Chapter 35 Chapter Thirty-Four

On Lexington Avenue, Diana hailed a cab. "where are we going?" "LaGuardia Airport." Kelly looked at Diana in surprise: "Don't you know they have surveillance at all the airports?" "hope so." "What, you—?" Kelly groaned. "You figured it out, didn't you?" Diana patted Kelly's hand and smiled, "Correct." At LaGuardia Airport, Kelly followed Diana into the lobby, toward the US Airways ticket desk. Ticket agent behind the counter: "Good morning. Can I help you?" Diana smiled: "Excuse me, we need two cabin tickets to Los Angeles."

"What time do you want to leave?" "First shift. Our names are Diana Stevens and Kelly Harris." Kelly couldn't help feeling guilty. Agent checks the timetable: "The next flight will board at 2:15." "Great." Diana looked at Kelly. Kelly forced a small smile: "That's great." "Cash or credit card?" "Cash." Diana handed him the money. As they left, Kelly said, "Why don't we just put up a neon sign and tell Kingsley where we are?" Diana said, "You worry too much." They were passing the American Airlines counter.

Diana stopped and walked up to the conductor: "We want two tickets for the sleeping cabin on the next flight leaving here for Miami." "Okay." The conductor checked the timetable. "Boarding in three hours." "Okay. Our names are Diana Stevens and Kelly Harris." Kelly closed his eyes for a moment. "Credit card or cash?" "Cash." Diana handed the conductor the money, and he handed her the ticket. Kelly said: "Is this the way we're going to fool geniuses? You can't fool a ten-year-old." Diana started walking towards the airport exit.

Kelly hurried to follow her. "where are you going?" "We're at—" "Forget it. I don't want to know." There is a row of taxis in front of the airport.As the two women walked out of the hall, one of them pulled out and stopped at the entrance.Kelly and Diana get in the car. "Where are you going, may I ask?" "JFK Airport." "I don't know if they're going to be scammed, but I'm sure. I still wish we had a weapon to defend ourselves," Kelly said. "I don't know where to find a howitzer." The taxi speeds up.Diane leaned forward to check the driver's photo license: Mario Silva.

"Mr. Silva, do you think you can get us to JFK without being followed?" They could see him grinning in the rearview mirror. "You've got the right guy, ma'am." He stepped on the accelerator and made a sharp U-turn.At the first corner, he galloped halfway down the road, and then abruptly entered an alley at high speed. The women looked in the rearview mirror.There is no car behind. Mario Silva's mouth widened: "OK?" "OK," Kelly said. For the next thirty minutes, Mario Silva made a continuous series of sudden turns and galloped down quiet side streets, making sure no one could follow them.

Finally the taxi stopped at the main entrance of JFK Airport. "Here we are." Mario Silva announced triumphantly. Diana took some money out of her wallet. "Give you some more." The driver took the money and smiled: "Thank you." He sat in the car and watched his two passengers walk into JFK.After their backs disappeared, he picked up his phone. "Tanner Kingsley." At the Delta Airlines counter, the conductor glanced up at the sign: "Yes, I do have the two tickets you're asking for. Departs at 5:50 p.m. One hour stop in Madrid, arrives at 9:20 a.m." Barcelona."

"Okay," Diana said. "Credit card or cash?" "Cash." Diana handed the money to the conductor and turned to Kelly. "Let's wait in the departure hall." Thirty minutes later, Harry Flint spoke to Tanner on the cell phone. "I've got your information. They're going to Barcelona on a Delta flight. The plane leaves at 5:50 tonight and stops in Madrid for an hour. They arrive in Barcelona at 9:20 in the morning." "Good. You fly to Barcelona on the company jet, Mr. Flint, and meet them when they arrive. I count on you to give them a warm welcome."

After Tanner hung up the phone, Andrew walked in.He wore a buttonhole on his lapel: "Timetable, for—" "What the hell is this?" Andrew was confused: "You want me to send—" "That's not what I'm talking about. I mean that silly flower you're wearing." Andrew beamed: "I wore it to your wedding. I was your best man." Tanner frowned. "What are you saying—?" Suddenly he realized, "That was seven years ago, you idiot, and the wedding didn't take place. Get the hell out of here now!" Andrew stood motionless, stunned, trying to make sense of what had happened.

"go out!" Tanner watched his brother leave the office.I should take him somewhere, he thought.it's time. The flight to Barcelona took off very smoothly without any hiccups. Kelly looked out the window, watching New York disappear into the distance: "Do you think we escaped?" Diana shook her head. "No. Sooner or later they'll figure out a way to track us. But at least we're there." She took a computer printout out of her wallet and studied it carefully. "Sonia Verbrugge, in Berlin, dead, husband missing...Gary Reynolds, in Denver..." She hesitated. "Mark and Richard..."

Kelly looked at the paper: "So, we're going to Paris, Berlin, Denver, and back to New York." "Correct. We crossed the border into France, to San Sebastián." Kelly looked forward to returning to Paris.She wanted to talk to Sam Meadows.She sensed that he could help.And Angel was 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. "You know what's wrong with me for the rest of my life, Diana? There's no one like Mark in the whole universe. You know, when you read as a kid that when people fall in love, The world suddenly became a magical place. This is my marriage to Mark." She looked at Diana. "You must have felt the same way about Richard."

Diana said quietly, "Yes." "What was Mark like?" Diana asked. Kelly smiles: "There's this wonderful innocence about him. I always thought he had a heart and a genius brain." She giggled. "What's wrong?" “The way he used to dress. On our first date, he wore an ill-fitting gray suit, brown shoes, a green shirt, and bright red tie. Very nice." She was silent.When she spoke again, her voice choked up: "You know what? I'd rather not have anything, just to see Mark again in that gray suit, brown shoes, green shirt, and bright red tie." Her eyes were moist , "Mark loves to surprise me with gifts. But his greatest gift was teaching me how to love." She wiped away tears with a handkerchief. "Tell me about Richard." Diana smiled: "He's a romantic. When we go to bed at night, he'll say, 'Press my secret button,' and I'll laugh and say, 'Thankfully no one is recording.'" She looks at Kelly and says : "His secret button was the 'Do Not Disturb' key on the phone. Richard told me we were in a castle, just the two of us, and the key on the phone was a moat that kept the world out. ' Diana thought of something and laughed. "He's a brilliant scientist and likes to fix things around the house. Drip taps or shorted wires are all his things, I always call in a professional to fix things that Richard fixes. I never tell him." They talked late into the night. Diana realized that this was the first time they had talked about their husbands.It was as if some invisible barrier between them had finally dissipated. Kelly yawned. "We better get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be an exciting day." She had no idea how exciting it would be. Harry Flint struggling through the crowds at Barcelona's El Prat airport to the big glass windows?look at the runway.He turned his head to examine the boards showing arrival and departure flights.The plane from New York is not delayed and will arrive on time in thirty minutes.Everything is going according to plan.Flint sat down and waited. Half an hour later, the plane landed and the New York flight began to unload passengers.Passengers looked excited—a typical plane full of carefree tourists, travel marketers, children and newlyweds on their honeymoon.Carefully out of sight on the exit ramp, Flint watched the stream of people rushing into the finish line, which gradually died down.He frowned.Diana and Kelly were nowhere to be seen.Flint waited another five minutes, then walked through the gate. "Sir, you cannot pass through here." Flint responded viciously: "The FAA. We have intelligence from the NSA that there is a package hidden in the lavatory of this plane. I am ordered to inspect it immediately." Flint was already on his way to the runway.When we got to the plane, the crew was about to leave. A flight attendant asked, "Can I help you?" "Federal aviation inspection," Flint said. He walked up the gangway and into the cabin.No passengers could be seen. The stewardess asked, "Is there a problem?" "Yes. There might be a bomb." She watched Flint go to the back of the cabin and open the toilet door.No one is inside. The two women are gone. "They're not on the plane, Mr. Kingsley." Tanner's voice was dangerously soft. "Mr. Flint, did you see them board the plane?" "Yes, sir." "Were they still on board when the plane took off?" "Yes, sir." "Then I think we can rightly deduce that they either jumped over the Atlantic without a parachute or disembarked in Madrid. Do you agree?" "Of course, Mr. Kingsley. But—" "Thank you. So, that means they are going to enter France from Madrid via San Sebastián." He paused, "They have four options: they can take another flight to Barcelona, ​​or they can take a train, a bus Or a car." Tanner mused for a moment, "They probably felt too cramped by bus, plane, or train. Logic tells me they would drive to the San Sebastián border and enter France." "if--" "Don't interrupt me, Mr. Flint. It's a five-hour drive from Madrid to San Sebastián. Listen to what I want you to do. Fly to Madrid. Check all the car rental places at the airport. Find out what they rent The type of vehicle - color, make, everything." "Yes, sir." "Then I want you to fly back to Barcelona, ​​rent a car—a big one, and lurk in it for them on the highway to San Sebastián. I don't want them to get to the border. And, Mr. Flint -" "Yes, sir?" "Remember—make it look like a car accident."