by Stuart Woods
BOOKS BY STUART WOODS
FICTION
Hit List*
Treason*
Stealth*
Contraband*
Wild Card*
A Delicate Touch*
Desperate Measures*
Turbulence*
Shoot First*
Unbound*
Quick & Dirty*
Indecent Exposure*
Fast & Loose*
Below the Belt*
Sex, Lies & Serious Money*
Dishonorable Intentions*
Family Jewels*
Scandalous Behavior*
Foreign Affairs*
Naked Greed*
Hot Pursuit*
Insatiable Appetites*
Paris Match*
Cut and Thrust*
Carnal Curiosity*
Standup Guy*
Doing Hard Time*
Unintended Consequences*
Collateral Damage*
Severe Clear*
Unnatural Acts*
D.C. Dead*
Son of Stone*
Bel-Air Dead*
Strategic Moves*
Santa Fe Edge†
Lucid Intervals*
Kisser*
Hothouse Orchid‡
Loitering with Intent*
Mounting Fears§
Hot Mahogany*
Santa Fe Dead†
Beverly Hills Dead
Shoot Him If He Runs*
Fresh Disasters*
Short Straw†
Dark Harbor*
Iron Orchid‡
Two-Dollar Bill*
The Prince of Beverly Hills
Reckless Abandon*
Capital Crimes§
Dirty Work*
Blood Orchid‡
The Short Forever*
Orchid Blues‡
Cold Paradise*
L.A. Dead*
The Run§
Worst Fears Realized*
Orchid Beach‡
Swimming to Catalina*
Dead in the Water*
Dirt*
Choke
Imperfect Strangers
Heat
Dead Eyes
L.A. Times
Santa Fe Rules†
New York Dead*
Palindrome
Grass Roots§
White Cargo
Deep Lie§
Under the Lake
Run Before the Wind§
Chiefs§
COAUTHORED BOOKS
Bombshell** (with Parnell Hall)
Skin Game** (with Parnell Hall)
The Money Shot** (with Parnell Hall)
Barely Legal†† (with Parnell Hall)
Smooth Operator** (with Parnell Hall)
TRAVEL
A Romantic’s Guide to the Country Inns of Britain and Ireland (1979)
MEMOIR
Blue Water, Green Skipper
*A Stone Barrington Novel
†An Ed Eagle Novel
‡A Holly Barker Novel
§A Will Lee Novel
**A Teddy Fay Novel
††A Herbie Fisher Novel
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
Publishers Since 1838
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
penguinrandomhouse.com
Copyright © 2020 by Stuart Woods
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Woods, Stuart, author. | Hall, Parnell, author.
Title: Bombshell / Stuart Woods and Parnell Hall.
Description: New York : G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020. | Series: A Teddy Fay novel featuring Stone Barrington
Identifiers: LCCN 2019057176 (print) | LCCN 2019057177 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593083253 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593083277 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Barrington, Stone (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Intelligence officers—United States—Fiction. | Private investigators—Fiction. | GSAFD: Suspense fiction. | Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3573.O642 B66 2020 (print) | LCC PS3573.O642 (ebook) | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019057176
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019057177
p. cm.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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CONTENTS
Books by Stuart Woods
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
<
br /> Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Author’s Note
About the Authors
1
Teddy Fay woke up to the sound of breaking glass. He grabbed the remote control from the nightstand and clicked on the monitor of the high-tech security system Mike Freeman had installed in his house. A dozen views appeared showing the exterior, a red dot pinpointing the source of the break-in. Another click of a button and the image moved to fill the screen; Teddy could see a burly man attempting to get through the living room window. He was being thwarted by a second pane of glass that was far sturdier than the one he’d just broken.
Teddy grabbed a gun, slipped down the stairs, out a side door, crept up on the man, and jabbed the gun in his back.
The man whirled around and lunged for the gun.
Teddy groaned. Really? If Teddy had wanted to shoot him, the man would be dead. A mere burglar wouldn’t take that chance. Was he a hired assassin, or just dumb?
Teddy spun around and chopped down on the man’s arm. The intruder howled in pain, but he wasn’t done. He shoved his wounded hand into his pocket and came out with a snub-nosed revolver.
Teddy almost felt sorry for him. The man’s hand was numb, and he could hardly hold the gun. Teddy batted it away.
Three armored security vans roared up the driveway. A squad of Strategic Services agents poured out, guns drawn.
“Relax, gentlemen,” Teddy said. “The situation seems to be in hand.”
A young agent who appeared to be in charge said, “You’re Billy Barnett?”
“At your service.”
“Your system registered a security breach. Is this the intruder?”
“That he is.”
“We’ll be happy to take him off your hands.”
“I doubt if you’ll have him long. The system is also linked to the police. I believe that’s them now.”
A police car came up the drive with its red and blue lights flashing. A uniformed officer climbed out of the driver’s seat, surveilled the scene, and said laconically, “What’s all this?”
“Attempted B and E,” Teddy said. “I’m the homeowner. That’s the intruder. These gentlemen are private security guards who responded to my alarm.”
The officer turned to the agent. “You apprehended the intruder in the attempt to break and enter?”
The agent shook his head. “The homeowner apprehended the intruder.”
“Before you got here?”
“That’s right.”
The cop turned back to Teddy. “So you’re the only witness to the attempted break-in?”
“Aside from the alarm system he activated.”
“There’s no evidence he activated the alarm system.”
“Actually, there is. This is a Strategic Services system, with all the bells and whistles, including cameras. Here, take a look.” Teddy led the officer over to the front door. “The main control is in the master bedroom, but this is the downstairs terminal.” He pointed to a screen on the wall, and activated the control panel beneath it. An image immediately appeared on the screen, along with a graphic that read: FRONT LEFT WINDOW. The intruder had just smashed the outer window and was going to work on the inner. As the cop watched, he could see Teddy creeping up on the intruder and handily disarming him.
“There you are, Officer,” Teddy said. “As you can see, it was an armed B and E. I’ll give you a thumb drive of the video for evidence.”
“You have a gun?”
“I have a permit for it.”
“Good. Bring it down to the station with you, and you can swear out a complaint.”
Teddy glanced at his watch. “I’ll drop by later. Right now I’ve got a party to go to.”
“A party? It’s four in the morning.”
“Yeah, the party’s at five.” Teddy smiled. “Good thing the guy woke me up. I might have been late.”
2
It was still dark when Teddy pulled his 1958 D Model Porsche Speedster to a stop in front of Peter and Hattie Barrington’s house. He skipped up the front steps and rang the bell.
Peter Barrington opened the door. “Come in, the gang’s all here. The TV’s on and they’re about to start.”
“Relax. It’s the technical awards first. They don’t get to the real thing until five-thirty.”
“I’ll be sure to tell lighting and set design what you think of them,” Peter said dryly.
Teddy followed Peter out onto the veranda, where Hattie was sitting with Ben and Tessa.
Peter’s wife, Hattie, was a gifted composer and pianist, and had scored Peter’s latest movie, among others.
Ben Bacchetti was the head of the studio. He was also Peter’s best friend of many years. Their fathers, Stone Barrington and Dino Bacchetti, were also best friends.
Tessa Tweed Bacchetti had come to the studio as an aspiring young actress. She was now a star, and Ben Bacchetti’s wife.
Teddy had been in England for Peter and Hattie and Ben and Tessa’s double wedding. The young newlyweds were only partly aware of the role he had played in seeing that it went off without a hitch.
“There he is,” Tessa said. “I told you he’d be here.”
“Sorry I’m late,” Teddy said. “Someone tried to rob me.”
“Rob you?” Ben said.
Teddy shrugged. “Rob me or kill me, I’m not sure which. The police are asking him now.”
Tessa grinned. “Would you stop being so maddeningly casual? You may take these things in stride, but robbing and killing are not really that routine.”
“Well, I certainly hope to learn more about it, but the police have taken it out of my hands. The burglar couldn’t get through Mike Freeman’s security system, but he sure set off enough alarms. The poor guy never knew what hit him.”
“I’ll bet,” Ben said.
“But don’t let me spoil Oscar nominations morning. I was just explaining why I was late.”
“The only thing that could spoil this Oscar morning,” Hattie said, “is having a nervous breakdown waiting for it.”
“Who’s nervous?” Peter said. “No one’s nervous.”
“No one, I’m sure.” Hattie smiled teasingly. “Has anyone else noticed who hasn’t sat down once since everyone arrived?”
“I’m the host,” Peter said. “I’m greeting my guests.”
“I can attest to that,” Teddy said. “I arrived. He greeted me. He was a little concerned by my tardiness, but I wouldn’t characterize it as being nervous.”
Peter put up his hands. “Yes, yes, we can all play it cool. But it is the Oscars. Before they get going, let me say this.”
Peter took a breath. “I think it’s great we could get together this morning to celebrate our film. But while awards are nice, that’s not why we do this. We’re not out to win awards, only to make good movies. If we can do that, and turn o
ut a film we can be proud of, we don’t need outside validation. We know we’ve done a good job. You all know how I feel about you, and awards or not, I’m very pleased with how this all turned out.”
“Well, that’s gracious and self-deprecating,” Ben said with a grin. “In case you don’t remember, your picture just won a Golden Globe. An Oscar nomination is not such a long shot.”
“It won for Best Drama,” Peter said. “At the Globes you’re only competing with half the films. There’s a strong field of comedies this year.”
Hattie laughed. “Would someone nominate him already, before this naysayer ruins the whole party?”
Hattie got the first nomination for Best Original Score. The announcement was cause for jubilation. Hattie had been passed over by the Golden Globes. Peter had reassured her that the Golden Globe voters weren’t necessarily the most knowledgeable of the category, and Oscar voters would know better. He was delighted to have been proven right.
“What did I tell you?” Peter said.
“Oh, God,” Hattie said. “Now we’re going to have to listen to him take credit for my nomination all morning.”
Peter had his own nominations to brag about. He scored two, for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.
Finally they got to the acting categories. Best Supporting Actor was first. Stuntman character actor Mark Weldon got a nod for his turn as villain Leonard Kirk.
“Too bad he’s not here,” Teddy said, and everyone laughed.
There was a tense moment when they got to Best Actress. None of the first four names were Tessa Tweed. For the first time all morning, the room was deathly quiet.
“And Tessa Tweed,” the announcer said, “for Desperation at Dawn.”
The announcement was met with relief, laughter, and applause.
“Told you so,” Teddy said
“You realize this ups her price for your next film,” Ben kidded Peter.
Peter smiled. “What are you telling me for? You’re head of the studio.”
“Oh, hell.”
After all that, it was almost an anticlimax when the film was nominated for Best Picture.
3
On the other side of town, Viveca Rothschild, dubbed the Blonde Bombshell by the press, was hosting a similar Oscar party. Twenty-nine, lithe, blonde, and voluptuous, Viveca had already racked up two nominations in her career, but she had never won. After a lifetime of playing femmes fatales, her departure role in a romantic comedy had been a gamble, but it had paid off. Dancing, singing, and delivering big laughs, she had wowed the critics with her versatility, earning her best reviews ever. After taking home her first Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, an Oscar nomination was all but assured.