I’m a little nervous, not too bad, and being with Tara calms me even more.
I get to the airport with plenty of time to spare, but I find myself sitting in coach next to a fat woman with a baby. The daily double of annoying. I had always said that if I ever became rich I still wouldn’t fly first-class, that the much higher fare is a total rip-off. Now that I am rich, I think it’s time to reassess my position.
I’ve checked a bag, since it seemed much easier than dragging it through security as a carry-on. When we land, I go to baggage claim, where the limo driver I had arranged for is waiting for me with a sign bearing my name. Wealth does have its privileges.
We get the bag and are in the car within fifteen minutes. I tell the limo driver the name of the hotel, and we’re off.
“Have a good flight, Mr. Carpenter?”
I nod, since he’s looking at me through the mirror. “Not bad, if you don’t count the fat woman and the baby.”
He laughs. “One of those, huh?”
“One of those.”
I’ve never been to Cleveland before, but the little I’ve seen so far is unimpressive, so I turn to my notes, trying to anticipate the conversation with Eliot. My chances of leading him into an admission are small, and I’m only going to have the one chance. I’ve got to take my best shot.
I feel the car pulling into the right lane, apparently to make a right turn. I look up, and my first impression is that we don’t appear to be heading toward the city. Suddenly, the door next to me is jerked open and another man gets in the seat alongside me.
As the automatic door locks shut, the new passenger says, “Hello, Andy.”
“Hello, Eliot,” I say as fear surges through my body. “What are you doing here?”
“The real question is, what are you doing here? Maybe to trip me up? Or blackmail me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” is the lame line I come up with. I’m finding that the petrified mind does not think too clearly.
“You’re not here to talk about Walter Castle, that’s for sure.”
My mind processes the fact that no matter what he says, it’s not going to help, because I’m not yet wearing the wire. But even if I were, it wouldn’t help me, because Laurie and Marcus would have no way of knowing where I am. I look toward the limo driver, who’s listening but not reacting; obviously, he’s with Eliot.
“How did you find out about Tina, Andy? How did you know she was my sister?”
“Who’s Tina? Come on, Eliot, I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it.”
He laughs. “It’s only going to get worse, I assure you. You see, here’s your mistake, Andy. I am hot shit in this town; I know everything there is to know. So when you go to my hometown newspaper to get stories about Tina, then I know what you know. Get it? So don’t insult me with any more of your bullshit.”
“The problem for you is that the cops know where I am and why.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think so; this doesn’t feel like a police operation. I think you’re the Lone Ranger here, Andy.” He laughs again. “Except you forgot your silver bullets.”
I look out the window and see that we’re in the countryside, a run-down area of trailer homes and poorly maintained farms. This is where I’m going to die. The fear is so palpable that I am in danger of throwing up.
“There’s a record of where I am. They’ll piece things together.”
He points to the limo driver. “He looks like you, doesn’t he, Andy? He’s going to fly back on your ticket. His fellow passengers won’t look closely enough; they’ll say it was you. So you obviously got killed when you got back home.”
The car pulls to a stop near what look like run-down warehouses, maybe farm storage buildings, I can’t tell. For the life of me, and I mean that literally, I can’t figure out what to do.
“Get out, Andy.”
The door locks pop up, allowing me to open the door. I get out, then notice that the driver is already out and is pointing his gun at me. Eliot gets out after me.
My back is to an open field, and I steal a glance at it to judge whether I’d have any chance making a break for it.
Eliot reads my mind.