Chapter 36
"You could at least have given me a few minutes to make some sandwiches for the plane journey." Came the disappointed voice with the Irish lilt from the back seat. "I would have made you a sandwich too, boyo."
Sergeant Esposito gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. Hearing a snigger from the seat beside him he glanced at Lanie only to find her trying to suppress the laugh that was desperately trying to get out.
"Maybe a cheese sandwich or I could have used some of the leftover chicken from lunch." Kevin Ryan added oblivious to the rising tension in the man driving.
"One more word about food, and I'm stopping the car and you can make your own way out of Casablanca." Esposito said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, don't be like that, Javi." Lanie said placatingly.
"Maybe you would like to join him?"
Esposito shot his girlfriend a glare before turning his attention back to the road. A curtain of fog had fallen which forced him to concentrate on the road. They were travelling through the back roads to get to the airport. Esposito did not want to go usual way fearing that he might be spotted by his colleagues at one of the road blocks and stopped. The last thing he wanted to do was having to explain why he was driving around Casablanca with his girlfriend and a wanted fugitive.
He had not wanted to take Lanie along but she had shown up at his apartment about the time he was about to leave with Ryan. She had come to tell him about Castle selling Rick's Cafe Americain. Seeing that they were about to leave she had insisted she was going with them. The argument had lasted all of a couple of minutes until she had put her foot down. And usually Lanie won these kinds of arguments. Esposito had no choice but to take her with them.
"I think Ryan doing your laundry was a sweet gesture." Lanie said.
That remark was immediately punctuated by a fit of giggles from her and a snigger from the occupant in the back seat.
Esposito could only look up at the ceiling and praying to a higher authority for strength. He was not going to live that one down from the looks of things. When he had come home to collect Ryan and take him to the airport he had found the Irishman folding his clothes after having laundered them. It had come as a shock to the sergeant. Having Ryan cook for him was something he could grudgingly accept but having the man do his laundry was a gesture that went a little too far to Esposito's way of thinking. He found it weird, too weird. It did not help matters that his girlfriend found this amusing and was laughing.
"I still can't believe, Castle sold Rick's Cafe." Ryan said, changing the subject.
"And to Sabilini?" Esposito said joining in, shooting a glance in Lanie's direction.
"How do you think I feel?" Lanie exclaimed.
Esposito nodded. He knew about Sabilini's desires for his girlfriend and he did not like it one little bit.
"Just wont be the same." Ryan said glumly.
"Well, soon you wont have to worry about it, man." Esposito retorted.
"Yeah but Rick's wont be Rick's without Castle running it." Ryan said sadly.
There were murmurs of agreement all around.
Esposito stared at the road ahead and in the mists of the fog saw a police car blocking most of the road. He slowed the car. So much for taking the back roads, Esposito thought to himself grimly.
"Ryan, hide under the blanket." Esposito ordered.
"What's the matter?" Ryan questioned.
"Just do it, don't ask questions."
"There's a road block." Lanie explained.
"Oh."
Ryan immediately reached for the blanket sitting on the back seat and threw it over himself. Lanie reached over to the back seat and helped to cover Ryan with the blanket. Quickly she sat down and tried to look as if nothing was happening.
Esposito stopped the car a short distance from the police car and rolled down the window letting in the cold air. One of the policemen stood in the middle of the road and held up a hand to stop the approaching car. Slowly he walked to the driver's side of the car.
"Sergeant Esposito?"
"Evening Emile." Esposito replied, with a small smile.
The policeman named Emile was surprised to see the sergeant. Esposito liked him he was a good cop. Emile was a recent addition to the gendarmes in Casablanca having recently been transferred from Oran. He had been partnered with one of the old timers so that he could be shown the ropes. Esposito could see the senior officer was sitting in the front seat of the police car looking for all the world fast asleep.
"What are you doing here, Sergeant?"
"Keeping an eye on you an Antoinne." Esposito said.
Emile shot a guilty look in the direction of the police car before turning back to look at Esposito.
"Antoinne has pulled a double shift three days running, sergeant."
Esposito could not help but a grin at the young man's defence of his partner.
"It's all right, Emile." Esposito said, dismissing the young man's concern.
Emile nodded his head and then lean down a little to look over to Lanie. The singer gave him a smile.
"So what are you doing out here, sergeant?" He asked again.
Sergeant Esposito could not help but be impressed with this young man. Emile might have been concerned that a senior officer had caught his partner fast asleep whilst on duty only to have that concern waved away as a mere trifle he still remembered his duty and returned to it. Emile had the makings of being a very good cop. What Esposito did not like was that he was being a good cop right now.
"I was out with my girl when we saw one of the guys from the airport blind drunk in the middle of the street." Esposito explained. He jerked his thumb in the direction of the back seat.
Emile looked into the back and saw the blanketed form laying across the back seat. An exaggerated snore rose from within the blanket.
"As we were heading this way we decided to give him a lift to the airport." Esposito added.
Emile nodded his understanding. "Let's hope he's not on duty tonight, eh?"
"Yeah, right." The sergeant agreed readily.
"Well, drive safely Sergeant." Emile said as he stepped back.
Esposito waved to the young policeman and then drove off going around the police car. He let out a long sigh of relief.
"That was close." Lanie said in a low voice.
"Yeah." Esposito agreed.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence.
XXX
Captain Montgomery had to concentrate hard on the road in front of him. A fog had rolled in from the sea had enveloped most of the city in a matter of minutes, making driving conditions dangerous. He chose to be cautious and drove slowly. There had been no sign of the approaching fog when he had arrived at Rick's Cafe. Sometimes that happened in Casablanca as well he knew.
Montgomery glanced to his side and saw that Castle was leaning against the passenger door, his body half turned to him. His hand was in the left pocket of his trench coat where the gun lay hidden. Castle had one eye on the road and the other on him.
The captain returned his gaze back to the road. He almost smiled. Did Castle really think that he would pull some kind of stunt in these conditions. He was not that foolish no matter what anybody thought.
With any luck the fog might prevent the plane from taking off, Montgomery thought to himself. That thought did make him smile.
"Something amusing you, Roy?" Castle asked, breaking the silence in the car.
"Your plans might be thwarted because of this fog." Montgomery replied, gesturing out the window. He saw no point in hiding this particular thought of his.
"We'll just have to wait and see." Castle replied.
Montgomery approached the gates and slowed the car.
"Nice and easy, Roy." Castle warned. "No tricks."
"You worry too much, Ricky." Montgomery chuckled.
The car drew to a halt alongside the guard house. A police guard opened the door and stepped out , hurriedly doing up the buttons of his hastily thrown on jacket. He looked less than pleased having been dragged away from the nice warm fire he had been sitting in front of.
Scowling, the policeman stepped up to Montgomery's side of the car. On seeing who was behind the wheel, the scowl vanished instantly from the man's face. He took a step back and snapped a smart salute. Montgomery returned the salute in a desultory manner before he motioned towards the closed gates.
The policeman snapped another salute and rushed over to the gates opening them up for the Prefect of Police. He stood back and waved the car through. Captain Montgomery nodded to the policeman and slowly drove through the gates.
"Do you really think you're going to get away with this?" Montgomery said, as the car started to pick up a little speed.
"I'm doing all right so far." Castle grinned.
XXX
An orderly emerged from the dimly lit terminal building. He drew one more time on the cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. He dropped the cigarette to the ground and extinguished it under the heel of his shoe. He blew out a stream of smoke into the air. He glanced behind him through the window to where the passengers were waiting for their flight to be called. There were only a handful of people waiting. He was thankful for that it had meant processing them had not taken too long.
The orderly turned back and started to make his way across the tarmac toward the nearest hanger. He pulled tightly on the jacket he had put, on trying to ignore the bite of the cold in the air. As he walked he looked across the tarmac to where the plane for Lisbon was being readied for flight. The aircraft was shrouded in the fog and its lines were just barely visible from the floodlights. The orderly could just make out the ground crew moving about getting the aircraft ready. He was thankful that this was the last plane out for the night. Once it was gone he could head home to the nice warm bed that was waiting for him.
He reached the open hanger and walked in moving towards the bench where the telephone sat. He had brought with him a small clipboard which he set on the bench. He picked up the telephone and dialled the number to the tower.
"Marcel?" The orderly said when his call was answered. "The plane to Lisbon is due to leave in about fifteen minutes. What's the weather report?"
The orderly cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear as he fished out the pen in his pocket and started to write on the clipboard.
"East runway, uh-huh...Visibility?...one and one half miles, got it. Light ground fog, yes...Depth of fog?...approximately 500 got it...Ceiling?...unlimited...excellent. Thank you Marcel."
The orderly put the phone down and finished writing on the clipboard. A smile rose to his lips. The pilots had been a little concerned they might not be able to take off when the fog had first rolled in. He assured the pilots that the fog should not be a problem but they only half believed him. The orderly knew that once they saw this report they would be happy. The orderly tore off the top page from the clipboard, folded the paper and shoved it into his pocket.
The sound of a car pulling up outside the hanger had the orderly turning around. Curious the orderly started to approach the car. He stopped abruptly when he saw Captain Montgomery step out of the car.
Castle got out of the front passenger side. Keeping an eye on Captain Montgomery, he reached over with his free hand to open the back door for Kate. He moved to stand close to the captain making sure that Montgomery could see that Castle's other hand was still inside the pocket of the trench coat where the gun was. Montgomery grinned and shook his head.
"Roy, have your man go with Dr Davidson and take care of his luggage." Castle ordered.
"Certainly Castle, anything you say." Montgomery replied sketching a mock bow. He looked over to the orderly. "Find Dr Davidson's luggage and put it on the plane."
"Yes Captain." The orderly saluted and started forward.
Kate moved from where she was standing to intercept the orderly. She whispered hurriedly to him. The orderly nodded his head nodded before he walked to the rear of the vehicle. Kate walked slowly until she was standing close to Castle.
Montgomery watched with a small smile as the orderly removed only one suitcase from the trunk of the car and then motioned to Josh to follow him. Josh hesitated. He looked to where the others were standing. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but thought better of it then turned and followed the orderly out of the hanger.
Montgomery slowly turned to face Castle and Kate. His eyebrows a little at the sight of Kate resting her hand on Castle's arm.
"I gather you are not going with Dr Davidson?" He asked.
Kate nodded her head.
"Have you told him yet?"
"Not yet, no." Kate said in a low voice.
"Then that is something I certainly don't want to miss." Montgomery chuckled.
XXXXX
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