Chapter Five: The Airport Engineer's

Hugo Dmitri, a Russian who had been in the U.S. for almost five years, was an aircraft service engineer and crewman. He also worked with the airport; he often checked on aircraft status before they took off and whenever they landed at the airport. He and Duff Albert worked as partner crewmen, responsible for servicing and maintenance of the aircraft whenever a plane needed a casual check; the hard tasks were usually done by professionally hired engineers.

 Hugo had been instructed by Boss to monitor Peter and report if there were any complications at the airport before the departure time. He was also asked to keep a closer watch on Perez, as they knew how troublesome he could be.

 Hugo was sitting and eating a sandwich in the main building reception area when he noticed Peter come out from the guestroom area and walk toward the security room where the chest was kept. He noticed how tense and nervous Peter looked. He called Boss and informed him, and he was told not to worry about Peter, but his concern should be Perez, as he could make trouble for them.

 He was about to go toward the guestroom area when he saw Smith moving in that direction. He would have called on him to keep him busy, probably until Peter came back. However, Smith was at a considerable distance, and yelling at him would only attract needless attention.

 He decided to go after him as quickly as he could, for he knew how nosy Smith could be. Most of the time, Smith often checked on the guest in the VIP guestroom to have a chitchat, and sometimes he got rewarded with a glass of vodka or champagne.

 He arrived at the opening that led toward the guestroom, and he was just in time to see Smith standing by the door to Peter's lodge. Smith stood there undecided for a moment, and finally, on an impulse, he walked away, heading toward the pub restroom area.

 He felt relieved to see Smith leave the door post. However, he knew he had to keep a closer watch on Smith, as he might change his mind when coming back from his inspection routine.

 He was about to turn back when he heard Smith's voice chatting with someone. 'That is good,' he thought to himself. He supposed his newfound friend would help distract him from stopping at the guestroom. But on second thought, he wondered who this person could be. Perhaps one of the travelers waiting for the night flight, he presumed. He waited to see who his newfound friend was, as he heard the sound of their footsteps approaching.

 He walked to one of the pillars and hid behind it, spying on them from there. He caught sight of Smith first, followed by his new friend. He was shocked because Smith new found friend was nobody but Perez.

 The sight of Perez walking beside Smith almost gave him a heart attack. "Why Perez? What could he be doing in a public restroom when there is a standard restroom in the VIP guestroom?" He fought the thought within him. Now he understood why Boss had asked him to pay more attention to Perez.

 He knew he had to do something fast before Peter walked in and made the whole situation more complicated.

 He decided to go there and get Smith away from Perez when he heard Perez saying, "I'd like to invite you in for a drink, but I have a lot of work to do at the moment." He saw Smith's face looking delighted as he replied, "Never mind, thanks for the offer." He saw Perez Walk in and shut the door from inside, and Smith sauntered in his direction.

 From behind the pillar where he was hiding, he could see the pleasant expression on Smith's face. He wondered what Perez must have told him to make him look this delighted. But as Smith came closer, suddenly his expression changed.

 Smith's face turned pale, and it appeared as if he had seen a ghost. Hugo wondered what could have triggered the sudden reaction.

 He turned to look in that direction, and instantly he saw what Smith had seen. His worst fear had just caught up with him. Because Smith had just discovered Peter and Perez in one place.

 Now the situation had become more complicated than they had anticipated. He knew there was only one solution to this issue, and that would be to eliminate Smith before he could pass this information to someone who would make a better interpretation of the whole setup.

 If there was one thing he must do, he knew it had to be to stick close to Smith and somehow convince him to stay put for now and later murder him. But first, he needed to inform Boss of the issue on the ground.

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