“I can’t; he left in a hurry when I was out, and he forgot his phone.”
“Okay, I’ll pull our guy out.”
“Tell him to avoid the airport. They’ll be checking cars on the highway, too.”
“You’ve got a boat, haven’t you?”
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L o i t e r i n g w i t h I n t e n t
“Yes.”
“Take him up the road someplace, where he can rent a car.”
“They’ll be watching up there, too.”
“Then take him up to Key Largo. I’ll meet you there and drive him home.”
“I guess I could do that.”
He gave her the name of a marina. “You know it?”
“Yeah.”
“When will you be there?”
“I can leave first thing in the morning,” she said. “Tell him to call me on this number, and I’ll tell him how to find the boat.”
“Okay, I’ll call him now. We should be in Key Largo by late tomorrow afternoon. I’ll call you a couple of hours out and give you a better ETA. Hey, since you got some time off, you want to do a little work?”
She laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m never going to work again.”
He laughed, too. “Can’t blame you. Call me tomorrow.” He hung up.
She hung up, too, and she didn’t have to wait long for the call.
“Yes?”
“Hi, it’s Larry Lee,” he said.
“That’s the name these days, huh?”
“Always has been.”
“Manny told you what he wants to do?”
“Yeah, and it sounds good to me; I don’t like being holed up like this.”
“You know where the Key West Yacht Club is?”
“Yeah, I’ve driven past it.”
“There’s a thirtytwo-foot motorboat with no name on the stern—an old one, mahogany and white—just inside the main gate. Meet me there at seven A.M. tomorrow morning, and ditch your car somewhere else first. If you get there before I do, let yourself onto the boat; the lock is broken on the cabin doors.”
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S t u a r t W o o d s