Storm the Author's Cut Read Online Free PDF Page A

something on the panel.
    "There's no point shouting at each other. What did you say?" His voice sounded quiet and very clear in her ears.
    "What color's the missing plane?"
    "Speak quietly and clearly into the mike. Your voice distorts when you talk too loudly. It's a Grummund Goose, silver and black. You won't see the black won't show and unless the sun glints off it, the silver will look much the same as white."
    "The sun won't glint today."
    "No. We'll be going down to check out everything we see. Look for debris, signs of smoke or fire—any sign of life. If you see anything that looks odd or unusual, tell me."
    She turned her head away from him and stared down at the long spit of Moresby Island's northeast end.
    "For the moment you can relax," he said. "A fish boat called in this morning to report spotting silver and black Goose shortly before the Coast Guard radio operator lost contact yesterday. The pilot was on course about ten miles east of Lyell Island, but the skipper says he was flying into a squall. Hopefully, the report is accurate because JRCC is basing the search on it. It's the only thing they've got to go on, and it puts the pilot about where he should have been."
    Laurie spotted a group of logs off Sandspit and wondered if she would know the difference between a log and a half-submerged seaplane.
    "Do you know the fishing boat's name? Or the observer's?"
    "The Julie II , a salmon trawler. I don't know her skipper."
    "David MacDougal. If he says he saw a silver-and-black Goose, you can count on it. He logs everything he sees unless the fish are biting, probably wrote down the exact moment the plane passed over. If he saw the identity letters, he wrote them down too."
    "You do know what a Goose looks like?"
    "Amphibious plane with twin engines and a big belly."
    "You'll need to recognize one from above." He gave her a detailed lecture on what to look for. She had seen many of the twin-engined amphibious planes from below as they flew overhead. She couldn't remember looking down on one from above.
    When Lucas was satisfied that she knew what to look for, he switched the radio to the emergency frequency and listened to the searchers. It seemed that the search area had been divided into quadrants. Coast Guard 22, the large Sikorsky helicopter belonging to the coast guard, was keeping track of everyone's location and the progress of the search.
    The sky above had darkened and the plane was tossed roughly by the wind as they flew over a headland. She had trouble keeping focused on the map as they bumped through a series of air pockets. Luke glanced from his instruments to the ground, but seemed unconcerned by the roughness of their ride. She concentrated on ignoring the turbulence, telling herself she had overcome the fear of flying that had dogged her since Shane's death.
    "It'll be rough later. If you're thirsty, pour yourself a coffee now—there's a thermos behind the seat."
    "I brought coffee, too." She took her thermos from her pack and filled the lid half full. It didn't seem prudent to fill it to the brim, considering the way the weather was deteriorating. She handed him the cup and he took it without looking, his eyes on the water below.
    He took one sip and shoved the cup back at her. "I'll pass. Pour me one of my own, would you."
    Strong, black liquid poured from his thermos. "Of course you'd take it black," she muttered.
    "Of course," he agreed. "I chew nails, too."
    She grimaced.
    "Nice to know that something will make you speechless."
    She wondered if his eyes were laughing at her but he was looking out the side window so she couldn't tell.
    "If I hadn't talked fast, you wouldn't have let me come."
    "True enough."
    She had forced herself on him. Most men would have resented her tactics, but once she boarded the plane, he had stopped fighting her.
    "See that island ahead? That's the beginning of the quadrant we've been assigned."
    Her laughter died. For a moment she had forgotten the missing plane and