lexi and Leesha were jabbering a mile a minute in the back, talking about how exciting all of this was – the plan, the mission, the weekend away from home…
Once they started taxiing out of the hanger and onto the open runway, Sam could hear both of the heartbeats behind him speed up. He couldn’t figure out if the girls were scared or exhilarated.
Or just hot for the pilot. No power, my ass…
He looked out the window. The runway really didn’t seem that much farther down than if you were in a tall van or bus. It was hard to believe they were sitting in an airplane, at least while he was looking down. Once he looked back up and saw the wings and whirring propellers, his panic set in a little bit too.
He watched Clint make adjustments to the many knobs, buttons and dials in the cockpit. He put on his earphones and talked back and forth to whoever was in the radio tower. Once he got clearance, he started to accelerate on the runway.
Well, he looks like he knows what he’s doing.
Within forty-five seconds, they were in the air. The girls cheered from the backseat, both with their backs to each other, watching out the window. With all of the engine noise, it was hard to hear what they were saying, but Sam could tell they were talking a mile a minute. Once Clint leveled off the plane, he reached down and handed Sam a set of headphones like his own. Sam put them on.
“You doing alright?” he asked Sam.
“Yep. This is pretty cool, man.”
“There’s nothing like the thrill of manning a plane. It’s a rush of adrenaline,” he smiled.
“I can only imagine. My head’s buzzing now, just sitting here next to you.”
“You’re my official co-pilot. If I pass out – which has only happened two, no three times, you’re in charge of landing this thing.”
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?”
“Well, I don’t do so well with thin air…”
“CLINT…”
“Dude, I’m just messing with you. Relax! Enjoy the ride.” He shook his head, chuckling.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Sam looked down and out the window. Thanks to his new sight, he could make out the smallest of detail, even from the soaring height. The best part, in his opinion, was when they would hit a cloud. Most people usually saw a total white out through their window, but Sam’s eyes picked up on every brilliant rainbow effect from the tiny water droplets that made the cloud. It was fascinating.
He turned back to Clint. “How much does your dad know about this weekend?”
Clint’s dad certainly didn’t seem to have any trouble letting four teenagers – three of which he had never met – get into a plane and go away for the weekend. He struggled to wrap his head around that. Plus, he wondered if Clint filled his dad in on the details of their trip.
At some point, I think Lexi and I will need to talk to Mom and Dad. They should know the truth about this.
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Clint glanced back at Sam. “Not much. I told him I made a few new friends and we wanted to get away for the weekend. He has to work the tower all weekend, so he knew I’d be on my own anyway.”
“What does your dad do there?”
“He started out as a mechanic thirty some odd years ago. He worked his way up into radio control, then management, and then six years ago got the job of general manager at the airport. It’s privately run, and the guys that own it have always been real good to my dad.”
“Is that how you ended up with your own plane?”
“Yep. Dad’s job certainly has benefits. Dad and I don’t get a whole lot of time together, but we do share a passion for fast vehicles and rebuilding them. This little filly,” Clint patted the control panel, “was an old broken down piece of junk when we got her. Little by little, we found parts and rebuilt it from scratch. It was the first major machine we tackled together. I’ve always helped him in the shop, but this was our first real trophy.”
“And he doesn’t mind that you’re going half way across the country with a bunch of strangers?”
“Naw. As long as I keep my nose clean, he gives me a lot of freedom. When Mom was around, she was always the heavy hand. Dad never did do a whole lot of parenting. He tries to do his best now, but as much as he works… Well, we’re more like roommates than father and son. He’s my best friend, though. And he trusts me to do the right thing.”
“It must have been hard, losing your mother.”
“It was. Dad took it real hard. He’s never gotten over her. I think that’s why he works so much. To escape.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“No. From what I understand, it was hard for Mom to have me. Some sort of complication or something. They stopped trying after they had me.”
“Oh.”
They sat in silence a little while longer. Sam listened to the chatter in the back for a while. They were discussing everything from clothes, to what they wanted for dinner tonight to the things they wanted to get done this weekend. They never ran out of things to discuss.
Yakity yak. Girls. I swear.
Sam peered out the window for a while, blocking out the banter from the backseat. He was amazed at this height at all of the detail he could make out. The vehicles on the road and the homes spread across the landscape – his vision would let him look right through them and see the interior of each and the people inside them. He zoomed in close enough that he could read a map on the passenger’s lap of a small car on the highway. The rivers and creeks they passed had fish and other debris floating down the water stream. And the birds in flight seemed like their own little aircraft themselves. It was amazing to experience flight this way.