“I see, I guess.”

Stuart Campbell looked at him again. “That ploy of yours was brilliant, you know.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Doing the alternative audio track to demonstrate that the tape could have been staged. Impeccable logic.”

“Thank you.”

“So, where are you going professionally, former District Judge Jay Reinhart? As you see, I know your history.”

Jay shook his head. “I don’t know, really. Probably back to Wyoming.” He began to smile skeptically and turned to look at Campbell. “Why? Are you offering me a job or something?”

“Good heavens, no!” Campbell laughed, falling silent just as rapidly. “But, on the other hand, you never know. If you start practicing over here, I might just have to hire you to keep from having to meet you on the battlefield.”

Jay snorted. “Yeah, as if I’m a threat to Sir William Stuart Campbell.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Mr. Reinhart. Were I your senior partner, I would be heaping praise and reward on your shoulders this minute for your handling of this matter.”

Jay pushed away from the railing and turned toward the senior lawyer.

“Well, you know something, Sir William? This may all be a game to you, but to me the law is a very serious thing, especially when someone’s life hangs in the balance. It matters a lot to me. So I’m very thankful I’m not your partner. Now, what’s the real reason you asked me to meet you here?”

Stuart Campbell smiled and reached in his inside coat pocket to pull out a small audiocassette tape.

“What’s that?” Jay asked.

“The openly taped record of a phone call between myself and President Miraflores several weeks ago. I thought you might like to have it.”

“What’s… on it?” Jay asked.

“President Miraflores’s angry voice as he quakes with anticipation of John Harris’s handcuffed arrival in Lima and makes plans for trying, convicting, sentencing… and burning John Harris alive. You see, one of Miraflores’s brothers was a drug dealer, and the brother’s death in that raid was the main source of his fury against John Harris. The stated intentions on this tape would have instantly prevented extradition, if needed.”

“You held that tape back!”

“Of course I did. I assumed it was protected under attorney-client privilege.”

“Okay, but then… then it’s still privileged…”

Stuart smiled and shook his head, his eyebrows flaring in mock surprise. “Apparently I was wrong. I checked my phone log and discovered this conversation predated my taking the case. So you’re welcome to use it anyway you see fit. Mr. Miraflores is no longer my client.”

Jay took the offered tape and balanced it in his hand. “Why now, Sir William?”

Stuart Campbell chuckled and stood away from the railing, ready to depart. “Because, Mr. Reinhart, the law and justice matter a lot to me, too. They always have.”

Jay watched in mild shock as the big lawyer turned and walked away.

So, Sir William Stuart Campbell had controlled it all from the beginning, Jay thought. Even Campbell’s defeat before Mr. Justice O’Connell had been consonant with his plan to drag an ex-President to the brink and yank him to safety just in time. He’d been John Harris’s prosecutor and savior rolled into one, and, as always, master of the game.

Jay quietly slipped the audiocassette into his pocket and turned back toward the river to lean on the railing, his mind furiously working on the question Campbell had asked him.

So where am I going professionally? Where should I go? He thought about Sherry and the trip they’d be taking together the next day if her schedule worked out.

Something else Sir William had said flashed across his mind, a comment about legal battlefields with Jay on the front lines.

Maybe I should think about resuming an international practice, Jay thought. It was a possibility he’d have to explore, and Ireland might just be a pretty good place to start.

Acknowledgments

While the world of aviation is my domain, I am also a lawyer, and Headwind gave me an extraordinary opportunity to meld both the aeronautical and legal worlds together in an exciting romp that has many dimensions, all of them needing the research help of numerous people in Europe and the Americas, some of whom I’d like to thank publically and specifically.

First, as always, the evolution of this story was helped immensely by the constant and patient editorial and developmental assistance of my wife, Bunny Nance.

I want to express my appreciation to my prime advocate at Putnam, Senior Editor David Highfill, whose top-flight abilities at fine-tuning the manuscript always make a good story even better. And my thanks, as well, to my Publisher, Leslie Gelbman, and to my long-time agent and friend Olga Wieser of the Wieser and Wieser Literary Agency in New York.

Here in Washington State, the demanding day-to-day task of line-editing, polishing, and helping to shape this work was performed again with indefatigable energy by Patricia Davenport, who is also my business partner, an English Master, and my world-class in-house editor who never seems to run out of red pens.

I could not have rendered an accurate description of how Irish justice would have handled this international crisis without the learned assistance of a world-class Barrister named Patrick Dillon-Malone of Dublin, Ireland, who spent time instructing me and assisting the editing process, as well as directing my visits to the historic Four Courts building and appropriate pubs. My thanks also to Dubliners Mike Rogan of Parc Aviation at Dublin Airport, Feidhlim O’Seasnain, and Peter Donnelly (a member of the Shelbourne Hotel’s management staff), and to my daughter, Dawn Nance, who lives in Ireland and whose suggestions sparked the idea to bring the “circus” to town.

In London, I want to acknowledge also the kind assistance of Solicitor Leslie Cuthbert, who helped significantly in understanding the Bow Street Courts, and the assistance of Mr. John Coles of Metro Business Aviation at Heathrow.

And back home in the States, a hearty “Thank You” to Gary and Elizabeth Rhoades, Jim and Kelly Watt, Kirk T. Mosley, and Msg. Jerry Priest, and fellow attorney Ross Taylor for helping proof the results.

The year 1999 was marked by many things, but the passing of my longtime friend George Wieser was especially difficult. George was there in the beginning of my authorship with an indomitable optimism, and an infectious pride when we reached the bestseller lists with both nonfiction and fiction. He was a gentleman and a scholar and a fighter and that rarest of commodities: an honest man. I shall miss him in this life.

About John J Nance

JOHN J. NANCE, a native Texan who grew up in Dallas, holds a Bachelor's Degree from SMU and a Juris Doctor from SMU School of Law, and is a licensed attorney. A decorated Air Force pilot veteran of Vietnam and Operations Desert Storm/Desert Shield, he is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the USAF Reserve, well known for his involvement in Air Force human factors flight safety education. John has piloted many jet aircraft, including Boeing 727's, 737's, 747's, and Air Force C-141's and has logged over 13,000 hours of flight time in his commercial airline and Air Force careers. John flies his own aircraft and is a veteran Boeing 737 Captain for a major airline.