CHAPTER 36

Noah returned from the pay phone near the front door, sat down, and scooted halfway around the semicircular padded booth until he was near enough to her for privacy.

“Okay, we’re all ready. ”

“What do you mean, we’re all ready? You made one call and shut down security at an international airport? ”

“I did better than that. ” He looked around a bit. “Did I see a carry‑ on bag? ”

“Yeah…”

“Let me have it. ”

Though she appeared to be totally flummoxed she reached to the floor by her feet, brought up her small duffel, and slid it onto the table in front of him.

Noah zipped the bag open and rummaged through, pulling out a baseball cap, a faded university jersey, and her small polka‑ dot makeup case.

“Do you have a pair of sunglasses? Wait, forget it, I’ve got mine. ”

“Okay, ” Molly said, “this is the part where you tell me what we’re going to do. ”

“Have you ever wondered how celebrities and public figures avoid all the hassle the rest of us have to go through when they need to suck it up and fly commercial? ”

“I’ve never thought about it. ”

“They make a call like I just made. All the major airlines have a VIP liaison in the big cities, and there’s a service company we’ve used from the office, KTL, that’s going to grease the way even more. They’ll meet us at the curb and walk us right to the plane‑ ”

“Hold it, hold it, ” Molly said. “We aren’t celebrities, Noah. ”

“No, you’re right. But I’m a rich kid from a powerful family, and it’s reasonable enough that they’d believe I could be dating a celebrity. ”

“What are you talking about? ”

He smiled. “I’m now dating Natalie Portman. ”

She looked at him as though his head had just turned into a pumpkin.

“Wait, what? ”

“It’s perfect, ” Noah said. “She’s an A‑ lister but she’s done mostly art‑ house films, so the average Joe probably couldn’t pick her out of a lineup. She’s about your size‑ ”

“I don’t look like Natalie Portman. ”

“You kind of do, actually, and we’ve got time to make a few tweaks before the limo arrives. ” He reached over to smooth one of her eyebrows with the pad of his thumb but she ducked it and swatted his hand away. “Relax, ” he said. “This is going to work. ”

“No, it isn’t. It’s not going to work at all. ”

He put his hand on hers, and though she still looked completely unconvinced, she didn’t pull away.

“Trust me, ” Noah said.

• • •

Molly came back from the bathroom after ten minutes in there with her kit and a few instructions from Noah. She was in her Vanderbilt sweatshirt, her hair was up in a casual bun at the nape of her neck, and she’d done just enough to her lips and brows and lashes to suggest a layman’s conception of a movie star who was wearing no makeup at all. The great advantage of this whole thing was that when celebrities are out in public trying to avoid a mob of fans and paparazzi, the last thing they want to resemble is who they really are.

She sat and looked over, with one of her newly perfected eyebrows slightly upraised in a regal but skeptical arch. Noah gave her the baseball cap and his sunglasses to complete the disguise. She put them on, pulled up her hood, and checked her reflection in the silver side of the napkin holder.

“Perfect, ” he said. “Absolutely perfect. Oh, wait. ” He took her makeup kit and searched through its contents until he’d found a small dark pencil with a dull tip. “Lean your face over here. ” Molly did, and he carefully and gently went to work. “Natalie has got two little tiny beauty marks, one here… and one… over here. ” He leaned back, squinted, and studied his masterpiece. “That’s it. We can put a bit of powder on those on the way and they’ll be fine. Come on now, the car’s already outside. ”

On the short ride to the airport he told her the backstory he’d given to Kyle, the executive service agent from KTL: Noah and young Ms. Portman had spent a wild weekend together painting the town, and things had gotten a little out of hand toward the end. She’d had her purse stolen, she wasn’t feeling well at all, and some nasty aggressive photographers had begun to bird‑ dog them. Now the mission was to spirit her out of the city while keeping her off Page Six of the New York Post.

As Noah had anticipated, this wasn’t an uncommon thing at all for KTL, and once they’d established who he was they accepted the rest of his story immediately. For a little less than two thousand dollars charged to his expense account‑ plus the cost of a full row in first class, to be billed separately‑ the plan was off and rolling with no further questions asked.

With the terminal in sight Noah took in a deep breath and then let it out on a slow count of ten. He looked over at Molly and she seemed to be meditating, or praying, hard to tell which, but any port was welcome in this storm.

“Now remember, ” he said, “the whole idea is that you don’t have to deal with anybody. You don’t have to talk to anyone and you don’t have to make eye contact with anyone, which is good because your eyes are the wrong color. I told them you’ve lost your ID so no one’s going to expect you to show it. You’re in the big club now, you’re a hotshot movie star who’s had a few rough days of partying, and you’re in no mood for any inconvenience. That’s what we’re paying all this money to avoid. But just keep thinking all that in your head; our guy and I will do all the talking. ”

True to his word, there ahead at the curb stood Kyle in his dapper suit, waiting with open arms at the appointed meeting place. The limo pulled to a stop, their host opened the door, and with a practiced sweep of his manicured hand he invited them into his care.

“Mr. Gardner, Miss Portman, ” Kyle said. “Right this way. ”

And right that way they went.

Most people know there’s a whole hidden part of Disney World the tourists never get to see. Underneath the sidewalks and behind the scenes, in a vast complex every bit as big as the park itself, this insider network of tunnels, workshops, machinery, and control rooms is where the magic really happens. Likewise, a major airport has its own sublevel of secrets, and our man Kyle held all the skeleton keys to this particular enchanted kingdom.

The trip through the public areas had been a breeze. The two men walked purposefully in front with Molly close behind them. For the most part they went unnoticed, though two or three random people did seem to sense that an incognito starlet might be moving in their midst. At every point along the way where the average passenger would have had to stop and deal with some slow, invasive procedure, there was a special someone stationed nearby to give the three of them a knowing wink, lift up the velvet rope, and wave them on through.

Halfway into the terminal Kyle stopped along the wall, looked furtively both ways, and then keyed open a featureless gray door. Like some portal from rural Kansas into the Land of Oz, inside this door was a large VIP room with elegant furnishings and sitting areas, a bar and some bistro tables, and down the center, a privately staffed setup for dignified, one‑ on‑ one security screenings.

“And now, my troopers, ” Kyle chirped, “just a quick run through the metal detector and then we’re on to preboarding for a nice, cool glass of champagne. Are we holding up all right? ”

“I think we’re fine, ” Noah said. Molly breathed an Oscar‑ worthy sigh of impatience and leaned her head against his arm.

As they approached the area with the X‑ ray conveyor a TSA employee got up from his chair, put down his magazine, and sidled up to his security post.

When he saw this man Noah stopped in his tracks so suddenly that Molly bumped into him from behind.

“Is something wrong? ” Kyle asked, frowning.

“Excuse us for a minute, ” Noah said. “I just remembered, we need to make a quick phone call. ”

He walked Molly over to the telephone kiosk near the door they’d come in, well out of earshot of Kyle and the others.

“Damn it, ” he whispered.

“What is it? ” Molly asked. “They’re all over there looking at us. ”

“Pretend you’re calling someone on the phone. I’ve got to think for a minute. ”

Molly picked up the receiver, put it to her ear, punched a few buttons, and pulled him a little closer. “Now tell me what’s going on. ”

“Check out the guy in the TSA outfit. ”

She did. “So? ”

“Are you kidding me? That’s a Star Wars geek if I ever saw one. ”

Maybe it was the Luke Skywalker blow‑ cut, his mismatched socks below the nerdish cut of his high‑ riding uniform trousers, or the soul patch and horn‑ rimmed glasses, but everything about this man was screaming king of the fanboys, and that was really bad news.

“I don’t understand‑ ”

Noah lowered his voice even more. “Natalie Portman is in all three of the Star Wars prequels. ”

“You’re remembering this now? ”

“I guess I hated those movies so much I’d blocked them out of my mind. But I’d bet my last dollar that dweeb knows Portman’s face like the back of his hand. You don’t understand these guys; he’s probably got a candlelit altar in front of her picture down in his mother’s basement. ”

Molly leaned around him to take another stealthy look, and swallowed hard. “What do we do? ”

“I vote we get out of here and think of something else. ”

“No, ” she said, and it sounded like the word was final. “We don’t have time. This is it. We’re here, let’s just do it. ”

After a last few seconds to find his nerve, he nodded, fixed her hood and eased the brim of Molly’s baseball cap down a little lower, hung up the phone for her, and then turned around to face the music.

Noah went first, and he passed through the arch of the metal detector without a single blip. Kyle had stationed himself next to the X‑ ray tech at the luggage conveyor, no doubt ready to smoothly rationalize any oddities that might show up in his clients’ carry‑ on. Their one item, her duffel bag, went into the long machine and came out the other side with no objection raised.

But the TSA man gave Noah a careful, steady look, as if he were toying with the idea of a wand‑ sweep and a pat‑ down, just for good measure.

Along with the recent change in alert status, an official DHS directive would have come around to remind all stations, even this special‑ purpose one, of the key markers for suspicious activity‑ last‑ minute ticket purchases for one‑ way travel, no checked luggage, nervous or flustered behavior, identification papers not in order‑ and this little party matched every warning sign.

Kyle cleared his throat meaningfully from where he was standing. This subtle, perfectly pitched intervention was sent to remind the room that this trip had already been preapproved from positions much higher than their own, and these two very important people weren’t to be unnecessarily troubled by the rigors of the standard inquisition.

With some visible reluctance, the stern young officer nodded and gave a jut of his chin to let the first subject know he’d been provisionally cleared for boarding.

So far, so good.

Noah retrieved his belt and his pocket items from the gray utility tub, and prepared to put on his shoes. He’d just begun to let himself believe that they were soon to be home free when the piercing tweet of the metal detector sounded off behind him.

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