“Nope, but I liked it anyway. Scarlett reminded me of me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Stone said, warily.
“I’m a little chilly,” she said, tugging at his jacket. “Do you mind if I put my hand in your pocket?”
Stone laughed. “You did see the movie, didn’t you.”
“I could recite it for you, if you like.”
“We don’t have time,” Stone said, turning through an impressive stone and wrought-iron gate and stopping at a security booth.
“Hi, there, Mr. Barrington,” the guard said.
“Hi, Tim. I need a new window sticker.”
“Got a new car, huh? Nice!” Tim affixed the studio pass to the inside of the windshield. “There you go, and here’s a visitor’s pass for your guest.”
Stone clipped it to Max’s dress and drove on. “I’ll give you the scenic tour,” he said.
“Oh, goody!”
He drove her through the streets of standing sets: a New York neighborhood, a courthouse, a small-town square with a fountain. They finished up at the administration building, parked in a space with Stone’s name on it, and went inside. They were directed to a large hall that was the executive dining room, except that today it was full of rows of chairs. The meeting was being called to order, and they took seats in the front row.
An hour later, as Max was about to doze off, the meeting adjourned and everyone streamed out of the building and onto waiting caravans towed by electric carts. They were driven to a soundstage and then walked onto the huge set of a barn. A country band was playing at one end, and a long table was set up with barbecued pork, beef, chicken, and all the trimmings. They got plates, filled them, and took seats on a bale of hay at the end of the table opposite from the band.
“These folks know how to throw a party, don’t they?”
“They certainly do.”
“Oh, I have news from Key West,” she said.
“Shoot.”
“Al Dix turned up, riding a bicycle on Duval Street with one arm in a sling, and very alive.”
“One mystery solved,” Stone said.
“Yes, but not all the mysteries. We still don’t know who South Florida Import & Export is, and they’ve sold their hangar — we don’t know who to.”
“Or what was in all those Halliburton suitcases.”
“My partner, Tommy, found one of those in a dumpster outside the hangar, after it had been cleaned out. Empty, of course, but damaged. Looked like somebody had opened it with a crowbar.”
“That’s what it would take, if you don’t have the combination.”
“Tommy said it smelled nice.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Stone asked.
“I have no idea, he just said it.”
“Well, anyway, you’re getting more police work done in L.A. than you did in Key West.”
“That’s because my partner is doing it. He also suspects our captain of being on the take.”
“Careful, there. Police captains don’t like being suspects. He might do something about it.”
“Don’t worry, Tommy’s experienced in the ways of superior officers.”
“I hope so. I got bounced off the NYPD by one or more superior officers, but at least I got a medical discharge with a nice pension attached to it. Tommy might not be so lucky, unless he keeps his mouth shut.”
“I’ll mention it to him when we speak again.”
That evening, Stone’s and Dino’s sons arrived at the Arrington house with their wives. Introductions were made for Max. They had drinks by the pool and dinner in the house, served by hotel staff.
“I didn’t see the boys at the stockholders’ meeting,” Max said.
“I’m sorry I didn’t introduce them then, but they had people to talk to who were at the meeting.”
“They’re both very handsome,” she said, including Dino in her comment.
“That’s because Ben favors his mother,” Stone said. Dino threw a roll at him.
After dinner, Max found a quiet corner and called Tommy.
“Funny you should call,” Tommy said. “We’ve just moved into our new home. There are boxes everywhere.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Max said. “Can you talk for a minute without your wife hearing?”
“She’s upstairs, unpacking our clothes. Shoot.”
“Have you looked into anything about the captain’s activities?”
“Not yet.”
“That’s a relief. You know, Key West is a small town. If you start asking questions, it will get back to the captain — and that’s guaranteed.”
“I’ll be cautious.”
“Don’t be cautious, just don’t do anything until I get back, then we’ll do it together.”
“You think I’m crazy?”
“No, but you’re careless sometimes. I want to be there to watch your back.”
“Okay, no investigating, I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that. Now go help your wife.” She hung up, feeling better after what Stone had said.
26
Al Dix was sound asleep when his cell phone made a noise like a jet engine firing up. He rolled over, glanced at the bedside clock, which read 1:50 AM, and looked at the phone. NO CALLER ID appeared on the screen. He pressed the button. “What?!” he yelled.
“Good evening, Dixie,” a deep male voice said.
“‘Evening’? It’s two in the morning!”
“Remember, Dixie, we operate on my schedule, not yours.”
“Yeah, yeah, whadaya want?”
“First of all, I called to apologize.”
“For what?” Dix asked warily.
“I’m afraid the nurse at the hospital misunderstood her instructions.”
“You mean about knocking me off?”
“She was asked to keep you out of pain, and she misunderstood what I meant. We have no problem with you, Al.”
“Well, okay, I guess. What do you want now?”
“Another shipment is being prepared. Same pickup point, same destination, only this time you land on the airstrip, not in the sea.”
“Land? Is that what you call it? That was a controlled crash! I was nearly killed!”
“Then this time, take sufficient fuel.”
“It was not a matter of taking insufficient fuel!” Dix said, still angry. “There was a fuel leak in the starboard tank. I was out over the Atlantic when I saw the gauge start to move. I switched tanks to manage it, but I was still ninety miles short of the strip. That’s called lousy maintenance.”
“The aircraft has been replaced with another Stationair, and it has been thoroughly inspected. Last time was a mere oversight; there will be no fuel leaks this time.”
“When are we talking about?”
“You’ll pick up the airplane the day after tomorrow.”
“Hang on, pal, you don’t seem to be aware of my physical condition.”
“I don’t care about your physical condition. You sound just fine to me.”
“I’m not sick, I have three broken ribs.”
“I understand you can ride a bicycle.”
“What you don’t understand is that my left arm is in a sling and immobilized, strapped to my body to keep a rib from puncturing a lung.”
“I don’t care.”
“Let me explain to you how flying an airplane is accomplished. You fly it with your left hand; the right is used for the throttles and tuning the avionics. It can’t be flown with one hand.”
“The new airplane has a better autopilot; that will be your left arm.”
“Autopilots fail. Autopilots turn themselves off, if you hit rough air or, sometimes, if they just feel like it.”
“Then you should be prepared to handle that emergency, like any good pilot.”
“Get somebody else.”
“Dixie, if we wanted somebody else, we would just shoot you.”