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The first-class lounge at Heathrow provided Internet access in nice little cubicles providing some privacy, but Castillo decided against sending his boss an e-mail announcing where he was and where he was going. For one thing, Secretary Hall knew where he was going and didn’t expect a step-by-step report. Instead, Castillo had a drink and watched the BBC television news until an attractive British Airways passenger service representative came and collected him and an ornately costumed, tall, jet-black couple he thought were probably from Nigeria for no good reason except they were smiling and having a good time.
He also thought, perhaps unkindly, as they walked through the terminal to the boarding gate, that the Brits still had the class distinction business down pat and up and running. The passenger service rep had called him by name— including the von and the zu—in German. She had addressed the Africans, in French, as M’Sieu et Madame Le Ministre, which meant two things: that they were not Angolans, where the language was Portuguese, and that he was some sort of senior government official, which explained what they were doing in first class. The three of them were apparently the only first-class passengers.
The business-class passengers were lined up ahead of them in the airway, under the care of another passenger service representative, looking like so many third-graders being led into the school library. There were, he guessed, twenty or twenty-five of them; it took some time for them to pass through the final ticket check, which, of course, was waived for the upper class. The lower class had already been herded into economy, which occupied most of the rear of the Boeing 777 fuselage.
Once through the door and on the plane, three members of the cabin crew, under a steward, smilingly directed them left into the first-class compartment, which was in the nose.
He didn’t intend to look to the right, into the business-class section, because he usually found himself looking at someone disappointed that he wasn’t either a movie star or an oil-rich Arabian prince traveling with a high-priced, usually very blonde mistress-of-the-moment.
But he did look.
And Patricia Wilson looked back at him.
Jesus H. Fucking Christ! That’s the last fucking thing I need!
Was that really her?
You know goddamn well it was.
Did she recognize me?
Three to five she did. That wasn’t curiosity on her charming face; it was surprise.
What the fuck do I do about this?
The cabin attendant handed him a glass of champagne. Before he was half finished with it, the pilot ordered the cabin be prepared for flight.
The seat of his pants and the sound of the engines cutting back told him that they were at cruising altitude even though the FASTEN SEAT BELTS sign remained lit.
That was explained when the door to the flight deck opened and the captain, a middle-aged man with a Royal Air Force mustache, came out and quickly disappeared into the toilet.
Well, guess who forgot Rule 13? Piss before takeoff.
Castillo unlatched his seat belt and went to the toilet door.
When the captain came out, Castillo extended his business card.
“I’ve got a little problem you can solve in about ten seconds, Captain.”
The captain didn’t like being intercepted, but you don’t ignore—much less snap at—first-class passengers.
“How may I help you?” he asked.
“There’s a passenger in business, a fellow journalist, a very good-looking fellow journalist, Miss Patricia Wilson, who works for Forbes magazine. I would like very much to make this long flight in her company. Either move me back there or her up here.”
The captain looked around the first-class compartment. Only three of the eighteen seats were occupied.
He beckoned to the steward.
“The steward will take care of your little problem for you, sir,” the captain said when the steward was within hearing range.
“Thank you very much, Captain, I really appreciate your courtesy.”
“Not at all,” the captain said. “Glad I could be of service. ”
“I thought that was you,” Patricia Wilson said three minutes after the FASTEN SEAT BELTS sign went off. “You’re going to Luanda?”
“Is that where this thing is going?”
