“Not at all. I always put in the effort. This was just extra.” She swung off the bed and stood, giving him a view he appreciated.
“I’m not ungrateful,” he said, “in fact, I’m just the opposite, but is there a reason why?”
She stopped in the doorway to the bathroom, looked back, and said matter-of-factly, “If things don’t go well tonight, this could be our last time.”
She disappeared through the doorway, and Stone rolled onto his back, feeling suddenly less relaxed than he had a moment before.
Yesterday, he had received a short message from Teddy Fay, confirming that their plan had worked, and he was indeed going to be targeted at some point Friday evening. What Teddy hadn’t said was when the attempt would be made. The only other thing in Teddy’s message was: remind Carly that she should be armed. You, too, if you can bring yourself to do it.
Carly walked out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, a towel wrapped around her hair and nowhere else. She tilted her head when she saw him. “What’s wrong? You look unhappy.”
“I don’t know. Perhaps I wasn’t expecting the woman I’d just slept with to remind me that I might die tonight.”
“Oh, should I not have said that?”
“I could have gone without hearing it, especially in the way it was presented.”
“I’ll remember that for next time.”
“The next time I might die?”
“In my experience, it’s not a rare thing.”
He couldn’t argue her point.
Later that morning, Joan appeared in the doorway of his office, holding up a piece of paper on which was written: Dino on 1. The bugged clock was still on his bookshelf, so caution needed to be taken in its presence.
He relocated to the room Carly was using as her office, where she was engrossed in something on her computer. “I need to use your phone,” he said.
Without looking at him, she waved at it. “Help yourself.”
He picked up the receiver and punched line one. “Hi, Dino.”
“Thought you’d like to know, I had the bomb experts sweep the hotel, and they didn’t find anything.”
“Strike explosions off the list.”
“Don’t be too hasty. He could always fire an RPG at your car.”
“Are you purposely trying to up my anxiety level, or is there some other reason you called?”
“I wanted to remind you to make sure you’re carrying this evening. It’s not a night to forget that kind of thing.”
“So I’ve been told by other sources.”
“Other sources would be correct,” Dino said.
“I’ll see you tonight.”
“Here’s hoping.”
Stone hung up and noticed Carly was still staring at her computer. He leaned over so he could see the screen. On it was the website for the CIA.
“Carly, did Lance Cabot contact you?”
“No. Was he meant to?”
“Quite the contrary. He promised me he wouldn’t.”
“Then he’s living up to his word.”
“Why are you on the CIA website?”
“Research.”
“What kind of research?”
“You did say Lance would talk to me eventually. I want to be prepared for when that happens.”
“That site will only tell you one side of the story, and not a complete one at that.”
“Which is why I have also read four books and twenty-seven magazine articles, from differing viewpoints.”
“Carly, you are not seriously considering accepting an offer from Lance, are you?”
“No offer has been given, so there is nothing to consider yet.”
“When it is given, what are you supposed to do?”
“Say no, and then talk to you.”
“Please, do not forget that.”
“My brain wouldn’t let me, even if I wanted to.”
Chapter 67
Stone checked himself in his mirror. Dinner was a black-tie affair, so he was wearing a Tom Ford tuxedo.
“Wow,” Carly said from behind him.
He turned. She had just exited her dressing room wearing a dark blue floor-length dress, with a neckline that plunged past her chest and a slit that ran up her right leg to her hip.
“Wow, yourself,” he said.
“You like it?” She slowly twirled around. “It’s a Ramy Brook. I realized I had nothing I wanted to wear, so I picked it up at Bloomie’s yesterday.”
“I approve, but only if you took Fred with you.”
“Even if I had tried to go alone, he wouldn’t have let me.”
“Remind me to give him a little something extra in his paycheck this month.”
There was a knock on the bedroom door.
“Come in,” Stone said.
Helene entered. “The man from Strategic Services is downstairs.”
“Thank you, Helene.” He held out his arm to Carly. “Shall we?”
Waiting for them at the base of the stairs was a man who was at least six and a half feet tall and had the body of a linebacker.
“Mr. Barrington, I’m Richard Ray. I will be in charge of your personal detail tonight.”
Stone shook hands with him. “Nice to meet you, Richard. This is Carly Riggs, a fellow attorney at Woodman & Weld, and my date tonight.”
They exchanged greetings.
“Your Bentley and driver are in the garage, along with one of the vehicles that will be escorting you. I will be riding in the latter. I’ve been briefed on the specs of your car, so I know how difficult it would be to breach, but that does not mean someone won’t try.”
“It’s happened before,” Stone agreed.
“So I’ve heard. My goal is to make it as unattractive as possible for anyone to do so tonight. To that end, there will be three vehicles ahead of us, reconning upcoming intersections. We will not pass through any unless we receive an all clear first. Also, we will be coordinating with the police units set up along your route. If they spot something suspicious, we will immediately return here.”
“It sounds like you have all the bases covered.”
“No one ever has all bases covered, but hopefully we will have done enough to dissuade the enemy.”
“I have every faith in you.”
“Thank you. One last thing.”
“Yes?”
“Mr. Freeman wanted me to ask: Are you carrying?”
Stone patted the bulge under his jacket. “Yes, and I prefer it to stay where it is.”
Fred waited for them in the garage, along with a pair of Strategic Services bodyguards in a sedan.
Once everyone was in their respective vehicle, Fred raised a walkie-talkie to his mouth. “This is Fred Flicker. Ready when you are.”
Ray’s voice came over the speaker. “Proceed, Mr. Flicker.”
They drove out of the garage. Waiting on the street were five additional Strategic Services sedans. Three raced ahead to check the intersections. One of the remaining pair pulled in front of Fred to lead the way, and the other fell into place at the back of the motorcade.
“This is exciting,” Carly said.
Stone looked at her.
“What?” she asked.
Stone shook his head. “Nothing.”
The radio crackled to life. “Barrington’s car just left his garage. There are six vehicles traveling with it. Looks like half of those are advance scouts, checking the route.”
Sarge picked up his mic. “Can you confirm Barrington is inside?”
“Not yet, but they’ll be passing our position in thirty seconds. I should be able to tell then.”
Sarge looked out the window of the van. It was parked in an alley, three blocks from the hotel where the bar association dinner was to take place.
He had four watchers stationed along the presumed route Barrington would take, to track the lawyer’s progress. The rest were waiting at their assigned locations.