They entertained each other for the better part of an hour, then sat up in the electric beds.
“You said Breeze has gone to Miami? What’s your interest in the convention?”
“Holly Barker is an old friend.”
“I think I know what that means,” she said. “I mean, I’m a new friend, and look at us — all nekkid. How on earth did you meet her?”
“I went down to Vero Beach to take delivery of a new airplane at the Piper factory some years ago — this was before I moved up to jets. I was in line at a local bank to pick up a cashier’s check for payment, and people with shotguns entered and started pushing people around. A guy behind me in line tried to protect a woman from them, and they shot him where he stood. I watched him die, while we waited for the ambulance.”
“And what does that have to do with Holly Barker?”
“She was engaged to marry him the following day. We met when she was interviewing witnesses. She kept right on working, and I was impressed.”
“She’s an impressive lady,” Max said. “I’ll vote for her.”
“I’ll tell her. She’ll be thrilled to have your vote.”
8
Stone flew left seat in the Citation Latitude with his pilot, Faith, as copilot. The airplane required two pilots to make it legal. A car awaited him. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay aboard the yacht?”
“Thanks,” she replied, “but I have other plans. When you’re ready to leave, give me a couple hours’ notice, and I’ll have her ready.”
“Will do.” On the way to the Miami yacht club, he called Captain Todd and gave him an ETA, then phoned Max.
“You sneaked out before breakfast this morning,” he said.
“I have a weekly detectives meeting, and it’s early,” she replied.
“I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye properly.”
“You did okay last night,” she replied, laughing.
“I hope you didn’t show up at your meeting in that dress.”
“Nope, I had some jeans in the car. So, after the convention, are you headed back to New York?”
“I am. Want to come for a visit?”
“That’s tempting. Let me check my schedule and see how much time off I have coming, and I’ll let you know.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
He laughed. “I can’t imagine doing that.”
The tender awaited him at the yacht club, and he tossed his bag to the crew and took the ride. Dino and Viv were having lunch, and he joined them.
“I hope the evening justified your late arrival here,” Viv said, archly.
“It did. Besides, we don’t have anything to do until it’s time to leave for the convention hall.”
“The tickets and floor passes arrived by messenger this morning,” Dino said. “We’ll be in a special skybox.”
“We need to be back here by eight,” Stone said. “Our dinner guests arrive at nine, and Holly will be along as soon as her Secret Service detail can transport her.”
“What time is her speech?”
“Early, at seven. She’ll have a lot of hands to shake afterward, then she’ll make her escape. Can I run something by you two?”
They both nodded.
“Max’s case has become more complicated,” Stone said.
“How?” Dino asked.
“The pilot she loaded onto the helicopter has had a memory failure of everything from breakfast the day of the crash, until being put on the chopper.”
“Voluntary amnesia?” Viv asked.
“She suspects that, but she’s trying to keep an open mind.”
“An open mind is not always the friend of an investigation,” Dino said. “Why do you want our advice?”
“I think the key to the whole thing is whatever was in the suitcases that were spirited off the airplane in the night. We’ve considered drugs and cash. I know why drugs might be brought into the country, but I can’t figure out why cash would be.”
The two of them thought about it. “Maybe,” Viv said, “the cash was already in the country, to pay for a drug delivery. Maybe the other yacht at Fort Jefferson was bringing in the drugs.”
“That makes sense,” Stone said. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Obvious,” Dino said. “Your mind has been elsewhere for the last few days. When is Max coming to New York?”
“Soon, I hope,” Stone said.
“We wouldn’t want you to get too horny,” Dino said.
“Stick to the subject,” Stone replied. “A yacht isn’t a very good way to bring drugs into the country. It would still have to pass customs, even at Fort Jefferson, but we never saw a customs launch.”
“Maybe it cleared somewhere else?” Viv said.
“That would be no less trouble,” Stone said. “No, I don’t think it was drugs or cash in the suitcases.”
“Then what?”
“I told you, I can’t figure that out.”
“It would help if we knew where the airplane came from,” Viv pointed out.
“Smugglers don’t leave a paper trail,” Stone said.
“What’s the range of a Cessna 206?” Dino asked.
“I’m not sure, but let’s say a thousand miles.”
“What’s within that range to use as a departure airport?” Dino asked.
“A lot,” Stone said. “The Bahamas, the Leewards, Cuba, the Antilles, the Windwards, and a big chunk of South America.”
“A lot to choose from,” Viv said.
“One thing,” Dino said. “We know it was a maximum-range flight because it ran out of fuel. You can’t get any more maximum-range than that.”
“Then I think we’re left with South America,” Stone said.
“The whole continent?”
“Just the northern shores,” Stone replied. “Caracas, Cartagena, like that.”
“This is a losing proposition,” Dino said.
“Why?”
“Too many choices of airports, too many kinds of cargo. I think the best move is to wait a couple of days for the pilot’s brain to settle, then hook him up to a polygraph and grill him.”
“I like that,” Viv said.
“So do I,” Stone replied. “I’ll suggest it to Max when we speak.”
The convention center was as crowded as they expected it to be, but their reception went smoother. They were met by a group of security people from Viv’s company, Strategic Services, put onto an electric cart, and moved quickly to an elevator, which opened into the vestibule of a skybox high above the convention floor and dead in front of the podium. The skybox was populated by the nineteen other major contributors, besides Stone, who had put Holly’s campaign on the road with contributions of five million dollars each, and their wives or girlfriends. Stone knew them all, at least in passing; Dino and Viv knew most of them, as well.
They settled into a deep sofa with drinks and watched as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States was introduced, followed by ten or fifteen minutes of cheering, demonstrations, and Dixieland band music. Holly stood, waved, and pointed at various people in the audience, as she had been instructed by her handlers. It didn’t matter if she knew them or not, as long as she looked as if she did.
Holly spoke for only about twenty minutes, also on instructions from her handlers, and gave a sharply written, highly optimistic speech that a team of speechwriters had been working on for at least a month, followed by more cheering, waving, and music. Holly finally disappeared from the podium.
Viv got a phone call from the security team. “Our team is outside,” she said, “and the limos for the donors and our van are all waiting. Let’s get out of here.”