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When Mark turned out the lights, Kelly opened her eyes.
Kelly was no longer afraid of the dark. She* * *
"KELLY? KELLY!"
She was jolted out of her reverie. She looked up, and she was back in the Fifth Avenue jewelry shop in New York, and Joseph Berry was holding out a thick envelope to her.
"Here you are. Twenty thousand dollars, in hundred-dollar bills, just as you requested." It took Kelly a moment to get her bearings. "Thank you." Kelly opened the envelope, extracted ten thousand dollars, and handed it to Diane.
Diane looked at her, puzzled. "What's this?" "This is your half." "For what? I can't-" "You can pay me back later." Kelly shrugged. "If we're still around. If we're not around, I won't need it anyway. Now let's see if we can get out of here."
CHAPTER 34
AT LEXINGTON AVENUE, Diane hailed a cab.
"Where are we going?"
"To La Guardia airport." Kelly looked at Diane in surprise. "Don't you know they'll be watching all the airports?" "I hope so." "What are you-?" Kelly groaned. "You have a plan, right?" Diane patted Kelly's hand and smiled. "Right."
AT LA GUARDIA, Kelly followed Diane inside the terminal to the US Airways ticket counter.
The agent behind the counter said, "Good morning. Can I help you?" Diane smiled. "Yes, we'd like two coach tickets to Los Angeles." "When would you like to leave?" "On the first available flight. Our names are Diane Stevens and Kelly Harris." Kelly winced.
The ticket agent was consulting a schedule. "The next plane will be boarding at two-fifteen." "Perfect." Diane looked at Kelly.
Kelly managed a weak smile. "Perfect."
"Will that be cash or credit card?"
"Cash." Diane handed him the money.
As they walked away, Kelly said, "Why don't we just put up a neon sign telling Kingsley where we are?" Diane said, "You worry too much." They started to pass the American Airlines booth. Diane stopped and walked up to the ticket agent.
"We'd like two coach tickets to Miami on the next flight out of here." "Certainly." The ticket agent checked the schedule. "That flight will be boarding in three hours." "Fine. Our names are Diane Stevens and Kelly Harris." Kelly closed her eyes for an instant.
"Credit card or cash?"
"Cash." Diane paid the clerk and he handed her their tickets.
Kelly said, "Is this how we're going to outwit these geniuses? This wouldn't fool a ten-year-old." Diane started walking toward the airport exit.
Kelly hurried after her. "Where are you going?" We re going to"Never mind. I don't think I want to know."
THERE WAS A row of taxis in front of the airport. When the two women walked out of the terminal, one of the taxis pulled out of line and drove up in front of the entrance. Kelly and Diane got into the cab.
"Where to, please?"
"Ke
MARIO SILVA.
"Mr. Silva, do you think that you can get us to Ke
The women looked through the rear window. There were no cars behind them.
Mario Silva's grin widened. "Okay?"
"Okay," Kelly said.
For the next thirty minutes, Mario Silva kept making unexpected turns and going down small side streets, to make sure no one could follow them. Finally, the taxi pulled up in front of the main entrance to Ke
"We're here," Mario Silva a
Diane took some bills from her purse. "There's something extra for you." The driver took the money and smiled. "Thanks." He sat in his cab, watching his two passengers walk into the Ke
"Ta
AT THE DELTA Airlines counter, the ticket agent glanced up at the board. "Yes, we do have two tickets available on the flight you want. It leaves at five-fifty p.m. There's a one-hour layover in Madrid, and the plane arrives in Barcelona at nine-twenty a.m." "That will be fine," Diane said.
"Will that be credit card or cash?"
"Cash." Diane handed the ticket agent the money and turned to Kelly.
"Let's wait in the lounge."
THIRTY MINUTES LATER, Harry Flint was on his cell phone talking to Ta
"I got the information you asked for. They're flying Delta to Barcelona. Their plane leaves Ke
I'm counting on you to give them a warm welcome." As Ta
"Here are the schedules for the-"
"What the hell is that?" Andrew was confused. "You asked me to bring-" "I'm not talking about those. I'm talking about that stupid flower you have on." Andrew's face lit up. "I'm wearing it to your wedding. I'm your best man." Ta
"Out!" Ta
The time is coming.
THE TAKEOFF ON the flight to Barcelona was smooth and uneventful.
Kelly looked out the window at New York fading into the distance. "Do you think we got away with it?" Diane shook her head. "No. Sooner or later they'll find a way to track us down.
But at least we'll be over there." She pulled the i' computer printout from her purse and studied it.
"Sonja Verbrugge, in Berlin, who's dead and whose husband is missing… Gary Reynolds, in Denver…" She hesitated. "Mark and Richard…" Kelly looked at the printout. "So, we're going to Paris, Berlin, Denver, and back to New York." "Right. We'll cross the border into France at San Sebastian."
KELLY WAS LOOKING forward to getting back to Paris. She wanted to talk to Sam Meadows.
She had a feeling he was going to be helpful. And Angel would be waiting for her.
"Have you ever been to Spain?" "Mark took me there once. It was the most-" Kelly was silent for a long time.
"Do you know the problem I'm going to have for the rest of my life, Diane?
There's no one in the whole wide world like Mark. You know, when you're a kid, you read about people falling in love, and suddenly the world's a magical place. That's the kind of marriage Mark and I had." She looked at Diane.
"You probably felt that way about Richard." Diane said quietly, "Yes." "What was Mark like?" Diane asked.