Stone Barrington 27 - Doing Hard Time

first,” he said. He got her to memorize the combination and open the safe twice.
    Tim Peters arrived, and Teddy introduced him to Betsy, then she left. Teddy sat Tim down, gave him a photograph of the Viper and the lecture on how dangerous the man was.
    “I keep a nine-millimeter in my bottom desk drawer,” Tim said.
    “Don’t use it unless you have to, but if you have to, use it fast and aim for the head.”
    “Gotcha.”
    •   •   •
    Peter arrived in an SUV with a Strategic Services driver, and Teddy introduced him to Tim, then they unlocked the Mustang and had a good look at it.
    “Now to work,” Teddy said. They towed Teddy’s airplane out of the hangar, and Teddy showed Peter how to perform a preflight inspection. That done, they got aboard, with Peter in the left seat, and Teddy ran through the prestart checklist with him.
    “Have you used the Garmin 1000 avionics suite before?” Teddy asked.
    “Yes, I trained in airplanes equipped with it.”
    “Then you have a head start on your instrument training
and
your Mustang training,” Teddy said. He took the younger man through engine startup, then they got permission from the tower for a VFR departure to the north.
    Peter took off and flew the airplane with some assurance, which encouraged Teddy. They flew north and west and found some airspace, and Teddy took Peter through some turns, slow flight, and stalls, then they made some landings at a small airport and returned to Santa Monica.
    Teddy chocked the airplane and took Peter into the pilots’ lounge. “I’m going to use this room as an office, if that’s all right with you.”
    “Sure it is.”
    He sat Peter down and started ground school with a long lesson in how to read IFR charts and approach plates, then they walked to a restaurant on the field and got some lunch.
    “I have the feeling I’m traveling with the Secret Service,” Peter said over burgers. “Mike’s people and you are always watching.”
    “That’s why I took the gunfighter’s seat,” Teddy said. “In the corner, facing the room and the door.”
    “Yeah, I noticed that.”
    “Are you armed?”
    “The holster is on my belt, under my shirttail,” Peter said. “There’s a magazine in the weapon, but the chamber is empty.”
    “When we’re back in the hangar, pump a round into the chamber, leave the hammer back, set the safety, and holster the gun. You may need to move fast, and all you’ll have to do is thumb the safety down and fire. Also, replace the ejected round in the magazine.”
    Peter nodded.
    When they returned to the hangar there was a shiny Mercedes station wagon inside, and Betsy was unloading shopping bags. Teddy introduced her to Peter, who left them to make some phone calls.
    “New?” Teddy asked.
    “Two years old, nine thousand miles,” she said. “And it’s got the V-8 engine. I paid forty-six thousand and I put the change into the safe, less some walking-around money.”
    “You done good, sweetheart.”
    “Thank you.”
    “You want to come flying with us, see some California countryside?”
    “Maybe next time. I think I’ll get the apartment sorted out.”
    Teddy kissed her, then went to the airplane with Peter, took off, and headed north again.
    As Peter made his first right turn, Teddy looked back at the airport and saw a large black Mercedes van being allowed through the gate at Atlantic Aviation.
Not the only such van in town
, he said to himself.
Probably picking up arriving passengers.

Teddy watched from the right seat as Peter made his third landing at Santa Monica. He was pleased with the way the boy had adapted to the single-engine turboprop. Teddy himself had taken a while to get used to landing the airplane, and he thought of himself as a pretty hotshot pilot.
    They taxied to the hangar and went through the shutdown procedure, then Teddy took a few minutes to review what they’d done that day and to question Peter on approach plates. “We’ll start flying instrument approaches tomorrow,” he said.
    They got down from the airplane and attached the little electric tow to the nosewheel, then Teddy used the remote control on his key to open the bifold hangar door. He stood and stared. Except for the Mustang and his Speedster, the hangar was empty. Tim Peters was absent, and so were Betsy and her new station wagon. Teddy drew his gun. “Stay there,” he called over his shoulder to Peter.
    Teddy walked into the hangar, the gun in his hand, watching for