“Around four thousand hours in half a dozen airplanes.”

“How much time in type?”

“A couple of hundred hours. I owned two other light jets before, so I’ve got around twelve hundred hours in jets. You sound very familiar with airplanes.”

“My father was a professional pilot, flew everything. The two questions he wanted to ask anyone who was flying him were total time and time in type.”

“So, I passed the test?”

“Not until I’ve experienced my first takeoff and landing with you. I have a private license that I don’t use very often, so I’ll know what to look for. Can I fly right seat?”

“Sure. Speaking of landing, a client of mine and his girlfriend have invited us to overnight in Santa Fe on the way home. Do you have time for that?”

“I’ll make time. I’ve never been to Santa Fe. Just one night?”

“Perhaps we’ll add another, if we’re invited.”

“Who’s the client?”

“A young man named Laurence Hayward.”

“Why does that sound familiar?”

Stone sighed. “He won the Powerball lottery last month.”

“Oh, yes, I’ve read about him in the papers. What sort of legal work do you do for him?”

“Pretty much everything. A fellow who’s suddenly come into more than half a billion dollars needs all kinds of advice and services. I happened to be well positioned to put him into the right hands for legal, financial, real estate, and other services.”

“What other services?”

“Whatever he needs.”

“What has he needed so far?”

“All of the above, plus aviation advice and help with publicity. He bought the same airplane I fly and has ordered the new Citation Latitude for delivery next year. Right now, he’s building time.”

“Lucky young man.”

“We’ll see. Lottery stories seem to end badly for too many people.”

“Do you think he’ll crash and burn?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it. Right now, he’s in the first rush of knowing he can buy virtually anything he wants. He’s bought a New York apartment, and he bought the Santa Fe house at first sight. Luckily, he seems to have very good taste and judgment in just about everything. He also did something very nice for his mother and stepfather—he bought their city and country houses in England and gave them lifetime occupancy, so they can retire in great comfort with a lot of cash.”

“That was sweet of him.”

“Yes, it was.”

“Enough of this chitchat,” she said. “Make love to me again.”

“No more chitchat,” Stone said, turning his attentions to her.

—

THEY TOOK OFF from Santa Monica at mid-morning the following day, with Jinx in the copilot’s seat, handling the radios. She also started to learn the Garmin 3000 avionics.