Tom’s eyebrows lifted inquiringly. “How so?”
“He’s being flown here in an Air Force jet, instead of coming by regular airliner,” the man explained. “You know-the red-carpet treatment. The jet will land on your Enterprises’ airfield, so it’s requested that you return there at once to be on hand for his arrival.”
AIRPORT RUSE 17
Tom frowned. For some reason, the man’s story stirred a faint distrust in his mind.
Why, Tom wondered, had the message been phoned to the airport instead of to Enterprises?
The young inventor stared keenly at his informer. The man was tall, with thinning dark hair and an oddly wedge-shaped face that tapered from bulging temples down to a sharply pointed chin. It occurred to Tom that he had never seen the fellow at the Shopton Airport before.
“Have you worked here long?” Tom asked.
“Only a few months. Why?”
“Just wondered.” Tom added coolly, “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go to the airport manager’s office myself and make sure I have all the details of the message straight.”
The messenger looked surprised, then shrugged. “Just as you like.”
Tom thought he detected a faint foreign accent in the man’s speech.
The man accompanied Tom as the young inventor started up the stairway to the balcony circling the terminal waiting room. From here, Tom headed down a hallway that led to the personnel offices.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Tom caught a movement of the man’s arm.
He was pulling a gun from under his coat! Tom whirled and grabbed for the man’s wrist, but his opponent hooked a foot behind Tom’s leg and tripped him with a quick push. As the young inventor reeled