page4 (1/2)

This time, I did not drop it “Hello? Miranda? How are you?”

“Ah, no, sorry, it is not Miranda” The voice was a man’s, accented in French “This is Stefan Beauvoir The archaeologist Miranda is helping She wanted me to call you”

My internal alar happened to Miranda? Tell me”

“The doctor says it is—merde, how do you say it? — the rupture of the appendicitis?”

“Miranda’s got a ruptured appendix?”

“Oui, yes, a ruptured appendix She asked me to call and say, please, can you come?”

“Can I come? What, to France?”

“Oui Please, can you conon?” Ahveen-YOHN I didn’t like the sound of it “She is having the surgery now, and she will be very grateful if you can come”

“Doesn’t she want someone from her family?”

“Ah, but it is not possible I call her mother and her sister Neither one has a passport So she thinks next of you, and asks if you can please come quickly”

“Of course I’ll be there as soon as I can I’ll get on a plane this afternoon”

“Bon, good You can fly into Avignon, but the flights are better if you come to Lyon or Marseilles Marseilles is one hour by car”

Racing down the path and out the gate, I frantically flagged down the TBI chopper, which was quivering on its landing skids, transitioning toward flight Stone took off his headset, scrambled out of the helicopter, and hurried over to me

“Doc, is so?”

“Can you guys give et someplace fast”

“Where?”

“France”

Sixty seconds later, ere airborne again, this ti have turbo?” I asked the pilot By way of an answer, he rolled the helicopter into a 90-degree bank

“Holy shit,” I heard Stone squawk from the back

Ski low across the river, the chopper hurtled toward Neyland Stadiu the vicinity of the stadiu lots all look pretty full”

The pilot grinned “I think I see a spot thatscoreboard, we plunged straight into the bowl of the stadium

“Touchdown,” Stone deadpanned as we thumped into the south end zone

My secretary scarcely glanced up as i dashed past her desk and intodown the zipper of the greasy, sooty jumpsuit “I need you to do so off my boots and the jumpsuit, I tossed them in a corner