Tuesday, May 2
12:35 P.M. PDT
UNITED FLIGHT 0914
DEXTER FLETCHER thanked the first-class-cabin flight attendant as he accepted the glass of wine. The flight attendant lingered for a while, saw that he wasn’t in the mood to converse, and withdrew. He made sure she didn’t feel slighted, that she believed he was merely tired. He was an expert in the fine art of making a woman feel that, if at all possible, he would give her all his attention.
He often took this nonstop to Paris, and therefore made no effort to travel under an assumed name. That would change once he was on the ground, but for now he answered to Mr. Fletcher, as always.
Once he was sure he would not be disturbed for a while, he picked up his copy of the Las Piernas News Express and read the article once again. He closed his eyes and imagined all the ways things could go wrong with Giles’s plans. Almost too many to imagine.
He had known there would be trouble once the story was published. Knowing Giles was about to make it worse, he decided it was time to go.
He had managed to get an early copy of the Express every morning through an arrangement he made with a nephew who had a job delivering the paper. That was why, at four this morning, Dex had been on his way to LAX. By six, his flight was in the air.
Conceivably, if Giles really screwed up, someone in law enforcement might greet him when he arrived in Paris tomorrow morning at half-past seven. It would be-he looked at his watch and calculated quickly-ten-thirty at night, still Tuesday, in Las Piernas.
Possible, he decided. Unlikely, but possible. Still, smarter to leave now and discover everything was fine at home, that Giles’s plan had worked, than to regret staying.
He had called Nelson just before he left. He’d always had a soft spot for poor Nelson.
Rich Nelson, most people would say. Nelson was successful. Nelson was brilliant in his line of work, but he had always relied on Dexter to keep him clued in about other people, to take care of him and protect him from those who wanted to take advantage of him. He paid Dexter handsomely to deal with legal matters, but Dexter believed the most valuable advice he gave his brother had little to do with the law.
He sighed, thinking of Nelson. He had done what he could for him. Now he had to try to save his own neck.
He had been planning for this day for a number of years now. He had always provided a number of safe houses for Cleo, with the understanding that the day might come when he would make use of any he chose.
More than anyone currently in her life, Dex thought, he knew her.
Dex adjusted his seat into a bed so that he could sleep comfortably cocooned for a few hours.
He closed his eyes and smiled to himself. Cleo was a resourceful little devil, and she’d never trust Giles completely. With any luck, he had just wasted the price of a one-way ticket to France.
His eyes opened. Would he return to the family if he could? The idea of leaving it had once been unthinkable. Now…now there were all sorts of possibilities.
He closed his eyes again and slept soundly.
THE flight attendant, passing by a little later, removed the empty wineglass. Dex Fletcher was always a pleasure to serve, not fussy or demanding, always remembered not just your name but if you had kids, and asked after them. Took an interest in people, unlike a lot of the jerks you got in first class. What a lucky woman his wife was. Looking down at his handsome face, somehow even more attractive in repose, she turned off the reading light he’d left on. The newspaper, she left-trying to take it from him would probably wake him up. Poor guy. Earlier, when they were talking, she’d had the feeling he was tired.
CHAPTER 49
Tuesday, May 2
12:35 P.M.
LATITUDE 33°10'0''
LONGITUDE 118°11'15''
NELSON FLETCHER stood on the deck of the trawler formerly known as the Elisa and gazed out at a beautiful day, which, as it so happened, was also the most miserable of his life.
From here, looking off the stern, he could see Santa Catalina Island behind him. San Clemente Island lay ahead to starboard, the coast of northern San Diego County to port.
Dexter had called him at five this morning. Nelson had pretended it was a business call. Pretended he was being called out of town for a few days. By the time he dressed, his wife, Elisa, had fallen back to sleep. Her skin was soft and warm when he kissed her good-bye, half-waking her.
He nearly screwed it all up then and there, because he almost broke down and held her close, almost made too big a deal out of leaving.
Then he thought about how much she was going to hate him by the end of the day, and held himself in check.
Dexter had warned him almost a week ago that Giles was up to something that was going to cause too much trouble for everyone. He had finally given in then and arranged for the trawler to be surreptitiously renamed and docked elsewhere. It would need to be painted later.
When Nelson first became involved in Giles’s plans, almost seven years ago, Dexter had taken him aside and talked to him about the importance of having a plan to leave the country.
No use thinking of going back in time, he told himself. No use thinking of what he would have done differently. Shame, guilt, regret-they were constant companions now. And yet…
And yet he had married Elisa. Without Giles’s plan, would that have come about? No.
They might have married once, long ago. He met her, and dated her, and was crazy about her from the start. He was awkward around Mason, who was never impressed by anything Nelson tried to do to win him over.
Whatever mistakes he made with Mason were nothing compared to his biggest blunder: He introduced Elisa to his charming brother Richard.
Richard and Elisa had forgotten everyone else from the moment they were introduced. Oh, at some point Richard asked him if he would mind…if he would mind! But Nelson had been hurt by what seemed to him a double betrayal, and his pride had been injured. Richard and Elisa had been blissfully unaware of how much it cost him to keep up his act of nonchalance.
Giles had seen it. Dexter and Roy, too. They saw that over the years, the pain of it ate at him.
He worked hard to stay in Richard and Elisa’s lives, just so he could be around her, help her. They maintained contact with him and no other member of the family.
Nearly fifteen years passed in this way. He kept waiting for some other woman to draw his eye. For his desire for her to lessen. But no one else could ever appeal to him.
He told people he was married to his work. In some ways, that was true. He was sure that with the exception of Giles, Dex, and Roy, he had succeeded in deceiving everyone.
Then one day Richard put an end to that delusion.
“Of all my brothers,” Richard said, “you’re the one who has always been the kindest to me. That makes this especially difficult, because I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t see any way around it. You’ll have to spend less time with my family, Nelson.”
“What do you mean?” Nelson asked in disbelief.
“I’m sorry. I know this hurts you. But even Mason has noticed that you’re still…” He seemed to search for a word. “You’re still enamored of Elisa.”
“Mason! He doesn’t show either of you an ounce of respect. The things you let him say to Elisa! He makes her so unhappy-”
