by Stuart Woods
“A good shoe repair shop,” Pablo said.
“Jim’s Shoe Repair, East Fifty-ninth, between Park and Lex.”
“Thank you so much, Stone.”
“They’ll be here at nine sharp on Monday morning,” Stone said. “I suggest you come here at eight for breakfast, so we can have a little time to talk.”
“I’ll be there at eight sharp,” Pablo said.
“Good day, then.” Stone hung up. This was going to be either fun or absolute hell, depending on how Lance conducted himself, and Stone knew he could do little about that.
THIRTY-TWO
Stone was nearly done for the day when Joan buzzed once again. “Stephanie Gunn Fisher for you on line one.”
Stone thought that sounded like the name of a substantial heiress and socially prominent woman, which, of course, she was.
He pressed the button. “Good afternoon, Stephanie.”
“Hello, Stone,” she said cheerfully. “How are you?”
“I’m very well indeed, and I hope you and Herbie are, as well.”
“We’re very well, too.”
Stone hoped that, since the health of everyone involved had been established, she would get on with it. She did.
“Herbie has told me of your interest in investing with the Gunn company, and I’m happy to tell you that I’ve discussed it with Jack, and he has agreed to accept you as one of his investors.”
Stone thought as fast as he could. “That’s certainly good news, Stephanie, but since speaking with Herbie about the investment, there have been some changes in my financial setup, so I won’t be able to avail myself of that opportunity at the present moment.”
There was a long silence. “Something I can help with, Stone? A loan or a line of credit, perhaps?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Stone said. “I just have a few things to sort out before I can make the commitment.”
“I see,” she said, and there was a cool edge to her voice.
“I’m very grateful for your speaking to Jack about me, and I will certainly understand if he wants to change his mind, but I just can’t do it right now.”
“Would you care to mention a time when we should talk again?”
“I’ll be in touch as soon as things have calmed down a bit.”
“Tell me, Stone, are you in any way connected to the security firm Strategic Services?”
“Yes, I’m their outside counsel and a member of their board.”
“Are you aware that they have submitted a request to withdraw their investment from our company?”
“They consult with me mostly on legal matters, not financial ones, and since I’ve only recently been appointed, I haven’t attended a board meeting yet.”
“I see. I hope the recent flare-up of publicity hasn’t played a part in their decision, because everything at Gunn Investments is in apple-pie order.”
“I’m glad to hear that, and I’ll be happy to convey your assurances to the CEO when next I see him.”
“Thank you, Stone, and I wish you a pleasant week.” Stephanie hung up.
Stone sighed, relieved that he had avoided telling an outright lie to get through that conversation.
Joan buzzed again. “Pablo for you.”
“Hello, Pablo,” Stone said.
“Stone, I have just learned from a reliable source that my passport and those of my family have been flagged by the State Department and thus may not be used to enter or leave the country.”
“That’s not good news, Pablo. I’m sorry.”
“You must get back to Mr. C. and tell him that these flags must be lifted at once, or I will be unable to speak with him and his people next week.”
“I’ll do the best I can, Pablo, but we have a signed agreement with him that does not include this problem. I’ll speak to him; perhaps he will be of help.”
“Thank you. I’ll wait to hear from you.”
Stone hung up and looked in his book for a cell number for Lance, then dialed it.
“Yes?”
“It’s Stone. Something disturbing has come up.”
“How sad. What do you want?”
“The American passports of Pablo and his family have been flagged, preventing them from entering or leaving the country.”
“Well, I suppose you’ll have to take that up with the IRS, Stone,” Lance said. “It’s their beef.”
“No, it’s not; it’s the State Department who has flagged the passports. Will you look into this, please? I know that the Agency has a close working relationship with State, and I don’t want to see Pablo struck mute by this easily solved problem.”
“Clearly, you have never dealt with the State Department, and I resent your suggestion that Pablo might violate our agreement.”
“That is not his intention, Lance, as I’m sure it was not your intention to have Pablo and his family inconvenienced in this manner. I hope we can sort this out to prevent any dissension among us.”
“Well, I’ll be happy to phone someone at Foggy Bottom, but I can’t make any promises.”
“I’m sure when your contact there learns of the great value of Pablo to national security, he will see the light.”
“May I have the numbers of the passports, please?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary, Lance: we both know your contact will have those at the tap of a keyboard.”
“Perhaps,” Lance said. “We’ll see. I don’t know if he’ll still be in his office at this hour, but I’ll leave a message if he isn’t, and I’m sure he’ll get back to me in due course.”
“I would think that you would be able to reach him now, just as I was able to reach you, and he will be able to instruct the proper person to remove this obstacle before the weekend.”
“Where is Pablo at this moment, Stone?”
“I don’t know, Lance. He has visited me here, but most of our communication has been telephonic. He could be anywhere.”
“I hope he doesn’t have it in his mind to scamper; perhaps you should relay to him the difficulties such an action could visit upon him.”
“Lance, you’ve recently kidnapped the man from his home, snatched him off a highway in Spain and forced him to enter the U.S. illegally, without proper extradition, and then threatened him with torture. I don’t think there’s anything I can tell Pablo about your methods that he doesn’t already know.”
“I hope you’re not going to be difficult about this, Stone. I’m beginning to feel just the tiniest bit stressed by your client’s wavering.”
“Lance, it is within your power to resolve this matter within hours, if not minutes, thereby restoring your monkish state of serenity. We will look upon your immediate actions for a sign of your good faith.”
“Once again, Stone, I must point out that if this has anything to do with the IRS, that’s beyond my purview.”
“I’m sorry, Lance, but I forgot to mention in our previous conversations that Pablo resolved all issues with the IRS years ago and we have in our possession a letter from that agency’s director confirming that, as far as it is concerned, Pablo has been, since that time, an upstanding citizen. All that remains is for you to straighten out the State Department, so that we may independently confirm that the flags have been lifted and will not be reinstated.”
There was a brief silence. “I’ll get back to you,” Lance said, then hung up.
Stone called Pablo. “I’ve spoken to Mr. C. and he has agreed to call his contact with the State Department. He’ll get back to us.”
“God, I hope so,” Pablo said.
“It’s important, Pablo, that you take no action in response to this matter. Are we clear about that?”
“All right,” Pablo said, then hung up.
Stone rested his forehead on the cool, glass top of his desk and whimpered.
THIRTY-THREE
Stone arrived at Elaine’s to find Woodman & Weld’s managing partner already seated with Dino and already drinking.
“Evening, Bill,
Dino,” Stone said as he slid into a chair only slightly behind the Knob Creek that had been placed on the table.
“Evening, Stone,” Eggers said.
Stone looked at Bill for signs of pleasure or displeasure, but he wore his usual, very effective poker face.
“Anybody hungry?” Stone asked, picking up a menu.
“Sure,” Dino replied.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Eggers said.
“Well,” Stone said, “I hope your digestion improves quickly, because I’m starved.” He wasn’t about to ask if something was troubling Eggers.
Eggers fingered the menu, then set it down. “I have heard a rumor, Stone, that you may somehow be connected with a Mercedes automobile that somehow found its way into a Rye swimming pool.”
Stone looked at him askance. “You think I’ve been running around Westchester County, driving expensive automobiles into swimming pools? I assure you, my Mercedes is cozily tucked into my garage at home and has not been out for days.”
“I saw something about that on TV,” Dino said innocently.
“There’s all sorts of strange stuff on TV these days,” Stone replied. “Probably some reality show gone wrong.”
“I’ve heard it was a different kind of show gone wrong,” Eggers said. “And I’m concerned that my firm’s putative next partner might be associated with such a stunt. Dr. Holland, owner of the pool in question, is a client of the firm, and he is not as amused as everyone else in the country to find a large chunk of twisted steel in his pool. He is having to remove extensive plantings in his garden in order to get a crane in position to hoist the thing onto a flatbed truck, and there are questions as to whether his insurance covers falling German hardware.”
“Bill, please tell me exactly what you have heard about my alleged connection to this event and from whom you have heard it.”
“I have told you all I can.”
“Then I will have to decline to comment on apparently baseless charges and rumors promulgated by anonymous individuals.”
“It was Lance Cabot,” Eggers said.
“Ah, then you must know that, in the extremely unlikely event I had any connection whatever to this weird occurrence, my relationship with Lance’s employer would prevent me from either confirming or denying such an allegation, and Lance must know that, too.”
“All right, Stone,” Eggers said, “take a moment to muster all your lawyerly command of the language to craft a statement that will place you at a sufficient distance from my client’s perfectly understandable curiosity about the origins of this event, something I can repeat to him.”
Stone thought for a moment. “All right, you may quote me as saying that I have not now nor have I ever caused an automobile to fly through the air and into your client’s swimming pool, nor have I had any opportunity to prevent such a happening. And, when you have finished telling your client that, you may tell Lance Cabot, in the nicest possible way, to go fuck himself. If I should see Lance before you do, I’ll tell him myself.”
“I’ll have the spaghetti carbonara,” Eggers said to the hovering waiter.
“Make that two,” Dino said.
“I’ll have Barry’s secret strip steak, medium rare, with fries and haricots verts,” Stone said. “And bring us a bottle of the Mondavi Cabernet that you are always out of.”
“We’re out of that,” the waiter replied.
“Then make it the Phelps Cabernet.”
“We’ve got that,” the waiter replied, then departed.
“So, Stone,” Eggers said, “what beautiful woman are you seeing these days?”
“The last beautiful woman I was seeing was murdered in her own home not very long ago,” Stone said, “and my desire to see another has not yet overcome that circumstance.”
“Murdered by whom?” Eggers asked.
“Ask Dino; he’s the cop at the table.”
“Dino?”
“My money’s on her nephew or his girlfriend or both,” Dino said.
“You have any evidence to back that up?” Stone asked.
“They were the last two people to arrive for the dinner party, and the nephew had access to the building through his aunt and could have entered the back hall from inside the building, taped the door latch, and later let himself in to perform the killing, then out again.”
“That’s a reasonable conjecture,” Stone said, “but I take it you have no hard evidence.”
“You could put it that way,” Dino said.
Stone turned to Eggers. “How is it you are having ex parte communications with Lance Cabot?”
Eggers allowed himself to look uncomfortable for a tiny moment. “He called me; I didn’t call him.”
“He called you for the sole purpose of spreading rumors about my personal conduct?”
“That may not have been the only reason,” Eggers said. “I can’t say any more.”
“On what grounds? National security? Attorney-client confidentiality? As I recall, Lance is my sometime client, not yours or the firm’s.”
“Look,” Eggers said, “when a high official of the intelligence community calls and asks for some informal advice, I consider it my duty to my country to help if I can. Isn’t that why you and Dino are under contract to Lance?”
“It is, or was,” Stone said. “Not speaking for Dino, I find that Lance calls on me when he wants to make my life miserable or, at least, worse, and I’m getting tired of it. I’ve tried to resign my consultancy, but he says I can’t.”
“He seems to make my life more interesting when he calls,” Dino said. “I like that spook stuff.”
“You stay out of this,” Stone said petulantly.
“Were you on that airplane that the Mercedes departed from?” Eggers asked.
“Yes, I was, and at the invitation of the firm’s client, Mike Freeman, of Strategic Services, who was in the employ of Lance at the time. That doesn’t mean that I caused or failed to prevent the car from taking flight. And I would suggest to you that if our work for Strategic Services somehow infringes on the gardening rights of Dr. Holland, then the good doctor should be told to take a hike, since Mike Freeman is demonstrably the more important client.”
“I don’t question that,” Eggers said.
“Then deal with Dr. Holland however you like, and leave me out of it, okay?”
“Okay,” Eggers said, uncharacteristically chastened.
THIRTY-FOUR
Stone awoke the following morning, still a little steamed at Eggers, and switched on the Today show. Moments later the screen was filled with the image of a battered black Mercedes being lifted by a crane from a swimming pool, water pouring from every orifice, and it had some new orifices.
“Dr. Holland tells me that nearly a hundred mature plantings have had to be removed temporarily to allow the crane access,” the reporter was saying, “and he wants to know who’s going to pay for that. As for the Mercedes, all the glass in the car was shattered on impact, and there isn’t a body panel on the car that isn’t bent. The vehicle appears to be a total loss for whoever owns it, and that’s not even counting the two bullet holes in the left front fender.”
“Misty,” Matt Lauer said, “we’ve had confirmation that the registered owner of the car is a Spanish corporation with the rather bland name of Overseas Info. I don’t know what that is in Spanish, but our correspondent in Madrid tells us that the company is widely viewed in that country as being a front for an American intelligence agency, which shall remain nameless.”
Stone switched to Morning Joe, which had the same footage of the car. “The question here,” Joe Scarborough was saying, “is first of all, how can the CIA afford to buy very large and expensive Mercedes automobiles, and second, why are they tossing them out of airplanes, or the space shuttle, or wherever they launched the car from? And now we’re getting a report that a school custodian a little distance from the Holland mansion has discovered a discarded parachute in a trash can at the school’s soccer field. This seems to i
ndicate that somebody was actually flying the Mercedes before bailing out.”
The people around the show’s table roared with laughter.
Stone’s phone rang. “Hello?”
“It’s Lance.”
“Good morning, Lance,” Stone said. “How is it you are discussing with Bill Eggers my presence on the C-17 the other night and, apparently, blaming me for the loss of your Mercedes?”
“I deny that,” Lance replied.
“I figured you would. Tell me, have you seen the latest film of the car on the morning TV shows?”
“I have.”
“Have you heard the mention of a company called Overseas Info, which is said to be a front for an unnamed American intelligence service?”
“I have.”
“How is that going down upstairs at the Agency? Is everybody just pleased as punch?”
“I don’t need this abuse,” Lance said. “I called to give you some good news, but if you don’t want to hear it . . .”
“There is nothing I would like to hear more,” Stone replied. “Shoot.”
“Would that I could,” Lance said. “I have persuaded people at the State Department to remove the flags on Pablo’s and his family’s passports. I am told that will be accomplished by noon today. Are we all right on that score now?”
“We will be the moment the flags are gone,” Stone replied. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re still on for Monday morning.”
“My people will be at your house this afternoon to sweep the place and begin installing their video and audio equipment.”
“Fine.”
“I should tell you that the video and audio feeds will be transmitted to Langley, where a number of analysts will be watching and listening to corroborate your client’s statements. I assume there will be no objection to that.”
“None from me. I’ll speak to my client about it.”
“Good. Now, if you will excuse me, I have more important work to do.” Lance hung up.
Stone called Pablo.
“Hello?”
“I’ve just heard from Mr. C. that the State Department will remove the flags from your passports by noon today,” Stone said.