Free Fall

Sixty-Nine

Denver, Colorado

An unmarked white Chevy Trailblazer, its emergency lights wigwagging in the grille, idled at Denver International Airport.

Nick Varner, who’d been alerted to his pickup, spotted it upon arriving after his ninety-minute United Airlines flight from Williston, North Dakota.

An FBI agent got out of the vehicle to greet him and take his bag.

“Mitch Butler. We met at the Chicago conference.”

“Hey, Mitch. Thanks.”

“Welcome to Denver, Nick.” Butler opened the passenger door for him. “Let’s get rolling.”

The SUV pulled away with its lights flashing and threaded through traffic. In minutes they were speeding northbound on 85 as Butler updated Varner.

“Our subjects, Veyda Cole and Seth Hagen, landed in Denver. We tracked them to a motel on Colfax Avenue. ERT’s processing their room.”

“Anything?”

“Nothing so far.”

“What about the GPS on the rental?”

Butler nodded big nods.

“Pay dirt. We’ve locked onto it and are setting up for a takedown.”

“Really?”

“The signal shows they’re stopped in the middle of nowhere in Weld County.”

“Maybe they dumped the rental?”

“Maybe. We have no visual and no contact yet. We’re in the process of getting confirmation. Here’s the area.” Butler handed a phone displaying a map to Varner.

“Who’s in on this?”

“Everybody. We’ve got our SWAT out of Denver Colorado Department of Public Safety, State Patrol, and Weld and Morgan County Sheriff’s Departments. We’re still marshaling resources. We’ll be joined there by experts from the NTSB’s Denver office to provide immediate assessment of what we might find related to hacking flight systems. We’re setting up for an operation in a community barn in Galeton. It’s on the map there. That’s where we’re headed now. We should be there in an hour, give or take.”

Varner studied the map.

“What could they do to jetliners out there in the middle of nowhere, Mitch?”

“Anyone’s guess. There’s nothing out there but a whole lot of nothing, except for the Minuteman missile launch sites.”

“Missile launch sites? Are you serious?”

“But they’re empty and inactive, so it couldn’t be that.”