“Not outside. Don’t worry.” He led them through a large living room and into a walnut-paneled library two stories high, with a spiral staircase leading to a second level. A cheerful fire burned in the fireplace, and a man sat next to it, reading a book. On sighting them, he rose, ready to shake hands. He was tallish, slim, and with an impressive moustache, as white as his hair.
“Stone Barrington, Dino Bacchetti,” Shep said, “I’d like you to meet my father, Rodrick Troutman.” The older man extended his hand, and they both shook it.
“I’m sorry,” Stone said, “I don’t...”
“Of course you don’t,” the elder Troutman said. “Call me Rod, everyone does — everyone who knows I’m not dead.”
“Are you sure you’re not dead?” Dino asked.
“Fairly sure,” Rod replied. “Of course, I’m buried under a very nice slab of granite in the backyard.”
“No fire,” Stone said, pointing at the blaze. “No smoke coming from the chimney.”
“It’s a gas fire,” Rod said. “No smoke. Please sit down, and Shep will explain everything.”
Stone and Dino shared a sofa. “Now, do please explain,” Stone said.
“I’m sorry to have misled you,” Shep said, “but you see, several weeks ago, we began hearing from these people with the Delaware corporation. Dad got tired of dealing with them, so he handed them off to me, and we decided that Dad should be out of the picture. So, with the help of longtime family friends, among them the local chief of police and an undertaker, we simulated Dad’s death and removed him here. I’m sorry you missed the funeral, Dad. It was a corker.”
Rod laughed heartily. “I’ll bet it was.”
“So, after it became apparent that the putative buyers were not going to go away, I gently led them down the garden path, separating them from two hundred fifty million dollars of their money. They were foolish enough to think they would get it back. Then my, ah, reoccurring misfortunes began to get in the way, and I came to you, Stone. And you’ve done exactly what I hoped you would, and flawlessly. Left to my own devices, I would have screwed it up.”
“So, Dino, Mike Freeman, and I have had a good look at the garden path, too?”
“You have. What do you think?”
“I think I’ll take back what I said about you not being sneaky enough,” Stone replied.
“Of course, all your bills will be paid upon presentation,” Shep said.
“That’s reassuring.”
“The City of New York is taking care of me,” Dino said. “But you realize I can’t stay here past the weekend. I have a day job, down at One Police Plaza.”
“Of course.”
“How long do you wish me to stay?” Stone asked.
“As long as you like, or as short a time. I think that, after the weekend, we’ll be settled in nicely with Mike’s people to ward off evildoers.”
“Let’s look ahead a little,” Stone said, “and suppose that whoever these people are, they eventually see through our ruse and come after you.”
“Well,” Shep said, “in that case we may have to take stronger measures.”
Rod spoke up, “I’d welcome the opportunity to shoot a couple of them,” he said. “I’ve got a very nice deer rifle with a big scope on it.”
“I don’t think a shoot-out is your best move,” Stone said. “That sort of thing attracts law enforcement, and you can’t buy all the locals and the Massachusetts State Police.”
“I’ve left plenty of room in my backyard cemetery,” Rod said.
“Rod, please put that out of your mind.”
“All right, then, you’re in charge, Stone. What’s our next move?”
Dino turned toward Stone. “I want to hear this, too.”
“In that case, we will have to discourage them.”
“Is that all?” Dino asked. “Just shoo them away?” He made shooing motions with his hands. “How?”
“I’m working on it,” Stone said.
Dino laughed. “That means he doesn’t have a clue.”
Eighteen
Rod Troutman stood up. “Perhaps I could show you a couple of things.”
“Of course,” Stone said, rising in concert with Dino.
“If someone should enter the house without permission,” Rod said, walking to a bookcase across the room, “I can take refuge here.” He pulled a book — Tom Sawyer, from a leather-bound collection of Mark Twain titles — and the entire width of the case, about thirty inches, swung away from him. He ushered them into a bedroom, and the case silently swung shut behind him. Inside were a king-sized bed, a Chesterfield sofa, and a pair of leather reclining chairs. Rod picked up a remote control from a table between them and pressed a button. A very large flat-screen TV rose from a bookcase along the wall and switched on to CNN.
“Entertainment provided for,” Rod said, “and there’s a shotgun under the bed and a pistol in the bedside drawer. An exit to the outside and two windows are concealed from exterior view.” He led the way back into the library and closed the bookcase with another TV remote control next to his chair.
Rod sat back down. “Oh, and there are two turrets at the top of the house, one providing an excellent field of fire toward the road, and another providing the same toward the sea.”
“Very well thought out,” Stone said.
“Part of the renovation just completed,” Shep said, “is armored glass in all the windows. They won’t stop a bazooka, but small arms fire can’t breach them. There are electric blinds in each, too, so we won’t emit light at night.”
“I think this house would turn out to be a very unpleasant surprise to your Russian buyers,” Stone said.
“I agree,” Dino pitched in.
“Still, your best defense is invisibility. If they can’t find you, they can’t shoot at you. Are there any family members back in Lenox?”
“We are the only two Troutmans extant,” Rod said. “I’m thinking of burning down the old place. It’s a white elephant, anyway. Nobody in his right mind would buy it, but the land would bring a good price.”
“Not just yet,” Stone said. “Maybe the Russians will burn it down for you. It’s the sort of thing they do.”
“And they’re welcome to it. I must say, though, Stone, that these people are not going to go away, unless they take some casualties.”
“That’s an astute observation, Rod, but let’s let them start it.”
Shep laughed. “I thought they already had,” he said, “and I’ve got the lumps to prove it.”
“Still, it’s too early to get into a war with these people — and when you do, you’ll want to start at the top. They don’t care how many soldiers they waste. They’ll probably even hide the bodies for you. But it’s important to the leaders to feel safe. When they no longer feel that, they’ll fade into the forest with the other gnomes.”
“Well,” Rod said, “I’m told that patience is a virtue, but I’ve never been all that virtuous. And I’d rather go down while returning fire than be picked off while taking a stroll on the beach.”
“An understandable feeling,” Stone said, “but we’ll all be better off if we can just get them to go away.”
“What are you going to do for yourself, Stone?” Shep asked. “You’ve said you’ll go back to New York. They know where to find you, don’t they?”
“They do, but I have encountered these people in the past. And, while I can’t say that I won, I can say that they felt the pain and didn’t like it. Suffice it to say, they don’t consider me low-hanging fruit.”
“And he’s got me watching his back,” Dino said. “They know that I’m in a position to make big trouble for them.”
“I forgot about the benevolence of the NYPD,” Stone said. “My apologies, Dino.”