She tapped a few computer keys. “We have only one fi rst-class seat,” she said.
“That will do nicely,” Manny said, taking out his wallet. “Oh, God,” he said, sliding the license across the counter, “I’ve left my credit card at home. Will cash be all right?” He slid his fake passport across the counter.
“Of course, senor,” she replied.
He took some hundreds from the packet of Evan’s money in his inside pocket and counted out the money.
She gave him his change and printed out the boarding pass. “Any luggage to check?” she asked.
“Just my carry-on,” he replied.
“Your fl ight will be boarding in forty minutes, senor,” she said.
“Gate sixteen, to your right.”
“Thank you, senora,” Manny said. He grabbed the handle of his bag and made his way through the crowd. He stood in the security line for ten minutes, then emptied his pockets of everything metal and set his carry-on on the conveyor belt for X-raying. At a signal from the security guard, he stepped through the metal detector. A soft beep sounded.
“Sir,” the guard said, “please step back, remove your shoes, put them on the conveyor belt and step through again. Swearing under his breath, Manny followed his instructions. On his second trip through the metal detector it beeped again.
“Sir,” the guard said, “please remove your jacket and hand it to me.”
Manny did so, then realized the problem. “It was my belt buckle,”
he said to the guard, unbuckling his belt and taking it off. But the guard was already searching his jacket, fi nding his passport and the bundle of hundreds in his inside pockets.
“Sir,” the security guard said, “did you fill out and sign the federal form declaring this cash, which appears to be more than fi ve thousand dollars?”
“Gosh,” Manny said, “I forgot about that. Can I fill it out now?”
“Of course, sir,” the guard said. He beckoned to his supervisor and whispered a few words in his ear.
The supervisor smiled. “Will you come with me, please, sir?”
Manny put on his shoes and belt, collected his carry-on and followed the man. How could he have forgotten about the form?
The supervisor opened a door and ushered him into a small room, where a man in a business suit with a plastic I.D. clipped to the pocket waited. The supervisor gave him Manny’s passport and money, then left. “Sit down, please,” the man said. Manny sat down. “I’d like to fill out the proper form, please,” he said. “My flight leaves in half an hour.”
The man was leafing through the passport. “Let me compliment you Mr., ah, Bernstein,” he said.
“What?”
“This is the best example of a counterfeit passport I’ve seen for some time. Show me some authentic I.D., please.”
Manny sighed, produced his wallet and handed the man his driver’s license.
“Thank you, Mr. . . . Manfried White?”
“That’s me,” Manny replied. “I can explain about the passport. You see . . .”
The man held up a hand. “No explanation will be necessary, Mr. White,” he said. “We’ve been expecting you.” He pressed a button under the table and two other men in suits entered the room. “This, gentlemen,” he said, “is the Manny White your colleagues phoned about. Mr. White, may I introduce Detectives Marino and Copeland, of the Florida State Police?”
Manny sagged. “I can explain all this,” he said. The two men stood him up and began handcuffing his hands behind his back. “And we’re looking forward to hearing your explanation, Mr. White,” one of them said.
62
STONE SHOOK THE hand of Greta Swenson, Annika’s sister, and walked her to the departures door at Key West International.
“I want to thank you for your courtesy, Stone,” she said. “Annika spoke highly of you.”
“She was a wonderful person,” Stone replied, handing her the package containing Annika’s ashes. “I hope you have a comfortable fl ight home.”
She kissed him on the cheek.
Evan, who was on the same flight to Atlanta, where they would both change planes, shook Stone’s hand. “I can’t thank you enough,”
he said. “I’m sorry I gave you such a diffi cult time.”
“Will you return to Key West?” Stone asked.
“Maybe, eventually. I’d like to spend some time with my grandfather now. We have a lot to talk about.”
“They’ll want you to come back to Miami for Manny White’s trial,” Stone said.
“That will be a pleasure,” Evan replied.
“Have you heard anything from Gigi?”
“No, nor the boat. She’s not answering her cell phone; I’ve left several messages.”
“Good luck to you, then.” They shook hands again, and Evan walked Greta into the terminal.
Stone returned to the car, where Dino was waiting, and got in.
“Nice lady,” Dino said.
“Yes,” Stone replied, “she is.”
“Can Tommy and I buy you a drink?” Dino asked, pulling away from the terminal.
“You certainly can,” Stone said.
THE THREE OF them sat at the bar at the Key West Yacht Club and raised their glasses.
“To complicated cases,” Tommy said. “They’re the most fun.”
They drank.
“I have news from the state cops,” Tommy said. “This afternoon the cops in Hobe Sound found a woman in a stolen car behind an abandoned service station, one bullet in the head. No I.D., but she fits the description of Gigi Jones Keating.”
“That’s interesting news,” Dino said.
“There’s more: She had an apartment in South Beach, and they searched it. Found a stash of mixed drugs, too much for personal use. They figure that she was in business with Charley Boggs in some way, and that’s how the big stash got left on Evan’s boat.”
“She was a piece of work,” Dino said.
“Sounds like her hit man didn’t trust her,” Stone said. “Any word on him?”
“The state cops tell me Manny lawyered up right away. My guess is he’ll make a deal before he goes to trial, and then we’ll fi nd out who the guy is.”
Dino shook his head. “Not Manny,” he said. “He knows that at his age he’ll die in prison, deal or no deal. He won’t rat the guy out.”
“By the way,” Tommy said, “the state guys said the only reason they caught Manny was he forgot to take off his belt at airport security, and the buckle set off the metal detector. Except for that, he’d be in Mexico now.”
Everybody had a good laugh.
“Are you guys really leaving tomorrow morning?” Tommy asked.
“At long last,” Dino replied, “though I hate to go.”
“We’ve loitered long enough,” Stone said.
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