Эд Макбейн - Love, Dad

“In fact, I’m calling because...”

“... how worried Mom and I have been. This is the best news I’ve...”

“The thing is, I’ll need some money, Dad.”

“Sure,” he said, “certainly.”

“To buy a plane ticket back.”

“Right, fine.”

“I was hoping you could wire me five hundred dollars care of American Express here in Venice, I have the address if you’d like to take it down. It’s Melissa Croft — well, you still know my name, I guess,” she said, and giggled, “care of American Express, 1261 Bocca de...”

“Why do you need five hundred, Liss? I’ll send you whatever it takes to get you home, of course, but five hundred sounds...”

“Well, just in case,” she said.

“In case of what? How much is the fare?”

“Two-seventy-seven. That’s one-way tourist from Venice to Kennedy. I’d have to connect either at Heathrow, or else Malpensa in Milan, or Orly in Paris. But the fare is the same either way.”

“If it’s two-seventy-seven, why do you need five hundred?”

“In case there’s a delay or anything. Frankly, Dad, I’m running short of cash. So in case we can’t get reservations and have to stay a day or two longer...”

“Who’s we?”

“Me and Barbara.”

“Even so, wouldn’t it be easier if I bought a prepaid ticket on this end?”

“No, I don’t think so. Anyway, I don’t want you to go to that kind of trouble. If you’d just send me five hundred care of American Express...”

“It wouldn’t be any trouble at all,” Jamie said. “In fact, it’d save you running around all over Venice trying to...”

“American Express is right in the Piazza, I can easily...”

“Let me prepay the ticket on this end, okay?”

“Why? Don’t you trust me?”

“I trust you, Lissie.”

“Then just send me the five hundred, okay?”

He hesitated, and then said, “I’d rather prepay it here. I’ll call Andrews Travel right away. I’m sure they can arrange to have a ticket waiting for you in Venice tomorrow morning. Maybe even sooner.”

“Well... where would that be? The ticket, I mean.”

“Let’s say the main office of Alitalia. I’m sure they have...”

“I don’t even know where that is. You see, Dad, that’s the point. If you sent me the cash, I could just drop by American Express, which is right here on the...”

“I’m sure you could find Alitalia’s main ticket office.”

“I guess so, but it’d be simpler...”

“I prefer doing it this way,” Jamie said.

There was a silence on the line.

“Okay?” he said.

“Sure,” Lissie said.

There was another silence, longer this time.

“I certainly don’t want to argue with you,” she said.

“Where are you staying?” he asked. “In case I need to reach you.”

“Why would you need to reach me? If you’re arranging for the ticket...”

“Just in case there’s any problem.”

“What kind of problem could there be?”

“Lissie... where are you staying?”

“Well... we haven’t found a place yet. We just got off the train a little while ago. We had something to eat at a little trattoria, and I called you right afterward.”

“What time is it there?”

“Six-thirty.”

“Will you find a place for the night?”

“Yes, sure, we’re both exhausted.”

“Be sure to go to Alitalia first thing tomorrow morning...”

“I will.”

“The main ticket office.”

“Right.”

“Find out where it is.”

“I will.”

“And when you’ve got the ticket, I’d appreciate it if you called home collect to let us know.”

“Collect is a hassle, Dad, but I’ll get through to you one way or another.”

“We love you, Lissie, and can’t wait to see you.”

“I love you, too,” she said.

“Call us in the morning.”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Right after you’ve picked up the ticket.”

“I will.”

“I love you, Liss.”

“I love you, too.”

He put the phone back on the wall cradle, and stood standing by the darkroom sink for several moments. Then he shoved open the door to the outer room, blinked against the sunlight, blinding after the amber-light blackness, and crossed at once to the telephone on his desk. He dialed Andrews Travel in White Plains and spoke to a woman named Miss Kirsch there, who told him Alitalia had a flight leaving Venice at 10:30 A.M. every morning — that was flight 189 — arriving in Milan at 11:40, and connecting with their flight 626 leaving Malpensa at 1:00 P.M. and arriving at Kennedy at 3:45 local time.

She told him a prepaid ticket could most likely be waiting for his daughter tomorrow morning at Alitalia’s main office on the Campo San Moise, but just to play it safe, he might instead consider booking a few days ahead, say Thursday, April 30, just in case any problem arose. Jamie told her to go ahead and book the Thursday morning flight in Melissa Croft’s name, and when asked for her local address, had to say he didn’t know where she was staying as yet. Miss Kirsch told him that the one-way ticket to Kennedy would cost $277 plus tax, and asked if he would like to put this on a credit card. He charged it to American Express, and after several more assurances from Miss Kirsch that the ticket would be there and waiting for Lissie, he hung up. His heart was pounding. He remembered all at once that he would be in Louisville on the thirtieth, and debated calling Lew Barker to beg off the assignment, get him to contact Sports Illustrated, see if they wouldn’t settle for another photographer. He didn’t know quite what to do. He was picking up the phone to call Joanna when he heard Connie’s car turning into the driveway. He went out of the studio, and reached her just as she was opening the door of the station wagon.

Grinning, he said, “Lissie just called from Venice. She’s fine, she’ll be coming home Thursday.”

“Thank God,” Connie said.

“I’ve already arranged for a prepaid ticket.”

“Thank God,” she said again.

He helped her with the grocery bags in the back of the wagon, carrying them to the house for her, and then — as he put the bags on the kitchen table, his back to her — he said, “What should I do about Louisville?”

“What do you mean?” Connie asked.

He turned to face her.

“I’m supposed to leave tomorrow,” he said.

“Yes, I know,” she said, and her eyes met his.

“Well... what should I do?”

“Do you want to go?”

“It’s a good assignment.”

Her gaze refused to waver. He felt suddenly that she knew he would not be going to Louisville alone, she had learned somehow about him and Joanna, or perhaps only sensed it, but she knew, she knew.

“Are you asking me whether you should go?” Connie said.

“Well... yes, I suppose so.”

“That’s a decision you have to make for yourself, isn’t it?”

“It’s just that... Lissie has to be picked up, you know. At the airport, you know.”

Her eyes were locked into his, her gaze was steady, searching. “Yes, I know,” she said.

“And I’d like to be here when she arrives.”

“Well, I could pick her up.”

“Yes, but...”

“It’s not such a big deal.”

“Still...”

“Can you get out of the assignment at this late date?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Or is it something...?” Connie hesitated. “Something you’re already deeply committed to?”

“I’d have to check with Lew.”

“Yes, check with him,” Connie said, and sighed. “I’d like to take a bath, I’m exhausted.” She hesitated again. “Would you... do you think you might want to come upstairs later? When I’m out of the tub?”