Page 18

On Friday morning, Stone woke early and was at his desk by seven a.

m.

There were a few items that needed his attention before he left for England.

Joan popped into his office ten minutes later.

“Ash said you were here, but if I didn’t see it for myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

“Ash is here?”

“He’s been coming in every morning at six a.m.”

“He has?”

She nodded.

“To bring himself up to speed on all of our clients.”

“ All of them?”

“He’s very diligent.”

“So it would seem.”

“Promise me you won’t do anything that will chase him off.”

“Why would I do anything to chase him off?”

“I’m not saying you would do it on purpose.”

“I chase people off not on purpose?”

“How many associates have we had?”

“Ever?”

“Let’s make it easy. Just the past year.”

Stone thought about it.

“Three?”

“Seven.”

“That can’t be right.”

She rattled off the names, which included Carly and Ash.

“You made at least one of those names up.”

“I did not.”

“What about Alex Boyer? I have never heard that name before.”

“He was here for two weeks while you were in Maine six months ago.”

“I never met him?”

“You never met him.”

“Why not?”

“He transferred to our San Francisco office.”

“And I’m responsible for that why?”

“You’re not, but you are missing the point.”

“And that is?”

“For whatever reason, whenever we get a new associate, he or she is soon offered an opportunity they can’t pass up, and they leave.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m still missing the point.”

“The point is the fates are already stacked against Ash staying long term. I’m asking you to not do anything that might hasten his departure.”

Ash chose that moment to rap on the doorjamb and step into the office.

“Whose departure?”

“Yours,” Joan said.

“I’m going somewhere?”

“No one’s going anywhere,” Stone said.

“I thought you were going to England today,” Ash said.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, then what did you—”

“It’s not important. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Since you are still going to England, I wanted to check and see if there’s anything you need me to deal with in your absence.”

“See,” Joan said.

“Diligent.”

“Joan, please let Fred know that my bags are upstairs,” Stone said.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?”

He smiled.

“Fine,” she said.

“But don’t forget what I told you.”

Stone and Ash watched her go.

“If this is a bad time, you can email me any instructions you might have,” Ash said.

“Now is great.” Stone motioned to his guest chair.

“Have a seat.”

For the next fifteen minutes, they went over things that might come up while Stone was gone.

“I think that’s it,” Stone said.

“If you have questions, you can always call me.”

Joan came back in.

“Fred’s out front. He says you should leave soon if you want to make your departure time.”

“Thank you, Joan,” Stone said, then returned his attention to Ash.

“If I think of anything else, I’ll let you know.”

Ash stood, clutching his notepad and pen.

“Very good, Mr. Barrington.”

“Stone.”

“Sorry. Stone.”

He turned to leave.

“One more thing,” Stone said.

Ash looked back.

“You’re doing great. We’re happy to have you here.”

“Thank you, Mr. Ba—” He stopped himself.

“Thank you, Stone. I’m happy to be here.”

Ash exited with a grin on his face.

Stone put his computer to sleep and stood up from his desk.

“See? I’m nothing but encouraging.”

Joan rolled her eyes.

As Stone walked out of his office, the phone rang and Joan picked it up.

“Woodman & Weld, Stone Barrington’s office.” She listened for a moment, then said, “He’s just leaving, but let me check.” She put a hand over the phone.

“It’s Bob Cantor.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Stone said.

She gave him the phone.

“Hi, Bob. I’m about to head to Teterboro. If this will take long, I can call you back.”

“This will only take a minute.”

“All right. Go ahead.”

“Spent all day yesterday in Chicago, trying to see if there’s a connection between what happened to Sara’s husband and what happened to her blind date.”

“And?”

“As far as I can tell, there’s not. But the husband wouldn’t talk to me, so I don’t feel confident saying there’s no link for sure.”

“Did he know you were working on behalf of Sara?”

“No. I said I was with the Trib , doing a story about the mugging.”

“It was a long shot anyway. Thanks for checking, though.”

“You bet.”

Joan held up her wrist and tapped her watch.

“I have to run,” Stone said into the phone.

“Have a good flight, and let me know if you need anything else.”

Stone’s Bentley pulled up in front of Tamlyn’s building fifteen minutes later.

After her luggage was stowed and she was situated in the rear seat, she leaned over and gave Stone a lingering kiss.

“Good morning.”

“It is now,” he said.

“I take it I’ve passed some kind of test.”

“You passed the test the first night we met, with flying colors, I might add. I was just too busy to add you to my schedule.”

“You’re not as busy now?”

“Still busy, but I’ve made an executive decision to fit you in.”

“I’m honored.”

“You should be. I don’t do that for just anyone.”

“When was the last?”

She thought for a moment.

“I can’t recall. So, let’s call you the first.”

“Then I am truly honored.”

She kissed him again.

“I do love an intelligent man.”

As Fred pulled the Bentley from the curb, Stone said, “Next stop Teterboro.”

“Teterboro?”

“Teterboro Airport, just outside the city.”

“Oh, I thought we would be flying out of JFK.”

“Teterboro is much better for our purposes. It’s what’s known as a reliever airport. It handles nonscheduled general aviation traffic, so that the larger airports don’t have to deal with everything. It’s where I keep my G-500. It is also where the Strategic Services hangar is located.”

“I suppose I’ll be seeing a lot of it, then.”

“Count on it,” he said.

“How are things at the new job?”

“Even better than I’d hoped. Mike and Viv are dreams to work for, and my department is teeming with fascinating projects.”

“Such as?”

“Are you trying to get me to divulge company secrets?”

“I am on the board of directors.”

She smirked.

“I guess that gives you a pass.” She thought for a moment, then said with growing enthusiasm, “Let’s see…we have developers working on light armor that can be tailored into a business suit, high-powered tasers small enough to be hidden in the palm of a hand, and we’ve just perfected a method of embedding a tracking bug in a piece of paper, such as an envelope or something similar.”

“Too bad the work doesn’t seem to excite you,” Stone teased.

She put a hand over her mouth to cover her smile.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Speaking as a member of the board, I’d much prefer someone with enthusiasm for their job than not. And I know Mike and Viv feel the same.”

They fell into pleasant conversation, and soon enough were pulling up next to Stone’s Gulfstream, which sat waiting in front of its hangar.

While Fred retrieved the luggage and loaded it onto the aircraft, Stone walked Tamlyn over to Faith, who was doing a safety check outside.

“Good morning,” Stone said.

“I want to introduce you to Tamlyn Thompson. She’s the new CTO at Strategic Services. Tamlyn, this is my pilot, Faith Barnacle.”

The two women shook hands.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Faith said.

“And I you,” Tamlyn said.

“Ooh, I love your accent.”

“I’m not the one with an accent,” Tamlyn teased.

“You and Stone are.”

“Are Dino and Jack Coulter here?” Stone asked.

“Mr. Coulter’s inside,” Faith said.

“No sign of Dino yet.”

Right on cue, the commissioner of police’s sedan came around the side of the hangar.

“I retract my previous statement,” Faith said.

“You sound like an attorney,” Tamlyn said.

“Do you practice law, too?”

“God forbid. I’ve just been working for one for too long.”

“Too long?” Stone said.

“Is that what I said? I meant for a while. Is that better?”

“Marginally.”

She smirked and said to Stone, “Will you be handling takeoff, or shall I?”

“I’ll do it,” he said.

“You’re a pilot, too?” Tamlyn asked.

“So am I. Smaller craft only, at this point.”

“Would you be interested in sitting up front for a bit after we take off?” Stone asked.

“Can I?”

“Faith?” There were only two seats in the cockpit.

“Okay by me,” Faith said.

“I’ll let you know when we can switch seats.”

The police sedan stopped behind the Bentley, and Dino exited.

“We’ll let you finish your safety check,” Stone said to Faith.

He and Tamlyn walked over to the plane’s entrance, arriving a couple steps ahead of Dino.

“Right on time,” Stone said.

“I would have been here sooner, but I got caught on a call with the mayor,” Dino said.

“Was he worried the city wouldn’t survive the weekend without you?” Tamlyn asked, tongue firmly in cheek.

“You’ve only been here a week, and you’ve already hung out with Viv too much,” Dino said.

“Shall we?” Stone said, motioning to the stairs.

They found Jack Coulter in the passenger cabin, receiving a glass of champagne from the flight attendant.

After introductions, the attendant asked if anyone else wanted a drink.

“I’ll have what he’s having,” Dino said, nodding at Jack’s flute.

“Just water for me,” Tamlyn said.

“And you, Mr. Barrington?” the attendant asked.

“I’m handling takeoff, so I’ll wait until later.”

The attendant went to fetch the drinks.

“I wanted to thank you again for offering me a ride,” Jack said.

“Happy to do it. If you finish your business by Monday and get back before we leave at noon, there will be a place for you.”

“I appreciate that. I’ll let you know on Sunday.”

“Is Hillary not joining us?” Dino asked.

“Unfortunately not,” Jack said.

“She has a charity event Sunday afternoon. She’s on the board, so she needs to make an appearance. She’s taking our niece in my place.”

“That reminds me,” Stone said.

“Jack, could I have a moment?”

“Of course.”

They moved to the back of the plane.

“Something wrong?” Jack asked.

“Not at all. I just have a question. In helping Sara with her divorce, we’ve learned that this wasn’t the first time she’d walked down the aisle.”

“Ah, that. I take it she isn’t the one who told you.”

“She is not. I was wondering if you could fill in a few details for me. I doubt it will be an issue we need to address, but if there’s anything we should know about that might be used against her, it would be best if we were aware of it ahead of time.”

“It happened before I met Hillary. Sara was young, not even out of high school, if I’m remembering correctly, so it was one of those he’s-the-love-of-my-life-I-can’t-live-without-him kind of things. Her grandparents put the kibosh on it as soon as they found out. Told her that if after she finished high school and college she was still in love with him, they would allow her to marry him then.”

“The love didn’t last?”

“I believe Hillary said Sara met someone new her first week of college and forgot all about the other guy.”

“Do you know anything about him?”

Jack shook his head.

“I don’t even know his name. As far as I know, he’s been out of the picture since they broke it off.”

“Thanks, Jack. Do you think it would upset Sara if I asked her about it?”

“It may have been a sensitive topic once, but I don’t see any reason why it would be now. It was a long time ago.”

“That’s all I need to know.”

Faith entered the aircraft.

“If everyone will take their seats, we can close up and Stone can get us on our way.”

“If you’ll excuse me,” Stone said to Jack.

“I have a plane to fly.”