Capturing Cara

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Cara jumped out of the taxi and hurried around to the back. She waited impatiently for the cab driver to unlock the trunk. She rolled her eyes when the young kid eyed her up and down before popping it open.

At five feet two and barely over a hundred pounds when she was wet, Cara was used to guys sizing her up—and usually finding her lacking. She had a head full of short, dark auburn hair with streaks of purple in it, a scattering of freckles across her small, perky nose, and a ready smile on lips just a little too full to be fashionable. Not to mention at twenty-four, she looked more like she was about fifteen. Unfortunately for her today, the young driver didn’t look much older than she did and had been eyeing her in the mirror ever since he had picked her up outside her apartment.

“So, would you like to go out sometime?” the pimple-faced driver asked nervously.

“It all depends,” Cara said with a mischievous smile. She moved quickly around the kid to grab her small backpack containing her extra clothes and a heavy tool belt. “You see, I have to get clearance on you first. My uncle is head of the Eastern Mafia so you will have to submit a blood sample,” Cara said as she handed the kid a twenty-dollar bill. “Not a big sample, of course, just a tube or two.”

The kid’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously. “Blood sample? For a date?”

Cara grinned as she balanced the super-size coffee she had bought after leaving her apartment in one hand while picking up her tool belt with the other. “Of course.” She winked at the boy and leaned closer, whispering, “You know… in case you are an undercover cop.”

“Undercover cop…” the boy stuttered.

Cara nodded knowingly. “… Undercover cop. He has to make sure you are cleared, which means a full background check. If you are a cop, well… let’s just say you wouldn’t like it if he were to find out. Or maybe worse, a convict. You haven’t ever been arrested, have you? I hope you don’t do drugs!” Cara paused for effect. “He really hates that. I mean, if it’s business he might be able to understand as long as you aren’t cutting into his revenues, but doing them? That’s a big no-no. He says it leads to indiscretion, and he hates anyone who is… well, you know.”

“Well, maybe another time,” the kid said nervously, looking a little green. Cara chuckled as she watched him bounce off the driver’s door as he tried to get into the cab before he had it opened all the way.

God, she loved pulling someone’s chain. It really didn’t matter what you said as long as you said it convincingly enough. East Coast Mafia! What a joke! Her Uncle Wilfred, bless his soul, would be turning over in his grave if he knew what she had accused him of. Still, it had been fun to watch the kid’s face as he ate up what she was saying.

Ducking under the cover of the terminal, Cara glanced outside, thankful for the small covering that protected her from the majority of the heavy downpour. The day had begun with a weather front moving through rapidly. She had talked to Trish earlier; she’d seemed confident the front would be through by late morning so they could fly out.

Cara had been asked by the engineers at Boswell International to fly out with Trisha Grove and Ariel Hamm, who were piloting a new experimental business jet that Cara had been a lead mechanic on for the past two years. She was supposed to have them put it through a series of tests on the way back and monitor and record her findings.

Cara took a sip of her coffee and made her way through the private lounge area of the small airport that housed Boswell International’s fleet of streamlined business jets. Waving her security badge to one of the guys who worked the front desk, she moved through the sliding doors leading to the hanger.

“Cara!” Ariel called out from under one wing as she did a preflight inspection.

“Ariel!” Cara grinned as she met up with her and gave Ariel a quick hug. Ariel, Trisha, and Cara had been working together for the past five years at Boswell International and often hung out together on the weekends when they were all in town. Cara had been an only child growing up, so it had been natural when Ariel and Trisha took on the role of surrogate older sisters when they met her.

“Where’s Trish?” Cara asked, setting her tool belt and backpack down on the ground.

“She’s in the cabin doing a run-through. The new controls look like something out of a science fiction movie. We have been spending more time in the simulator this past week than at home,” Ariel said as she ran her hand over one of the wings.

“Yeah, I’ve been following along. I’ve gone over the specs from the simulator and analyzed the stress factors base on the tests you two have been doing,” Cara replied, bouncing from the undercarriage of the airframe to the wings before using the footholds to climb up to look over the engine.

Ariel tried following Cara but soon gave up as it was like watching a super-bouncy ball in motion. Shaking her head, she asked. “When did you do that? I heard they had you on two other projects as well as this one. Weren’t you in Detroit yesterday and Philadelphia the day before that?”

Cara shrugged her thin shoulders as she took a deep gulp of her coffee, “Yeah. Haven’t slept in almost seventy-two hours! I did it last night when I got back. I headed for the office to finish up and had just enough time to get a quick shower before I came here. The cab driver asked me out, but I told him my uncle was in charge of the East Coast Mafia and he would have to submit a blood test before I could go. Did you know that this baby can cut about forty-two minutes off most cross-country flights? Doesn’t sound like much, but over the year it adds up. I want to see just how fast she can go on the way back. I heard you were taking a passenger to California? Have you heard from Carmen lately? I wonder if the new engine design can be modified for the TX-11 Detroit is working on?”

“Hold up, hold up!” Ariel called out in exasperation. “You lost me after the cab driver. Since when was your uncle ever involved with the Mafia? I thought he was a judge or something.”

Cara lightly jumped down from the wing being careful not to spill her coffee. “He was. I just told the kid that Uncle Wilfred was some bad ass to get him to bug off.”

Ariel groaned. “Why did you want him to bug off? You do this every time! How are you ever going to get a guy to like you if you never give them the time of day?”

“Trust me. This guy was not ‘the one.’” Cara said, motioning with two fingers. “He reminded me of the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. At least give me some credit for having taste. Besides, I was at least six years older! I’d feel like I was denying some poor girl her prom date.”

Cara swung under the airframe of the small business jet heading to inspect the other side. She could hear Ariel grumbling under her breath. It wasn’t her fault none of the guys Ariel and Trish kept introducing her to lit a flame inside her. Hell, she’d only had that flame lit once, and look where it had gotten her. Cara seldom reflected on the bad things that had happened to her in her life. What was the point? s**t happened. Then you either died or got over it.

Cara had done just that. She just made a point to never take another chance on loving someone again. Everyone she had ever loved had either left her or died. Well, with the exception of Ariel and Trish, and Cara always waited for one or the other to happen with them. They were test pilots, for crying out loud. There must be some type of short-term life expectancy for that!

God, Cara thought, if I’m not careful I’ll be in danger of becoming morose.

Since when did she give a rat’s ass about what anyone else thought about her? She had learned early on that the only one she could depend on was herself. Hell, her mom had died before she was a year old, and her dad couldn’t even keep her around once she had turned fourteen. Sure, she had been a handful. She was smarter than the average bear, after all.

She had been pissed as hell when her godfather and surrogate uncle, Wilfred, had found a boarding school for gifted kids like her. She had been sent away to live most of the year at a school devoted to expanding the creative skills of super smart kids.

She had excelled simply because she didn’t fit in. Most of the kids had come from upper-crust families with some title either before their name or after it. She had come from a small hick town in the mountains of Tennessee no one had ever heard of. Her one saving grace was her skill with any type of engine or computer. She could communicate with them on a level she couldn’t with another human being. Hell, even Trish and Ariel could only take her in small doses.

Cara was finishing up just as Trish was coming down the steps. “Hey, Trish.”

Trish turned and smiled. “Hey, Cara. Welcome aboard! Is this your first flight on the new Phantom Series?”

“Yeah. I’m really looking forward to putting her through the wringer,” Cara said, grabbing her backpack and tool belt. She turned to watch as a figure dressed all in black came out of the door leading from a side office. Her eyebrows rose in surprise, and she glanced at Trish. “Carmen coming too?”

“Yeah,” Trish said, watching as Ariel headed toward her sister. “Ariel got permission for Carmen to tag along. We’re heading to California to take an artist home. The Boswells had commissioned her to do a piece for them, and Carmen needed a lift,” Trish said. Glancing back one last time before she turned to head up the stairs of the jet, she said, “She’s still not doing too good.”

Cara looked back again. Carmen said something to her sister that must have pissed off Ariel royally. Ariel’s face had turned red, and she was standing there with her eyes closed in frustration. Cara grinned, as she herself often seemed to have that effect on Ariel. At least it wasn’t her this time.

Carmen gave both of them a quick nod as she moved to the back of the jet and buckled in. She pulled out her cell phone and began quietly speaking.

Okay, thought Cara, obviously there will be no communication with her this flight. Cara stored her tool belt and backpack in an overhead compartment and sat down. It is going to be a long flight. She groaned, silently praying she would be able to sleep through most of it. That was one reason she had stayed up so long. She was lucky to sleep four to five hours a night. She knew if she was awake for a seven- or eight-hour flight, she would be climbing out the emergency door! She had a terrible time with being claustrophobic and knew sitting in a tiny tin can would push her beyond what she could stand, even with the exercises the therapist had taught her.

“Hi, I’m Abby,” a voice said from the doorway of the jet.

“Cara,” Cara replied with a huge grin. “I’m the mechanic.”

Abby grinned. “I’m the artist.”

Cara’s eyes were drawn to the delicate gold bracelets encircling Abby’s slender wrists. She could almost feel the power coming off them! Most people would never see the delicate swirls moving within the gold, but Cara could not only see it, she could understand what it was trying to say. Unable to take her eyes off the gold bands, she reached out instinctively and touched first one, then the other.

“How you doing, little guys?” Cara murmured in a soft voice. “You taking good care of her? Now, aren’t you two the cutest little things I’ve ever seen.”

Cara could feel the warmth coming off the bracelets and watched the swirling patterns change as she touched and talked to them. These were living, breathing creatures. She was positive of it. It was almost as if they were begging her to keep their secret.

“I know, baby. I know,” Cara whispered. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Abby looked at Cara strangely, but Cara just smiled back. For some reason, she felt more at peace than she had in a long while. Cara buckled in as Ariel’s voice came over the intercom and asked everyone to make sure their personal belongings were stored securely and to please buckle up. The weather front had finally moved through, and they had received clearance for takeoff.

Cara kept glancing at the bracelets on Abby’s wrists, giggling and winking as the swirls moved in and out of each other. Once they were in the air, Carmen conked out, and Cara took the opportunity to check out the plane. Okay, Cara admitted to herself, she checked it out three or four times before she felt sure they were safe enough it wasn’t going to come apart in midair. That would really suck, the not-so-positive side of herself thought.

By the time she was done, she had finished her supersize coffee, and despite all the caffeine, she felt the pull of exhaustion. Seventy-two-plus hours was her limit, she thought drowsily, before she sank into dreams of little gold bracelets turning into birds.