“I think it looks good,” Stone said. “Lock it in your safe.”

“We’re going to close on the sale of Strategic Air Services in a few days, but our in-house legal department can handle that. Tell me, how would you like to fly to Iraq and back on the C-17?”

“That’s quite an invitation. How long would we be gone?”

“It will be a quick turnaround, so probably a couple of days. It will be an experience that not a lot of civilians have, and the airplane is more comfortable than you might imagine.”

“When would this happen?”

“Perhaps as early as this weekend, perhaps a few days later.”

“Let me think about it,” Stone said. “Ask me again when you know your departure date.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

“Mike, what are you doing about your funds that are with Jack Gunn?”

“We’re leaving them with him, and we’re also investing the proceeds of the sale of the aircraft charter business.”

“So you feel comfortable with Gunn’s accountants’ statement about the audit?”

“Our CFO was comfortable with it, so that’s okay with me. Finance is not my strongest suit.”

“I’m thinking of putting the proceeds of the sale of my airplane with Gunn.”

“Why not?” Freeman said. “I’ll call you when we have a launch date for Iraq.”

“Okay,” Stone said, and hung up. He thought for a little while, and then he picked up the phone to call Herbie Fisher. Then he hung up. Herbie was knocking at his door, as he often did, unannounced.

“I hear you had a pleasant weekend,” Herbie said, managing not to leer.

“Yes, I did,” Stone replied. “Herbie, I’ve thought about it, and if Stephanie can arrange for me to invest with Jack Gunn, I’ll give him a million dollars to manage.”

“Is that the million dollars I paid you?” Herbie asked.

“No, that’s been used to pay down my debt, but I sold my airplane, so I have some extra cash for a change.”

“I’ll speak to Stephanie about it and get back to you,” Herbie said.

“Good. Was there something else you wanted to talk about?”

“Yes,” Herbie said. “I was thinking of going into business for myself.”

Stone had a sudden vision of what a disaster that might be. “What sort of business?”

“I was thinking of opening a sports and horse-racing book.”

“Herbie, sit down,” Stone said.

Herbie sat down.

“I want you to listen to me very carefully,” Stone said.

“I’m listening, Stone.”

“You are aware, aren’t you, that taking bets is against the law?”

“Yeah, but everybody does it. Gambles, I mean.”

“Yes, but people who gamble with bookies have only their own bets to lose. A bookie, if he figures the odds wrong on a sports event, could lose everything. For instance, when New Orleans surprised everybody by winning the Super Bowl by two touchdowns over the Colts, a lot of bookies were very unpleasantly surprised. I expect they took a big, big hit on that one.”