Are You Afraid Of The Dark

CHAPTER 34

AT LEXINGTON AVENUE, Diane hailed a cab.

"Where are we going?"

"To La Guardia airport." Kelly looked at Diane in surprise. "Don't you know they'll be watching all the airports?" "I hope so." "What are you-?" Kelly groaned. "You have a plan, right?" Diane patted Kelly's hand and smiled. "Right."

AT LA GUARDIA, Kelly followed Diane inside the terminal to the US Airways ticket counter.

The agent behind the counter said, "Good morning. Can I help you?" Diane smiled. "Yes, we'd like two coach tickets to Los Angeles." "When would you like to leave?" "On the first available flight. Our names are Diane Stevens and Kelly Harris." Kelly winced.

The ticket agent was consulting a schedule. "The next plane will be boarding at two-fifteen." "Perfect." Diane looked at Kelly.

Kelly managed a weak smile. "Perfect."

"Will that be cash or credit card?"

"Cash." Diane handed him the money.

As they walked away, Kelly said, "Why don't we just put up a neon sign telling Kingsley where we are?" Diane said, "You worry too much." They started to pass the American Airlines booth. Diane stopped and walked up to the ticket agent.

"We'd like two coach tickets to Miami on the next flight out of here." "Certainly." The ticket agent checked the schedule. "That flight will be boarding in three hours." "Fine. Our names are Diane Stevens and Kelly Harris." Kelly closed her eyes for an instant.

"Credit card or cash?"

"Cash." Diane paid the clerk and he handed her their tickets.

Kelly said, "Is this how we're going to outwit these geniuses? This wouldn't fool a ten-year-old." Diane started walking toward the airport exit.

Kelly hurried after her. "Where are you going?" We re going to"Never mind. I don't think I want to know."

THERE WAS A row of taxis in front of the airport. When the two women walked out of the terminal, one of the taxis pulled out of line and drove up in front of the entrance. Kelly and Diane got into the cab.

"Where to, please?"

"Kennedy airport." Kelly said, "I don't know if they're going to be confused, but I sure am. I still wish we had some kind of weapon to protect ourselves." "I don't know where we could find a Howitzer." The taxi went into gear. Diane leaned forward to examine the driver's photo ID:

MARIO SILVA.

"Mr. Silva, do you think that you can get us to Kennedy without being followed?" They could see his grin in the mirror. "You came to the right party, lady." He pressed down on the accelerator and made a sudden U-turn. At the first corner, he drove halfway down the street, then sped into an alley.

The women looked through the rear window. There were no cars behind them.

Mario Silva's grin widened. "Okay?"

"Okay," Kelly said.

For the next thirty minutes, Mario Silva kept making unexpected turns and going down small side streets, to make sure no one could follow them. Finally, the taxi pulled up in front of the main entrance to Kennedy airport.

"We're here," Mario Silva announced triumphantly.

Diane took some bills from her purse. "There's something extra for you." The driver took the money and smiled. "Thanks." He sat in his cab, watching his two passengers walk into the Kennedy terminal. When they were out of sight, he picked up his cell phone.

"Tanner Kingsley."

AT THE DELTA Airlines counter, the ticket agent glanced up at the board. "Yes, we do have two tickets available on the flight you want. It leaves at five-fifty p.m. There's a one-hour layover in Madrid, and the plane arrives in Barcelona at nine-twenty a.m." "That will be fine," Diane said.

"Will that be credit card or cash?"

"Cash." Diane handed the ticket agent the money and turned to Kelly.

"Let's wait in the lounge."

THIRTY MINUTES LATER, Harry Flint was on his cell phone talking to Tanner.

"I got the information you asked for. They're flying Delta to Barcelona. Their plane leaves Kennedy at five-fifty this evening, with a one-hour layover in Madrid. They'll arrive in Barcelona at nine-twenty in the morning." "Good. You'll take a company jet to Barcelona, Mr. Flint, and meet them there when they arrive.

I'm counting on you to give them a warm welcome." As Tanner hung up, Andrew walked in. He was wearing a bou-tonniere in his lapel.

"Here are the schedules for the-"

"What the hell is that?" Andrew was confused. "You asked me to bring-" "I'm not talking about those. I'm talking about that stupid flower you have on." Andrew's face lit up. "I'm wearing it to your wedding. I'm your best man." Tanner frowned. "What the hell are you-?" And the realization suddenly struck him. "That was seven years ago, you cretin, and there was no wedding. Now get your ass out of here!" Andrew stood there, stunned, trying to understand what was happening.

"Out!" Tanner watched his brother leave the office. I should have put him away somewhere, he thought.

The time is coming.

THE TAKEOFF ON the flight to Barcelona was smooth and uneventful.

Kelly looked out the window at New York fading into the distance. "Do you think we got away with it?" Diane shook her head. "No. Sooner or later they'll find a way to track us down.

But at least we'll be over there." She pulled the i' computer printout from her purse and studied it.

"Sonja Verbrugge, in Berlin, who's dead and whose husband is missing… Gary Reynolds, in Denver…" She hesitated. "Mark and Richard…" Kelly looked at the printout. "So, we're going to Paris, Berlin, Denver, and back to New York." "Right. We'll cross the border into France at San Sebastian."

KELLY WAS LOOKING forward to getting back to Paris. She wanted to talk to Sam Meadows.

She had a feeling he was going to be helpful. And Angel would be waiting for her.

"Have you ever been to Spain?" "Mark took me there once. It was the most-" Kelly was silent for a long time.

"Do you know the problem I'm going to have for the rest of my life, Diane?

There's no one in the whole wide world like Mark. You know, when you're a kid, you read about people falling in love, and suddenly the world's a magical place. That's the kind of marriage Mark and I had." She looked at Diane.

"You probably felt that way about Richard." Diane said quietly, "Yes." "What was Mark like?" Diane asked.

Kelly smiled. "There was something wonderfully childlike about him. I always felt that he had the mind of a child and the brain of a genius." She gave a little chuckle.

"What?" "The way he used to dress. On our first date, he wore a badly fitting gray suit, with brown shoes, a green shirt, and a bright red tie. After we were married, I saw to it that he was dressed properly." She was silent. When she spoke, her voice was choked. "Do you know something? I would give anything to see Mark again, wearing that gray suit, with brown shoes, a green shirt, and a bright red tie." Her eyes were moist. "Mark enjoyed surprising me with gifts. But his greatest gift was that he taught me how to love." She dried her eyes with a handkerchief. "Tell me about Richard." Diane smiled. "He was a romantic. When we got into bed at night, he would say, 'Press my secret button,' and I would laugh and say, 'I'm glad no one is taping this.'" She looked at Kelly and said,

"His secret button was the 'do not disturb' key on the telephone. Richard told me that we were in a castle, all alone, and the key on the phone was the moat that kept the world at bay." Diane thought of something and laughed. "He was a brilliant scientist and he enjoyed repairing things around the house. He would fix leaky faucets or electrical shorts, and I always had to call experts in to fix what Richard had repaired. I never told him." They talked until almost midnight.

Diane realized that it was the first time they had spoken about their husbands.

It was as though some invisible barrier between them had evaporated.

Kelly yawned. "We'd better get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be an exciting day." She had no idea how exciting.

HARRY FLINT ELBOWED his way through the crowd at El Prat airport in Barcelona and walked up to the large plate glass window that overlooked the runway. He turned his head to scan the board that listed the arrivals and departures. The plane from New York was on schedule, due to arrive in thirty minutes. Everything was moving according to plan. Flint sat down and waited.

Half an hour later the plane landed and the New York flight began to disembark.

The passengers all seemed excited-a typical planeload of carefree tourists, traveling salesmen, children, and couples on their honeymoons. Flint was careful to stay out of sight of the exit ramp as he watched the stream of travelers pour into the terminal, and then finally trickle to a stop. He frowned. There was no sign of Diane or Kelly. Flint waited another five minutes, then started to go through the boarding gate.

"Sir, you can't go through here." Flint snapped, "FAA. We have national security information about a package that is hidden in the lavatory of this plane. I was ordered to inspect it immediately." Flint was already moving toward the tarmac. As he reached the plane, the crew was beginning to depart.

A flight attendant asked, "May I help you?" "FAA inspection," Flint said.

He walked up the steps into the plane. There were no passengers in sight.

The flight attendant asked, "Is there a problem?" "Yes. A possible bomb." She watched as Flint strode to the end of the cabin and pulled open the rest-room doors. The rooms were empty. The women had disappeared.

"THEY WEREN'T ON the plane, Mr. Kingsley." Tanner's voice was dangerously soft. "Mr. Flint, did you see them board the plane?" "Yes, sir." "And were they still aboard when the plane took off?" "Yes, sir." "Then I think we can safely reason that they either jumped out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean without parachutes or that they disembarked in Madrid. Do you agree with that?" "Of course, Mr. Kingsley. But-" "Thank you. So, that means they intend to go from Madrid to France by way of San Sebastian." He paused. "They have four choices: they can take a different flight to Barcelona or get there by train, bus, or car." Tanner was thoughtful for a moment. "They will probably feel that buses, planes, and trains are too confining. Logic tells me that they will drive to the San Sebastian border to get into France." "If— " "Do not interrupt me, Mr. Flint. It should take them about five hours to drive from Madrid to San Sebastian. Here's what I want you to do. Fly to Madrid. Check all the airport rental-car places. Find out what kind of car they rented-color, make, everything." "Yes, sir." "Then I want you to fly back to Barcelona and rent a car-a large one. Lie in wait for them along the highway to San Sebastian. I don't want them to reach the border. And Mr. Flint-" "Yes, sir." "Remember-make it look like an accident."