“Yeah. There’s LAX, where you landed, right over there; the tall buildings are downtown L.A., and over there on that hill you can see oil wells.”
“They have oil wells in a city?”
“I think the oil wells were there first,” Stone said, “and nobody’s going to shut them down until they’re dry.” He turned at right angles to the runway, then turned onto final approach.
Dino was finally taking an interest in the flight. “You found the airport,” he said.
“It’s easy, when you’ve got all these instruments.”
“And there’s the runway right in front of us.”
“Where it’s supposed to be.”
“Look at all the cars; they look like hamsters.”
They flew across the road at the edge of the airport, and Stone set the airplane down lightly and taxied off the runway. A moment later they were stopped in front of the hangar, and he shut down the engine.
“Hey, that was fun!” Dino said. “Let’s do it again sometime.”
Stone burst out laughing. “Come on, let’s call Rick and see about that boat.”
50
Late in the afternoon, Stone took Dino shopping. They went to the chandlery at Marina Del Rey and bought two sets of sailing waterproofs in dark blue, a large roll of duct tape, two heavy, rubber-encased flashlights, and a set of socket wrenches. Stone also bought a large-scale chart of the area, laminated in plastic.
“What’s all this stuff for?” Dino asked.
“It will be easier to show you than to tell you,” Stone said.
They arrived at Rick Grant’s house at eight. Rick got them a drink, then led them into the back yard, where Barbara Tierney was grilling steaks.
“She can cook?” Stone asked.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Rick said. “I’m gaining weight since she got here.”
Dino went over and introduced himself to the beautiful wom
an, then they all sat down at the table.
Rick handed Stone a set of keys and gave him a berth number at the Long Beach marina. “It belongs to my ex-brother-in-law,” he said. “It’s a big Boston Whaler with two one-hundred-horsepower outboard engines and a lot of gear.”
“Sounds ideal,” Stone said.
“He wants five hundred for the night.”
Fair enough. Stone peeled off the money.
“I don’t want to know the details, either before or after,” Rick said.
“We will preserve you in your ignorance,” Stone laughed. “Before and after.”
“What, exactly, have you got in mind, Stone?” Dino asked.
“Didn’t you just hear Rick say he doesn’t want to know?”
“Yeah, but…”
“I’ll tell you later.”