Missing by L C Lang Page A

them before he went in to work on Monday. Once the lawyer filled the papers, they would serve Kim. He smiled as he thought about it. Good thing he had insisted on a pre-nup before they were married. She would no longer get any more of his money. There was no love between them anymore, and while he was getting everything else taken care of, he would get her out of his house and cut her off using his credit card. Today. Yes, Monday is going to be a good day. Tuesday will be even better.
    A few moments later, the plane taxied down the runway and took off. Fitzpatrick went over in his mind what he wanted to accomplish this weekend. He already knew things were going well in Texas. Right now, he is just going through the motions of making sure. He wanted to follow up and make sure there were no further needs. As far as he was concerned, this was going to be a fun trip. A trip everyone will see.
    Fitzpatrick had come up with a plan. He was going to make sure the public knew he was responsible for FEMA’s part in the recovery in Texas, not Harper. Of course, he had been part of a team that went down there. Still, he was the main force in the team with what he had to do. For the first time since Harper became Administrator, he was going to get the credit he deserved. Harper had taken credit for doing what Fitzpatrick had done one too many times. He’d had enough. To make sure he got credit, he had arranged for a news crew to follow him once he got to Texas. They were going to meet him at the Beaumont airport. Then, on Sunday evening, the report was going national.
    Fitzpatrick smiled as he thought about what Harper’s reaction would be. Harper was sure to try to contact him, but he was going to let Harper sit and stew about it until Monday. There was no question his meeting with Harper on Monday morning was going to be interesting. For once, he was going to get back at him. Harper wasn’t the one doing any of the work, everyone else was. It was time he learned that.
    Three and a half hours later, Fitzpatrick was in Houston. He had a half an hour wait before he got on a connecting flight to Beaumont. Here, Adam McElroy, who was the Regional Preparedness coordinator for Region VI, met him. Also waiting for him were the two NBC film crewmembers, a man and a woman. They introduced themselves. The young woman’s name was Sasha Walken. She was in her late twenties, five foot seven, long honey blonde hair, deep blue eyes and very pretty. She introduced her cameraman, Josh Bradshaw. He was in his early thirties, dark haired and about six foot two. Fitzpatrick shook hands with both of them, and then introduced them to McElroy. Then he invited them along for the ride to get an aerial view of the hurricane damage. The looks on their faces told him they hadn’t expected this. He knew this was going to be one more point in his favor.
    McElroy took them to another part of the airport, where an Astar B2 helicopter was waiting for them. The photographer got in the backseat first so he could be near the window, his large bag with photo equipment tucked in-between his legs. Then Sasha Walken got in, followed by Fitzpatrick. The pilot handed him his rolling suitcase, which he tucked between his legs. This made for a tight squeeze, but still comfortable. They all buckled in and then Fitzpatrick got out a pen and notepad. He wanted to make notes, so he could be ready for the film crew’s questions and any questions he might have for the local staff here. Finally, the pilot and McElroy got in and the pilot started the rotors going on the helicopter.
    The helicopter had moderately sized side windows, a much larger window next to the pilot and McElroy and a large front window. All the windows allowed the passengers to see any number of directions, including the ground, which was the main focus of this trip.
    A few moments later, the helicopter lifted off the ground. Fifteen minutes later, they began flying over the damage area. Fitzpatrick had taken