The Romanov Ransom

80

Before Sam would let them climb up to the plane, he used his binoculars and examined the mountainside. Deciding that it looked stable, he gave the okay, and the three made the steep climb.

The snowpack beneath the belly of the plane was solid enough to make sure the craft wasn’t going anywhere. Unfortunately, the ice pack was also a good two feet above the base of the door, preventing easy access.

“What about around the back?” Remi asked. “Maybe there’s an opening at the tail.”

Sam had already looked, from the air. “If the tail is even still there, it’s buried under several feet of snow. This is our best bet.”

They had to use a combination of small shovels and ice picks, but they finally had the area cleared to get to the door.

Sam and Dietrich pushed and pulled together, and the hatch opened. Remi followed them in. Snow blocked most of the light coming through the starboard windows, and she shined her flashlight around. The impact from the crash had sent everything tumbling. That the plane landed relatively intact was a miracle in itself, she thought, looking at it in awe. The entire right side of the plane where the wing had been was now a wall of ice, as was the tail.

The bodies, though… Hard to see them and not imagine the terror. She tried not to look too closely past the ice crystals covering each mummified corpse as she counted. Six.

“Klaus…” Dietrich examined each body, quickly assessing, all clearly adults, then moving on to the next. “I don’t see him…”

“Could there have been survivors?” Remi asked. “Maybe they left the plane?”

“Anything’s possible,” Sam said, pulling aside one of the seats that had ripped from its bolts anchoring it to the floor in order to get to the cockpit ladder. He climbed up, disappearing from view. “But I doubt it. There’re more bodies up here. Fits with the unofficial report for the number of crew and passengers, or, rather, a sixth passenger…” He stepped down, looking back at them, his expression solemn. “I’d say one of them up here is about the size of a twelve-year-old. I’m sorry.”

Even though Dietrich had known the young boy was on the plane, he still looked stunned. “I don’t understand. What’s he doing in the cockpit?”

“Hard to say,” Sam said. “He could have ended up there on impact, depending on where he was sitting. Maybe they let him up there to observe. Young kid, planes…”

“May I?” Dietrich asked, nodding at the ladder.

“Of course,” Sam said, jumping down and moving aside.

Dietrich climbed up, entering the cockpit. Remi glanced at the frozen bodies strewn about the fuselage, then quickly looked away, grasping at Sam’s gloved hand, taking solace as he squeezed back.

“There’s a gun up here.” Dietrich climbed down. “Why would there be a gun?”

“A gun?” Sam said, glancing at Remi. “Where?”

“The floor. Next to the pilot’s seat.”

“Let me take another look.” Sam climbed into the cockpit.

Remi followed him, remaining on the ladder, watching as he searched. “It’s like a perfectly preserved crime scene,” she said.

“We should get pictures. It’ll help determine what caused the crash.”

The pilot’s frozen body was crumpled against one side of the cockpit. Another man against him, the flight engineer. The gun was near their feet, wedged between the floor and the cockpit controls. A smaller body about the size of an adolescent boy was on the floor, headfirst toward the nose, and Remi was grateful she couldn’t see his face — any of their faces, for that matter. “Why would there be a gun up here?” she asked.

“Could have been the pilot’s,” Sam said. “Possibly fell out on impact.” He shined his flashlight on the two adults before focusing on the body of the young boy. The thick ice crystals hid any details that might tell them anything about how they died — at least from Remi’s point of view — not that there was any doubt in her mind. If the crash didn’t kill them, they undoubtedly froze to death.

Sam looked at his watch. “It’s past time to leave. Let’s get out of here.”

Remi climbed down, then waited for Sam. Dietrich was looking around at the rear of the plane. “No tail. Where do you think it is?” he asked Sam.

“Probably broke off on impact. Something to look for tomorrow when we come back.”

Dietrich nodded, then followed them out. The three hiked down the mountainside, reaching the rendezvous point just as the helicopter appeared overhead, then touched down. “Sorry I’m late,” Julio said as they boarded. “I was concerned about my wife when she didn’t answer her mobile. She was at the store and didn’t hear it ringing.”

“No worries,” Remi said, speaking loud enough to be heard. “We’re late, too. Is she okay? Your wife?”

He nodded. When everyone was inside, buckled in and headsets on, he lifted off. “Discover anything?”

“Lot of bodies,” Sam said.

That was enough to temper any excitement over the find, and the rest of the trip was made in silence. Dietrich, Remi noticed, was staring off into the distance, even as they landed. She reached out, put her hand on his, and he looked over and smiled at her.

Sam helped Remi out, then waved at the pilot. “Same time tomorrow?”

“Same time.” Julio waited for them to clear, snow whipping around like a mini blizzard.

Remi waved as he lifted off, then linked her arm through Sam’s. As the three walked back to the tent, her gaze lingered on Dietrich, wondering how he was taking this. Once in the tent, he sat off to one side, looking deep in thought. Before she had a chance to see if he was okay, Nando told Sam that Selma had called a couple of hours earlier. “She tried reaching you on your satellite phone, but couldn’t get through. Something about your Russian friends. The cell phone signal up here isn’t very good, so I didn’t hear everything.”

“I’ll give her a call,” Sam said.

The satellite phone was notoriously unreliable if there wasn’t direct line of sight to the sky, and so he stepped outside the tent. While Nando served up their dinner, Remi tried to engage Dietrich in conversation. But he was clearly distracted, and so she was glad when Sam returned a few minutes later. “Anything important?” she asked him.

“Tatiana and Viktor followed Leopold and Rolfe to Mendoza but lost them somewhere in the city. They think the Guard is hiding them but have a lead on where they might be.”

“I hope they’re not out there alone.”

“The Argentine Federal Police are helping. Even so, don’t go wandering out without a gun. I wouldn’t want any surprises before they meet us here, once we finish up.”

“Let’s hope they’re successful,” she said, glancing at Dietrich, who barely touched the stew, pushing it around on his plate. He seemed uninterested in the news and, after several minutes, excused himself, saying that he was turning in early. “I’m worried about Dietrich,” she said later as she and Sam climbed into the sleeping bags in their tent.

“Give him time to process the reality of it,” Sam said, “he’ll be okay. You’ll see.”

“I hope so.”

As usual, Sam was right. By breakfast the next morning, Dietrich seemed perfectly fine, eager to get back to the plane. “No baby yet?” Dietrich asked Julio as they climbed onto the helicopter.

“Not yet. My brother’s on standby if I have to leave.”

“Swing around the back,” Sam said when they neared the crash site. “I’d like to see if there’s anywhere that tail might have ended up.”

Julio nodded. A moment later, they were circling the area at the rear of the site. “A lot of ice down there,” Julio said. “Used to be one glacier, separated over the years.”

“If that tail’s there,” Sam said, “it’s buried where we can’t see it. Take us down. Time to get a more thorough look at what’s in that plane.”