The east coast was not the only place that suffered from violent storms. In 2007, the windshields of fourteen planes shattered at the Denver airport due to cold temperatures and high winds. Thankfully, the temperature was in the seventies and his takeoff was routine.
Carl's new baby was a sleek Gulfstream G500, with Rolls Royce twin jet engines, and a cruising speed of 459 knots. It originally seated 18, but it had been converted into a high tech office for Michael and Jackie, with only six passenger seats. Carl knew every inch of his baby, took pride in making sure she was clean, and had her carefully checked after every flight.
Most of their business was in the US, but occasionally they flew to other countries. However, they had their limits and there were several countries they refused to work in. The jet also took them to exotic locations for the vacations they treated themselves to between cases. No matter how short or how long a case was, they always rested for a few days between them.
Carl was over Chicago before he began to feel turbulence that was probably caused by the approaching storm. Flying well above the cloud cover, he could see the edges of the swirling mass in the distance and counted himself fortunate not to be going south. A Learjet could be refueled anywhere, so instead of needing to land in New York, he radioed the current air traffic controller and asked to change his flight plan.
He might have been imagining it, but he thought he detected a slight note of relief in the air traffic controller's voice. Most likely, a lot of planes, both private and commercial, were trying to make it to New York before the sky got ugly.
His new flight plan was quickly approved, so the pilot of the Jackie Harlan Detective Agency's jet banked left and headed into Canadian air space. Nonstop, the flight from Denver to London took ten hours, but without a break or a copilot, that was pushing it for a man who'd already been up since the crack of dawn.
*
"Our boy is going to Canada," Michael said after looking at the blip on his computer GPS tracking system. "Bad weather's got him running north."
"Good for him," said Jackie. When someone knocked on the door, she got up to answer it. "Thank you," she said, accepting the package and then closing the door. "Saran sent our clothes from California. I hope they still fit."
"Are you sure we have to go to this ball?" Michael asked.
"You mean you would willingly miss a chance to meet Miss Right?"