Brodie wanted to add, “And if you agree, she’ll show you her scars.” But that might be promising more than he could deliver.
“What are we talking about?” Collins asked.
“A few things,” Brodie replied. “The first is that we can’t go back to Caracas.” He explained, “We are hot there. So after we leave Kavak, we need to fly to Bogotá.”
Collins nodded. “Okay…” He looked at his fuel gauge. “We should have enough fuel to make it to the border… then I’d need to check my charts to see where we can refuel in Colombia to get to Bogotá.”
Brodie said, “I don’t want you to humor us just because we’re carrying Glocks. I want you to do this voluntarily.” He added, “For your country.”
“Okay… Can I see some government ID?”
“You did. Our passports. You can see more ID if you ever get to Washington. But for now, the less you know, the better.”
“Okay…”
“And this flight to Colombia cannot be logged with Venezuela’s aviation authorities or with Apex. Comprende?”
“Yeah… but I will need to file a flight plan with Colombian air traffic control and request clearance.”
“All right. Once you’ve gotten us to Bogotá, you can fly back to Caracas and say whatever you need to say. You can say we skyjacked you. Whatever.”
“Okay… I can think of something.”
“I’m sure you can. And when you get back to Caracas, you can buy something nice for your girlfriend, and you’ll have five thousand dollars to do that.” Brodie added, “And you can put the extra fuel on my credit card.”
Collins nodded.
Brodie called out to Taylor, “Let’s pay Captain Collins up front.”
Collins seemed to have no objection to that, but asked, “What… I mean, are we staying here overnight?”
“Let’s stay flexible.”
“Okay… so… you meeting somebody here?”
“We may be picking someone up. You okay with that?”
Before Collins could reply, Taylor said from the back, “We are not picking anyone up.”
“Right. That was the last mission.”
Taylor said, “There is five thousand dollars in American currency in your flight bag, Captain.”
“Thank you.”
Brodie said to him, “And thank you for your service to your country, Captain.”
He nodded.
Taylor added, “When the story of what this is about can be told, you’ll receive the public thanks of our government.”
Brodie interjected, “Then you’ll really have to leave Venezuela.”
Collins forced a smile. Clearly he was not a hundred percent good to go.
Taylor leaned forward and put her hand on his shoulder, which Brodie thought was a smart move. Maybe she should sit in his lap. She said, “When we land, Clark and I may take a boat on the river. You’ll stay in Kavak and we’ll leave our bags with you. There’s more money in those bags. But we trust you to be there when we get back.”
Brodie wanted to whisper to Taylor, “Pinch his cheek,” but she slid her hand off his shoulder and sat back in her seat.
