Wild Card (Stone Barrington #49)(24)
“Jamie and Ed are in town. The others are below, where I’m going, too.”
“Anything wrong?”
“There are some wrong people in town, and they may turn up here.”
“What do they look like?”
“A man and a woman, both hefty in build. The man may have a bandage on his forehead. If they try to come aboard, stop them. If they ask questions, lie to them.”
“Gotcha,” Todd replied. Stone took his book and went below. He stood at one of the ports in his cabin and peered past the curtains at the dock. Sure enough, here came Hurd and Heather.
* * *
? ? ?
Captain Todd winched up the gangplank and then stood outside the deckhouse, sipping his second cup of coffee of the day and watching the dock. He spotted the two people as they came down the dock. They stopped, looking admiringly at the yacht.
“Good morning,” the man said.
“Good morning,” Todd replied.
“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is.”
“Is the owner aboard?”
“No, he and his party are not due until tomorrow afternoon.”
“If it’s not too much of an imposition, could we have your permission to come aboard and have a look around? I’m a fan of boats of this period.”
“I’m sorry, but the crew is in the middle of preparing the yacht for guests, and the owners have a policy of not allowing visitors aboard, unless they are present to receive them.”
“Well, thanks anyway,” the man said, then he made a show of walking the length of the yacht, taking in everything.
* * *
? ? ?
Stone saw him from below and stepped back from the curtains. After a couple of minutes of looking, Hurd and Heather turned and walked slowly up the dock toward the village, stopping to look at other yachts along the way. Finally, they were out of sight.
Stone called Jamie and Rawls and told them to return slowly to the yacht, then he went to get a report from Todd.
“I told them the owners weren’t due until tomorrow afternoon,” Todd said.
“Perfect,” Stone said. He got his cell phone out and called Faith, his chief pilot, who was back in New York.
“Having fun?” she asked.
“Not enough fun,” Stone replied. “I’d like you to fly the airplane to Nantucket, land after dark, refuel, find a room for the night, and be ready for wheels up at six AM tomorrow.”
“Certainly. Destination?”
“Key West. I’ll put you and your copilot up while we’re there.”
“Wonderful. I can use some sun.”
“And I want our tail number off the FlightAware program. I don’t want anyone tracking us.”
Stone looked around. Jamie and Rawls were approaching the yacht from different directions. He went to lower the gangplank.
19
They gathered for lunch at one. Captain Todd came and stood by the table. “We’ll be moving early tomorrow,” Stone told the group, “to Key West for a few days.” There was a murmur of approval.
“Why are we moving?” Sherry asked.
“Because Hurd and Heather and at least two others are in town. I’d appreciate it if you’d all stay aboard with the curtains and blinds drawn for the rest of the day. Todd, can you leave the marina tonight, anchor offshore near the airport, and take us ashore in the tender?”
Todd shook his head. “We’re going to have twenty-five-, thirty-knot winds from the south by morning. We’d best take you in a van. I’ll rent one.”
“All right. I’d like to leave the yacht at five AM; wheels up will be at six. You can all sleep some more on the flight.”
That night, as Stone and Jamie were preparing for bed, Stone’s phone rang. “Hello?”
“Stone, it’s Faith. We landed in Nantucket fifteen minutes ago, and there were some people hanging around the terminal, as if they were expecting us.”
“Describe them.”
“Three men, all large and tough-looking, and one large woman.”
“Did one of the men have a bandage on his forehead?”
“Yes. They left the terminal as we were coming in, but there didn’t appear to be any reason for them to be there, except to see us and our airplane.”
“Thank you, Faith. We’ll see you tomorrow morning about five-thirty.”
“Okay.” She hung up.
Stone stretched out on the bed. Jamie was already asleep. He thought about it for a while, and it occurred to him that they were not being followed; they were being preceded. He was too sleepy at the moment to try to figure out how that worked.
* * *
? ? ?
The following morning they met at five, and Stone addressed the group. “Last night I got a call from my chief pilot telling me that when they landed, they were met by three men and a woman. One of the men wore a bandage on his forehead, and they left as soon as my pilots entered the terminal.”
Rawls practically choked on his coffee. “How the hell would they know your airplane was coming? For that matter, how would they even know we’re on the island?”
“Because somebody in our group is telling them,” Stone said.