He drove back to his house, using his iPhone to work his way through the security system, then he walked down to the dock. Tied up on the opposite side of his own dinghy was the one the failed assassins had left at the neighboring dock. Inside it lay two lumps in separate canvas bags, each properly weighted.
Rawls brought his dinghy alongside and took the other in tow. Some distance out on Penobscot Bay, he checked the depth sounder, found himself in nearly a hundred feet of water. He rolled each bag overboard and waited for it to sink, then he put a few holes in the other dinghy and watched it go under.
Satisfied with his evening’s work, he returned to his dock, secured his boat, and walked to the house. He checked all his security checkpoints, then let himself in. Shortly, he searched his satellite directory for programs he had recorded, then settled in to watch a new season’s debut of Succession.
Who were these people? he wondered of the cast. He wouldn’t have any of them in his house!
Chapter 51
Stone received a call from Ed first thing the next morning.
“I thought you’d like to know, everything went as planned,” Ed said.
“Glad to hear it.”
Ed then filled Stone in on the details.
After breakfast, Stone and Dino took the Hinckley picnic boat out into the bay for a little fishing, though neither of them was a fisherman and both despised fish, except steaming on a plate.
Dino took a small device from his jacket pocket and fished for bugs of the electric kind on the boat, finding none. “I take it our friend operated successfully last night,” he said.
“Twice,” Stone replied.
“Is two all the opposition?”
“Let’s hope so. I feel a little safer already, don’t you?”
“If you say so,” Dino replied. “You know, being a sworn police officer and all, I feel an odd satisfaction for the way this was handled. I’ve always had a suspect or two now and then that I wanted to just pop in the head and put them out with the trash. Didn’t you?”
“Yes,” Stone said. “I always felt something between satisfaction and guilt when it was that way. It helps a lot that someone else is doing the dirty work.”
“I think Ed enjoys the work,” Dino said.
“It would be tough to train all your life for something, then have your skills wane over the years. This way, he gets to stay sharp.”
“Do you think he has anything like a conscience?”
“I think,” Stone said, “that his conscience gets at him when he sees someone he knows to be a bad, even evil, guy, walking around loose. That seems wrong to him, and he has a cure for it, called marksmanship.”
“As long as he doesn’t employ the cure in my jurisdiction,” Dino said.
“You didn’t seem offended when someone we know assisted an even more evil person into that awful cemetery in Queens.”
“True. Have you had enough of non-fishing, yet?”
“Just about. I’d enjoy the boat ride more if it were a sunny day.”
“Oh, that’s right, you promised me some of those.”
“I did, and you’ll get them.”
“I see Viv helped you into bed with Carly.”
“She did?”
“Who do you think suggested to Carly to go outside and check on you? I hope you appreciate the effort.”
“I do. I had just about put the idea out of my mind, until Carly brought it up.”
“Bringing things up doesn’t seem to be a problem for her.”
“Definitely not. She sees things differently than most. It’s the way she’s wired. For instance, I know she really enjoyed watching Billy take out Alexei Gromyko.”
“I hope getting laid was fun for her, too.”
“I’ve been assured it was.”
Chapter 52
Ed Rawls unloaded his groceries from his boat and carted them to the house. Once everything had been put away, he checked the fridge, and it seemed like he had more beef than he could eat in a week. He was about to call Stone and invite his crew to dinner when he stepped out onto the back porch to put away the cart and got a whiff of something on the breeze. Tobacco smoke.
Ed went back into the house and called Stone.
“Hey, Ed. How’s it going?”
“I’ve got a surfeit of porterhouse in the fridge. How about you folks come down here this evening and help me reduce my stock?”
“Count us in,” Stone replied. “Anything going on down there?”
“Funny you should mention that. I just got a whiff of cigarette smoke on the breeze.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah, you’d better be carrying this evening. You bring the handguns, and I’ll supply the long guns.”
“Sounds good. What time?”
“Get here at six and watch the night fall.”
“You’re on.”
Ed hung up the phone and went around the house, closing shutters and bolts and getting ready to receive fire after dark. Most assassins preferred that to daylight.
He leaned a rifle next to every window, and by that time alarm bells were going off. That would be Stone and party letting themselves in through the gates, using Ed’s codes.
By six-fifteen, everybody was settled in Ed’s living room with a drink.
“Any news from the opposition?” Stone asked.
Ed looked at his watch, then out the window. “I figure these people for cowards, so I’d say, half an hour after sunset, but I reckon we should hold the liquor until they’ve made their move. Let’s douse all the lights, except that reading lamp, and get them in closer. I’ve laid out long guns and magazines for everyone. They’ll be here soon enough, I reckon.”
They doused most of the lights and waited, not talking.
The monitor on Ed’s computer came alive, and he made some adjustments. “Out on the dock,” Ed said. “I figured they’d be too lazy to come ashore and walk through the weeds.” Other screens on the monitor popped up.
“I see a boat out there, maybe a hundred yards,” Dino said.
“And two men getting out of a dinghy at the end of the long dock.”
“How you want to handle this?” Stone asked.
“With one round apiece, if I’m lucky,” Ed replied. “Turn off that reading light, and I’ll go out the back way and around the house.”
“We’ll wait until the firing stops before we crack a door,” Stone said.
“I’ll call with the all clear.”
The lights off, Ed let himself out the back door and walked around the house, careful to avoid the crunch of feet on gravel. He stopped at the corner of the house, switched on his night sight, and swept the dock area. He found the two men still at the end, messing with ropes.
He hoped they were no better at shooting than with tying off dock lines. He took aim and waited for them to stand up. They finally secured the boat, then messed with their weapons.
“Light machine guns,” Ed muttered to himself. “They’re no better at being assassins than at boat handling.”
The two men started creeping down the dock toward the house. Ed stood one of them up with a round and fired a second for insurance. The other fell flat on the treads, but Ed could still find him with the night scope. He fired a single round into the top of the man’s head, and watched him lurch, then lie still.
He got out his cell phone and called Stone.
“You still alive?” Stone asked.
“Yeah, but nobody else is. You light the grill, and I’m coming in.”
“Consider it done. Like the song says, Knock three times.”
Chapter 53
Ed Rawls put on an apron and started grilling three three-inch porterhouse steaks, and the evening became convivial. Dino manned the bar.