Jerry sat at his immaculate desk, running through the details of Friday’s upcoming exercise in his head. It was critical that second display of his technology go off with the same precision as had the first. Everything depended on another flawless performance.
One positive result could be considered a fluke or chalked up to luck, but two consecutive positives would be viewed as proof Irwin could consistently deliver what he promised: the ability to take down a commercial airliner without unbuckling your seatbelt. And that capability would fetch a fantastic sum on the not-exactly-open market. More than enough for him to disappear forever.
Jerry rehearsed the plan again. He found no vulnerabilities, but he would keep running through it, probing for weaknesses until he identified them. Then he would fix them. Because he was Jerry Irwin. He wondered if he could be considered a bona fide evil genius.
The chirping telephone broke into his thoughts. He glared at it, waiting for Lilliana to pick it up. Then he realized his desk phone wasn’t ringing. He reached into his top desk drawer and grabbed the prepaid cell phone. Only one person had the number, and it was only to be used to convey key information.
“Hello?” Jerry waited to hear what his partner had to say.
The voice on the other end was urgent but measured. “Hemisphere is meeting with the law firm today. And the NTSB found the black box already. That’s sooner than we’d hoped. It means the lawyers will start digging around, probably before Friday. We just need to stay focused.”
Jerry took in the news. He thought hard. Then he said, “Okay.”
Damage control wasn’t his responsibility. All he had to do was crash one more plane.