Ivan raised his chair forward and opened his window curtain to look out at the view. Tall New York buildings were everywhere. The downtown skyline looked like a game of Monopoly on steroids. And the sunlight was just beginning to fade west.

The first thing Ivan thought was, Somebody owns every last one of these buildings. And thousands of people are paying them rent.

As they descended to the airport away from the overpowering buildings of the downtown area, Vance asked Ivan, “So, what do you think?”

“I think there’s a whole lot of business going on in that city,” Ivan answered.

“Oh, yeah, you bet. You got plenty of millionaires in New York. You can get twenty or thirty of ’em all living in one building.”

“And who owns that building?” Ivan asked him with a grin.

“Exactly. That’s the right way of thinking, my friend. Who owns the damn buildings here?”

Ivan smiled and thought of calling Jacari on her cell phone as soon as they touched down. Like clockwork, she had informed Jeff and Paul that she was free for the rest of the week and that she was looking forward to meeting Ivan, hanging out with him in New York, and then flying back home to San Diego in the private jet. She had already agreed to his surprising offer.

The private jet touched down at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, where a black stretch limo was already waiting at the gates for their arrival.

When they all reached the limo, with Vance’s two assistants handling the luggage, Vance asked, “So, are you hanging out with us tonight, Ivan, or are you planning to pack it in with your lady friend until tomorrow?”

Ivan hadn’t called to talk to her yet, so he didn’t know.

“Let me find out right now,” he answered. He dialed Jacari’s New York number and wondered how long it would take before she answered the phone.

“Hello.” It only took her two rings.

I like that so far, he mused. I want to see this girl in person as soon as possible. Let’s get it all out of the way. Then I can get back to business.

He said, “Hey, this is Ivan in New York. We just arrived at the airport.”

“Oh, okay, which one?”

“LaGuardia.”

She said, “Okay, well, it’ll take you about thirty-five minutes to make it into town. And then what do you want to do?” she asked him.

“First, I just need to see you,” he told her. “I feel like I’m going out on a blind date here.”

“No, you’ve seen my pictures and I’ve seen plenty of your pictures,” she responded.

Ivan said, “Cameras and makeup lie sometimes.”

“Not with me they don’t.”

Vance gave him a look of confusion. “You haven’t even met her yet?”

“Not yet,” Ivan answered, grinning. “But I’ve seen plenty of her on the website.”