Free The Last Hostage by John J. Nance Page B

of frustration, then looked back at her. "Things the man asked me not to go blabbing around this airline. Things that caused him great pain. Things that are none of your damn business in dispatch, okay?"
     
    Judy studied her shoes for a second in thought. She snapped her eyes back to Coberg's suddenly. "I wonder if these things he doesn't want us to know about might explain his strange behavior around here."
     
    Goberg sighed and gestured again.
     
    "Look, I know he's a moody bastard, but what can that possibly have to do with a... a hijacking?"
     
    "Ken's had a lot of complaints from fellow pilots, hasn't he?" There was another long hesitation as he studied her eyes. "You know I can't discuss that sort of information."
     
    Coberg watched her eyebrows flare slightly as she moved imperceptibly closer.
     
    "Steve, I've talked to a bunch of the copilots who've been flying with Ken this year. They all say he's a good stick-and-rudder guy in the cockpit, a by-the-book captain, but he's driving them crazy out there. Are you going to tell me you haven't noticed?"
     
    "We get crybaby copilots whining about captains all the time, Judy. You probably don't understand that."
     
    "You ever hear of People's Express, Steve?"
     
    He snorted again. "People's Distress, we used to call them. Of course."
     
    "Well, I was a Boeing 727 captain for what you call People's Distress before we collapsed in the eighties. I do understand, thank you very much."
     
    "Sorry, Judy. I didn't know. I was with Eastern. We didn't like you folks very much."
     
    "I understand that. I also understand that there's been a steady stream of worried copilots coming upstairs to tell you the same things they tell me." She began counting off points on her fingers. "They describe Ken as distant, distracted, distraught, and inconsistent, they say he misses radio calls, that he's moody, which you already pointed out, and I know for a fact that in crew scheduling's point of view, he's undependable because of all his sudden sick calls. That's hardly a normal profile. If I'm hearing these things, Steve, you're hearing them."
     
    Coberg sighed and looked pained. "God sake's, Judy, of course the man's moody." Coberg turned and shoved his hands deep in his pockets as his eyes studied the far end of the hallway. He looked at the floor then, then back up at Judy, speaking at low volume. "Judy, four years ago, he lost his wife to a car crash. Two years ago, his only child, his little eleven-year-old daughter, was kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered back in Connecticut. He's in agony every day about that.
     
    The man's lost everyone close to him in this world. He has a right to be moody."
     
    Judy knew her mouth was hanging open, her eyes huge, but she couldn't help it.
     
    "My God, Steve?
     
    "See, that's the type of reaction I think he wanted to avoid around here. That's why he asked me not to tell anyone."
     
    "Did you know about this when you hired him?"
     
    Coberg hesitated, then nodded. "Most of it, yes. He'd been flying for a regional airline back east. Part of the Davidson empire of small airlines. I assume you know about Tom Davidson?"
     
    Judy nodded. Davidson was a familiar name in the Wild West post- deregulation airline world. He was also one of AirBridge's biggest stockholders.
     
    "Well, Mr. Davidson called me personally and told me the story.
     
    He explained that the murderer had gone free on a technicality and said he was worried about Wolfe living there in Connecticut." He stopped for a moment and then continued. "Mr. Davidson asked me to make a place for Ken Wolfe at AirBridge and sent me his file. I couldn't see any reason to refuse."
     
    Judy studied the chief pilot for several seconds before replying.
     
    "Has Ken Wolfe been in counseling, Steve? Did Davidson tell you whether he had?"
     
    Once again, Coberg sighed heavily and glanced around in frustration before locking his eyes on hers again. "Judy, the man's an excellent pilot, and