Burnt Sienna

4

Bellasar’s Gulfstream 5 took off from Ke

“May I get you anything?”

“Orange juice.”

“Shall I add some champagne?”

“No thanks.” The tranquilizer Bellasar had injected him with made him feel dehydrated. Alcohol would make him feel even more parched. Besides, he needed to be alert.

As the jet streaked through the darkness, he peered out his window, trying to see lights below him.

“I don’t approve of this,” Potter said, standing beside him.

Malone turned toward the aisle.

“You had your chance. You didn’t want it.” The harsh cabin lights reflected off Potter’s glasses. “You were punished for not cooperating. That should have been the end of it. We shouldn’t have anything more to do with you.”

“I’m not exactly eager to be here, either. Did you really expect me to do nothing after those bulldozers showed up at my house?”

“That would have been the smart reaction.”

“The smart thing would have been to leave me alone.”

“How did you describe me the first time we met? I was trouble, you said.” Potter’s expression became more pinched. “We have something in common.”

As Potter stepped away, the flight attendant came back with Malone’s orange juice.

“We’ll be serving a choice of entrées,” she said. “Which would you prefer: London broil, Cornish hen, or risotto alla milanese?”

Malone wasn’t hungry, but knew he had to keep up his strength. “Risotto.”

“We also have an excellent selection of wines.”

“All the pleasures.”

“More than you can imagine.” The attractive flight attendant gave him an encouraging look, then proceeded to another passenger.

“Comfortable?” Bellasar came along the aisle.

“Potter isn’t.”

“It’s his job to be unhappy. Do the fresh clothes my men bought you fit?”

Malone barely nodded.

“One of them also went to the Parker Meridian, collected your luggage, and paid your bill.”

Malone reached for his wallet. “I always pay my own way. How much was it?”

Bellasar spread his hands in amusement. “Until the portraits are completed, all of your expenses are my expenses. You’ll find I’m extremely generous to those who cooperate with me. I meant what I said. I hope we can put our disagreement behind us.”

“Believe me, it’s my goal to get through this with as little friction as possible.” Malone glanced toward the darkness beyond the window. “Do you mind telling me where we’re headed?”

“Southern France. I have a villa near Nice.”

“That’s where your wife is?”

“Yes. Patiently waiting.” Belassar’s dark brown eyes changed focus. “Is the fact that I’m in the arms business the reason you didn’t want to accept my offer?”

“At the time, I didn’t know what your business was.”

“But at Sotheby’s, you a

The question sounded casual, but Malone had no doubt he was being tested. “A friend of mine came to visit me on Cozumel. He’s a security expert. I told him what had happened. When I mentioned your name, he said he’d heard of you. He said to stay away from you. He said you’re a very scary guy.”

“That would be Mr. Wainright.”

“You were having me watched?”

“I like to stay informed. He seems to be enjoying his vacation.”

“You mean the bulldozers haven’t pushed down my house yet?”

“They’ve been called off. As I promised, I’m going to reassemble your life. You do object to my business.”

“I guess I keep thinking of all the children who’ve been killed by the land mines you sell to whatever Third World dictator is in power this month.”

“Most of those children would eventually have starved to death.” Bellasar’s gaze drifted toward Potter coming along the aisle.

“A phone call.”

“It can’t wait?”

Potter’s silence said everything.

Bellasar turned to Malone. “Next time, let’s discuss your business instead of mine.”

5

A little after ten in the morning, Bellasar’s jet approached Nice’s airport. The blue of the Mediterranean reminded Malone of the Caribbean. The palm trees, too, reminded him of home. But the overbuilt coastline and the exhaust haze were nothing like the clear solitary splendor he had enjoyed on Cozumel. Bitter, he looked away from the view. Some chablis he had drunk with di

He never got into the airport terminal. Officers from customs and immigration came out to the jet, where they stood on the tarmac and spoke to Potter, who apparently had an understanding with them, for they looked briefly into the aircraft, nodded to its occupants, then stamped the passports Potter handed them. Presumably, their expeditious attitude would be rewarded under less public circumstances. Letting Potter handle the details, Bellasar had gone to a cabin in the rear before the authorities arrived; he hadn’t given Potter his passport; there was no proof that he had entered the country. Or that I did, either, Malone thought. When Potter had gone along the aisle collecting passports, he had taken Malone’s, but instead of showing it to the authorities, Potter had kept it in his pocket. Malone was reminded of how easy it was to disappear from the face of the earth.

They got off the plane and broke into two groups, most of them remaining to transfer luggage to a waiting helicopter while Bellasar, Potter, three bodyguards, and Malone walked to a second helicopter. The familiar whump-whump-whump of the rotors wasn’t reassuring. Feeling the weight of liftoff, seeing the airport get smaller beneath him, Malone pretended that it was ten years earlier, that he was on a military mission. Put yourself in that mind-set. Start thinking like a soldier again. More important, start feeling like one.

He glanced toward the front of the chopper, comparing its levers, pedals, and other controls to those he had been familiar with. There were several advances in design, particularly a group of switches that the pilot didn’t use and whose purpose Malone didn’t understand, but at heart, the principle of flying this craft was the same, and he was able to detach his mind from the tension around him and imagine that he was behind the controls, guiding the chopper.

Bellasar said something.

“What?” Malone turned. “I can’t hear you. The noise of the rotors.”

Bellasar spoke louder. “I said I’ve purchased the contents of the best art-supply shop in Nice. The materials are at my villa, at your disposal.”

“You were that certain I’d eventually agree?”

“The point is, this way you won’t have any delay in getting started.”

“I won’t be able to start right away anyhow.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t just jump in. I have to study the subject first.”

Bellasar didn’t reply for a moment. “Of course.”

Potter kept concentrating on Malone’s eyes.

“But don’t study too long,” Bellasar said.

“You didn’t mention there was a time limit. You told me I could do this the way I needed to. If I’d known there were conditions, I wouldn’t have -”