"Destroyer - 007 - Union Bust" - читать интересную книгу автора (Murphy Warren)

The vice-president handed Jimmy McQuade the smaller envelope.

"It'll take me about two weeks to get the right crew," said Jimmy McQuade.

The vice-president looked at his watch. "We got you for departure from Dulles in forty minutes. Maybe you can make some phone calls from the airport. You can also make a few from the plane."

"You can't phone from an airplane, a commercial liner."

"That should be your biggest worry. Believe me, on that flight the pilot will give you anything you want. Take a stewardess, too, if it won't tire you out. You begin tonight. It's a small suburb outside of Chicago. Nuihc Street. That's it. Funny name. It's a new street, named by the builders. Actually it's just an access road now. For the bulldozers and things."

The vice-president rose to shake Jimmy McQuade's hand.

"Good luck. We're counting on you. And when you're through, there's more than just that envelope. What the hell are you doing with those envelopes?"

Jimmy looked at the envelopes, puzzled.

"Don't walk out of here holding them in your hand. Put them in your pocket."

"Oh, yeah," said Jimmy McQuade. "Look, I'm working at another building and the companyЕ"

"That's been squared. That's been squared. Get out of here. You're going to miss your plane."

Jimmy McQuade had opened the envelopes in the cab taking him to the airport. There was $3,500 for him, and $1,500 for the men. He decided to switch envelopes and give the men the $3,500, keeping the $1,500 for himself. This resolution kept wavering all the way to the airport, descending on the men's side, ascending on his until he was back to the original split.

He sat in first class and ordered a drink. He wasn't going to ask the stewardess to let him make a phone call from the plane. He would sound like an idiot asking that.

Halfway through his rye and ginger, the pilot came down the aisle.

"McQuade?"

"Yes."

"Why the hell are you sitting here? We got the linkup to ground telephone."

"Oh. Yeah," said Jimmy McQuade. 'I just wanted to finish my drink."

"You're wasting a fortune in time. Take the drink with you."

"Into the cockpit?"

"Yes. C'mon. Wait. You're right."

"I thought so. Federal Aeronautics Authority rules."

"The stewardess will bring it. No point unsettling the passengers."

When the surprised telephone crew reached Nuihc Street at two in the morning, they found only steel beams and men working under floodlights.

Jimmy McQuade looked for the builder. He found him guzzling coffee, yelling at a crane operator.