Old Acquaintance (Ray Guinness novels Book 2)
Page 30
They waited in silence until Rocky came back, and then Guinness announced that he thought it would be a good idea if they started for the airport so they could get their baggage checked and pick up the tickets and not have to worry about fighting last minute lines.
During the final hour before the flight to Seattle started boarding, Guinness came to understand what Kathleen had meant about their daughter being a bright kid. She seemed to understand that the bond between her and her father must never be acknowledged, that it was a necessary secret the reasons for which she could not, of course, at her age, grasp but could still appreciate as compelling. He kept waiting, with not quite undiluted dread, for some kind of declaration, but it never came.
Only at the end, when she gravely put out her hand, he took it in his and smiled.
“Will you give me a kiss good bye?”
He picked her up and accepted that one last favor. And as he watched them receding down the long corridor toward the boarding dock, his heart felt as if it would burst.
And that was that. The plane slowly wheeled around and away from the terminal and then taxied down the runway and was gone. After a few minutes, there was nothing left but the darkish smudge of the exhaust trails against the pearl gray, rain soaked sky.
“If I go back to Seattle, I wouldn’t be very hard to find.” Well, Kathleen had never renewed her offer, and it had all been a pipe dream anyway. They were too far apart; it would never have worked, as she must have realized. And there was the small additional problem that the people around him had a tendency toward premature and unpleasant deaths. You didn’t get to retire from his line of work—he had tried, twice, and it hadn’t worked either time. He was a lightning rod. It would be better, much better, that Kathleen and Rocky forgot that he even existed.
There was a telephone next to the men’s room. He dropped a dime in the slot and got the long distance operator and made a collect call to a number in Washington, D.C.
“Go ahead, Soldier,” the den mother at the other end responded after he had said all the right code words.
“Did you check it?”
He could hear paper being shuffled in the background; she seemed to be a long time looking.
“The Fort Worth listing squares: 228 Leaf Street, Apartment 36C. Telephone company listings indicate that the name on the billing form is Juanita Scaldino; we have no file under that name. The old man wants to know if you think this Healy is a reliable source.”
Guinness nodded, although there was no one to see.
“Yes, he has an interest in having Flycatcher out of the way. He says that’s his contact number and I believe him.”
“Then the order is to go ahead. There will be a tap in place by nightfall, and we’ll arrange to have you contacted at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport—it will be someone who knows you by sight. Any questions?”
“No, no questions. There’s a flight leaving in an hour. I’ll be on it.”
He hung up the receiver, remembering the thin, well dressed figure from the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Clemson. It seemed like an eternity. The key to the locker where he had checked his suitcase was in his pocket; all he had to do was to reclaim his stuff and be on his merry way. Perhaps it had been an eternity.
The entrance to the boarding docks looked like the mouth of a cave. Just inside, where the carpet of the main terminal turned to linoleum, there was a black line across the floor, and hanging from the ceiling was a long sign with letters eight inches high: PASSENGERS ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT.
About Nicholas Guild
Nicholas Guild published his first novel in 1975 and has been writing ever since. His books have been published around the world and several have been international bestsellers. He has written thrillers and historical novels. Early in his career he was recognized as a writer of abundant grace, power and technical agility. Publishers Weekly described him as “a master of timing, plot and style.” Phil Thomas, The Associated Press Book Editor, said, “Nicholas Guild writes extremely well. His sentences are tight and well-constructed, and, additional bonus, his plot and sub-plots cannot be faulted.” The Cincinnati Enquirer said, “Guild writes extremely well. He does the flashbacks so well you are unaware the action has stopped and the novelist is filling you in on the character’s past.” The New York Times Book Review said, “The almost languid grace of his writing also sets the measured pace of the storytelling, while wrapping the narrative in an atmosphere thick with sensuality.”
Visit his website at www.nicholasguild.com/
Discover other titles by Nicholas Guild at Amazon.com:
Blood Ties
Angel
The Assyrian
The Blood Star
The President’s Man
Chain Reaction
The Berlin Warning
The Linz Tattoo
The Favor
The Summer Soldier