“If he got out, it won’t matter,” he said. “We’ll watch the news for a while before we go home.”

An hour later, they were comfortably ensconced in the little cabin in the swamp.

MANNY ABANDONED THE car in long-term parking, after wiping it down, and took the bus to the terminal, wheeling the suitcase he had in the trunk.

He approached the AeroMexico counter.

“May I help you, señor?” the young woman asked.

“Are there still seats on the ten o’clock flight to Mexico City?”

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, señor,” 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, señor,” she said.

“Gate sixteen, to your right.”

“Thank you, señora,” 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?