“Have her get the adjoining room ready, too. I’m bringing a girl—her name is Theresa Crane.”

“All right. Hold on, here’s the doctor.” She covered the phone and spoke to someone for a couple of minutes, then came back. “Derek came through the surgery just fine. He should be able to go home in three or four days. I’ll take him to the country for his recovery.”

“That’s wonderful. I’ll see you late tomorrow night. Don’t wait up, I’ll use my key.” He said goodbye and hung up. “Where will we land?” he asked Don.

“Did you fly the London City approaches in the sim?”

“Yes, I took the international course.”

“We’ll land there, but if you’re staying a few days, I’ll find somewhere else to park the airplane, and I’ll make my own living arrangements.”

“Good, west of London would be best.”

“Got it.”

Laurence called Theresa.

“Hello, there. What time are you getting in?”

“Not until tonight sometime. Do you have a passport?”

“Yes.”

“Bring it. We’re flying to London tomorrow. Bye-bye.” He hung up.

—

THERESA STARED at the telephone. “Hello?” She hung up. “Well,” she said to herself, “that was abrupt, but exciting.”

—

“LET’S GO LOOK at the new airplane,” he said. The two men got into Don’s rental car and drove to the Citation Service Center. The airplane was there, gleaming in the afternoon sun.

“Let’s do a quick walk-around, and we’ll get out of here. I’m already filed for Teterboro.”

“Okay.” Laurence stowed his bags in the forward luggage compartment and followed Don as he walked around the airplane, checking gauges and the levels of fuel, oxygen, and hydraulic fluid. He showed him how to connect the airplane’s main battery, then they got into the cabin and closed the door. Laurence took the left seat and looked around him. All was familiar from his first flight on the Cessna airplane and from the simulator. He worked his way through the checklist, with Don making helpful comments, then started an engine and cranked up the air-conditioning. Then, with both engines running, he got clearance from the tower and permission to taxi.

Ten minutes later, they lifted off the runway and headed east, with the setting sun behind them.

A little after nine PM, Laurence set down the airplane gently on runway 19 at Teterboro, and taxied to Jet Aviation, where his newly rented hangar space awaited them.

At the terminal he ran through the shutdown checklist and flipped off the battery switch. Silence greeted them for the first time in nearly four hours.

“My car is waiting for us,” Laurence said. “I’ll put you up for the night.”

“What time do you want wheels-up tomorrow?”

“Nine AM?”

“Sounds good.”

—

AT THE FAIRLEIGH, Laurence found a note from Marge on his pillow: everything was fine—she’d see him in the morning.