Castillo pushed the OFF button and handed the handset back to Neidermeyer.
"That was General McNab," Castillo said. "His compliments to you, gentlemen, and his apologies for having to take another call right now. The truck has just refueled at Fort Benning. What is that, an hour, hour and a half from here?"
Both Wilson and Crenshaw nodded.
"He was checking to make sure the truck driver and his crew-to
tal of three-are taken care of."
"I'll take care of that, General," Richardson said before Crenshaw could give the order.
And now, Castillo thought, I can get out of here.
"Beth, thank you for a delightful meal," he said. "But I'm afraid that Jamie and I are going to have to be the infamous guests who eat and run. We've got a lot on our plate tonight and a first-light flight tomorrow."
"I understand," she said. "We'll have to do it another time."
"I'd like that. I accept."
And with that exchange of polite lies, I really can get out of here.
"Charley, do you know how to find the airport in Ozark?" General Wilson asked.
"I'm sure I can find it, sir."
"I'll take you," Wilson offered.
"That's unnecessary, sir."
"I'll take you," Wilson insisted.
He's trying to be nice, sure. But there's more to it than that.
Hell, he wants to go. Why didn't I think of that?
"Sir, would you like to go along? What I have to do there won't take long-it just has to be done in person. We should be back here at, say, four or five."
"I don't want to intrude, Charley. But I really would like to see the damage along the Gulf Coast."
"Then you'll go. And there's room for one more in the airplane. Any takers? It would be something to see."
"Can I go?" Randolph Richardson IV asked.
"Of course not, son," Randolph Richardson III said quickly.
The look on Beth's face showed that she firmly supported that parental decision.
"Why not?" General Wilson said.
"This is none of my business, of course," General Crenshaw said. "But think it over, Richardson. It's one hell of an opportunity for the boy. For the rest of his life he'd remember that right after the hurricane, he flew over the area with his grandfather and saw everything."
"Well, viewed in that light," Randolph III said.
"I don't think so," Beth announced. "It would be dangerous."
"But General Crenshaw is right, honey," Randolph III said. "It would be something he would remember all his life. Are you sure of your landing field, Castillo? It's safe to use?"
Castillo nodded.