by Stuart Woods
“It also occurs to me that Roger and Felicity were discussing what must be a highly classified operation in your presence, as if you were cleared to hear it. I don’t know about Roger, but it’s very unlike Felicity to discuss something like that in an unclassified environment.”
“That seemed to be Fife-Simpson’s decision,” she replied. “And, you may recall, Dame Felicity spoke only to scotch the idea.”
“Then is it not true that your employer is a certain intelligence service, rather than a London hospital?”
She reached for his nether region and fondled him. “I can neither confirm nor deny your conjecture. I can, however, help you forget that you asked.”
“That is certainly a possibility,” Stone said, moving closer to give her easier access.
She kissed his ear, then used her tongue. “I thought you might think so,” she whispered.
11
The next morning they were having breakfast in bed when Rose said, “You’re very quiet this morning.”
“I suppose I am,” Stone said. “My discovery that you are playing on Dame Felicity’s team has confused me.”
“How so?” she asked.
“Well, are you here in my house and my bed and my pants because you have made that choice, or because duty requires it of you?”
“That’s an insulting question,” she replied.
“I’m sorry if it seems so. As I said, I am confused, and while in that state, should not be required to make discerning judgments about the emotional state of others.”
“Would you like me to go?”
“I would not. I would merely like you to familiarize me with your current state of mind and your intentions.”
“My current state of mind is serene,” she said, “when I am not being asked annoying questions.”
“And your intentions?”
“Honorable.”
“May I assume, then, that your presence in my bed and pants is entirely voluntary, rather than specified in paragraph six, line two, of your marching orders?”
“You may assume that my presence in your bed and pants is not only voluntary, but enthusiastic, and unrelated to any orders issued to me by my superiors, if such exist. Would you like a demonstration of that enthusiasm?”
Stone smiled. “Yes, please.”
She rolled him onto his back, took him into her mouth, and did not stop until he screamed, “Uncle!”
“I trust that settles your mind,” she said.
“Entirely,” he replied.
Stone’s phone rang and he grabbed it from the bedside table. “Hello?”
“It’s Dino.”
“Good God! What time is it in your world?”
“Sometime after midnight,” he replied. “Viv has been summoned to London for a few days of business consultations. Would you be annoyed if I parachuted into your current location for that time?”
“I would be delighted to see you both,” Stone said.
“Then look for us on your airstrip late in the afternoon.”
“We will be ready to receive you.”
Dino hung up.
“Are we going to have company?” Rose asked.
“We are indeed: my best friends, Dino and Vivian Bacchetti. She has business in London, but he does not.”
“May I assume that they will have their own room?”
“You will not be required to share a bed with them.”
“I must tell you that, according to the gossip, Dame Felicity is, shall we say, impartial where the gender of her bed partners is concerned. I was a little afraid that more would be expected of me than I might be willing to give—not that she is unattractive.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny those rumors,” Stone said. “But I can tell you that the Bacchettis have no such inclinations, so the only hand you may expect to land on your knee will be mine.”
“I don’t want to seem a prig,” she said. “I have, on widely separated occasions, dabbled in that sort of thing, and with pleasure. But Felicity is not my type, whatever that is.”
“Got it.”
* * *
—
In the late afternoon, Stone got a satphone call from an airplane.
“Yes?”
“Ten minutes out,” Dino said, then hung up.
Stone and Rose got into the Cayenne and drove down to the airstrip in time to watch the big Gulfstream settle onto the runway, then taxi to the ramp. Stone pulled the car up to the aircraft and introduced Rose to the Bacchettis while the plane’s crew loaded their luggage into the SUV. Moments later they were back at the house, and the Gulfstream was climbing.
* * *
—
They settled into the library while Geoffrey, the butler, served drinks.
“Why are you limping?” Dino asked Stone.
“A slight accident,” Stone replied.
“One that totaled a quarter-of-a-million-pound motorcar,” Rose added.
Stone explained what had happened.
“So how did your training go?” Dino asked. “Was it as bad as I told you it would be?”
“Nearly,” Stone said, “but I’m getting through life with only an Ace bandage on my ankle, though I’ve had to give up tap-dancing for a while.”
“Were you able to keep up with the younger kids?”
“The younger kids were in their thirties,” Stone said, “and pudgy.”
“Have you learned how to be a British spy?”
“Only the rudiments.”
“I could still take him with a knife,” Rose said.
“I should explain that Rose, in addition to being a surgeon, may be one of Felicity’s flock. We can’t be sure.”
“Is that convenient for everybody?” Viv asked.
“Well, if she is of that flock, that means she gets paid for being here,” Stone said.
“You should get a bonus for putting up with Stone,” Dino said.
“Oh, he has his uses.”
“I won’t explore that,” Dino said. “Tell me, are the two of you still in mortal danger?”
“Our fearless leader seems to believe that he bagged them all,” Rose said. “But now that you mention it, he didn’t actually claim to have done that.”
“Should I go armed?” Dino asked.
“Why not?” Rose said. “I am.”
“You are?” Stone asked.
She produced a small 9mm pistol.
“Cleverly concealed,” Stone said.
“Don’t ask where.”
“I’m going to need to search you more thoroughly from now on.”
She laughed. “Anytime.”
“Well,” Viv said, rising. “I’m going to have a little nap before dinner.” She looked at Dino. “And you, my darling?”
“Sorry,” Dino said, rising. “I missed my cue.”
“Drinks at seven, dinner to follow,” Stone said.
Rose stood. “I could use a little nap myself.”
“Got that!” Stone said, following her upstairs.
12
The following morning Stone was dressing when he got a phone call.
“It’s Felicity. Can you pop down to your dock, alone, for a chat?”
“Ten minutes,” Stone said.
“Perfect.” She hung up.
“Rose, I have to go out for a bit. Will you excuse me?”
“Can’t I come?”
“It’s a private matter.”
“Oh, all right. See you at lunch?”
“Sure. If you’d like to take a ride before then, invite Dino. When he was a boy his parents sent him to a dude ranch in Montana for a summer, to get rid of him, and he hasn’t gotten over it yet.”
“Perhaps I’ll do that.”
“Just press the button on the
phone marked Stables.”
“Right.”
Stone went downstairs, got into the golf cart, and drove down to his dock, just in time to take Felicity’s lines. “Good morning,” he said.
“And to you. I have Bloody Marys already mixed. May I pour you one?”
“Thank you, yes.”
She opened a thermos bottle and poured two glasses.
“What’s up?” Stone asked, raising his glass and taking a sip.
“I wanted to speak to you about our newly minted brigadier,” she said.
“Your new number two.”
“Yes, but he was not my choice.”
“Then what’s going on, Felicity?”
She sat down next to him on the cockpit seat. “I appear to be under unusually intense scrutiny from above.”
“From how far above?”
“At least the foreign minister, to whom I report, but probably the PM, as well, and possibly the whole of the cabinet.”
“Then all that’s left is the editorial board of the Times.”
“That would not surprise me,” she said.
“What have you done to warrant all this attention from your betters?”
“I’ve thought about it, and I can’t imagine what.”
“Oh, come on, Felicity. You are always at odds on four or five things with the government. Pick one.”
“The strangest thing about all this is that I can’t think of one that would so turn up the temperature. It is a peculiarly tranquil time at the Circus.”
“All right, then why is Colonel—sorry, Brigadier Fife-Simpson, the instrument of their suspected displeasure?”
“I didn’t even know the man six months ago,” she said. “Then he was foisted upon me as director of training at Station Two, and he has, I must admit, done a very good job. The curriculum has been improved, and the failure rate among candidates has dropped markedly.”
“You mean, even I passed?”
“Well, yes, but that wouldn’t have surprised me.” She placed a hand on his cheek. “I knew you’d do well, that’s why I egged you on. What was your impression of the quality of the training?”
“High and intense. I haven’t learned so much in such a short time for many years—not since I took a cram course for the New York State Bar in preparation for taking the exam. Mind you, back then I was merely learning what I had already forgotten during the years since law school.”
“And the physical demands?”
“Demanding. Fortunately I was in pretty good shape—better than my classmates, who had been warming chairs for too long.”
“Those classmates, my dear, were the crème de la crème of our recruitment.”
“They were bright, I’ll give them that, but pudgy. The only one near my age who gave me a run for my money was Fife-Simpson himself, who took part in the long runs, and he looks to be a few years older than I.”
“He is three years older,” Felicity said.
“Oh,” Stone said. “I had to work hard to outrun him.”
“And what parts of the training did you dislike?”
“The knife training, using real knives. That was excessive, I thought—closer to street fighting than military. Fife-Simpson could have gutted me at will, I’m sure, and there were times when I thought he might.”
“Funny you should mention that,” Felicity said. “Legend has it that when he was a young lieutenant in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, he walked into the wrong pub and was set upon by half a dozen IRA toughs. He killed two of them with a broken bottle and reduced the other four to whimpering lumps of flesh.”
“I’m glad I didn’t know that when we were training,” Stone said.
“I’m glad he showed some restraint,” Felicity said.
“Look, it sounds to me as though the powers that be have sent you a good man. Perhaps the thing to do is to use him well.”
“I knew you would say something sensible like that,” she replied. “Men!”
Stone laughed. “Would you rather they had sent you a bumbling idiot?”
“Yes, quite frankly. Bumbling idiots are easier to handle. They need only to be exposed. How would you handle this, Stone?”
“Either find a way to shunt him aside, or give him the toughest job you’ve got. That way he will either show himself to be inadequate to the task and humiliate those who sent him—or, he will solve your problem. I’d call that a win-win situation.”
Felicity sighed. “I was hoping you’d suggest that I just have him taken out and shot.”
“Then he wouldn’t be any good to you at all.”
Felicity kissed him lightly on the lips. “I wish they’d sent me you,” she said.
“Tell me, had you ever met Rose before our dinner together?”
“No, she is apparently too junior for me to have had contact with her. Why do you ask?”
“Just wondering,” Stone replied.
13
Stone went back to the house. On the way he saw Rose and Dino galloping across the meadow, making for the stone wall. He went into the house, to the library, lit a fire, found a book, and read while the butler set the table for lunch.
A few minutes later Viv came into the library, found a Country Life, and took a seat opposite from him. “It appears,” she said, leafing through the magazine, “that this publication exists for the purpose of displaying fine houses to be sold by the wealthy to the rich. Oh, look,” she said, holding it up. “An actual article—about cooking on those massive AGA stoves they have.”
“When did you last cook something, Viv?” Stone asked.
“Right before I went into the Academy. Then after I met Dino, I couldn’t cook anything Italian without insidious remarks about the cooking of his mother—who was, by the way, a vile cook. After that, I gave it up.”
“Smart move. I had his mother’s cooking once—just once—and you describe it accurately.”
“This is typical,” she said, holding up the magazine. “Five bedrooms and two baths. How does that work?”
“One for guests, I suspect. And a few years ago, they wouldn’t have had central heating.”
“And yet your house, despite its size, is quite cozy.”
“But the gas bill would be enormous if the staff didn’t turn off the heat when I’m not in residence. I have to give them a couple of days’ notice that I’m coming.”
Viv was quiet for a moment. “Rose seems nice,” she said.
“Oh, she is.”
“I didn’t mean in bed. I meant, generally speaking.”
“She is that, too.”
“How did you meet?”
“I was involved in a minor accident in Scotland . . .”
“You mean the one in which you totaled Felicity’s Aston Martin when it fell twelve feet off a bridge?”
“Well, yes.”
“How did you happen to have Felicity’s car?”
“She drove it up there on an inspection tour of the camp. She loves to drive. I was to drive it back for her. I like to drive, too.”
“I’m sorry, how did the accident involve Rose?”
“I came to in their infirmary and she . . .” He stopped and thought for a moment. “I was going to say that she was in charge of treating me . . . but she wasn’t. There was a male doctor in charge, but I didn’t see him again after she arrived on the scene.”
“What was she doing at a training camp for MI-6?”
“She was on a locum. That’s where one doctor fills in for another, while he’s on vacation.”
“What was the place like?”
“Not what you’d call comfortable,” Stone said. “In fact, the training seemed designed to make everyone uncomfortable. It was very military.”
“And why would Rose want to do a locum at such a place?”
&nb
sp; “You’d have to ask her that. Her reasons never came up in conversation.”
“If I know you, Stone, there wasn’t a great deal of conversation. On any subject.”
“Now, now. I can be quite chatty, you know.”
“Well, you’re a great chatter-upper, as the Brits would say, but conversation?”
“You and I are having a very nice conversation, aren’t we? And I’m holding up my end.”
“I suspect that you spent most of your time holding up her end,” Viv said, archly.
Stone laughed. “You remind me of Felicity sometimes.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should.”
The door opened and Rose and Dino came in, still in their riding clothes.
“Dino,” Stone said, “where on earth did you find the riding gear?”
“In the village,” Dino said, “at your suggestion, the last time I was here. I just left it in the closet when I went home, and when I came back, it was still there, cleaned and pressed.”
Geoffrey came in and announced lunch, and they moved to the table.
“Rose,” Viv said, “Stone was just telling me you did a locum at the training camp in Scotland.”
“I did,” Rose replied.
“And where are you based in London?”
“I’m on a sort of rotation,” she said, “something like your judges used to be.”
“You ride a mule from village to village?”
“I drive a mini from hospital to hospital,” Rose replied. “Next week I start at St. George’s for two weeks.”
“Oh, yes, at Hyde Park Corner.”
“That’s the one,” Rose said. “You know your London, Viv.”
“As long as I have an A to Z Guide in my handbag,” Viv replied.
“Did you have a good ride this morning?” Stone asked.
“Oh, yes,” Rose said.
“I could hardly keep up with her,” Dino added.
“I’m a farmer’s daughter,” Rose said. “There were always horses.”
“Where was the family farm?”
“In Rutland, in the north of England. It’s the country’s smallest county.”