Of the two, Jake was the cool one. Tucker had always found being cool a little elusive. As Jake put it, “You’ve got the look, but you can’t walk the walk or talk the talk. Tucker, you are a hopeless geek trapped in a cool guy’s body, but out of the goodness of my heart, I will take you on as my student.” They’d been friends for four years. Jake had taught Tuck to fly.

“He’ll be fine. He’s a jock,” Jake shouted over the buffeting wind. He hadn’t bought a top for the Land Rover, opting instead for the Outback package with the “patented rhinoceros poking platform.”

“He was just a kid. He was reading the Bible.”

“He would have ripped my arms off if I’d let him.”

Tuck nodded. That was probably true. “Where are we going?”

“The airport. Everything you need is in that pack in the back.”

Tucker looked into the back of the Rover. There was a large backpack. “Why?”

“Because if I don’t get you out of the country right now, you’re going to jail.”

“Mary Jean said she had that handled. Said her lawyers were on it.”

“Right, and I go around smacking kids with beer bottles for recreation. The hooker filed a civil suit this morning. Twenty million. Mary Jean has to throw you to the wolves to save her own ass. She has to let the court prove that you fucked up all on your own. I grabbed your passport and some clothes when I got your mail.”

“Jake, I can’t just take off like this. I’m supposed to see a doctor tomorrow.”

“For what?”

Tuck pointed to the lump of bandages in his lap. “What do you think? He’s supposed to take this damn tube out of me.”