“Millie’s clearance is White House,” Bill said to her.
“Got it.”
“Right there,” Bill said to Millie, pointing. “I’ll leave you to it.” He walked back toward his office.
Millie went to the door and unlocked it with her key card, then entered a room larger than what she had expected. She sat down at the desk. “No computer,” she said.
“They’ve locked that up. Ask for a fresh one — better yet, use your laptop. Some things you should know: if you want to receive phone calls from outside, use your cell. Anybody who calls the embassy switchboard will be told they’ve never heard of you. Your White House ID will unlock secure doors and elevators. You can make outgoing calls on your desk phone. There’s a decent cafeteria in the building — Tip will direct you. You never bring anybody down here, of course.”
“What about FBI?”
“Is Quentin coming to London?”
“Who knows?”
“If you want to bring anybody down here — on business — give his name and affiliation to Tip, and she’ll get him in the computer, just as I did for you. If you want to meet with somebody who’s not cleared, ask Tip to get you a room upstairs. The key card she gave you will work there. By the way, don’t lose that card — replacing it is a genuine pain in the ass, and you may be locked out of your office for a few hours.”
“I can imagine.”
“When you leave the station your office will automatically lock for everybody but you and Tip.”
“Can I call on Bill for file searches and technical assistance?”
“You can call on Tip for everything. She’ll get the necessary permissions. Try not to ask Bill for help, unless it’s something Tip can’t handle, then don’t hesitate to ask.”
Millie nodded.
“Do you have any experience with firearms?”
“I grew up hunting with my father. I’ve had a forty-hour handgun course at SigArms, in New Hampshire.”
“Ask Tip to get you a weapon. There’s a range downstairs.”
“After yesterday, I think I’ll do that.”
“I took pains to see that your name wasn’t mentioned in the press reports of yesterday’s incident. That will help, but it’s possible you’ve been seen with me, like during our stroll over here this morning. Tip can always get you a car and driver — don’t be shy about asking, even when you leave the hotel in the evening. Request light armor — that means doors and glass, it won’t protect you from a large bomb.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“Felicity has assigned an MI6 officer who will be your contact with her and her organization, generally. Do everything through him.” She handed Millie a card. “His name is Ian Rattle.”
Millie nodded.
“When I leave tomorrow, you can move into my suite — it’s leased by our government. If somebody more important than you — that’s almost anybody — wants a room, you’ll be moved, probably back to the room you’re in now. The suite is secure — reinforced outer walls and armored glass. There will always be those who don’t like us.”
“I understand.”
Holly looked at her watch. “I’ve got to see the president. If you want to do some shopping, now would be a good time. I’ll see you around six for drinks in the suite, then dinner?”
“That’s fine.”
“Have a nice day,” Holly said, then left.
Millie gave her five minutes to clear the building, then picked up the phone and pressed a button with Tip’s name on it.
“Yes, Millie?”
“Could you find me a weapon? Something light and concealable, maybe a.380?”
“Ten minutes,” Tip replied.
“And can you please get me a car and driver, light armor?”
“Twenty minutes, out back,” Tip said, then hung up.
39
Before dinner Stone called Dino’s cell.
“Hey there.”
“How’s your trip going, Dino?”
“Pretty well. I’m wrapped up, more or less, or will be by tomorrow afternoon.”
“How about Viv?”
“She’s got a meeting on Monday — nothing until then.”
“Good. Why don’t you meet us tomorrow night at Cliveden? It’s a country house hotel near a village called Taplow, in Berkshire — an hour’s drive from London.”
“I guess we can do that. Are you and I flying from there?”
“From Coventry, an hour’s drive north of the hotel. Book us a two-bedroom suite for two nights. The concierge will do it for you and get you a car and driver.”
“Hang on.” Dino covered the phone and conversed with his wife, then came back. “You’re on,” he said.
“Dino, did you come over here armed?”
“Nope, didn’t figure I’d need it. Have you got some reason to believe I might? Or you might?”
“Forget it. I’ll explain when I see you. No need to call back, unless the hotel is fully booked or there’s some other problem.”
“See you tomorrow.” Dino hung up.
They went down for drinks at seven-thirty and were greeted with a smile by the restaurant manager. “Good evening, Mr. Barrington. You’ll be happy to know that Mr. Reeves and his companion checked out this afternoon.”
“I’m delighted to hear it,” Stone replied. “Was there a third person in his party?”
“Yes, a gentleman he described as his pilot. We were fully booked, so we put him in a B&B up the road and loaned him our Land Rover to get around.”
“Ah, that explains a lot. Tell me, when did Mr. Reeves book in here?”
“The day before yesterday,” the man replied. “He asked if we knew where you were headed next — said he wanted to avoid running into you again. I didn’t know what to tell him.”
“Telling him nothing was just fine.”
“May I get you something to drink?”
Stone placed their order, and they found a seat by the fireplace.
“What were you and the manager talking about?” Pat asked.
“Paul Reeves. He booked into here the day before yesterday, same day I did, and Keyes came with him. They didn’t have room for him in the house and put him in a nearby B&B.”
“So it was Kevin that was shooting at us today?”
“Shooting near us.”
“Near enough for me.”
“Pat, tell me everything you know about Reeves, and please don’t leave anything out.”
She took a sip of her drink. “I’ve told you how I know him.”
“And now I want to know what you know about him.”
“When we met he described himself as an entrepreneur,” she said. “I don’t know about all his interests, but I do know he has some sort of electronics company and that it has to do with security equipment. He also mentioned cattle and oil. It’s hard to pin down somebody like him.”
“What did he mean, exactly, by ‘security equipment’?”
“I’m not sure — that was his description.”
“Would it include surveillance equipment?”
“Maybe, I’m not sure he mentioned alarm systems. When I was flying with him, he wanted to go to odd places.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, his airplane was based at Love Field, Dallas, but his trips took him mostly to small towns in the Midwest and the South. He said he chose them for cheap fuel, but that wasn’t always the case. He had a briefcase with him, and he wouldn’t leave it on the plane. Once I saw him exchange his briefcase for another, identical one, with a man at an FBO. I mean, I was sitting there and saw the guy come into the building. He just walked over to where Paul was sitting and handed him a briefcase, then picked up Paul’s and walked away. They didn’t even shake hands or say hello. I thought at the time it might have something to do with drugs.”
“More likely with cash,” Stone said. “If he were in the drug business, he’d have somebody else do the transfers, and they would probably be bigger than what he could get into a briefcase. On the other hand, he could pack a million, maybe two, into a briefcase.”