Alice looked in the mirror, applying a perfect line of black eyeliner, then waiting for it to dry. She could get used to flying private, with its free supply of toiletries. She had hardly felt the jet land and she was stalling, as part of her plan. She sprayed herself with Chanel perfume when there was a knock at the door.
“Bennie?” Knox said. “It’s time to deplane.”
Alice opened the door, threw her arms around Knox’s neck, and gave him a long, deep kiss. “Sorry, I wanted to get all pretty for you.”
“Mmm.” Knox’s tongue flicked inside her mouth. “You smell sexy.”
“I am sexy.”
“I second that. So, are you good to go?”
“Just about.”
“Your car is ready and waiting. You’ll have to go through immigration, but it won’t take long. We have our own officer at the private airport. I’ll escort you.”
“Will you walk me to the car, too? I don’t know where the pickup area is. I’ve never been.”
“Certainly, I’m off for the night. Any other requests?”
“Just one.” Alice kissed him again. “Send the other flight attendant home.”
“She’s gone. They all went.”
“Even whoever cleans the plane? I don’t want anybody seeing us together. My husband-” Alice broke off her sentence, and Knox’s eyes widened slightly.
“Oh, I see.” He glanced at her left hand. “What, no wedding band?”
“Not out of town.” Alice smiled, and so did Knox.
“No worries. The service crew doesn’t come until tomorrow morning.”
“Good. I’ll be right out.”
“See you then.” Knox closed the bathroom door, and Alice threw the latch to lock it, then she went into action.
She took one of the sweat socks, wet it, and wedged it around the smoke detector in the ceiling. She tore paper towels from the dispenser in fistfuls and shoved them into the wastebasket. She took the toilet paper out of the dispenser, stuffed that in with the paper towels, and put the wastebasket under the window with its plaid curtains.
She opened the matchbook, struck a match, then lit the curtains, which made a funny smell. She slid her new gun from her messenger bag and shoved it in her waistband in back. She tossed the matchbook into the flaming wastebasket, then grabbed the messenger bag, slipped out of the bathroom, and hurried to the front of the jet, where Knox stood by the open door.
“You had a cigarette, eh?” he asked, and she took his arm and pressed him toward the door.
“You can smell it, huh? Someday I’ll quit.”
“You and me both.” Knox helped her down the stairway, and Alice looked around the airfield. It was dark, but lit enough to see a row of jets lined up next to their jet, near a silvery cylindrical fuel truck that read AVITA. The tarmac was quiet, no one was around, and not a baggage cart moving.
“Where is everybody?” Alice smiled.
“Gone to bed. Welcome to Nassau.” Knox took her arm and led her toward a small modern terminal. Palm trees rustled along the concrete walk that lead to a glass double door, and the terminal’s large windows showed only a single uniformed person inside.
“Only one person?”
“We’re the only flight. He’s waiting on us.”
“Before we go through immigration, wanna stop at the bathroom?”
“Didn’t you just do that?”
“Not for my benefit, for yours.” Alice faked a sexy giggle. “There’s one thing we didn’t do, and I bet I do it better than your wife.”
“Ha!” Knox laughed. “Come with me, woman.”
They passed through an automatic door, which let them into a waiting room with a large screen TV in front of a leather sofa and chairs. A man in a light blue shirt was on the phone and didn’t look up. Knox led the way down a hallway and went through a door that read MEN’S.
Alice followed him inside.