Chapter 5 Chapter Four

They stare at Jackie Burke, in the tan uniform of Archipelago Air, as she disembarks from a short round-trip flight between the Bahamas, and then they watch her go through customs and immigration without opening her passport. Luggage—a brown nylon case with a trolley, the kind an airline attendant uses, and she pulls it along the way. That didn't surprise Jackie, two inattentive lads, Ray Nicolai and Faron Taylor, in sports coats, ties, and jeans, who kept an eye on Jackie.It's a Wednesday afternoon at Palm Coast International Airport.Jackie passed through here five days a week, flying from West Palm to Nassau or West Palm to Freeport and back.

"She was calm," Nicolai said. "Did you notice?" "Not bad," Taylor said, "for a woman her age. She's forty?" "Forty-four," said Nicolai. "She's been flying for nineteen years. She flew other routes before coming to this airline." "Where are you going to catch her, here or outside?" "When she got into the car. It was on the upper level of the parking lot." They hid in a remote corner of the airport terminal, watching her from a glass-enclosed office.Ray Nicolai commented on Jackie's legs and her taut buttocks in the tan dress, and Faron Taylor said she really didn't look like forty-four, at least not from here.They watched as she pulled a pair of dark glasses from her purse and set them on her dark blonde hair, which was cropped in a shaggy over-the-ear.It didn't surprise them when Jackie took the escalator up the concourse.They watched her go into the women's room, come out about five minutes later, see no change, and then she pulled the cart into the snack bar.Then they saw her sitting down to drink a cup of coffee and light a cigarette.what is she doing?Ray Nicolai and Faron Taylor slipped into the souvenir shop directly across the street and stood between the racks of batik T-shirts in the Palm Coast pattern.

Taylor said, "Do you think she found us?" Nicolai was thinking about it too, but he didn't say it. "The average person doesn't drink coffee right off the plane, they go home first," Taylor said. "She doesn't look nervous, though." "She's calm," said Nicolai. "Who else is here besides us?" "No one. Someone came in a hurry." Nicolai ran his fingers through the material of a light red T-shirt with a green and white seagull pattern on it, and then looked up at the snack bar. "Go get her, okay?" Taylor stared at him. "This is your case. I guess I'm just helping you."

"I'm trying to keep things simple, it's a formal indictment and she's going to get out on bail without much trouble. I mean, if we have to get her. You hang her first, put her down —you know, and then I cautiously leaned in to talk..." "Where are we talking, here?" "How's your office?" Nicolai said. "I don't have as many chairs in mine. Your place is much cleaner." "But if all she brings is money..." "The guy said that this trip cost fifty thousand yuan." "Yeah, what's the charge? Did she not declare? That's a matter for the federal government."

"You can take advantage of that if you want to, and pressure her with a customs declaration. I still like to think of it as a formal arrest, a deal. Otherwise, if I get her," said Nicolai, " She'd have to bond to get her out of the federal courts—man, they're a pain in the ass. I don't want her to get mad at me, I just want to see her sweat a little." Taylor said, "If you knew who she brought it to..." "I don't know. Like I said, we have a solution. The guy keeps gritting his teeth and won't say that name to us. He's worried it could cost his fucking life, worse than jail .”

"I think so," Taylor said. "So look, what if we follow her and see who she gives things to?" "If only there were a few more of us. We'd lose her," Nicolai said. "We'd have to come here and start over. No, I think if we let her just sit down like that and give her Color it, and she'll tell us what we want to know. Whatever it is." "She does look good for her age," Taylor said. They are two young men from south Florida, both thirty-one years old, and they have become friends since they met at the University of Florida.The pair loves guns, beer, cowboy boots, powerboats, hunting the Everglades, and hunting down the bad guys.They parted ways after spending a few years at the Palm Coast County Sheriff's office. Ray Nicolai went to ATF, which is the Treasury Department's Administration of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Light Weapons; Faron Taylor went to FDLE, which is the Florida Department of Justice. Criminal Investigation Department of the Precinct.They still occasionally work together.At this very moment the Authority office was busy buying a lot of sought-after firearms from a pawnshop it had taken over, all captured by the television cameras.So Nicolai called the Criminal Investigation Department and enlisted his friend's help in this investigation.They believe that this is a case involving illegal trafficking of light weapons.

"She's leaving," Taylor said. Jackie first noticed at the customs office that one of the two guys was following her on the elevator, the one with the dark hair.He asked her which floor she was going to.Jackie said, "I'm going to keep going up." "Me too," he grinned, pressing the button and stroking his hair.He is the kind of man who is used to women showing off in front of his eyes.He seemed to be an Eastern European, but not quite.Jackie was sure he wouldn't be too surprised if she asked if his partner was already waiting on the upper floor.Probably grinned at her again.Both were young, but with the slouchy confidence of a former professional athlete or a guy who wears a badge and carries a weapon.She hoped she'd guessed wrong, and couldn't help but want a cigarette, and thought it would be nice if she left her flight bag in the elevator.

The door opened."You go first," said the dark-haired one, and Jackie got out of the elevator, and she pulled her car into the darkened upper level of the parking lot.She walked past the line of cars, waiting to see another, more boyish figure with short brown hair hanging down his forehead.But he didn't show up.She opened the trunk of the gray Honda and was about to lift the aluminum frame into it when she heard his voice and looked back.He walked over with his ID card folder open. "Hey, I'm Special Agent Faron Taylor of the Florida Department of Justice." It doesn't sound like a particularly affirmative tone.The clip was an identification card, with a badge in it, and "FDLE" clearly printed in capital letters.

Jackie said, "The violin? I've never heard of it." "Yeah, but it's there," Taylor said. "May I ask what's in your flight bag?" His tone of voice and gestures sounded businesslike to her.Although he had that southern accent, the tone was soft.Jackie knew something was going to happen, but she still had to make sure, so she said, "Ordinary things, clothes, curlers. I'm a flight attendant for 'Air Islands'." Tyler said, "Is your name Jackie Burke?" Something is about to happen. She had another craving for a cigarette, so she put the luggage on the aluminum rack on wheels.As she was about to take a cigarette from her purse, the dark-haired one stepped out of the line of cars and appeared behind Taylor.

The dark-haired man said, "Excuse me, but I saw your situation right away. Can I help?" "Let me rest for a while," Jackie said, holding the Beek lighter close to the cigarette. At this time, Taylor, the guy from the investigation department, introduced him. "This is Special Agent Ray Nicolai, Department of the Treasury Administration of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Small Arms. Would you mind if we took a look at your flight bag?" "Do I mind? Do I have a choice?" "You can say no," Taylor said. "You stay here with him until I get a warrant. Or we can take you in on suspicion."

"Suspect what?" "All he has to do is glance into your bag," Nicolai said. "I'll keep an eye on him and not take anything." "Just a routine surprise inspection," Taylor said. "Is that okay?" Jackie sucked in a cigarette, let it out, and shrugged. "please." She watched as Tyler bent down to unhook the elastic and lay the flight bag across the aisle.Nicolai took the handcart from the road and put it in the boot of her car.Tyler now opened the airbag and fumbled with her belongings: a dirty blouse, a dress, and brought out a Luzon paper envelope, thick, nine inches by twelve. long.Jackie stared. He straightened the hooks on the envelope and opened it to look inside.Tyler pulled out bundles of rubber-banded hundred-dollar bills as Nicolai leaned over and whistled, making a sound that sounded like surprise.Tyler looked up at her. "I gotta say there's, oh, fifty thousand dollars. What do you say?" Jackie was speechless for a moment.They knew how much money was in the envelope without counting it. Taylor asked, "Is this your money?" Jackie said, "If I had to tell you, it's not..." She saw Tyler grinning again. "As a rule, I have to wait at the buffet restaurant, and someone I don't know will come up and pick up the air bag..." Without looking at the other person, she knew he must be grinning too.This makes her angry. "I saw you two cowboys in what looked like T-shirts, and thought one of you might be that guy...Listen, if it's yours, take it." She glanced at Nicolai. He was still grinning.Both of them are very happy. Taylor said: "You should know that if you bring in more than $10,000, you have to declare it. Did you forget or something? Maybe you will be fined $250,000 or two years in prison. For this matter Do you want to talk to us, or do you want to talk to customs?" Jackie said, "I'm never going to say anything fucking again." She was mad, for these two guys, for their attitude, and for herself, that was so stupid. "Try it," Nicolai said to Taylor, putting his hand on Jackie's shoulder.He said: "Those customs guys, they watch people come back from vacation all day, go to Europe, travel to the Caribbean, and they have to sit there and work. You can understand, it makes it very difficult for them to deal with. You To them, or to a good-natured couple like us? Find a quiet place where we can sit and talk slowly." "I don't have to talk to anybody," Jackie said. "No, you have to talk," Nicolai said. "But would you do me the honor of hearing what we have to say? Will you help me get this straight for you?" The Florida Bureau of the Justice Department is on the eighth floor of a sleek, mirrored gray-blue building on Garden Boulevard in the heart of West Palm.They were in an office shared by Faron Taylor and another staff member who was out today.The office contained two clean desks, a wide east-facing window, a calendar on the wall, and a sign that read, "A poor plan on your part does not automatically constitute an emergency on my part." action". Jackie thought the slogan might have a point, but what did it matter? She is standing by the window.Her head was turned slightly to the left, and Nicolai's legs could be seen stretched out toward her, his cowboy boots against the corner of the table.He said, "See the canal right below us? I was here one time and saw an eagle hovering and swooping down there with a river stove in its mouth, and it was huge. Do you remember that time, Faron?" " "Last summer." Taylor was somewhere behind her. She heard Nicolai say, "It's starting to get dark, huh? It's time for the traffic on the freeways, everyone heading home..." "I want a lawyer," Jackie said.She took out the cigarettes from her purse, and there were only four or five cigarettes left in the pack.She wondered if she should save her cigarettes. But then she heard Taylor say, "No smoking here." Jackie lit the cigarette anyway, using the tawny Pico lighter that matched her uniform, and put it back in her purse.Without looking at Taylor, she said, "Arrest me." "It will," Taylor said.This time his voice was closer. "Or we could work out an agreement called 'concrete assistance.' That means if you're willing to cooperate, tell us who gave you the money and who you're going to give it to." There was a silence. This is a contest with them.Nicolai acts as the good guy, and although his performance is outrageous, he can still make fun of it.While Taylor is successful as a serious guy, he's unconvincing as a villain.Jackie was pretty sure they didn't want to sue her.If they cooperate, name a few, they'll let her go.She'd better keep her mouth shut as much as possible.Or procrastinate by smoking. When Nicolai asked, "Do you have a good lawyer?", she didn't answer. "Whether she can afford a good lawyer," Taylor's voice said, "is open to question." He is hinting. "Otherwise, she'll have an easy three weeks in jail before the assigned defense counsel gets around to thinking about her case. With all those bad girls...I don't know, maybe they pay She has enough cash to afford a high-priced lawyer." "Jackie, do you have an apartment on Palm Coast Gardens?" Nicolai, the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agent, interjected now. "It's a pretty area." "Come to think of it," Taylor said, "she's just working for a short-haul airline." There was another silence, and Jackie looked at the West Palm Coast business district in the distance. The sky was still blue, but it was gradually getting darker.She heard the sound of a drawer being opened."Here you are," said Nicolai, handing her a soot red. "I brought it for myself to use when I come here, and I smoke a lot." He pretended again, and said, "Did you see that parking lot? The one behind the hotel? Can you sit in the car?" Watch the drug deal going on there. By the time you get over there, everyone's gone." Jackie puts Ash Red on the windowsill. "You think I got into that sort of thing?" Behind her, Taylor said, "I noticed you had a previous job. Wasn't that about the drugs?" "I brought money." "Four years ago," Taylor said. "You were on another airline and they fired you. But you didn't answer my question. Wasn't that time to take the cash out of the country for drugs?" "I think," said Nicolai, "that Jackie brought it for a pilot. That guy happened to be her husband. They found her guilty of deliberate..." "I filed a formal plea," Jackie said. "You mean they made a condition, and you agreed. You got a one-year probation sentence, and your husband was in prison for five to ten years. It's time for him to come out." "I think so," Jackie said. "Yes, you're divorced. You're married again—how's your husband now?" "He died last year." "You're done with them," said Nicolai. "What was his original job?" "He drank too much," Jackie said. They didn't question her again, and she heard Taylor's voice say, "Now you're involved in another deal where you get a commission instead of selling instead of buying. Didn't a Bahamian named Volka give you this?" A sum of money? Cedric Volka, I believe. Lives in Freeport?" Jackie didn't answer, looking at the reflection in the glass as she held up the cigarette. "Doesn't that name remind you of anything? And a fellow named Beaumont Livingston?" Beaumont—she saw him only once, with Mr. Volka.No, she only saw him that time, and she didn't know who he was until later.She might have said that she had never seen him; but she resolved to say nothing. "Don't you know Beaumont?" To name but one—she stared through her reflection at the narrow black streak on the horizon, which she believed to be the sea. "He knows you," Nicolai said. "Beaumont is a Jamaican. Or rather, he was. Because Beaumont is dead now." Jackie could feel them waiting.She didn't move. "He flies to Freeport a lot, two or three times a month," Nicolai said. "Perhaps you'd like to identify him. Fallon, we can arrange for Ms. Buck to see the body, no problem?" Taylor's voice said, "No problem." She turned her head to see Nicolai reaching into his cowboy boots, his left foot crossing his right.He drew a short-barreled revolver, put it on the table, and rubbed his ankle with one of his hands in his boot. He said: "Yesterday morning in the boot of a car they found Beaumont, a brand new Oldsmobile, registered to a man who lives in Ocean Ridge. He has reported it stolen. Just the other day I had an opportunity to talk to Beaumont about his way out. He was in prison at the time, and he didn't really believe in ten years." After a pause, Nicolai added: "Beaumont is Out on bail, and before I could talk to him again, he was shot." Another pause."You may not know Beaumont, but what if the guy who shot him knew you?" Nicolai said. There was a silence. Jackie continued to smoke.Beaumont--she had heard him talking to Mr. Volka.After he had gone, Mr. Volka told her that Beaumont was good at calculating, and could work out several series of numbers in his head. "If you don't want to talk to us, I think we'll have to send you through customs," Taylor's voice said. She put out her cigarette, looked intently at the butt for a while, then stared at the black plastic ashtray before turning to face Tyler. She said, "Okay, let's go." He was standing next to another desk in the office where they had kept her flight bag, and in his hand was an open, folded case file. "Now you've made him lose his temper," said Nicolai. "Did you know that Faron can get you in court for violating entry regulations? With that fifty thousand dollars, you're going to be involved in some kind of blackmail. And if I'm right, Faron will offer an affidavit based on a reasonable basis for finding the defendant guilty, and will use that charge to send you all the way to prison." Tyler was staring at her.She watched him put the file on the table, then put his hand on the flight bag."I think you'd agree to reopen the bag. Is that okay? That way we know exactly how much money we're talking about here," he said. Jackie went to the table and unzipped the bag.She took out the Luzon paper envelope, threw it on the table, and said, "Take it yourself." "While you're there," Taylor said, "let's see what else is in there. Do you care?" Jackie watched him for a moment. She took out a leather case. "My toothbrush and bath set." Next came a plastic travel bag. "My curlers. Do you want me to open them?" "Let's see what else is in the air bag first," Taylor said. Jackie lifted the flight bag with both hands and shook it upside down.A white shirt, a skirt, underwear, bra and pantyhose all fell on a Luzon paper envelope on the desk.She put the bag aside.Tyler picked up the envelope, and she watched as he opened it and poured out the wads of cash inside.She watched him peek into the envelope, then at her, and saw his expression change from surprise to smile.He reached into the envelope and said, "Hey, what did we find here?" Jackie said, "Wait a minute," and as Taylor's hand reached out, she heard Nicolai's boot hit the floor. He came up and said, "Is it the lover's dirty thing, or the one I guessed?" Tyler held up a cellophane sandwich bag, revealing a half-inch round white powder inside.He held the bag up to the overhead lamp and said, "Is this for sale or for grinding teeth? That's the question." "It's not mine," Jackie said. no. "Listen, okay? Really..." "Trafficking is not enough," Nicolai said. "How about a tendency to emanate?" "Given the amount of cash," Taylor said, "I thought I'd agree to the attempted trafficking prosecution." This happy couple. Jackie shook her head quickly."I don't believe it," she said. Nicolai pulled the chair out from under the desk.He said, "Why don't we sit down and start talking again?" He gave Jackie a good-natured smile. "what do you think?"