Scandalous Behavior

56

Al made a noon flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles and managed a first-class seat. He accepted two mimosas from the flight attendant before takeoff, and as soon as they were at cruise altitude, had the first of a series of Gentleman Jacks. The bourbon went to all the right places, and he did his best to keep it there.

After the meal and a couple of glasses of wine he managed to fall into a deep sleep, not regaining full consciousness until the landing gear lowered with a jerk. He collected his luggage in a fog of hangover, made it through customs and immigration without fuss, and got a cab home. By the time he had let himself into the apartment above the store and tossed down some hair of the dog, his attention was fully focused on the problem of Dr. Don Beverly Calhoun. He regarded the man as the source of his trouble and humiliation in England.

Dr. Don made it to Teterboro the following morning on time for his flight — not that it mattered, because the flight would go when he said it should. One of the crew — a pilot whom he recognized from an earlier flight on his CJ4, examined his passport and gave him a curious look, but he asked no questions. Same with Cheree. They and their baggage were quickly settled in. Dr. Don had taken the precaution of filling out a customs form online, declaring the eight hundred thousand dollars he carried in cash, but under his employee’s name, which matched the passport. It was not illegal to carry large sums of cash abroad, as long as it was declared, and he figured that there was a large stack of those forms waiting to be scrutinized at some customs office. He would be in Rio by the time they got around to his.

They settled into the comfortable cabin of the new airplane, which offered the size and space of a larger aircraft, and waited for the pilots to work through their checklists and get a clearance for their flight. As they waited, Calhoun’s cell phone buzzed on his belt. He was mystified for a moment as to who might have that number, but then he remembered Al. Good news, no doubt.

“Hello?”

“It’s Al.”

“I’m delighted to hear from you, Al. I assume everything went well.”

There was a pause, then, “Not exactly.”

A trickle of disturbance ran down Calhoun’s innards and stopped somewhere in his bowels. “What do you mean, not exactly?”

“I mean that Mr. Barrington had better security than I had bargained for.”

“Explain that, please.”

“I mean that after assessing the situation and making a perfect plan, my plan turned out to be imperfect. I was confronted, disarmed, and dismissed from the country.”

“By whom?”

“He didn’t mention his name, but he was pointing a 30.06 deer rifle at my head. I was allowed to leave the country in one piece.”

“Al, I paid you fifty thousand dollars and expenses to take care of this.”

“And I will refund your money, every cent of it, immediately. Give me an address, and I will have it hand-delivered tomorrow.”

“I’m about to leave the country — I’m on an airplane that is taxiing as we speak.”

“No matter. I’ll get the cash to you wherever you land.”

“Can you get it to Rio, ah, undisturbed?”

“I can. Just give me an address.”

Calhoun gave him the address of his apartment. “Don’t leave it at the desk — come upstairs. I’ll tell them to expect you.”

“Fine.”

“What name will you use?”

“Mr. Jones.”

“Call me from the Rio airport.”

“Right.”

“When will you arrive?”

“In a day or two. I have arrangements to make.”

“I’ll expect you. Don’t disappoint me.”

“I try never to disappoint.”

“Except this time.”

“Except this time.” Al hung up, stinging with embarrassment. He had never had to apologize to a client.

Calhoun hung up.

“What was that about?” Cheree asked.

“Nothing much — just a delivery of more cash to the Rio apartment.”

The aircraft taxied onto the runway, and they were pressed into their seats by the acceleration on takeoff.

“There,” Calhoun said when the landing gear came up. “We’re off.” He raised his glass of champagne. “Better times,” he toasted.

“God, I’ll drink to that,” Cheree said.

Al began making phone calls: flight, transportation, tools.