seaplane terminal. It will arrive momentarily.”
“Thank you,” I said. Coming out of the air-conditioned building made the heat seem much more oppressive. The air felt heavy and damp when I inhaled, and I started sweating almost immediately. When the minivan arrived I climbed into the air-conditioned interior, telling myself I’d better not get too used to it. After the driver pulled up to the seaplane terminal he led me through a set of double doors. We crossed to another set of doors on the opposite side of the room and then we were back outside. Seaplanes were lined up, tied to a series of rectangular intersecting docks. I handed my boarding pass to the driver and he looked down at it and said, “Right this way, Mr. Sparks.”
I followed him to the seaplane and when he motioned for me to hand him my bag I gave it to him and watched as he boarded the plane. Looking around, I took in the blue water and the cloudless sky. Everything seemed so much simpler already, and I felt the last of my stress melt away.
A middle-age man popped his head out of the doorway of the plane.
“Captain Forrester?” I asked, stepping forward and reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m Owen Sparks.”
He took one look at me and shook his head. “Well, I’ll be goddamned,” he said, chuckling and clasping my hand in his. “You are not what I was expecting. How old are you, son?”
“Twenty-three,” I said. I didn’t take his reaction personally; I was used to it. It was the way I conducted business that made me appear older than I was. You couldn’t achieve what I’d achieved at such a young age by acting like a punk. People treated me with respect, listened to what I had to say.
I had no doubt that my net worth also set me apart from most of my peers. And there were times—like right then—when I was glad I had so much money. I’d earned it, and it was nice to use it for something I really wanted instead of feeling as if I had to give it to everyone just because they had their hand out.
“Well, come on,” he said. I followed him through the door of the cabin, and he pointed to the rows of seats behind him. “Sit wherever you like. Just make sure to fasten your seat belt.”
My duffel bag had been placed on a seat in the front row, so I sat down next to it and stowed it on the floor at my feet. I watched as Captain Forrester placed a headset on his head and started flipping switches. He spoke briefly into the microphone near his mouth, and as soon as he had clearance, we pulled away from the platform. We picked up speed and I felt the thrust when we lifted off.
As we flew I looked out my window, amazed at the view. I squinted against the bright sunlight that flooded the cabin and dug my sunglasses out of my bag. The cloudless sky was just as blue as the water below.
It took close to two hours to reach our destination. I hadn’t seen any land in a while, but finally the plane descended and I got my first look at the island. It wasn’t overly large, maybe a mile in length. Pristine, white-sand beach. Green vegetation. Palm and coconut trees reaching high up to the sky in the densely forested area near the center of the land mass.
I remember thinking that nothing bad could ever happen in such a beautiful place.
We landed right in the lagoon.
“Better take off those shoes,” he said.
I smiled when I looked down at his feet and realized he’d been flying the seaplane barefoot.
After I took off my shoes and shoved them into my bag he swung open the cabin door and we jumped into the knee-deep water. He opened the cargo hold on the side of the plane and we started carrying my supplies to the shore, making several trips in order to unload it all. Small schools of fish darted away as I walked in water as warm as a bath.
“Let’s go through the checklist and make sure I didn’t miss anything,” he said, after we’d placed the last of the gear on the sand. From his shirt pocket he pulled out a folded piece of