Contraband

49

Since Max had taken the day off, she and Stone spent it in bed. Birdie, her housekeeper, fixed them lunch, left it at the door, and rapped hard on it. “You got to eat, Miss Maxine!” she yelled. “You need your strength!”

“All right, all right, Birdie!” Max shouted back. She unsaddled herself from Stone’s prostrate body, then kissed him. “Let’s take a break,” she said.

“Sustenance!” Stone cried weakly.

“On the way,” Max said.

The sustenance turned out to be a nicely chilled gazpacho and crab sandwiches.

“Are you feeling sustained?” Max said.

“I am,” Stone replied.

“That’s good, because you’re going to need your strength when I finish this sandwich.”

Stone set his tray aside. “Do with me as you will,” he said.

Max hopped back aboard. “Here we go!” she cried, seizing and inserting him.

It was around four in the afternoon when they stirred from a long nap.

“Oh, God!” Max said, looking at the bedside clock, then into the large bedroom mirror. “I’ve got to do my hair!” She leapt from the bed and ran into the bathroom, slamming the shower door behind her.

Stone followed and peed noisily. “Tell me when the bathroom is available.”

“When I’m done, you’re going to have about ten minutes to make yourself gorgeous,” she said.

“Wake me at that time,” Stone said, then returned to the bed and fell into it, asleep immediately.

Stone awoke with tiny shards of cold water striking his face. “What?” he said, sitting up.

Max held a glass of ice water. “Next step is to pour this onto your crotch,” she said, “if you don’t get out of this bed and into the bathroom.”

“How much time do I have?” Stone asked, shaking his head to rid himself of the cobwebs.

“Eight minutes,” Max replied. “You’ve wasted two by not waking up fast enough.”

Stone got to his feet and made his way into the bathroom. He saved time by shaving in the shower and not drying his hair. Shortly, he was dressed in fresh khakis, a polo shirt, and a blue blazer. Max was applying lipstick.

“Time to go,” he said.

“Give me five minutes, all right?”

“You gave me ten, then took away two. I’m on time.”

“In five minutes I’ll be on time, too.” She wriggled into a pair of very tight white duck trousers and a tank top and threw a red sweater over her shoulders. “In case it’s breezy,” she said.

They went downstairs, and Max pressed a button to open the garage. “Since you gave Dino your car, we’ll take mine,” she said. She backed it out of the garage slowly, for the best effect. “You paid for this, you know. Thank you!” The car was a white Mercedes S550 convertible with red upholstery.

“I didn’t even know they made this car,” Stone said, hopping in and adjusting his seat, while Max lowered the top.

“It seems to be a well-kept secret,” she said.

The wind dried Stone’s hair on the way to the old submarine base, where Breeze was docked. Max pulled up to the boarding steps, where two of the crew greeted them and showed them to the fantail, where Dino and Viv were disporting themselves.

Everyone turned and looked at the sunset, transfixed. “Isn’t that something?” Dino asked. “It’s worth the trip.”

“That is the best sunset I’ve seen since high school,” Max said. “Gimlet, please.”

A crew member poured four vodka gimlets from a bottle stuffed in the ice maker.

“There must be some pollution or something in the air to make it like that,” Dino said, gazing at the spectacle.

“No,” Max said, “that’s what you see when the air is clean, the dirt blown away by an evening breeze. That’s all sunset, no pollution.”

“I never thought I’d see that,” Dino said.

They pulled chairs around, facing west, and watched until the sun had crashed into the sea, slowly taking the spectacle with it.

One of the crew appeared. “The menu this evening is conch chowder, stuffed lobster, and, of course, key lime pie. The wine is a Far Niente chardonnay.” They surrounded the table, tucked napkins under their chins, then dug in.

After dinner, the women donned sweaters to cope with the evening breeze; cognac and Grand Marnier were served.

“Max?” Dino said. “Is it possible that the Key West PD could use a new police commissioner?”

“We already have one.”

“I could shoot him, couldn’t I? And you’d help me dispose of the body.”

“That would be my pleasure, Dino. I’ve always despised the son of a bitch.”

“I didn’t hear any of that,” Stone said. “Did you, Viv?”

“Not a word.”

“You two plan your crime when Viv and I aren’t around,” Stone said.

“The way things are going,” Max says, “we may have plenty of time to plan it. The airplane is still not out at the strip. If we all concentrate and hope hard enough, maybe it will turn up tomorrow. And with luck, Hobo will be sober enough to install your device.”

“I hope we’ll have time to coordinate with the Coast Guard,” Dino said.

“I had a word with the commander yesterday,” Max said, “and he’s on board. He’ll have his cutter positioned to move west as soon as we pick up a returning signal from the airplane.”

“What are we going to use to follow the signal?” Stone asked.

“There’ll be a laptop in the package,” Dino replied, “along with some instructions. They said there’s not much to it.”

“We all know what that means,” Stone said. “It means it’s going to take four men and a dog to get it up and running — if we don’t electrocute ourselves.”

“Stone, you’ve always been a pessimist,” Dino said. “I think that sunset was a good omen.”

“That makes you a fantasist,” Stone said. “You think you can dream what we need into existence.”

“I got a feeling,” Dino said, beaming at them.

“God help us,” Stone replied.