"Annie, trust me. I don't know where they are... Yes I do," he realized, "they're in Oklahoma, Annie, and they're safe. I can't tell you how I know, but they are there, and they are safe, you just have to believe that."
She nodded her head as he spoke. "Annie, I have to go, right now, but you have to know some things before I go," he paused and motioned to Gary, who quickly walked over to them. "You have to come with us right now, Annie, we have something to do before we go, can you?"
"Yes," Annie replied, as she continued to fight the emotions that were raging through her mind. She drew a deep shuddering breath. "Yes, I'm okay, let's go, Frank. For real, you really do know?"
He kissed her before he answered, and let her go. "Yes, for real, and I really do love you, it'll be okay, I swear it," he said.
"I know you do, Frank. I love you too, and knowing...Knowing will help me hang on," she replied.
The three of them walked quickly toward the television station, meeting Jimmy along the way.
"All set?" Frank asked.
"All set," Jimmy answered, "Hank, will see to things here."
They walked in silence to the station, and Ira met them at the door. "Think it'll work?" Gary asked him.
"No way to know, but it can't hurt," Ira responded.
Two hours later, Frank, Ira, and Jimmy, as well as Gary, were standing at the village of Fairport's main dock.
"Several to choose from," Gary said, as he stared out over the muddy banked channel.
"At least they're not all in the mud," Frank agreed. "Makes me wish we had John with us. I'd feel a heck of a lot better with him steering us out to the lake." They had gone to John before they left to find out which was the quickest way to get to the lake, without chancing a trip through the north side of the city. John had suggested Fairport, because of its man-made channel that served the lake.
"Well, let's do it, Gentlemen," Ira said, as he walked across the concrete lip of the channel, and out onto a short pier. A length of yellow nylon rope was still bound, although it was pulled tight, around a wooden piling, and Ira followed the rope to its ending, at a fairly good sized fiberglass speed boat about three feet below them. Lilac City Baby, was stenciled just below the port side in script. After carefully untying the knot in the nylon rope; holding it tightly against the wooden piling as he did, allowing the tension to slowly bleed off, Ira jumped down the three feet to the deck.
"Well?" he said looking up, "you guy's gonna just let me float away?"
The remaining three men jumped down to the deck, as Ira made his way back to steering console.
"No keys," he said frowning.
"I can fix that," Jimmy said, "lemme see..." he reached his hand under the panel, and emerged with three pig-tail ends of wire. "I learned this at the jail," he said, as he slid two of the wires together, "listening to a kid we had in one night, talking about how he did it." The small red indicator light to the right of the switch lit up. "Now," Jimmy said, as he touched the remaining wire to the already connected two. "Presto-chango," he finished as the electric starter began to whir, turning the in-board motor over. He reached to the throttle and edged it forward slightly, while still holding the wires together with one hand. The engine caught, and the low burble of the motor came to him from the exhaust that bubbled up from the rear of the boat. "No probleemo," Jimmy said, as he released one of the wires. "I don't however, know how to drive this thing," he finished sheepishly.
"I do," Gary volunteered, "I owned one like it." He took over the controls and slowly backed the boat away from the dock, turned it around, and headed down the channel toward the lake.
"Owned your own gravel pit," Frank said, "I guess you were pretty well off if you could afford a boat like this."
"That I was," Gary said, "but I ain't sorry I don't have it all still, Frank... In fact I'm glad I don't. It was too much of a headache. When this is over I'm retiring."
Frank chuckled. "Me too, Gary, me too."
Twenty minutes later they were leaving the channel and entering the lake. The sun rode high in the warm air, and Ira asked, "How long did John say it would take to get there, Frank?"
"Two, maybe three hours tops," he replied.
"Gee, Frank, how come we didn't think of this?" Gary asked, with a smirk on his face.
"Dunno, should have," he said laughing. It felt good to laugh, he thought, and he was pretty sure none of them would be laughing once they got to Fort Drum.
"How are we going to do it when we get there?" Frank asked, to no one in particular.
The laughter died down quickly, making Frank wish he hadn't asked.
"We'll see when we get there," Ira said, "all we kin do, Frank."
"How close you think you can get us, Gary?" Ira asked.
"Well, if the town's flooded like I think, we'll probably be able to take it right into Watertown, and probably most of the way to Fort Drum. From there I guess we hoof it, guys."
Frank checked the clip in the nine mm machine pistol, before he spoke. "You really think we'll need these, Ira?"
"I'm 'fraid so, Frank, we can hope this Jeffery's guy ain't there, I doubt he is, but there's the other guy to contend with... He may know we're coming, he may not. Hopefully Annie and Hank can fool 'em for a while... No telling, Frank, but I'm
