The Four Corners of the Sky_ A Novel - Michael Malone [92]
“Well, Mama Spring always said she loved to close a deal so much she’d sell her own house if she didn’t need it to sleep in.”
Brad looked puzzled. “She was joking.”
Annie doubted it.
“It really worries me about the angina. I sure don’t want to lose her.” He stared around the corridor nervously as if someone might be going to steal Mrs. Hopper from him right then. “You know how I feel about that lady.”
“Yes, I do.” Annie noticed that Brad’s hands were trembling. And there was a little line of sweat by his ear. “You okay?”
“Just hot in here.”
Annie felt his forehead. It did feel hot. “Drink some water.”
On the floor beside her, Malpy managed to twist and wriggle out of the opening of his carrier case. Before Annie could grab him, he raced away from the bistro and took off in the crowded terminal. Annie and Brad gave chase but the little Maltese was quickly lost in the mass of passengers.
Brad trotted after him, turning back as if he expected a football pass, calling, “You need a leash for this dog!”
As Annie ran in and out of storefronts, searching for Malpy, she saw that the good-looking stranger in the blue T-shirt was now standing at a nearby ATM machine. He was in the midst of a phone call on his mobile phone that had apparently upset him. Spinning about in a tight circle, he flung his arms into the air.
Suddenly the little white Maltese sprinted toward Annie, turning back to bark at Brad who was in pursuit. Malpy raced at her, leaping into her arms and she gave him a hard shake and stuffed him into the cloth case.
“Get him a leash.” Brad stopped, hands on his knees, breathing hard. “Be back.” With a wave, he hurried into the nearby men’s room entrance. She suspected he’d gone in there to take a pill or sniff a powder.
She waited. The man in the T-shirt finished one phone call and answered another.
Brad was smiling on his return, rubbing his well-shaped head. He surprised her with a question as they walked along. “You think life’s ironic?”
“Brad, life’s so ironic that after nearly twenty years my dad suddenly sends a FedEx to Emerald saying he wants to see me before he dies. Then he cons me into flying here through a twister, then he blows me off and disappears. Then Sam cons you into flying my dad to Miami. Now here you and I are, chasing Malpy. Yes, I think life’s ironic.”
Brad’s handsome face turned defensive. “I didn’t fly Jack anywhere. Personally.” He crumpled with sympathy. “I guess he’s a little mixed up from being so sick and then getting the crap beat out of him.”
Annie said “Ah.” She recalled that she’d often said “Ah” when married to Brad; he’d never appreciated the variations she could play on the short syllable. “How do you know he was beaten up? And did Sam tell you who beat the crap out of him?”
He shook his head vigorously. “Probably muggers.” He couldn’t hold her gaze. “Annie, losing your dad’s a tough assignment, take it from me. Look, hell with it. I’ll fly you to Miami myself, right now.”
His sudden decision surprised her. “You will?”
Brad slowly nodded, pleased by his generosity. He’d fly her in the new Cessna VLJ that he’d just brought here from Charleston. He’d enjoy showing her what it could do. They could be at Miami International Airport in a few hours. True, he had been scheduled to spend the Fourth of July with his mother in Atlanta but Mama Spring would understand. Annie and he could have a blast in Miami; catch a Marlins game, scuba, stay at the Biltmore in Coral Gables—
She interrupted the fast burst of talk that was another indication that he was high. “I’ve flown the Citation Mustang.”
He nodded in a rush. “You can fly anything. Anything.”
Annie looked closely at his eyes. His pupils were now pinpoints. On their wedding day, he