Chapter 10 - Wings of the Republic
High above the hills of Montmartre, Odette led them through a concealed door behind an eight-foot grandfather clock, ascending a narrow circular iron ladder that led directly onto the roof of an adjacent private aviation hangar near the old airfield of Le Bourget.
""My late husband's pride and joy,"" Odette said, switching on the dim hanging incandescent bulbs inside the hangar.
Sitting on the concrete floor was a vintage, blacked-out twin-engine Piper Aztec utility transport. It bore no modern transponder units and was registered under an untraceable shell company dissolved in 1989.
""She flies low enough to skirt beneath civil aviation radar,"" Odette said, tossing the ignition keys to Vincent. ""Henri used to maintain her before he became your chauffeur. Is Henri...?""
Vincent shook his head somberly. ""He died protecting Clara's boy.""
Odette's lips pressed into a thin, grim line. ""Then make sure Julian pays for the funeral.""
Leo stood near the propeller, his face pale beneath the grime. ""Grandfather, can you fly this?""
Vincent gave the boy a rare, faint smile. ""Before I was a CEO, Leo, I was a naval aviator for the French fleet. Go into the cabin and strap yourself in.""
Vincent completed a lightning-fast pre-flight check. The fuel tanks were topped off; Odette’s paranoia was legendary and, in this case, lifesaving. Vincent loaded two tactical cases from Odette’s private cache into the cabin: two suppressed assault rifles, tactical plate carriers, and military medical supplies.
He climbed into the cockpit, flipping the fuel selectors and priming the port engine. The twin propellers sputtered to life, their roar muffled by the hangar's heavy industrial soundproofing until Odette rolled open the corrugated exterior doors facing the abandoned grass airstrip.
""Fly low over the Loire Valley,"" Odette shouted through the window above the propeller wash. ""Stay under five hundred feet! If radar paints you, Julian will have military interceptors in the air before you reach Normandy!""
Vincent gave a sharp salute. He pushed the twin throttles forward.
The Piper rattled furiously as it bounced across the wet turf of the grass runway, gathering speed against the headwind. Leo pressed his face against the window, watching the glistening lights of Paris shrink away into the dark rain below them.
Just as the wheels lifted off the earth, the radio console in the dashboard crackled violently to life. It was an override frequency reserved for the Directorate-General for External Security.
May you like
""Unidentified aircraft departing Le Bourget perimeter, you are in violation of restricted airspace. Identify immediately or be declared hostile.""
Vincent did not reply. He clicked the radio off, wrenched the yoke to the left, and dove the aircraft down into the mist of the river valley, flying blindly into the pitch-black night.
