Stone Barrington 27 - Doing Hard Time

movement, listening for a footstep, sniffing the air for the smell of cordite. Tim’s office was empty, as was the pilots’ lounge. Teddy kicked off his loafers and ran lightly up the stairs to the apartment, stepping on the outside of each step to avoid squeaking. He checked the apartment quickly, finding it in excellent order—sheets on the beds, dishes in the cupboards, dusted, vacuumed, perfect. Then from downstairs he heard the closing of a car door—quietly, as if not to attract attention.
    He ran down the stairs and found Peter and Betsy leaning on the Mercedes station wagon and chatting. Teddy heaved a huge sigh of relief and put the gun away before they could see it.
    “Hi, there,” Betsy said.
    “Where you been?” Teddy asked lightly, stepping into his loafers.
    “I went back to the apartment to pick up a few things—some of your clothes, the liquor.”
    “Betsy likes a martini at the cocktail hour,” Teddy said to Peter. “Where’s Tim?”
    “Gone for the day. He said you didn’t seem to need him,” Betsy said. “Peter has been telling me I ought to learn to fly.”
    “I think that’s a good idea,” Teddy replied. “I’ve got my hands full right now, but there’s a flight school on the field.” He pointed at the sign across the runway. “Why don’t you go over there and inquire about training, while Peter and I run over a few things?”
    “Help me with the liquor and the bags, and I will,” she said.
    The two men carried the things upstairs for her, then went back to Teddy’s new office in the pilot’s lounge. “Let’s do a weight and balance calculation,” Teddy said, “and get that behind us.” His anxiety had finally melted away.
    •   •   •
    When they were done for the day, Teddy handed Peter two California carry licenses, one for him and one for Ben.
    Peter looked at them closely. “Are these bogus?”
    “If you go to the state website, you’ll find your names listed there as license holders.”
    “Then I won’t inquire further,” Peter said. He shook hands and stepped into the Strategic Services SUV, which had just pulled into the hangar.
    Betsy returned and parked her car in the hangar, then Teddy closed the main door. He checked the lock on the rear door, near his office, then they went upstairs.
    “Can I force a drink on you?” he asked.
    “I believe you can,” she said.
    Teddy made her a martini and poured a bourbon for himself, while she spread something on some crackers. They sat down in the living room on the comfortable sofa.
    “I start Monday with my flying lessons,” Betsy said. “I’ll fly three days a week and do ground school the other three. Sundays off.”
    “To flying through the air on gossamer wings,” Teddy said, raising his glass.
    She raised hers and they took their first sip.
    “I’ve brought enough things here so that I can live here without returning to the apartment,” she said.
    “You’re a smart woman,” Teddy said.
    “You can do the same.”
    Teddy laughed. “And getting smarter and smarter.”
    “Now tell me what might make us move?”
    “At least two people know where we are,” Teddy said.
    “Harry Katz and Peter Genaro,” she replied. “Who else?”
    “Whoever they might tell.”
    “I’ve known them both pretty well for a few years, and I don’t think either of them will tell anybody.”
    “I hope you’re right,” Teddy said, “but I’m alive and free because I’m a cautious one.”
    “Nothing wrong with caution. Are you ready to tell me what you’re running from?”
    “Quite frankly, I thought I was through running,” Teddy said. “I made a . . . an arrangement with the people who wanted most to find me, but then . . .”
    “Then, what?”
    “Then Peter Barrington and his friends came into my life, pursued by bad men, and I got involved. Now I’m very probably being pursued by the friends of those bad men.”
    “Majorov and the Viper?”
    “Exactly. And those two, in turn, have friends, and I don’t know how far that extends.”
    “What is your plan?”
    “I plan to stay in Los Angeles until I feel that Peter and everyone associated with him are perfectly safe, and then I plan to go to work for Strategic Services.”
    “What’s that?”
    “It’s the second-largest security firm in the world,” Teddy said. “Throw a dart at a map of the world, and you’ll hit one of their offices.”
    “And where will we move when you take that job?”
    “That is