Jeffrey had a few minutes’ leeway, so he went to the ticket counter to have the agent change his Rio de Janeiro ticket. He knew the shuttle ticket was still fine. As it turned out, the night flight to Rio was cheaper than the afternoon flight, and Jeffrey got a considerable refund.
Holding his ticket in his mouth, the suitcase in one hand, and the briefcase in the other, he hurried toward security. It had taken longer than he’d expected to exchange the ticket. That was one flight he didn’t want to miss.
Jeffrey went directly to the X-ray machine and hoisted the suitcase onto the conveyor belt. He was about to do the same with his briefcase when someone grabbed his collar from behind.
“Going on vacation, Doctor?” Devlin asked with a wry smile. He snatched the airline ticket from Jeffrey’s mouth.
Holding on to Jeffrey’s collar with his left hand, Devlin
flipped open the ticket folder and read the destination. When he saw Rio de
Janeiro, he said “Bingo!” with a broad smile. He could already see himself at one of the gaming tables in Vegas. He was in the money now.
Stuffing Jeffrey’s ticket into his denim jacket pocket, Devlin reached around to his back pocket and pulled out his handcuffs. A few people who had backed up behind Jeffrey to get at the X-ray machine stood gawking in open-mouthed disbelief.
The familiar sight of handcuffs jolted Jeffrey from his paralysis. With a sudden, unexpected move, he swung his briefcase in a violent arc aimed at
Devlin. Devlin, concentrating on opening the handcuffs with his free hand, didn’t see the blow coming.
The briefcase hit Devlin on the left temple, just above the ear, sending him crashing into the side of the X-ray machine. The handcuffs clattered to the floor.
The female attendant behind the X-ray machine screamed. A uniformed state police officer looked up from the sports page of the Herald. Jeffrey took off like a rabbit, sprinting back toward the terminal and ticket counters.
Devlin put a hand to his head, and it came away with blood on it.
For Jeffrey it was like broken-field running as he tried to skirt passengers, missing some, colliding into others. As he came to the junction of the concourse with the terminal proper, he glanced back at the security area. He could see Devlin pointing in his direction with the uniformed policeman at his side. Other people were looking in Jeffrey’s direction as well, mainly those he’d run into.
In front of Jeffrey was an escalator bringing people up from the floor below. Jeffrey ran for it and charged down, pushing irate passengers out of his way along with their luggage. On the arrival floor below there was a crowd milling about, since several flights had recently landed. Worming his way through the newly arrived, Jeffrey skirted the baggage area as fast as he could and ran out through the electronic doors to the street.
Gasping for breath, he paused at the curb, trying to decide where to go next. He knew he had to get out of the airport immediately. The question was how. There were a few taxis lined up, but there was also a long line of people waiting for them. Jeffrey didn’t have much time. He could run over to the parking garage and get his car, but something told him that would be a dead end. For starters, Devlin probably knew where it was. He’d probably trailed Jeffrey to the airport. How else would he have known where to find him?
As Jeffrey weighed his alternatives, the intraterminal bus came lumbering along the roadway. Without a second’s hesitation, Jeffrey rushed into the street and stood directly in its path, flailing his arms wildly.
The bus screeched to a halt. The driver opened the door. As Jeffrey jumped on, the driver said, “Man, you are either stupid or crazy and I hope it’s stupid ’cause I’d hate to have a nut on board.” He shook his head in disbelief, put the bus in gear, and hit the gas pedal.
Steadying himself by clutching the overhead rack, Jeffrey stooped to get a look out the window. He caught sight of Devlin and the policeman threading their way through the crowds at the baggage carousel. Jeffrey couldn’t believe his luck. They hadn’t seen him.