Turbulence (Stone Barrington #46)(75)
“And there’s only one of Owaki,” Lance said, pulling a weapon. Stone, Kelly, and the driver all produced handguns.
“How do we get in?” Lance asked.
Stone walked over and pressed the button for the airstair door, it opened slowly.
Lance trotted up the stairs, his gun at his side, and the others followed. He stopped at the head of the airplane’s aisle.
“Selwyn Owaki,” he shouted, “you are under arrest.”
Slowly a man at the rear of the airplane stood up. “May I see your warrant, please?”
Lance poked his driver in the chest and motioned with his head. “Serve your warrant,” he said.
Owaki was the only passenger on the airplane. The two pilots and uniformed flight attendant stood outside the cockpit and watched as the Special Branch officer held his warrant in front of Owaki’s nose, then handcuffed him.
Stone walked over to where the pilots stood. “Just out of curiosity, where were you flight-planned for?”
“Moscow,” the captain said. “Is there any reason we can’t leave?”
“Without your passenger?” Stone asked.
“My instructions are to go,” the man said.
“Lance?” Stone called.
“Yes?”
“Is there any reason these gentlemen can’t fly this airplane to Moscow?”
“This airplane,” Lance said, “is mine, and it’s not going anywhere.”
“Gentlemen,” Stone said to the pilots, “you’d better call a taxi.”
Stone and Kelly followed the Special Branch officer, Lance, and their prisoner down the airstairs. At the bottom, Stone turned to Owaki. “Mr. Owaki,” he said. “I hope you enjoyed your evening, because I have a strong feeling that you have just spent your last day on Earth as a free man. Oh, and you’re going to love the British prison system. I hear they empty the chamber pots at least a couple of times a week.” He turned and walked away.
The duke’s big Bentley, a bit worse for the wear, awaited, its engine purring, Herbert stood beside it with the rear door open. Stone and Kelly got in.
“All done?” the duke asked.
“All done,” Stone said. “May we offer you a nightcap at my house?”
“Certainly,” the duke replied.
* * *
—
ACOUPLE OF HOURS LATER, Stone and Kelly lay in each other’s arms, spent.
“I’ve been thinking,” Kelly said.
“Uh-oh,” Stone replied.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I am happy to hear from readers, but you should know that if you write to me in care of my publisher, three to six months will pass before I receive your letter, and when it finally arrives it will be one among many, and I will not be able to reply.
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