Family Jewels

18

Stone was genuinely glad to hear from Ed Eagle. “Ed, how are you?”

“Better than middling, I guess. How about you?”

“Not too bad.”

“You very busy these days?”

“No, I spent some time in England and just got back a couple of weeks ago.”

“I have an invitation for you.”

“I accept.”

“Hang on, let me finish. Susannah is having a birthday, and I’m throwing a party for her.”

“I accept.”

“It’s in Santa Fe this weekend.”

“I accept. Which birthday?”

“Don’t ask. How soon can you get your ass out here?”

“Is tomorrow too soon?”

“Certainly not. What are you flying these days?”

“A Citation CJ3 Plus.”

“Then you can do it nonstop?”

“As long as there isn’t a two-hundred-knot headwind.”

“See you late tomorrow afternoon, then?”

“Perfect.”

“Don’t rent a car, I’ll loan you one. It’ll be at the airport.”

“Great.”

“And there’s something I want to show you.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll see.”

“By the way, I have a houseguest named Bob. May I bring him along?”

“Sure, as long as you don’t mind sleeping in the same bed. We’ve got a full house.”

“No problem, Bob can sleep on the floor.”

“Stone, is there something you want to tell me?”

“Lots of things, but not now.”

“By the way, when you get to the airport, read the instructions in the manual before you start the car.”

“I know how to start a car, Ed.”

“Trust me — read the instructions.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Can you find your way to the house sober?”

“I can.”

“Then we’ll see you tomorrow. Drinks are at six.”

“I’ll flight-plan for the cocktail hour.”

“See you then.”

“See you.” Stone hung up feeling elated.

“You look better already,” Joan said.

“I feel better already.”

“Bob looks relieved,” she said.

“Are you relieved, Bob?”

Bob wagged all over.

“You want me to pack you a bag?”

“That would be great.”

“How long?”

“Say a week, to be safe, and pack Bob a bag, too.”

—

The following morning at ten, Stone sat at the end of runway 24 at Teterboro Airport.

“November One, Two, Three, Tango Foxtrot, cleared for takeoff,” the tower controller said.

“N123TF, cleared for takeoff.”

Stone flipped on the pitot heat, strobes, and landing light, taxied onto the runway, and pushed the throttles forward, glancing at the pilot’s display as the airspeed climbed. At a speed labeled R for rotate, Stone pulled back on the yoke, and the jet rose from the concrete and climbed. He retracted the landing gear and the flaps and, at 450 feet, switched on the autopilot, which would now fly the departure procedure known as RUDY4.

Shortly, he got a vector and a new altitude from the departure controller and, to his surprise, was given flight level 400, or 40,000 feet, and was cleared direct SAF.

Twenty minutes later he was at altitude and on course. He adjusted the air-conditioning, chose the symphony channel on the Sirius Satellite Radio, and picked up the New York Times crossword puzzle. He glanced over a shoulder to see how his new crew was doing and saw Bob sitting on a rear seat, looking intently out the window. Stone had laid a blanket in the aisle for him, and a moment later Bob hopped down, curled up, and went to sleep.

Stone concentrated on the puzzle. Each time he moved to the next clue, he looked up, did an instrument scan, made an adjustment, if necessary, then returned to the puzzle. Three and a half hours later he was descending into Santa Fe, with fifty minutes of fuel left, and he set down smoothly on runway 20.

As he taxied to a halt at the FBO (fixed-base operator) and stopped for chocking, a sleek dark sports car pulled up to the nose of the airplane. He wasn’t sure what it was.

He picked up the checklist and went through the shutdown procedure, then got up and opened the door. Bob preceded him onto the ramp, and he gave the key to a lineman, who opened the forward baggage compartment and loaded his and Bob’s luggage into the rear of the car. It was a tight fit.

Stone walked around the car and found the Aston Martin winged logo. The lineman walked Bob over to some grass to do some business while Stone sat in the driver’s seat and looked around. He couldn’t find a key or a start button, and there was no gearshift lever present in the usual place.

“You know this car?” the lineman asked.

“I don’t.”

“I had to read up on it before I took it out of the hangar. Here’s what you do. First, set the handbrake, since the gearbox has no Park setting. Put your foot on the brake, and put this into that slot on the panel.” He handed Stone a little black box, and he slid it into the slot. “Now push it all the way in.” Stone did so, and the car leapt to life with an attractive roar.

“Now you got two choices. You can shift up with the right paddle and down with the left paddle, or you can push the D button on the panel, which will give you an automatic transmission. You lift your foot a little to change gears, or let the car decide. When you stop, pull on both paddles for neutral, or push the N button, apply the handbrake, and push the key again.” Stone tried that, and the key popped out.

“Got it,” Stone said, and drove over to the electric gate. A moment later he was cruising away, with Bob in the passenger seat.

By the time he spotted the stone eagle on the road above the village of Tesuque, Stone felt at home in the car. He pulled into the drive and Ed Eagle, all six feet seven inches of him, walked out of the house to greet him.