Turbulence (Stone Barrington #46)(57)

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STONE DROVE to the airport and opened the security gate. The Falcon Jet was no longer on the ramp. Jenny and Peg were waiting for him, and the three of them did the preflight together, saving time. Soon, with Stone in the left seat and Jenny in the right, they took off for Teterboro. They were over central Florida when the satphone rang. “You’ve got the airplane,” he said to Jenny.

“I’ve got the airplane,” she affirmed.

Stone pressed a couple of buttons on the control panel. “Hello?”

“Stone, it’s Philip, how are you?”

“I’m very well, Philip, and you?”

“Very well indeed. Where are you flying?”

“I’m en route from Key West, Florida, to New York.”

“Are you going to be in England again soon?”

“One never knows,” Stone said.

“There’s another big event next week at Kensington House; I’ve hired my body out for the occasion. If you’re around, it would improve my evening if you’d join me. It won’t be quite the mob that it was last time, only around forty people.”

“Who are they?”

“Some sort of business group: the Eagle Consortium. I don’t know much about them.”

“That sounds great, but I think I’m going to be flying in another direction.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to have you to dinner before you left; we’ll do it next time.”

“I’d enjoy that,” Stone said. After another bit of small talk they hung up.

Stone called Lance’s number.

“Yes, Stone?”

“I just spoke to the duke; he says there’s a group of about forty people taking Kensington House next week. They’re called the Eagle Consortium. He doesn’t know anything about them, but he invited me to come, if I’m in England.”

“Let me get back to you,” Lance said, then hung up.

“I’ve got the airplane,” Stone said to Jenny.

“You’ve got the airplane,” she said.





45



STONE TAXIED TO A stop at Atlantic Aviation and immediately saw three vehicles: his own, Dino’s, and the tow from Strategic Services he had radioed for while taxiing, which would take the airplane back to their hangar at Jet Aviation. Bob ran down the airstairs toward the Bentley and Fred, who greeted him affectionately.

They unloaded their luggage, and as they were doing so, Stone’s phone rang. “It’s Lance, are you still planning to fly to Santa Fe and L.A. tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“I wonder if you’d do me a favor and fly to England, instead?” Lance said this as if he’d asked him to drop him off at his hotel. In the stunned silence that followed he said, “I’d like you to attend that dinner with the duke at Kensington House.”

“You think Owaki is back in England already?”

“No, but I believe he will be by the first of the week. Also, remember that crate you saw in the back of a helicopter when you were last there?”

“Yes.”

“It’s still there, but I don’t believe it will be after that dinner. The Eagle Consortium, I’ve learned, is a new, high-flown club of the Russian super-wealthy. I believe that someone at that dinner is going to leave with that crate—maybe even in the same helicopter.”

“What do you want me to do about it? Shoot it down?”

“I want you to confirm that the crate is still there and in which aircraft it rests. When you get to your New York house our latest satphone, very compact, will be waiting. Take it with you to England and call me when you know what I need to know. Then leave Kensington House immediately.”

Stone hesitated.

“Jenny and Peg have already been informed that their services will be required for the flight to and from England; you’ll land at and return from your own airfield. I expect there’s room at your house for Jenny and Peg, and if there isn’t, house them at the Arrington Hotel next door and bill me. And, the good news is: You’ll be able to log some flight time in the Latitude.”

Dino and Viv waved goodbye from their car.

“Oh, all right,” Stone said.

“I’ll call you after your arrival or, perhaps, the day after.”

Jenny walked over. “I hear we’re going abroad. What time would you like wheels up?”

“Nine AM,” Stone replied.

“I’ll see that the flight plan and permits are filed tonight,” she said. “There’s a raft already aboard, but no survival suits. Do you want them?”

“All right.”

“See you at eight-thirty?” she asked.

“Eight-thirty,” he replied, then he got into his car with Fred and Kelly and headed for Manhattan.

“Lance has just explained to me that we are going to England tomorrow, instead of heading west,” he said to Kelly.

“That’s only a slightly longer flight, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I don’t know, exactly, in the Latitude.”

“What will we be doing there?”

“Dining at Kensington House again, it seems. The duke has invited us to a dinner there thrown by a business association called the Eagle Consortium.”