Page 50

On Thursday morning, Stone walked into his office a few minutes after eight a.

m.

, to find an unfamiliar woman sitting at Joan’s desk, dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and black tie.

She appeared to be in her late twenties, with red hair cut in a bob and a toned build.

Upon seeing him, she smiled and stood.

“Um, hello,” he said, confused.

“Good morning, Mr. Barrington. You look just like your picture.” She spoke with a Scottish accent.

“Thank you, I think? And you are?”

“Alicia Ross. I’m to be your driver.”

“Ah, you’re Fred and Helene’s niece.”

“Correct, sir,” she said.

“Ms. Robertson told me that you had requested she leave the keys for the Range Rover on your desk and thought that you might need my services this morning.”

He looked around.

“Is Joan here?”

“I haven’t seen her yet. I spoke with her last night when she let me into my aunt and uncle’s apartment. Aunt Helene spent the night in the hospital.”

“When did you arrive?”

“My plane touched down at eleven-thirty, and I was in the flat by one.”

“Then I’m sure you haven’t rested nearly enough,” he said.

“Why don’t you take today to adjust? I have some unusual business to deal with today, so it might be better if I drive myself anyway.”

“Mr. Barrington, I’ve spent much of the last decade as a professional driver. While in the army, I drove in situations where I had much less sleep, and where my life and the lives of those I was transporting were in constant danger. If you’re concerned my skills are in any way diminished because of my recent arrival, don’t be.” She paused and then added, “Plus, Ms. Robertson told me to hold on to the keys and not give them to you no matter what you said.”

“Of course she did. I guess that settles that, then.”

“I hope so, sir. Though I should note that you are my employer. If you ordered me to give you the keys, I would.”

“Thank you for that, Alicia. You hold on to them. I probably had less sleep than you.”

“Ms. Robertson also told me that would likely be the case.”

“For the record, don’t believe everything Joan says.”

“If you say so, sir. Though she has been remarkably accurate up to this point.”

They heard the front door open.

Ash appeared a moment later.

He halted at the sight of Stone and Alicia, his eyes widening.

“Oh, I hadn’t expected anyone to be here yet.”

“Sorry to intrude on your normal alone time,” Stone said.

“But we won’t be here long. Ash, this is Alicia Ross. She’s Fred and Helene’s niece and will be driving for me while Fred is on the mend. Alicia, this Ash Williamson, associate attorney at Woodman & Weld. His office is just down the hall.”

Alicia walked over and shook his hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Williamson.”

“Ash is fine,” Ash said.

“Nice to meet you, too, Miss Ross.”

She nodded and turned her attention back to Stone.

“If we’re leaving soon, should I bring the vehicle around now? Or do you need more time?”

“Give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you out front.”

“Very good, sir.”

She bowed her head and walked out.

“Everything go okay with getting Sara settled in last night?” Stone asked Ash.

“No problems at all. It’s a quite nice apartment.”

“Thank you. And the Strategic Services team?”

“Arrived soon after we did.”

“When you get a moment, I’d like you to check in with whoever’s in charge of the day shift and see if any issues have come up.”

“I did that on my way here and was told it was a quiet night.”

“Glad to hear it. If something does occur, be sure to let me know right away.”

“I will.”

“I trust sleeping in my son’s room was not too much of a burden.”

“I’ve never had such a short commute in my life.”

“I quite like it,” Stone said.

“I need to grab a few things and then I’m off.”

“I’ll be here if you need anything.”

“Thanks.”

Ash started walking toward his office.

“Ash?” Stone said.

Ash turned back.

“Yes?”

“You’re doing a great job. Just wanted to let you know.”

Ash beamed.

“Thank you, Mr. Barrington, uh, I mean, Stone.”

“Make sure you let Joan know I told you that.”

“I will!”

Tamlyn was waiting in the Strategic Services lobby when Stone arrived.

He kissed her cheek.

“Thanks for coming in so early.”

“I think you mean, thanks for not going home yet,” she said.

“You were here all night?”

“I made you a promise. But don’t worry too much. We finished up by four, and I was able to nap in my office for a few hours.”

“As soon as you have a few days off, I’ll take you someplace nice, where I can wait on you hand and foot.”

“Don’t you dare forget you said that.”

“Never.”

“You’re making it very hard for me not to take you up to my office and lock the door, but I suppose you don’t have time for that anyway.”

“No, but I will take a rain check.”

“I look forward to you cashing it in,” she said, smirking.

“In the meantime, did you bring your badge?”

“Oh, right.”

As a Strategic Services board member, Stone had his own security badge.

He retrieved it and slipped its connected lanyard around his neck.

They passed through security and took an elevator up two levels to the research department, where they entered a large room full of cabinets and tables and counters.

Two people were present—Mike Freeman and a woman wearing a gray lab coat with the Strategic Services logo embroidered on the chest.

“Good morning, Stone,” Mike said.

“Hello, Mike. I hope you were able to get some sleep last night at least.”

“Whenever possible, I leave the all-nighters to others,” Mike said.

“Stone,” Tamlyn said.

“Allow me to introduce you to Dr. Naomi Okamoto. She’s the head of our research department.”

“Dr. Okamoto, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

Okamoto had joined Strategic Services nine months earlier, and Stone hadn’t had the opportunity to cross paths with her until now.

“A pleasure, Mr. Barrington.”

“I understand you have something for me.”

“Heads up,” Mike said and then tossed a strapped stack of hundred-dollar bills to Stone.

Stone flipped through the bills, then examined the stack from every angle.

“Impressive, wouldn’t you say?” Tamlyn asked.

“More than,” he replied.

“How does it work?”

Dr.

Okamoto picked up what looked like a car key fob from the counter.

“When you’re ready to turn it on, hold this within a foot of the stack, and press here.” She indicated a button on the side of the fob, but did not touch it.

“That’s all?” Stone asked.

The doctor nodded.

“Once activated, you should be able to track its location for up to ten days.”

“ Should be able to?”

“As I mentioned before,” Tamlyn said, “it’s experimental. This will be the first time it’s been used outside the laboratory.”

Stone scanned the bundle again.

“The bug is buried in the money?”

“No,” Okamoto replied.

“It’s in the paper strap.”

“If I wasn’t impressed before, I am now.”

“Also, the bills are real,” Tamlyn said.

“So, we would appreciate getting our ten thousand dollars back when you’re done.”

“I imagine you would.”

“How is this to be delivered?” the doctor asked.

“With ninety-nine other stacks in a briefcase,” Stone said.

“Then I would suggest putting this one a few layers down and against one side,” she said.

“It’s more likely that someone may check a stack on the top or somewhere in the middle. In the process, the strap could be damaged to the point where the tracker no longer works.”

“That sounds like a design flaw,” Stone said.

One of the doctor’s eyebrows rose sharply.

“As Miss Thompson has already mentioned, this is still in the experimental stage.”

“You’re right, of course. My apologies. I will do as you’ve instructed.”

“Apology accepted.”

“What about the other item?” Stone asked.

Okamoto removed a flash drive from a drawer and set it on the counter, next to Stone.

“How does it work?” Stone asked.

“Like any flash drive,” the doctor said.

“Stick it into a slot on a computer.”

“To the user it will appear to be the digital credentials of a Bitcoin crypto wallet,” Tamlyn said.

“In the background, a program will be loaded onto the computer that will send the user’s location to whoever has been designated to receive that information.”

“That would be you and Jack,” Mike said.

Tamlyn put the money in one envelope and the drive in another, and then handed them to Stone.

“Thank you,” he said.

“And the security team?”

“Ready when you need them,” Mike said.

“Just let me know a place and time.”

Stone did so, then Tamlyn walked Stone out of the building to where Alicia waited with the Range Rover.

“She’s your temporary Fred?” Tamlyn asked.

“Not only that, she’s also his niece.”

“She’s pretty.”

“Is she? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Good.”

“But even if I had—”

“Which you hadn’t.”

“Which I hadn’t, I make it a habit of not getting entangled with people who work for me, especially if they are also related to others in my employ.”

“A habit of which I approve. But just in case she hasn’t received that message yet…”

Tamlyn wrapped a hand around Stone’s neck and pulled his lips down to hers.

After a long kiss, she leaned away just far enough to look into his eyes.

“Be careful today. Try not to do anything too dangerous.”

“I will do my best.”

“Glad to hear it.”

They kissed again, then Stone climbed into the Range Rover and gave Alicia the address to Triangle Investments.