“No, we were in bed at the time.”
“Then I guess you weren’t wearing a wire.”
“Good guess.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever run into a problem quite like this,” Stone said.
“Me, either.”
“I suppose you’ve thought about spending it.”
“Well, yes, but I have everything I need, and I can afford a lot more, so what would I do with it?”
“You could put a big ribbon on it, leave it on the doorstep of your favorite orphanage, ring the bell, and run like hell.”
“I’ve thought of that, but I’m sure somebody would see me, and I’d get caught. Anyway, I don’t have a favorite orphanage.”
“You could just leave it in the tree until some lucky lumberjack chops it down and finds the money.”
“I’d worry about it. I’m tired of worrying about it.”
“How about this: You give the money to your lawyer . . .”
” Yeah, sure.”
“Wait a minute, I’m not finished. Then your lawyer calls the local chief of police and says he has a client who has come upon some money that he suspects is illegal, and the client wants to turn it in, if he can do so anonymously.”
“I’m the local chief of police. Aren’t we talking about a conspiracy?”
“A conspiracy to do the right thing?”
“I think you’re beginning to see the size of my problem.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Stone, you have an airplane, right?”
“Yes.”
“There’s an airstrip on the property. Why don’t you and I fly down there tonight, get the money, and bring it back up here. I’ll split it with you, fifty-fifty.”
Stone held up his hands as if to ward her off. “Oh, no, you’re not sucking me into this. Anyway, I’ve had a vodka gimlet. I can’t legally fly for eight hours. By the time we got down there it would be broad daylight.”
“So, we’ll do it tomorrow night.”
“Holly, I need some time to think about this.”
“I’ll bet you know how to get this into an offshore account, don’t you?”
“Sure, that’s easy. We just fly my airplane down to the Cayman Islands, find a bank, deposit it, and fly back. Customs doesn’t search you on the way out.”
“I like the sound of that,” Holly said.
“Of course, we’d have to sign a form saying that we haven’t taken more than five thousand dollars in cash or negotiable instruments out of the country. If we lied about it, that would be a felony.”
“It seems like such a little felony, doesn’t it?”
“That’s it. I’m not having any more to drink.”